New and improved!

Like my new header? I have Stacy Conaway from here to thank for the original picture and my friend Tracey for the further design change. It's just the first improvement I'm wanting to make here and I'm open to suggestions from people. If I can change things, I will. Just don't expect any miracles, I'm still learning all this. I even borrowed a 'how to learn html' book from the library today. My second lot of happy news is that Riley's face today is no worse than it was yesterday! Hooray! Chocolate here I come! I should hold off though, as he had his lot of immunisations today, so I'm expecting grumpiness over the next few days. Don't want to potentially make it worse. Ok, here's something I put together last night. Why do this kind of thing, you ask? Good question. Maybe it could give you a few ideas (if you're in the same boat as me). Maybe it helps me keep perspective in all the crappy parts of the day that there are 'silver linings'. I'll let you work it out. This list is originally called “Twenty-Four Ideas about Creating a Happy Home” from the book “100 Ways to build self-esteem and Teach Values”. I’m going to whittle it down to ten – the ten that I like best. Find the book to learn the rest! 1) Hug More At the moment, I love snuggling Riley because Keira’s at the age when, if she doesn’t want a hug, she doesn’t much want a bar of me. And when she does, like when she’s sick or she’s had a tumble, then its very satisfying to know that your hugs make it all better. Hugs are the best. 2) Cook Together Still an area we’re growing into, however there’s nothing Keira loves more than making fruit jelly with Adam (we’re a house of sweet tooths). 3) Celebrate Art As shown by the painting shot, I like having crafty stuff around. Not that I’m any good at it! That said, I love art. I can’t wait until the kids are old enough so that I can take them to museums and stuff. Or Adam can get them into the graphic novels he so enjoys. 4) Share Special time before bed For us, this mostly applies to # 7 and #8 5) Play games together Keira’s thing at the moment is jigsaws. She also likes these toddler CD ROMs that Adam got. I was sceptical about their educational value until she started identifying letters of the alphabet by herself! 6) Dance and Play music together We have TV-off time in this house, when I put music on shuffle and anything could come up. The exercise value is a big plus! 7) Pamper one another I cream Riley’s face up for his eczema of a night and when Keira sees it, she whips off her clothes for a massage of her own. I have my mother to thank for getting her used to this ritual, but I wouldn’t change it. 8) Share and read stories together An oldie, but a goodie. I don’t really need to explain why, do I? 9) Have family and friends visit often Tricky for us, as we live a whole state away from most of our family and friends. However, I do invite friends over whenever possible. It’s nice to have a house-full. Keira gets so excited and she gets extra value out of her toys when she sees someone else play with them, and then she realises, “Well, hey, they’re not so boring after all”. 10) Show interest in one another Keira not only thinks its hilarious when Adam and I smooch each other, she runs in to join in on the action and it all ends up as giggles and cuddles. Great times.