Happy Now--September 23

Here are some Happy Now moments from the past few weeks:

1.  PJ Party Family Story Time--Our family attended our first "PJ Party Family Story Time" at the library a few weeks ago.  While it felt a little short for the effort required to get three small girls there, the girls were undeniably thrilled with the songs and stories and fun excuse to push back bed time.

I love this picture because it captures sweet personality traits in Paige and Claire.  The little boy next to Paige would not leave her side, and I heard her whisper to him at one point, "I need some space."  Claire, on the other hand, wedged herself right in-between the two kids in the front and seemed oblivious to everything except what the storyteller was saying. :)

2.  Calendar Notes--I loved coming down the stairs after Darren left for work several mornings this past month and finding little notes from him left on our family calendar.  I so appreciate that he would take an extra minute to do something simple to remind us how much we're loved.

3.  Birthday Party Invite--The girls were invited to a birthday party at the beginning of September for a little boy in our neighborhood.  Watching the girls at the party, I got a little thrill thinking of all the exciting festivities they are now getting old enough to appreciate and enjoy.  We have a lot of fun years ahead of us!

4.  Visit from Nana and Papa--Nana and Papa visited us for a weekend in early September.  It is always so great to have them here.  This trip was special in that the girls got to take Nana and Papa to the theater to see their first big-screen movie.  The girls loved the popcorn, drinks, and the big screen, but ultimately it wasn't enough to keep them in their seats for the entire movie.  We left early, but still counted it a fun first!

This is what I got when I asked for smiles. At least Nana cooperated! ;)  

Claire slept through the previews but woke up once the action started.

5.  Making ice cream--One activity we didn't get to while Nana and Papa were in town was making homemade ice cream.  I dared to do this alone with the girls one afternoon about a week later.  The ice cream was delicious, and the girls were thrilled with the result (as was I)!

6.  A few years from now when the girls no longer allow me to pick out their school clothes, I want to remember how much fun I had with some back-to-school shopping when they were young!  Here are a couple of examples:

"Bookworm" dress and shirt with pencil bows (Paige had hiccups and, consequently, trouble smiling ;)

Two of my favorite things ;)

7.  "Yay school!"--The twins ask every morning if they have school that day.  When I tell them "Yes", I always get some variation of "Yay school!" or "I love school!"  It melts my heart and I'm so grateful that they both have that genuine response.

8.Writing their names--Every school day for the past couple of weeks, Paige and Jane have brought home pages on which they have practiced writing their names.  I LOVE seeing these.  Not only am I amazed that my little girls are already at the stage where they are beginning to write, but it is so fun to see their progress as their printing becomes more clear.  This picture is of Paige's second time writing her name and Jane's first.

9.  Comforting Jane--One afternoon a few weeks ago, I stepped out of eyesight of the girls playing in the living room.  Jane came running up to me a few minutes later crying with her hand covering a bloody mouth.  Her sisters were not far behind, and when Jane was too upset to answer my questions Paige stepped up to fill me in (Jane had fallen trying to jump from the couch to a footrest).  While Paige talked, I noticed Claire patting Jane's back.  Fights between these sisters are increasing, but I was touched by how they were looking out for each other in that moment, eager to comfort Jane and get me the right information.  I hope they can always trust their sisters will be there for them in times of need in the future.

10.   Splash Bash--Our community hosted a Splash Bash with the fire department this past weekend.  There was fun music and plenty of water.  That was all it took to produce very big smiles on three little girls!

There were large blow-up water slides, but the girls spent most of their time on a blocked-off street where a fireman was spraying water from the hose on his fire truck.  Darren was such a good sport and got right in there with them.

Hello Blogging World!

Hello!  I am so excited to be starting this blog!

Let me start by explaining my blog title.  I wanted this blog to be an archive of some of my favorite things. Darren and I are creating memories as the newest Myler family, so I know that there will be many new favorite things to share as I journey through my new role as wife and beginning homemaker.  There will also be many old favorites.  When thinking about some of my favorite things outside of the obvious, three "p" words came to mind ... and who doesn't love alliteration?  Here's a quick description of why the words in my title are three of my favorites:

Pencils:  For as long as I can remember, I have loved office supply stores.  My desk at home is filled with post-its and notebooks I have yet to use but couldn't help buying while perusing such a store.  Choosing a career as a teacher has given me ample opportunities and excuses to stock up on these supplies.  One of my favorite things to buy, however, is a pencil.  Though I have nothing against mechanical pencils, which can be very handy and reliable when stocked full of lead, my preference is for the old fashioned, needs-to-be-sharpened, #2 pencil.  The image of a pencil cup on the top of my desk filled with pencils sharpened to a fine point with full, pink erasers thrills me to the bone.  Few things make me feel more academic.  Below is a picture of me on a recent trip Darren and I took to Keswick, England.  Keswick was home to the first pencil after graphite was discovered in its hills many years ago.  Stopping by the Keswick Pencil Factory and Museum was a must on our trip!

Pages:  Whether blank and full of potential or filled with someone else's story, I love pages.  They could be pages in a personal journal, published book, magazine, or newspaper.  If filled with good, wholesome, insightful writing, I love them all!  Along with this, I believe we all have the desire within us, no matter how deep, to create something.  As someone with little to no artistic talent, a pencil and a few blank pages provide an exciting avenue of creation possibilities for me.  Whether or not anything I record on this one, long, electronic page will be worth reading has yet to be known.  What I do know is that words can have an extraordinary impact and our ability to record those words on pages is truly a gift.

Petals:  My love affair with petals, and the flowers they come from, started at a very young age.  I remember my mom surprising me with a small vase of roses from our yard from time to time.  She would never present them to me herself, but would leave them secretly on my bedside table or bathroom counter.  They would immediately brighten the room and fill the area with a delicious tint of their fragrance.  Years later, I gained a true appreciation for petals (and plants and trees and shrubbery) when I first visited England.  I was moved by the relationship the British seemed to have with nature and the effort they put into preserving their beautiful parks and gardens, often incorporating a lovely variety of petals.  When I returned to England a second time for a BYU study abroad, I worked on a paper that would eventually become the foundation for my college thesis: the social role of English gardens in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Frivolous as the topic may seem, I was hooked.  When Darren sent flowers to my classroom early in our courtship so that my students could "see me smile" and later surprised me at my apartment door after driving 3 hours to see me holding a red rose, I knew he was a keeper.  When deciding what to have guests throw as we left the reception at our wedding, we left the rice behind and chose, you guessed it ... petals!