There are a few things in life of which I am certain, based on repetition of circumstances. I am quite certain Lainey will ask to go to the bathroom the minute we’ve left the house. I am quite certain the item which I’ve been pining for will go on sale the day after I paid full price for it. And I am quite certain that after any given flight, my bags will be the very last ones to appear on the conveyer belt. The last one proved true when I arrived in New York last week and met up with the driver who was taking me to my hotel only to stand at Baggage Claim Station 5 with him twenty-five minutes later, watching every other brown suitcase except mine fall onto the belt and go for a spin.

“You sure it’s brown?” he asked.

“Yep, it’s brown,” I answered, “—with a dent in the side and a broken zipper. But it’s brown.”

“This one?,” he pointed out.

“Nope, I’ll tell you when I see it.”

“This one?” he asked again, pointing to a different brown suitcase—not dented, not mine—and clearly not getting it.

“Nope. Not that one either. I’ll let you know when I see it,” I told him.

Another brown suitcase was spit out on the conveyer belt, and my driver turned and waited for my signal.

“Not that one either. Listen, trust me. It’s going to be the last one. It always is.”

Sure enough, seven hundred suitcases later, my brown dented suitcase came rolling around the bend and I jumped and clapped and hollered “That’s mine! There it is! That’s my suitcase!” while I waited for my driver, half-sleeping now, to reach and pull it off the belt.

So you can imagine my surprise when, late Thursday night, I arrived in Fort Myers, walked down to baggage claim and saw my suitcase, already slowly revolving around the carousel like strawberry pie on a dessert turntable.

Three minutes later, I was cruising south on 75, home to my babies when Heidi called. She was there with our friend Laura, at the airport, waiting for my arrival with posters and flowers and smiles.

There’s another thing of which I am certain: When friends go out of their way to surprise me, I am quite certain I will blow it.

Heidi and Laura share my love for making the best of things. So they celebrated with random strangers at Southwest Florida Regional Airport.

*****

My dad followed our tracks when he flew in to the same airport in the middle of the night late on Thursday, just in time for my first book signing at our Naples Barnes and Noble Friday night.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was thrilled and humbled by the outpouring of love from both our community and readers that traveled to be there.

I decided to read a passage just fifteen minutes before the event, and so I huddled in an office next to the children’s department, skimming chapters for something that wouldn’t make me cry. And something that wouldn’t involve skinny dipping and champagne. I settled on the last pages of chapter 12, the story of Jeremy, the dear man who taught me something important almost two years ago.

It still made me cry.

Thank you to everyone who came Friday night to support the book, to say hi, to wave your flag of “living this big, purposeful life” with ours. Community is an awesome thing, and we felt it Friday night.

*****
By Saturday morning, the high energy of the week had been subtly and appropriately replaced with good calm energy, apparent from the very first sleepy smile that emerged from the crib and continuing with coffee refills, a big French toast breakfast and my dad’s initiation of the Hampton House Feng Shui.

Sleeping in Sunday morning

He does it every time he comes, really, and maybe it’s just a nice way of saying “please, get your shit together.” Like when I lived with my grandma in college and she was so disturbed by my overflowing laundry basket but didn’t want to offend me by actually doing my laundry for me, so she’d “pretend” she was doing her own load and just needed “a few” more things to make it complete. And by a few, I mean a full load of my stuff. Swear, she used to tap on my door and sweetly say, “I’m doing a load of laundry and have a bit more room. Do you have two or three or twenty-six things I can throw in with it?” And I would smile and hand her my basket and know it made her happy both to do something nice for me and to give her one lone sock some company in the washing machine.

Likewise my dad did a lot of “hey, this laundry basket would look a lot better if I emptied it,” or my personal favorite—“Seriously, why do you even have a dresser?” which led to moving the bookcase, sliding the toy trunk, opening up the living room furniture and rearranging, reordering, and reigniting the energy in our home.

Lainey puts curlers in Nella’s hair

Feng shui. Periodically, we all need it, not just in our homes but also in our routines and perspectives. This weekend, we switched things up. We got creative. We moved things around in our home, creating more light where clutter once dwelled and restoring peace and order where laundry baskets sat too long.

Motivated by an energetic week, we made efforts to reinstate dinner table traditions, barefoot walks outside and trips to the hot tub.

And I feel energized on this Monday evening, eager to find more ways to make little changes in our routines, simple renovations in our home to create more peace, more focus…good chi.

A friend recently asked me, “So, what’s changed since all of this?”–all of this indicative of a couple crazy busy weeks, a book, a dream of continuing to do what I love and connect with people in a really big way.

What’s changed? A few inevitable things, but really life’s the same.

Dancing with P.T. Jonah this week

We wake up every day, look around and make note of what we have. We smile and say thank you in every way imaginable. When things aren’t so great, we do what we can to make them better. And we make it a very important priority not to let life get stale.

We feng shui.

Lainey and her new dog, Chocolate Chip, for whom I stood in the longest line at the NYC American Girl Store to buy. It was worth it. This dog hasn’t left my girl’s arms. She’s even given her two baths.

