Five For Friday: March 28

Wow! This week flew by, didn't it?! I swear today feels like it should be Tuesday, but I'm not complaining! Friday means it's time to stop and reflect and count up all the good: Five for Friday. Have you tried viewing your glass half full, always? How is it working for you? Other than a minor hiccup last week, it seems to be working out for me so far! 

• Remember in The Wizard of Oz (a favorite movie in this household) when Dorothy opened the door to the house and stepped out in to Oz and all that glorious Technicolor? That's basically what it feels like here. Winter has bid us (mostly-we did have three days of hail) adieu, and it's so GREEN! It's funny because other than the clouds, I don't really remember it being all that grey. But now seeing so much beautiful color, I guess it was! 

• With spring being here, I'm starting to see all sorts of sights that get me excited. Okay, so mostly those things involve food, but still. All the Eis cafes are reopening if they closed and opening their outdoor seating if they were brave and stayed open all winter. Fruit and vegetable stands are starting to pop on the side of the roads. Here comes the spargel craze! There's even a stand right across the street from our house. Which means I will be in very short walking distance to fresh strawberry goodies soon! Spring also means that festivals will be starting up again soon--the Easter Market in our town is this weekend. We missed them last year, since we arrived right after Easter, but I hear there are some beautiful Easter crafts to be found! 

• We are getting ready for London(!), which is a lot of planning, mapping,  and scheduling. (Sounds so relaxing, doesn't it?) Well, since the girls' birthdays are the week we will be there, I'm trying to plan something special for each of them to do. K is nerdy like her mom, and loves Harry Potter, so she was excited to learn there's a studio tour in London. What she doesn't know is that she is going to actually get to go on her 11th birthday. Josh didn't see the significance when I told him, but you get, right?! "You're a wizard, Kyla!" She is going to be so excited. Heck-I'm pretty stoked, myself! Little J really wants to see Buckingham Palace, so I'm thinking I'll arrange a tour. Or maybe a tea at Kensington Palace? Still undecided, but at least I have a good idea. 

• In addition to the London festivities, the girls are also having a party when we get home. Party planning is one of my most favorite things to do. I get some sort of thrill by letting them choose the theme and trying to pull it all together. Usually for them it isn't a current trend, so it's more of a challenge, which I love. One year they had an Indiana Jones birthday. They've done Spongebob (after Spongebob was really cool), Last year they had a Wicked party (as in the Broadway musical). This year they had chosen "Once Upon A Time" because they are big fans of the show on ABC. And then....they saw Frozen. Game over. They've decided they want to be like every other female under the age of 20, and pick a Frozen party. I'm all for it-I haven't seen the movie, but it looks pretty good from what I've seen. You'd think given its popularity, it would be easier to pull together than an off the wall choice of party themes. Wrong. Everything that could be remotely related to Frozen is sold out online and nowhere to be found here. Is it weird that that makes me happier? Having to work harder to make it fit the theme. Oh, and they've also invited the whole cheer squad to attend. Fun times!!

• We've transitioned PJ to his toddler bed with relatively little drama. The first day, he stayed in bed for nap and all night. It was too good to be true, though. The next night, in the midst of a pretty good sleep, I heard the pitter patter of little feet coming into my room. We had to lock all the doors from the inside, and I basically slept on the edge of the bed ready to intercept him at the door. The third night, I got hip and put a baby gate in his doorway. Luckily he's too, err..."bottom heavy"" to climb over. He went for his two year check up yesterday, and the doctor says he's in a good range for height and weight, but I have to cut back his milk so he'll eat more. She then proceeded to try and lift him, making a pretty offensive grunting noise in the process. He's only 28 pounds, but I'm almost certain that's more than half the weight of his sisters! She always said he has "advanced motor skills". Duh--he has two big sisters to dominate keep up with! 

Sorry they are through the fence--that was me being lazy :) 

So, as I sit here with Pharrell telling me to "clap along" on repeat at the demand of my dear boy, I want to know....What are your good things this week? If you haven't tried it yet, give 'the power of positive thinking' a go! It totally helps you focus on the best and forget the rest!