Happinessprinciple: A new day

I have two friends that write blogs and they have for a long time, I have never been a journal-er but have always wanted to be one. So as I sift through my friend's documentation of day to day life, I sit there and think "I wish I had one" and "this would be so great to write down what goes on my my girls life as they grow." So today is a new day and I have decided to begin my own. We'll see how it goes, I know I have to make a commitment, but I think I am ready!

You may wonder why I use Happiness Principle as my blog title/username and I think it is a cool thing to talk about. My husband, John has an undergrad in Political Science and a few years ago we had a talk about Utilitarianism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism_%28book%29. Sounds crazy to sit around and talk about this but really, as thirty-somethings who have been trying to figure the world out and better understand how we want to live our lives and raise our children, we used the stuff we learned in school to give us a little understanding in real life.

So anyway, the understanding is that the Happiness Principle is a moral that if the thoughts and actions you put out in the world are positive, those actions will promote happiness in your life and if your thoughts and actions are negative then, then guess what? You probably will not find yourself in your "happy place..." So this is how I try to do it...and I try to teach my kids about this cause-effect relationship to the world. We'll see how this goes...

Yesterday was Hannah Jane's birthday. She turned 4. I thought this would be a good occasion to begin writing about the progression of their lives. I always try to remember the funny things they say and do, but with all that sweet-n-low I have used over the years, my "momery" begins to fail me. John says that sweet-n-low's ingredient of saccharin, he is convinced that it contributes to short term and long term memory loss...although it may be better contributed to extra curricular activities of my youth. Nonetheless, I will continue to consume sweet-n-low and love it because it really is the only chemical I put in my body, the last vice I will hold on to! http://www.sweetnlow.com/about/songpopup.html

So Hannah's Birthday...

The day went perfectly really. She said she wanted a princess party at home. So for the last month, we have worked to get ready to be princess-ified. We all had something princess themed to wear and it was convenient because I went to the Disney store and found a ton of stuff on clearance after Easter. Hannah had a beautiful dress and sweater with princess flip-flops. Ella Sue had a purple dress with fairies on it with shoes to match

Maddie had a Snow White tunic and leggings to wear. She also got flip flops and I told her not to ruin them until after the party, but that didn't really work out. She wore them like two days before and the little rhinestone thing fell off. I had a cool shirt too, normally I am not the type of woman to dress in anything from the Disney store but they actually have some neat stuff. I wore this shirt...

John also

got a Grumpy shirt, which I thought would be appropriate for him but the stinker somehow forgot to put it on. He wore a KU shirt instead, fancy that. John and I worked hard to clean the house for several days before the big event. Having about 30 people over it a great excuse to spring clean!

She had a great time, the kids jumped on the trampoline

and just played in the backyard.

Papa Bruce and MeeMaw made her a beautiful barbie princess cake. The food was great. Jason's Deli We ordered pinwheel sandwich trays

from Jason's Deli which were a big hit. We had hummus and pita and fruit trays (that I made since it is much cheaper to make trays on your own). We had veggies and salads too, Hannah ate a ton of broccoli as usual, with ranch dripping off.