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Friday Phone Dump from last week:

Friday Phone Dump photos are taken on the Instagram iPhone app (free) and dropped into a 12×12 collage using a photo editing software (Photoshop Elements works). I am @etst (enjoying the small things) on Instagram if you want to follow the feed.

*****

We are happy to welcome back a blast-from-the-past sponsor, an old favorite, Linkel Designs. Featuring colorful, handmade jewelry and an impressively stocked shop, Linkel is sure to have something for everyone. I love the vintage-inspired pieces and the whimsical details.

My new favorites? My red Large Statement Byzantine Earrings (lots of comments on Instagram). All of Linkel Design’s jewelry is modestly priced, so pick out a few for yourself and some extras for those you love.

Use Coupon Code KELLE for 10% off your order.

One comment on this post will be randomly selected to win a $50 gift certificate, courtesy of Linkel Designs.

If so inclined, please share some ways in which you can “feng shui” this week–what little changes can you do this week in your home and/or in your routine that can reignite good energy?

*****

Also, Target.com is offering another generous promotion for Bloom: 10% off Bloom and 10% off of one non-clearance baby apparel item, when purchased together. Use Code TGTCTVHV for promotion, valid until April 30, 2012 11:59 EST.

Spend $50 at Target.com, and Bloom ships free! And, when you use your Target REDcard, the book ships for free (plus an additional 5% off).

*****

Have a great week!

A couple weeks ago, with a little urging, Lainey agreed to put her shyness aside for a bit to sing “Happy Birthday” over the phone to her grandpa. We called from the beach at Isle of Capri, and I was thrilled with how willing she was to leave her sand castle for a few minutes to make her grandpa’s day. After the last “to you,” she skipped back to her pail and shovel while I finished the call and later conveyed her grandpa’s gratitude to her.

“Did you know how happy you made Grandpa just by singing to him?” I asked. “He loved that.”

Lainey smiled, thought about it for a moment and argued, “But I didn’t give him a present.”

“Oh, but you did give him a present,” I answered. “You gave him good feelings.”

Corralled by docks beside us and the gulf before us, we sat and continued to talk about good feelings right there on the beach–how things like Mickey Mouse pancakes, Hello Kitty stickers, red popsicles and sister hugs make Lainey happy and how beach sunsets, yellow sandals, daisies and daughter smiles make me happy.

The subject shifted to what we were ordering for lunch, but right before we stood up to put the final touches on her sand castle, Lainey stopped and asked, “Mom, can we talk about good feelings again?”

Sister’s figured it out–the fact that no matter where we are or what we are going through, good feelings make us happy, and whether or not we have sunsets, daisies or Mickey Mouse pancakes, it feels good just to talk about them.

Getting the hang of Jacob’s Ladder, a treat from the Easter Bunny

And all that can be summed up into a number of post tags, including but not limited to: Why I Blog, Unicorns are Cool, Look for the Good, Pick Up Your Camera, My Glass is Half-Full, Suck the Marrow, Buy Some Flowers, I Like Happy People, Can We Talk About Good Feelings Again?.

And how’s about another Selah for good measure? Selah.

Good Feelings in Easter Form:

It’s obvious I have this thing for holidays. I dig the whole late night preparations of stuffing Easter baskets and hiding eggs. This year though, I found myself completely exhausted Saturday night after staying up to dye eggs and still mending the tail end of a cold.

Egg dying by candlelight this year

I put the girls to bed with plans to stay up, clean the house, set the table for breakfast and Mary Poppins the place into dreamy childhood conditions. And then I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second and woke up Sunday morning. No baskets, no eggs. Chim-chimmeny charoo. I shot out of bed while the girls were still sleeping and gave new meaning to The Shakedown. It was…amazing. We took the egg hunt outside because there’s a far better chance of finding them there and somehow, we managed to still light candles, sip coffee, and dust up some bunny footprints.

These melted into warped puddles in all of about three seconds

The girls were thrilled. Permagrin thrilled.

I am reminded again that so many of our expectations in motherhood are more about us than our kids.

My girls like seeing candles at the breakfast table, wearing dresses on special days and repeating annual traditions that give meaning to our family’s story. But mostly, they just want our attention. Their Easter baskets had measly grass and one had a broken handle this year, but my girls had us.

And that makes a very happy Easter.

If all else fails, hide a golden egg. It’s flashy. It distracts from broken handles.

*****

I’ve been meaning to share details about my new camera bag. After a long search for a fashionable camera bag that holds multiple lenses, I found one close by. My friend Lola on the east coast has started Lua Handbags, a line of darling camera bags that dual function as purses. There is plenty of room and pockets for lenses, accessories, my wallet, a couple diapers, etc. and everything is well-padded and protected.

Lola is currently offering free shipping on orders. Check her out!

