Five Favorites - Reasons to Smile

(As you can see this baby is under construction, so please bear with me as I try to get all of the kinks worked out! Thanks!)

It's a miracle that I'm even attempting a complete sentence right now. Yesterday was a Very. Long. Day.  I know you can all relate.  Every day is long if you have multiple offspring and are the only one in the household who can turn on the stove or run the washing machine. (Sometimes domestic talents can really backfire.) But, just for my own sake I'm going to break it down for ya like this:

Wake up, get breakfast and pack water coolers for the breakfast crew.
Sweat.
Take kids outside to play.
Deodorant fail.
Make lunches for harvest crew.
Drive 80 miles around the country delivering meals and blasting the a.c. like a January wind.
Haul 4 kids and 6 trash bags busting with odored apparel to the laundromat deluxe.
Sweatin' ugly now.
Punch it home, mix up a magic potion for supper.
Back in the meals-on-wheels wagon to deliver the love.
Off to the pool with all 5 boys and my niece.
Rinse of day's sweat (I know, that's gross, but there's enough chlorine in that pool to sanitize Las Vegas).
Home.  Kids to bed.  Laundry to fold.  Kitchen to clean.
Bedtime.
Nope, just kidding. I think I'll stay up, enjoy the quiet and e-mail/blog until my brain shuts down at 1:30 a.m.
Now sleep. Oooo, pillow I love you!!
Crying.  Lot's of crying.  Baby snot everywhere.  Baby can't breathe.
Wal-Mart run.  Creepy Wal-Mart run.
Drive home fast because I'm still creeped out. Tiptoe in with goods for Charlie.
4:00 a.m. down.

Was that long?  I was really going for the Cliff's notes version there.  Short story tad bit longer: I started this blog last night, carefully selecting my 5 Favorites just for ya'll.  And, I had great intentions to rise at dawn and ride this thing into the land of publishing, but that was just a crazy lofty idea.  I just let dawn do it's own thing while I snoozed and the kids watched Lone Ranger cartoons (found in the $5 dollar creepy Wal-Mart bin).

This card is for ya'll.  Because I love you. Designed by someone who sleeps:

{Katy Daisy design on Etsy}

Despite being sleep deprived and knowing I should be getting something glorious together between two slices of bread for lunch, I'm gonna get this to you anyway.  Please, as always, in your goodness, overlook the typos, and poorly constructed sentences. Gracias!! You are so good to me!!

5 FAVORITES: REASONS TO SMILE

1.  Dwija's WIWS (20 Weeks Pregnant) photo

Do you know this amazing lady?  You really should.  She writes at House Unseen Life Unscripted, and shares her life and perspective with the world with hilarity, humility, grace, faith, and wit.  The best part? She's 100% real.  Really real. This photo of her makes me smile, because this pregnancy has been truly touch-and-go for Dwija, and it's a blessing to see her smiling!  Our family has been praying for her and her precious one every day.  She's going to be on bed rest until the angel arrives, so please keep her and her family in your prayers!

2.  Keith Urban's "I Just Need A Little Bit of Everything."

Keith Urban is probably our family's favorite country singer.  We always keep our fingers crossed at the CMA's hoping that he'll win an award, and always end up screaming at the TV when he gets beat by someone with 1/2 the talent.  This song is my summer groove - I love it!

3.  Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sliders

When I was a student at Franciscan University in Ohio, I used to drive to a hot-wing restaurant called Drovers in West Virginia.  It's a hot-wing-revolution.  I'm a huge fan of wings, but no one makes wings like Drovers. NO ONE. I'd bet my beer on it.  When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I thought I would give it a go, and was pleasantly surprised at how yummy it tasted!  I took the sliders out to the field for the guys yesterday, topped with melted provolone cheese and a sauce I made from sour cream, 1/2 ranch dressing packet and a bit of hot-wing sauce. (Call it culinary pride, but I gotta tweak the recipe!) I think they'll be great for football season, too.

4.  "O" Mission Gluten-Free Beer 

FINALLY a gluten-free beer that doesn't make me gag.  You can't enjoy #3 without an iced cold beer. And, after the day I had yesterday, surely you can understand why I cracked one of these babies open last night!  Most of the gluten-free beers I've tried are either too sweet and syrupy tasting, or ba-ba-bitter. This is light, clean and smooth.  It makes a 1/2 Czech, 1/2 German, genetically programmed to love beer mama very, very happy.

5.  Brotherly Love

I get to see the boys interacting in really beautiful ways together every day.  But, there's something really special about seeing the oldest and the youngest play together.  Benedict is very attentive to Charlie, and has a way of keeping him entertained, making him laugh and getting him to smile like no one else.  Last night at the pool he let Charlie dump buckets of water over his head again and again for the longest time without complaint.  My phone pics aren't very clear, but watching those two go crazy in the water was great fun!

Thanks to Hallie at Moxie Wife for Hosting!

More Favorites right here!