Are the boys gonna kill me?

There are a lot of advantages to being the only girl in the house.

• I get to be the Princess of the house! No other gal takes the "Special Girl" place in these boys hearts right now but me. Yes, I know it's not always going to be this way, but for now, I'm lovin' it!

•  I get to spend any "makeup/pedicure/manicure/hair salon" portion of the budget solely on Moi!

• I'm the only one who gets to use the "It's that time of the month...go easy on me!" excuse for emotional outbursts, hormonal issues, or just plain crabbiness.

•  I don't ever have to fight with anyone over sharing my clothes or shoes (and that's a good thing because I have a few pairs of Lilly's that I wouldn't let me best friend borrow). Just kidding. Not really.

However, with the good, always come some bad.

• I literally wanted to wear a Haz-Mat suit around the house this morning after both bathrooms were "initiated" and there was a burping/farting contest going on in the kitchen. Ew, gross.

• I don't have anyone interested in going shopping with me on the weekends (I guess that's probably a good thing, it definitely saves me $$) which makes me sad when I think back to how much I used to look forward to my weekly Saturday shopping excursions with my own mom.

• No one in this house wants to wear anything preppy, or cute, or pink, or monogrammed. Well... the little guy can't quite communicate this yet, so he gets stuck in a lot of monogrammed clothes, but I'm sure the day is soon coming when he'll protest as loudly as the others.

Which brings me to the point of this post...

I've been strongly scolded asked nicely by Brian to please stop putting Parker in John-Johns. And I get teased by most men when I dress the boys in matching outfits. Fortunately for them, finding matching clothes in sizes 3T and boys 10 is getting really, really hard.

But don't worry...a woman on a mission is never deterred by a challenge.

See what I found today?

Come on... that's just too cute!

We're ready for the beach!

 So even though there are times when I'm sad that I don't have a little girl to dress up, take shopping, and share all the girlie things with in life, I've got plenty of friends with girls who are happy to let me shop for them! 

And I am pretty sneaky when it comes to slipping in a couple matching items here and there for my boys. Now, if only I could convince them to wear a pink Polo every now and then! :)

What's Making Me Happy Right Now...

Thought I'd share some random things that are, collectively and individually, making me happy right now.

My house is appropriately decorated for one of the most important holidays of the year.

 Love the American flag. All that it stands for. All that it says about being proud to live in this country and enjoy the freedom that we have.

Parker loves those twirly yard ornament things. Several houses in our neighborhood have them and he always wants to stop to twirl them. So... I got him one. He loves it. Sometimes it's the little things that make me happy.

I also changed out my Spring banner in the family room. As much as I loved it, it was time to say goodbye until next year and break out the red, white and blue.

 I downloaded this "Freedom" banner for free here. You just have to print it and assemble it yourself. I put mine on a long piece of red satin ribbon using hot glue. 

Voila! Instant Pennant Banner! (Insert happy dance for both free and easy banner!)

You can download the subway art that I have framed by going to Google Images and searching "Memorial Day Subway Art."

 I'll save my real homage to our Veterans for my Memorial Day post. I have a lot of thankfulness to write about. Stay tuned.

Another item that is making me very happy is...

 The Carter's Store.

Almost everything is on sale. I can usually find good clearance deals, and they have matching clothes in both 7T and 18 months. I can't wait to see my two little men sporting their new duds this Memorial Day weekend! I love matching outfits. Call me lame. I don't care. I think it's adorable. And until Payton protests, I'm gonna do it. So there. :)

Fresh baked cookies waiting for Payton when he comes home from school.

 I guess it's one of those weird Mom things, but I want him to have a memory of coming home from school every once in a while to the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. He gets so excited when he comes inside and sees them on the counter.

It makes me happy watching him stand over them debating which one is the biggest, has the most chocolate chips, and will taste best.

BOGO at Publix.

I love it when something that I really don't want to buy goes on sale BOGO because then at least I feel like I'm getting a deal on it.

Apparently these muffins are a hot-ticket item in the cafeteria this year. Payton has asked me to buy them for several weeks now, but I hate spending money on such highly processed, sugar-filled, junk food.

Then I decided, hey... it's almost the last week of school... let the kid enjoy a little treat and feel like he's the King of the lunch table for once.

Stickers.

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Such a small thing. It only cost $1, but man, these stickers are going to make Parker so happy. He loves his Pooh Bear and I have grand plans for these babies. Makes me happy just thinking about it.

What's making you happy these days? Please share in the comment section. I'd love to hear from ya!