*****

And another wonderful story of paying it forward. My dear friend Elizabeth (her story is a beautiful one, and this mama teaches me about strength and love every day) has a very big heart for Reece’s Rainbow orphans. She works hard to raise money to bring them home, and Elizabeth has started an eBay auction of goods where all proceeds will go to the Archer Family’s adoption fund. I will be adding some things around our home to the auction soon (there are personalized signed copies of books up for grab), so keep checking for new items added (saying goodbye to my favorite color block granny square afghan for the cause…stay tuned).

And that brings me to the socks. Elizabeth knits socks for her friends. She says there is a prayer in every stitch, and those who are lucky to receive a pair wear them on special days. When we need it. A little sock club of inspired women has sprung up, and you can be a part of it too.

More socks will be added (she’s knittin’ her heart out) to the eBay shop soon. And every penny will be saved to bring home three little boys.

*****

Tomorrow, I’ll be headed to New York for a little adventure. Join the fun:

I’ll be back on Thursday to wrap up the week watching the stars from our driveway, taking late moon walks to put babies to sleep and settling back in to the welcoming scene of scattered toys and laundry cushions. Life is wild and interesting and full of opportunities to both be inspired and to give back.

If you’re in the Naples/Fort Myers area, I’d love to meet you Friday night at a book signing for Bloom. 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Waterside Shops.

*****

Stay Cool, Lylas. And Good Feelings this week to all of you.

“This might be one of the last days we can open all the windows,” Brett announced this morning as he forced open the sliding glass doors with one strong push, welcoming the breeze that had been knocking. The curtains lifted and I breathed in the evidence of spring as I sipped my coffee and listened to birds that called from the back woods.

Every window is open today, and though the tunnel of air that rushes through our home makes doors slam, dogs bark, and babies cry, mostly it just makes me happy.

Random Happies this Weekend:

A: The remainder of our friend Rebecca’s stay.

We drove her half way to meet her parents last night and enjoyed dinner with “Uncle Pat” and “Aunt Kay.” Nella and Uncle Pat had a cell phone stand off.

And we laughed because, after a week of admirable behavior and well-mannered children, last night my kids lost their sh@# at the restaurant. Both cried, Nella ate a crayon, Lainey tried to fish it out of her mouth and consequently nearly lost her finger. End of story. I did the whole “I swear, they never act like this” act even though, while I’m saying it, I feel silly disclaiming. We ended up playing parking lot games while the big people finished eating and all was well by the end of the night.

B: The Crocodile Talk

Lainey must have heard something about crocodiles because Sister refuses to go to the lake anymore. She swears it’s full of crocodiles–not alligators, but crocodiles. We got within twenty feet of the lake’s edge the other night and she came to a skidding stop. Despite Rebecca’s twenty minute negotiation attempt, we turned around and went home.

C: Lost Headband

On the way home, two blocks from our house, I found my headband hanging from a tree. And I remembered, two weeks ago I tried to scale a wall of trees and climb a fence to take a picture of the sun setting on a neighboring golf course. Almost broke my leg, lost my pants, and still didn’t get the picture. Oh, and I lost my headband.

D: Speaking of breaking rules, Little Sister tries to snatch flowers on walks. It is adorable.

E: Puddle Jumping.

F: Kitchen Dancing (this song is my new favorite. can’t get enough).

G: Quick Upcycle Craft.

Old unoriginal store bought art + vintage fabric scraps ($4 lot on eBay) + Mod Podge = New Art.

H: Friday Photo Dump

Friday Phone Dump photos are taken on the Instagram iPhone app (free) and dropped into a 12×12 collage using a photo editing software (Photoshop Elements works). I am @etst (enjoying the small things) on Instagram if you want to follow the feed.

I: I’m thrilled to introduce a very talented artist with whom I’ve collaborated to offer you something very special. Pippa Eccles is the brilliance behind Pippa’s Patchwork, a shop full of colorful, striking geometric quilts, all designed by Pippa and created with 100% cotton Kona fabrics. Pippa has designed a special line of quilts in collaboration with Enjoying the Small Things, the “In Bloom” series, and will donate 15% of proceeds from these items to the National Down Syndrome Society. In addition, Pippa is donating 15% of every sale in her shop to the National Down Syndrome Society from now until April 20th.

Several Instagram followers have commented on our “In Bloom” quilt, and I promised I’d soon share details.

It’s exquisite. A keepsake to pass down to my girls and a treasure we will enjoy and display for a very long time.

Take a visit to Pippa’s Patchwork and marvel at her handiwork and design. There are a variety of keepsakes and gifts–pillows, wall quilts, round quilts and more.

*****

Finally, I can’t thank you enough for all of your kind words this week. It has been a whirlwind experience so far, certainly made richer by sharing it with you. I smile with every picture on Facebook, with every story you’ve told. Thank you for sharing it with us. I’ve asked permission from several of you to use your photos–I’m tucking them away for a future project, but here are just a few from this week.

If you look for the good…you will find it.

Next week will be a fun, crazy adventure. More details to come.

Jazz Hands and Happy Weekend to you.