I love C-Mo's post! The other ideas were great too but I'm all about the bon bons, LOL! Seriously, though...one of the things that really makes me feel good is to smile and talk to the people I encounter when out and about. The cashiers at walmart usually seem a little surprised when I actually take the time to talk to them.

Im sure some of you know this since you all are so ood at reading pos and supporting everyone. (which is bringing joy to someone else). Is that God has blessed us with a surprise baby. She brings us so much joy! Her laughter and her sweet spirit are like medicine to tired hurt souls. But one thing that her and i do is to walk around the lake at our local park and feed the ducks. She absolutely loves this! I enjoy the special time with her. ( to bad its getting too cold). I loved a lot of the other ideas as well. I would like some hot chocolate or a french vanilla capachino while reading a good book. i love the neighborly ideas as well. A great way to instill character traits.Keep the ideas coming!

We live in the country so we take a walk down the road. Enjoy the birds, flowers, butterflies, breeze, fresh air, sunshine, etc.

Having a specific night of the week to play board games and another night to snuggle up and watch movies has worked well for us over the years.

On our movie night, we've done things like watched every one of the old Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies over a series of weeks. Sometimes we'll do a Lord of the Rings marathon (although I still skip a scene or two, and my kids are 15 and 13! LOL) For some reason, having me sit down with them, make them popcorn (on the stove, the old fashioned way) and just spending that time. . .they love it.

We have quite a collection of board games we've accumulated over the years. If you see a woman sitting on a thrift shop floor, with a game spread all around her while she counts to see if all the pieces are there. . .it's probably me, so do come over and say hello! (grin) When my children were small, I actually had a note taped to the TV screen. It read "Before you turn this machine on. . .have you read a book or played a game with your kids today?!?" We have lots of fun playing games, but I find that we tend to gravitate to other things if we don't have a designated game night. So we try to always have one.

Find something amazing to be grateful for each day. Share it with your entire family. This was what I shared yesterday. "I know that this morning you guys were bummed that I had to work today. It's hard for me, too, and I miss the days when I was home full-time. But you know what? I stopped for a small coffee on my way to the office, and I mentioned it was snowing in our town. Turns out the woman who was working at Dunkin Donuts is from here, too. I got to thinking how she drives the same 30 miles I do, on dangerous roads, and literally makes half of what I do per hour. I'm so grateful for this job I have, because it means I can work p.t. and make what some people get for a full-time work week. We are so blessed."
Jen

Move to Florida, since even a bad day here is better than anywhere else.....except maybe Hawaii.

Have a weenie roast over an open fire.
Take a long drive and enjoy the fall leaves beautiful colors.
Try not to take life so seriously even though it has been beating us to death lately. My daughter and I will sometime just act silly, make up stupid silly songs, dance, whatever.
Daydream. When times are really tough it is nice to escape to my own little world where things only go the way I want them. Great stress reliever, then I come back refreshed and ready for almost anything.

We got into this habit of eating dinner in front of the TV. Funny, 'cause we don't actually have "TV" since the switch over to digital. Before that we only had three, sometimes four, fuzzy channels, anyway. Ya know, with the rabbit ears and tin foil and standing just right - nobody move the wrong way, etc. We watch old classics like Bonanza, Roy Rogers, I love Lucy, The Honeymooners, G rated movies, etc.

We started eating in front of the TV because our kitchen table becomes the "dumping" spot for everything we don't have time to put away when we're running around chaotically. However, I realized I was always looking at the back of my kids' heads. I try as hard as I can to make sure the table is cleaned off for dinner. If it is not, we move it and "dump" it in a different spot during dinner.

My husband also reads a chapter of a book to the boys before they go to bed. We do games as often as we can, and sometimes just go for a ride down a road we've never been on - just so we can be together without being bothered. We still do movies at night on the weekends, just try to fit some other quality time activities in there:)