The Life for Me

When I was small, I wanted a dog,
I wished I was Irish and loved to play pogs,
I dressed up like a teacher, an astronaut, too.
The world was wide open with so much to do!
I dreamed of my future and what it would hold,
When people asked what I wanted to be, they'd be told
A teacher, an Indian and maybe a chef,
Perhaps a house builder but for sure not a ref.
Being a professional athlete would be so fun,
or maybe an archeologist working out in the sun.

All of these things would be great, that's for sure,
But number one on my list I want even more,
A Mommy! I'd say, is what I want to be,
The life of a Mom is the life for me!

Now as I look into the eyes of my son,
I know that I am the lucky one.
Each day bring challenges, laughs and tears,
And I look forward to the minutes, the weeks and the years.

Motherhood is amazing, I can't even explain,
It's an exciting adventure on brand new terrain.
Handprints on windows, sticky food on the floor,
slobbery kisses and the first time he signed "more,"
Tiring nights, temper tantrums and falls,
Playing with cars and loving to throw balls,
Tickles and tackles, high fives and hugs,
Head bonks, colds and trying to eat bugs,
Giggles and smiles that melt my heart,
Trying so hard to climb out of the grocery cart,
 First words and first foods, nothing compares,
To a hug and a kiss that shows you he cares.

His tiny hand in ours and ours in the Lord's,
Each day is a blessing , and we're never bored,
Being a Mom is my dream come true,
There's nothing else I'd rather do.

My Mother

It took my mom a long time to get me from Heaven. My guess is that I was too scared  to go or else I got distracted by something shiny while standing on the Saturdays Warrior style launchpad. Either way, I am grateful my mother wanted me badly enough to not give up.

I was supposed to be named Kalonni. Then I came out looking like a pale, hairless rat. You can't give a translucent baby a Hawaiian name. So instead, my mom named me Erin; one half of her most favorite "twin names". I am grateful my mother named me a four-letter word so I could learn to laugh at myself, rather than commiserate on what could have been.

As a toddler, I was a daddy's girl. I am a legend in Iron County for interrupting the fair parade with terrified screams of hatred and resentment towards the evil float that took my daddy away and locked him up in a paper mache jail house. I am grateful my mom encouraged me to love my dad as much as she did so that I could understand that a real man is much more than rippling muscles and loads of cash. {Not that my dad doesn't have rippling muscles!}

During my first dance review I rubbed all of the makeup off my face because it was so itchy, I have  a serious aversion to lace, and I will always pick tennis shoes over high heels. I am grateful my mom taught me that being a lady is more about how I act than what I wear.

Most Saturday evenings I would catch my mom curled up with a good book. I would join her and then my brothers would join us, and we would sit, contentedly, reading the night away.  I am grateful my mother taught me the importance of reading and learning and exploring the world.

When I was twelve, I was assigned to give a short talk in our ward. I was terrified. I cried on the way to church, I cried as I sat through the opening exercises, and I cried through my entire 30 second talk; but I gave the talk. I am grateful my mom pushed me to exceed my own expectations, and I am glad she cried right along with me from the audience.

My high school friends would always beg to come over to my house because they thought I had the cool parents. I was always under the impression that "cool" parents didn't do hand-checks during movies; apparently I was wrong. I am grateful my mom taught me to always remember who I am and whose I am, especially when it's not cool.

During my Sophomore year of college, a paper I wrote for my English class was selected to be published in a campus journal. I was also asked to recite a small section of my paper at a reading. I am grateful my mother supported me enough to drop everything and drive two hours just to hear my two minute reading.

The weekend of my wedding, my mom helped me pack up my room. We tossed stuffed animals, trophies, thank you notes, and pictures into boxes, talking and reminiscing about my childhood. Then we both cried. I am grateful my mom was my best friend and chose to lovingly bestow that title upon my husband.

Now I call my mom nearly everyday. Mostly I ask her how many teaspoons a recipe calls for or how to remove pudding stains from a blouse, or I just whine about something inconsequential. And, I am grateful my mom always listens and agrees with me and then tells me how life really is.

I am me because of my mom and the lessons she taught me. I understand that sometimes blessings take awhile and that it is much better to laugh at yourself - even when you look like a rat - than to think about what might have been. Most of the time, I can act like a lady. {I'm even wearing mascara AND  lace right now} I value my education and know that everyday holds a new lesson. Public speaking isn't scary anymore, in fact, it's kind of what I do, but I know that when I do face something scary, my mom will be right there, crying along with me. I recognize that loving and supporting my family should always be most important. I have my faith, my wonderful husband, my morals, and my drive because of my mom.

