The Pursuit of Happiness

On the FitMommas blog last week, I wrote about the recent 60 Minutes special on the Key to Happiness.  Apparently, we aren't a very happy people, in spite of being one of the wealthiest nations on earth.

On Wednesday, Oprah had a segment on Freegans - people who live off of free finds, typically made in dumpsters and trash - not because they're poor, but to make a statement about American's extreme consumption, and how we would all lead much more fulfilled, happier lives if we stopped consuming so much.  A quote from the show - the United States is 5% of the world's population, but we consume 30% of it's resources.

And then yesterday, at Costco - quite the establishment of consumption - I saw February's Costco Connection magazine cover was about "The Pursuit of Happiness." 

The Pursuit of Happiness is smacking me over the head!

The magazine cover reminded me of Will Smith's movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness,"  that came out last year and received all sorts of positive reviews and commentary.   I had a problem with it.  Basically, the movie equates Happiness with the acquisition of Money.  While I hardly have a desire to live on the street with my children, I certainly do not need a bigger house, with cooler toys, and designer labels to make me happy.  My husband, son and stepdaughter provide me with all I need in this world.  

I just wish more people would open their eyes to this.  There is a difference between buying what we need and buying what we think will make us happy.  We all want to look like the gorgeous stars on the red carpet, drive the luxury cars with the GPS, and watch a plasma television in every room.  But NONE OF THAT will make you love yourself more or make your husband/wife/lover/desire love you more or make your family love you more.  You won't find the key to happiness in something you buy from a store - a good place to start is inside yourself.

Congrats Mom & Jay!

This weekend, my mom and Jay became home owners once again! They've moved in only about two subdivisions over from us, and I'm very excited about having family this close. Not to mention the pool in their backyard.....

So Jessica and Jake drove up from Memphis to help with the move. Sean and I did our best to help out since Trey was with Isabella at her soccer game in Hannibal.


I think Sean put the most effort into eating his pizza!

That evening, after Trey, Isabella, and Grammy had made their way down from Hannibal, we celebrated the move and Jay's birthday with a dinner at La Carreta.


Some did more celebrating than others.

Sunday was our day to spend with Isabella - though she decided it was a day to spend playing with Miss Emma across the street!


But I did manage to snag this photo of Big Sis and Lil Bro before she went off to play!

Lookin' for photos and videos?

Hey grandmas and grandpas, aunt and cousins.....

Under "Amy's Other Projects" on the right hand side, you'll find a link to our family photos on Shutterfly, and to our family videos on YouTube. Check them out if you haven't had the chance!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful....

So it sleeted and snowed for the past two days. It wasn't much to look at, but the road conditions kept Sean and I inside the entire time. Boring.

We did have a break on Thursday, when miss Emma from across the street came over to play. Emma is Sean's four year old girlfriend - their bedrooms face each other across the street and we expect that they'll be sneaking out of their rooms in just a few years. Emma's already proclaimed Sean her future husband.


Sean was busy breaking down houses and annoyed that I was taking his picture, while Emma was nicely playing house, and happy to stop for a sweet little post.

And here's a little video of them being completely goofy in the completely trashed basement.

Sean the Cookie Monster

So today at our playdate at Katie's, Sean played wonderfully with all the little ones. He spent huge amounts of time "coloring" all over the art easel, and creating fine cuisine in the pink play kitchen.

But more than that, he stuffed his face with cookies.

He sat up here at the dining room table, by himself, eating cookies, for over 30 minutes. I was so lost in good conversation, I almost forgot I had brought a child with me. It was pretty glorious!

My Myriad O' Projects

Rather than cleaning out our basement for our remodel or organizing our finances, I've began quite a few online projects. And I'm justifying it all with the idea that one or two of them might bring in a few dollars!

Obviously, I began this family blog to keep in touch with family and friends that don't see us everyday. I'm also taking a leap, and started my own photo card business. Check out LattaLuv Photo Cards to see some of my designs, and pass it on to friends and family who may be interested! I hope to have a few new things up by the end of this weekend.

Also, something that I've been going to start "any day" for a year has finally come to fruition, and that's a FitMommas blog, an online journal and companion to the FitMommas workout group that a few of my Playgroup friends and I started over a year ago!

And, on a somewhat serious note, I've also started an online journal, The Search For My Father, to chronicle my attempt to connect with my biological father's family. And I want to thank my mom, dad and sister for being so understanding about my need to do this - they really are the best!

So, between all these online projects, designing GiGi's birthday invite, organizing my Playgroup and FitMommas, plus keeping my MySpace and Facebook pages updated, I'll also make sure there's dinner on the table and the bathrooms are funk-free. I just wish this Stay Home Mom thing wasn't so boring.

"And I Ran, I Ran So Far Away..."

Sean and Trey are forming a tribute band for the Flock of Seagulls. They have the hair down, just needs to work on the costumes.

I love my boys.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's hoping that everyone is having a great day, filled with lots of love!

I found this great want ad in the personals today:


In other news, Sean and I had a playdate at Melissa, Grace & Nate's today, and as always we stuffed our faces and I drank too much coffee! Melissa, always the overindulging hostess, stuffed us with cookies, cupcakes, peanut M&M's (Sean's new favorite!), and other assorted goodies, and then fed us a fine lunch of chicken "Dinos" and mac & cheese. It was fantastic, especially since I played no part in preparing it.


This is one of Sean's friends, Amelia, and they played so sweetly together today. They're only two weeks apart in age, and were so sweet blowing kisses goodbye when it was time to go.

When we got home, Sean and Sophie played outside for a bit, as it's almost 55 degrees out this afternoon. This yard was covered in snow yesterday. Anyway, Sean had a screaming fit once it was time to come inside - you would never know that was coming by looking at the cherubic face in these photos!

Snow! From two weeks ago...

Hey, it snowed like the dickens at the beginning of the month! Of course, we've endured multiple climate changes since then, but regardless, it was the first time Sean really got to experience the cold, wet, white stuff. And that experience lasted all of about five minutes before he decided he was done.

Here is Sean, all bundled up and ready to go. I did not capture the melee over wearing gloves, and you can see here who won that battle.

Sean's checking it out, getting a feel for his snow legs.

Alright, we're walkin', this is fun, this is cool, Sean's thinking he's pretty hot stuff!

Oh, wait, we've fallen! I have captured the beginning of the end right here. What proceeded was a bunch of screaming and cries to get this cold crap off my hands and get me in the house....NOW! Well, in not so many words.

The Flu Sucketh

So, I'm off to a great start as a blogger. I start a blog...and get sick. Trey had the flu Super Bowl weekend through Weds of last week. And yours truly took care of her ailing husband. Big Mistake.

Friday through yesterday, I was down with a 101 degree fever, chills, head stuffed like an olive. I will say it was a glorious break from non-stop childcare, but even that didn't give me much solice as I tossed and turned for some comfort! I was a bit overwhelmed how much my son grew in three days, though!

Anyway, it's Monday, and I'm back...hopefully. And here's a small prayer that Sean's flu shot this season holds out and he doesn't get sick, too!

I'm such a big girl now!

So, I decided it was time to join the cool kids and get my own blog. I have a blog on my MySpace page that I've only used once, because I'm much too busy searching for cool blinkies. So we'll see how this goes. I had hoped my first post would be so poetic and moving that all readers would drop to their knees in awe of my intellect. Alas, it's almost 10pm, I'm tired and want to go snuggle with the hubby on the couch. This is my life.