For The Love Of Fridays

So For the Love of Fridays is another of those themed daily blogging things. You just say what you're loving that week. Bonus points if you include pictures. Turns out I really might need the structure of someone telling me what to write in order to actually get myself to sit down and write.

So here's what I'm loving.

The new diet coke cans.

I've determined that Sweet Pea is on a mission to suck all the joy from my life. Part of Operation Joyless Mommy includes an uncanny ability to cry whenever I manage to steal a few minutes alone with The Greatest, the refusal to eat anything unless she herself has put it in her mouth (seriously, I can put food in her mouth and she will spit it in her hand then put it back in her mouth), and an intolerance for caffeine. As I'm still nursing Sweet Pea this means I must resist all caffeine temptation. Well, I can drink an occasional Diet Coke, but I do so only when I'm prepared to spend the next sixteen hours entertaining Sweet Pea. It's such a little pleasure, and she is STEALING MY JOY! I refuse to be completely deprived. Caffeine-free diet coke in a glass with crushed ice and a shot of lime juice is not a bad alternative. If God is in fact anti-caffeine I'm fairly certain this is what will be served in heaven. But to bring this all around to my original thought: I'm loving the snowflake can. It makes me smile every time I pull one out of the pantry.

I'm loving the baby gate.

I know we've got four children, but believe it or not, this is the first year we've ever gated off the tree. And it is genius. GENIUS! The amount of time I spend chasing children out of the tree has dropped substantially. I haven't found a single ornament in the fridge. No random bulbs in the couch cushions. The tree has been up almost a week and I haven't had to put the beads back on it once. In fact Sweet Pea hasn't really noticed the tree past the first magical lighting. I can't count the hours I've gained not having to re-trim the tree every few days. Words can not express how happy this makes me. I cry every time I think about it.

Speaking of random things in random places, I'm loving living with children. How else can I explain going to wash my hands and discovering this on the faucet?

I'd love to know the thought process that led to that.

And I'm loving the Holidays! We've got a houseful of friends and loved ones coming on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. I'm so looking forward to it. Yes, I know Thanksgiving is Thursday, but when your Husband is cop, and his friends are all cops and firefighters you celebrate when you can. I'm loving Holiday decorating, and pouring over recipes to make a menu, and mentally Christmas shopping. I'm truly enjoying this time of year for the first time in a long time. And I'm loving that.