Eckenrode Family

30 Days of Happiness: Random Notes

::  Waking up to this face.

:: Seeing Ben giving Miles a lift.
:: Overhearing this conversation between Miles and Ben while they were playing at a neighbor's house: Ben: "I love you Miles." Miles: "I love you too."

30 Days of Happiness: Ordinary Weekends

There was a lot of happiness around our place this weekend. My man can cook. And bake. And look good while doing it… Don’t hate me.
16 jars of ketchup/bbq ssauce, 4 jars of salsa verde, 2 loaves of banana bread (by the way, you can store browning bananas in the freezer until you’re ready to use!), and a scrumptious beef and bean taco meal from the crockpot. Like I said – a lot of happiness around our place this weekend!

The boys experienced a large dose of happiness as well in the form of flubber.  
 
Oh, and mowing like Daddy.

30 Days of Happiness: Sewing for Our Home

When I first began sewing, the things I gravitated toward were bags (to feed my obsession) and clothing for myself and the boys. Now, I’m beginning to see the joy of sewing for our home. It really is quite satisfying to add warmth to the rooms of your home by adding something made from your hands. When I saw Anna Maria Horner’s Good Folks line I knew I wanted to make it into a blanket.
 
The back is organic cotton from NearSea Naturals which is heavenly soft. In the middle is a bamboo and cotton batting. The combination of the wonderfully bright fabric on the front, the lovely soft organic cotton on the back and the bamboo batting makes this blanket my favorite project to date. I know I’ll be cuddling up under this blanket happily all fall and winter. The best part is that I have a lot of scraps of the Good Folks fabric that I already have lots of plans for. With a bit of it I made this mouse pad from Homemade Home.
The mouse pad took literally about 10 minutes to make. I can’t tell you how satisfying it was to throw out our old one!

30 Days of Happiness: Thoughtful Gestures

After almost 5 days of missing daddy, the boys were ecstatic to finally see him. He arrived shortly after they went to bed and Miles came out to greet him. Ben was sleeping so he didn’t get to see him until this morning. Ben woke up too early this morning, so I brought him into bed with us. So, Ben’s first sight of his daddy was this early morning cuddle. I got up and left the two of them in bed sweetly cuddling. This image alone brought enough happiness to sustain me the rest of the day. When Ben realized daddy had to go back into work this morning, he was devastated. He cried like his heart was broken… So, Miles immediately went to a folder where he keeps pictures and offered Ben a picture of daddy and this seemed to brighten Ben’s mood.
I can’t tell you what these little gestures of thoughtfulness between brothers means to me. It’s really beyond words.

30 Days of Happiness: Free Time

It was one of those days without a schedule. We woke up and lounged around in our pajamas and enjoyed each other’s company.
 
After naptime we got together for some more unscheduled fun.
 
 
We set off for a walk in our neighborhood and went to a new playground that was just erected. With all of the talk of back to school, I’m savoring all of this togetherness that we have for one more year and all of these unscheduled days. This is such a sweet time for our family and I know how lucky we are to get to spend full days together.

30 Days of Happiness: Mindfulness

One of the first projects I felt compelled to do after leafing through Homemade Home was what she refers to as the healing basket. Our basket, which we’ve been referring to as the care basket, contains 4 silky eye pillow (with rice and lavender in them), magic spray (water, lavender, rose and chamomile), various essential oils, fun band aids and hand lotion. When someone in the family is in need of some extra attention we’ve been pulling it out and tending to them. Today both boys relaxed on the couch and let me give them hand massages.
 
I think we all three enjoyed the time we spent giving and receiving our hand massages. This basket has been a great excuse for us to slow and down and tend to each other’s needs and I hope a true lesson in mindfulness.

30 Days of Happiness: Old Friends

Today it made me happy to look in the back of the van while we were sitting on the side of a freeway, waiting for AAA to come fix my tire and see my 2 boys eating snacks. I thought of all of the things that could have happened but didn’t and I was grateful and happy. We even made it to my friend Denyse’s families’ lake for a get together with another old friend and her children. Lining our kids up for a picture, I was so happy to be there and remember why I loved these women and to realize that we are three very lucky women with some pretty happy lives.

I’m joining Bluebirdaby for 30 Days of Happiness.

Summer in a Jar

We are savoring the end of summer by:

::  Canning, canning and more canning






::  Our first backyard campout in grandma and grandpa’s backyard with the cousins where the kids enjoyed sparklers












This weekend Miles embroidered his name and enjoyed it very much. Next, I hope to get him on the sewing machine.

"I Be Daddy"

It was one of those days filled with wonderful moments.
:: Morning smile
:: Miles has learned to button his shirt! He comes downstairs every morning fully dressed and always with a button down shirt if possible.
:: Ben grabs his mower as soon as daddy does. He's very serious about mowing the lawn and even has a motor noise.





:: Miles wheel fell off of his bike and Ben grabs it and says, "I fix it. I be Daddy."

Morning, Noon & Night :: 2