What a great day!

     Yesterday we had a major breakthrough at the Harvey household, my youngest, Zachary, who is two, FINALLY pooped in the toilet!! I know some of you are probably one click away from something else to read, but to those of you who are still in the potty training struggle, you know the first poo in the pot is MAJOR! Especially if you consider all the mishaps we had up to this point. I won’t go there, it’s really crappy. Corny pun, I know, please forgive me. It was so awesome though! And it was a team effort, my oldest  son, Jamal, 23, spotted Zach squatting by the window, making the face. You know the face. So I ran over and said, “You need to go potty!” and escorted him by hand to the “big boy toilet”. About two minutes later, I heard the splash and we had a celebration! Probably over the top a bit, I was concerned I might have scared the crap back in him, but to my surprise, we had a repeat of the whole thing about a half hour later. Except this time I found him squatting behind the recliner in his room. I resisted the urge to post pics all over my social media outlets, but I think it might be okay to post this little video clip here. 

     All in all it was a great day. I was so excited to have my whole family sit down and EVERYONE enjoyed the slow cooker chili that I made. No one seemed to even notice that I completely improvised on some major parts of the recipe. I had already started when I realized I didn’t have the 28 oz. of diced tomatoes it called for. So I lovingly cut up about 30 cherry tomatoes and tossed them in. It didn’t quite look like 28 oz., so about two hours later when I went to pick up my daughter from school, I grabbed an extra 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes and tossed them in.  I served it up over white rice and almost everyone went back for seconds. Oh, well, except for my 2 year old who exclusively eats Honey-Nut Cheerios for dinner. Here is the original recipe, (for the chili, not the Cheerios) and some pics of the process. Thanks Betty Crocker!

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-family-favorite-chili/c6f4c4e2-8298-4d9d-8f21-d4ca19d35cb7

     With the extra time I saved with the slow cooker, Zach and I painted these little picture frames together. I have had them forever, I picked them up at Michael’s over a year ago wanting to make something artistic I could sell. It was so nice to redeem my failed project simply spending time with my baby. 

     Every day is a gift. Just enjoy the little things today. Even if everything isn’t going great, a great attitude changes everything. Remember that God loves you, and in that is something you can smile about! No matter what you are going through, it will change. Whether it’s good or bad, it will change, so why not focus on the love that never changes? Just food for thought from a gal who has given up on having a bad attitude, and I never really knew just how empowering it could really be! My world has changed for the better! While my family is still not perfect, I am so blessed and thankful to have each one of them and for this time that we are all together, living in Harvey’s Happy Home! 

A New Attitude for 2015!

     HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It’s a new year, a new month, a new day! I’ve decided to take on a new attitude as well. This attitude is one that does a whole lot less complaining, talking, reminding, and well okay, nagging. It seems that lately my husband’s biggest request after a long day of dealing with complaining clients is for me not to complain. I admit, I can be a whiner when I’m over tired and or too hungry. But of course, to my ears, it doesn’t sound like whining...I’m simply asking for his love, attention, and support, because as a stay at home mom, I’ve been working all day and usually well into the night as well. I deal with some tough clients too! They are very demanding at ages 5 and 2. Not to mention the needs of our 23 year old who recently moved back home and my senior age father who has been living with us for the past three years or so, after having some heart issues.  

     I am by no means intending to keep this new attitude in my own strength, through sheer will power, we all know how those resolutions end up. But I am fully expecting the grace of God to help me. After all, trying to get a verbally gifted (you can laugh) person like myself to keep my mouth shut is going to require some miracle working power! So how am I going to do this in 2015? You have probably already heard the solution, I know I have! But how often does doing what we know to do cleverly elude us? Okay so here it is, the earth shattering, world changing secret, I’m going to pray more. 

     Oh sure, I pray! But in my less spiritual moments it sounds more like this, Please God tell him to...Please God make them stop...you get the idea. So I am simply asking God to help me trust Him more, lean on Him more and already, only five days into the new year, my home is a happier place!!! I love to share with others what works for my family, with no promises that it will work for yours, but as encouragement that comes with a guarantee that if you trust God and continually ask for His help, He doesn’t love our family anymore than He loves yours and this will be your best year yet! So join me on our adventure of loving more, and simply believing that love alone can change even the toughest of circumstances, because after all, God is love, and love never fails!