Dear Reader:

There is so much irony in life isn’t there? We spend so much of our childhood and youth longing to be grown up and have the freedom to do anything we like and go anywhere we wish…and then one day we realize that where we wish to be is surrounded with the very family that we were so anxious to leave and start a new life apart.

It is not the big things that start pulling us homeward but the memories of the little things we had pushed to the back of our minds that remind us that this was a place where sacrifices were made for us, rules were created for our safety and order in the home. Above all we felt loved there.

I have to admit that neither as a child, or mother of one (or three) did most rules work very effectively for me. In order for rules to work, someone has to be constantly enforcing them and in homes where there is just one parent…I found it very hard to enforce rules and spend time with the children and all their activities. Just loving them had to take precedence…keeping rules means consistency and consistency is one of the hardest things in life to accomplish.

Most of you already know I am a HGTV “junkie.” I have every show almost memorized. I remember when Nancy Fuller’s show Farmhouse Rules first aired…I never understood what rules had to do with cooking.

Finally one day I realized that in Nancy’s family (Hudson Valley) rules are called “recipes.” Now that made more sense to me! In a way rules and recipes really are quite similar…because in a recipe you still have to maintain order with all the ingredients needed to be successful with the final cooking product.

Somewhere in the midst of all these connections bouncing around me…I pulled up these Family Rules which made a whole lot more sense than the ones I came up with (that no one ever had time to read, much less act upon.)

Luke 16: 10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.

Isn’t it amazing how we can tell if someone is going to be successful by the way they treat their family and friends on a daily basis? If people mistreat loved ones and friends…there is almost a guarantee these characteristics will spill out in the work setting.

This next list I have decided to hang near the computer desk so I can reminded me of the ingredients I need in my recipe for success.

So until tomorrow…I am participating in two wonderful family “small things” in a global perspective but top priority among the loved ones attending. Will share more information on these activities tomorrow.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Don’t forget! Today is April 1! “Rabbit”!!!! May good luck follow you all month with lots of bunny sightings!

Plants and birds love Doodle’s yard so Mandy and I added another home for a lucky little bird for Doodle’s bird zone!

I decorated a box with pictures of Ireland for Tommy and Kaitlyn…in a little more than a month they will be off to see the Emerald Isle! Maybe they found some “gold” inside?