What Makes You Smile?

My sweet blog friend, Heathahlee, wrote a post last week about "What Do You Love in Your Home?" which spawned into a challenge to post about "What Makes Me Smile."

Today was the perfect day for this post because the kids have had a really rough day. (translation: MOMMY has had a rough day as a result!) It's naptime, finally a break for me, and it completely cheered me up to walk around my house with the camera to get a visual representation of things that make me smile in my home. I think I'll also read my list of 100 Things That Make Me Happy as a pick me up later today.

So here are some things that I love in my home and a few extra things that make me smile at the end...

The bookshelf in our office: this used to be a HUGE eye-sore, but has made me happy every time I look at it since I finally decided to clean it up and make it presentable.


A mirror my grandmother made for our wedding...countless seashells on this thing. Took her months to do.


Sconces above the reading corner in our bedroom. These were in the Good Will pile until my friend Donna helped me decorate after we moved in a few years ago. Now I love this little area every time I see it.

My scrapbook room; my own little corner of the house. After unintentionally taking months off from my favorite hobby, I finally printed some pictures this weekend and am back in the groove of preserving our memories.

The baking drawer in my kitchen. Yes, I realize how stupid this sounds, but when we unpacked from our old home years ago, my mom suggested keeping all baking items together (including measuring devices, cookie scoops, birthday candles, baking cups and sprinkles). Sounds simple enough, but I bake SO often, that having everything in one place makes my life just that much more efficient. And being organized makes me really smile.

Dress up bins in the kids' playroom closet. I finally got around to taking pictures of each bins' contents and putting them under the word labels that my kids couldn't read. Now things go back where they belong instead of necklaces on top of hats on top of tutus mixed in with sheriff's badges and princess shoes.

I miss seeing this picture as my blog header, but it was taken over a year ago, so it was time for a change. I just love it and I smile every time I look at it in our front room.

The entryway to our house makes me smile. I love how warm the colors are, the random sticks hanging out of the vase on the left, and the table and chest that my grandmother convinced me to take from her house were the perfect addition to this long, empty wall. And now the collage above my dining room table (seen in the mirror) make me smile!


It makes me smile to see my kids laugh and play together.

It makes me smile to see my family work together...on anything, really. Here the kids are painting a pole for Mike this weekend for a backyard project he was working on.


And last, but not least, my awesome new camera makes me happy each time I use it, every time I see pictures I've taken with it...really any time I see it on the counter, I get giddy inside. I love this thing.

What makes YOU smile?