Because that is what moms do. Moms embarrass us and make us do the things we hate. They support us even when we are being difficult. They pray for our success and they wipe all our tears and they fight away the monsters under our beds.They love us unconditionally, everyday and just hope, with fingers crossed, that we are learning the lessons they are trying to teach.

When I was little, I wanted to grow up and be a school teacher. Now I want to grow up to be just like my mom.

Happy Mother Day!

          Hugs, 

                  Erin

Monday Smile Challenge

Monday is almost over, but have no fear...Smile Challenge is here!:) 

We recently found out some great news at our house.  Little Man is going to be a big brother!  We are very excited, {and taking all the lovely sick and tiredness that comes with pregnancy with a smile}because we are thrilled! 

Motherhood is the best:)

Speaking of mothers...this coming Sunday is Mother's Day!  This week here at Happiness is Homemade, we will be doing a special "mom"-related post each day.  Let's start out with our Smile Challenge:

{Your challenge should you choose to accept it:}
Tell your mom or any mother figure in your life that you love her.  

Simple.  Profound.  Go for it.

See you tomorrow for day #2 of Mother's Day week!

One Saturday Morning

This weekend I finally had a Saturday to spend at home, no interruptions, doing whatever my little heart desired, and my heart desired some creativity! So, I broke out my not-so-super-secret-stash of craft projects and spent 6 beautiful hours creating flower arrangements, subway art signs, and a storage bin. It was heavenly! I plan to eventually showcase all of my little projects but I am most excited about my storage bin so today's tutorial focuses on creating quite possibly the cheapest storage bin of all time out of fabric, ribbon, an old cardboard box, and hot glue.

CAUTION: If your name is Heidi Stephenson or Martha Stewart you should probably stop reading now because the closest I came to sewing my fabric box was cutting the fabric. HOT GLUE FOREVER!

 The basic idea for this little project came from Pinterest (wasting my time since 2011) but alas, I forgot to pin the original tutorial so I made it up as I went along :)

Smooth your fabric on a large surface to measure and cut. By measure I mean eyeball it because that is how I roll. I did a practice run by stuffing the fabric into the box, making sure it was touching all four corners, and then flattening it out on each outside panel so there was about 2 inches of fabric on the bottom of the box.This helped me ensure I had enough width and length before I cut; then I cut.

After cutting I did another dress rehearsal (stuff fabric into box smoothing it out to touch all four corners, and holding it flat against each edge) then I started gluing. At first I thought I would glue along each inside/bottom edge and secure the fabric from the outside in but that was a major failure so I started along one long side, gluing about two inches of the fabric to the bottom of the box. I wanted my fabric to be ruched, so I folded it over in a few places and kind of sheered it on. I then stuffed the fabric in the box, flipped it to the other long side and glued that side down.

(I hope this is making sense)

After both long sides of the box were glued in place, I turned to the short sides. Because my fabric was a little too narrow to fully cover each short side, I folded it into an envelope shape (there has got to be a more official word for that) - kind of like the short side of a wrapped gift. I first glued down the top flap, ruching it a little bit as I went. Then I folded one corner piece over, so it was overlapping the top flap, and glued. Then I folded the other corner over and secured it. See, gift/envelope style. I repeated this on the other side taking care to make sure the fabric was secured on the bottom of the box and was as smooth as possible so my box sat flat. 

TA DA!

Since plain white boxes are boring, I added a length of ribbon about 1/4 of the way down the box for a little flair. Instead of gluing the ribbon in place, since you never know when I'll want to change colors, I used a short straight pin to secure it to the fabric, making sure not to go all the way through the box. A little bling on the end (diamond, flower, bow) would be fabulous is you are displaying your box the long way.

I think my little DIY bin turned out perfectly. It may not be Pottery Barn but it was so SO cheap, easy to make and I won't feel the least bit of remorse when I decide to redecorate. (Not to mention it's infinite potential to keep Hubster's school stuff off the coffee table and living room floor) I like it so much, I might be making a smaller version for our remotes; maybe next Saturday :)
 

Hugs, 

   Erin

Speaking of Pinterest (wasting my time since 2011), Pin this is you like it!

And, make sure you are following us here on the blog and on Facebook. 

And, before you go get distracted by Pinterest, leave a comment. We love comments, emails, Facebook messages, letter by Pigeon. Really, any correspondence just makes out day! 

Linking to FABULOUS parties:

@ A Diamond in the Stuff
@ Not Just a Housewife