August Smile Makers

Smile!

I've needed a lift this month. I've had internal and external factors bombarding me, getting me down.  So it's great to take part in the Bear Loves Dove Smile Inducer Link Up just to help me focus on the good things in life, the things that fill me up, make me smile, make me happy.  Yes, it's good to do that.  We need to do that.  Don't you think?

Sun

Ray of Sunshine

Melbourne has sure put on some spectacular days lately.  It's still officially Winter, but boy oh boy we've been getting a great little taste of Spring.  And tasting Spring makes me think of Summer.  And all this sunshine makes me happy.

Playing

Kids + Dirt = Happiness

Lego Land

Being a Mum who doesn't work outside the home it's really easy to feel unproductive, like I'm not achieving anything.  So I put added pressure on myself to get certain things done.  It's mostly just pottering around the house stuff - making it so the house doesn't look like a tornado has just swept through it.  But it's too easy for my to fall into the trap of doing the chores, feeling like they need to be done before I can do anything else.  The other day though I realised, the best thing I can do right now is just play with my kids.  It doesn't matter if the beds don't get made, the dishes don't get done, the floors don't get mopped.  There is a finite period of time for which my kids are going to want to play with me.  Soon it will be over.  So these days when my son says to me, "Mummy, can you play with me?" instead of saying "Not right now" or "When I get this done" I am making a conscious effort to stop what I am doing, whatever it is that is distracting me from him, I am making a conscious decision to say "Yes!" and it feels good.  It's making me smile.  And it's making him smile too. And that's ace.

Mr Men Books

Mr Men Books = Silliness

Do you remember the Mr Men Books? I had totally forgotten about them until my daughter started bringing them home from the school library.  As a little kid I used to love them, I used to read them, and draw the characters and I would spend ages looking at the pictures of all the little guys on the back cover, coveting which book I might get next.  I gotta say as a parent I didn't really rate them, it never occurred to me to buy any for the kids - there are so many other great children's books out there.  But, you know what? The kids love these books.  My son in particular thinks they are hilarious, they really appeal to his quirky sense of humour.  And reading them with the kids I remember how they captured my imagination as well.  There is a really childish whimsy about them.  They make my kids giggle like mad, and that's making me smile.

Photography {&Colour}

All the colours!

Since going on the Blog With Pip Photo Safari earlier this month I have been taking a few more photographs which I am really enjoying.  Not only is the act of taking the photos fun, but it's what I get to noticing while I'm doing it.  And mainly that is colour.  I am so attracted to bright bursts of colour, and having an excuse to seek them out is fun.  And paying attention to colour is making me smile.

Baking

Yum!

I am no expert baker.  I bake simple things, no fail things and things the kids can help me with.  But I really like it.  The kids really like it.  And it wasn't so long ago that I didn't bake at all.  So the fact that I know have a pantry stocked with baking items and that we can decide to bake something without having to go to the shops first to buy stuff is super satisfying to me.  And being able to have a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate cake at three in the afternoon if I damn well please?  Yep, that puts a smile on my face.

What's been making you smile this month?

Listen to All for the Love of Sunshine Hank Williams Jnr

Images via One Small Life