I am fascinated how two different people can see the same thing and each have a completely different perspective.  One event, two different views.   One picture, two different scenes.  One argument, two different hurts.   How does that happen?  This picture of my legs is very simple but a reminder to me to be more open minded to other’s views.  I asked one of my children which pant leg looked better.  My child look at me and said “what’s the difference?”  It brought a smile to my face to see that this particular child didn’t see anything other than a pair of jeans on my legs and I saw one legged cuffed making the jeans shorter (a fashion trend!) and one legged un-cuffed.  Two very different views and that’s okay.

The new mermaid tail blanket that didn’t break the budget.

I am a firm believer of teaching kids the value of a dollar at a young age.  Emerson returned a Christmas gift that didn’t work out and asked if she could trade the item for something else at the store.  I said sure so she had $14 to work with. 

We walked and walked all around the store and she mulled over numerous items trying to decide what to purchase within her budget.  She kept coming back to the newest girl craze of the mermaid tail blanket for $20.  She did the math and knew it was outside of her budget.  As a mom we of course want to be able to give our kids everything they want to make them happy but that doesn’t help them in the long run if we give them everything they want when they want it.

As we walked by the fabric section we looked at the soft and pretty colors of fabric and I suggested that we could make a mermaid tail blanket for a fraction of the price and she would still have money left over to purchase other things.  We did the math on how much fabric we would need and the price per yard and calculated if we made our mermaid blanket it would cost $6.  Yes you read that right-$6.  She was sold!!

1.5 yards of fabric

She didn’t experience that instant gratification of walking out of the store with her desired item right then and there.  We had to go home, create a pattern and make the blanket which may have taken more time than she wished.  In the end she did have the satisfaction of having a unique, one of a kind  mermaid blanket to call her own and she is THRILLED.

I am so thankful to be able to teach my child to think outside the box and also show her the value of a dollar at the same time.  It is a hard lesson for us adults too and I was reminded in helping her with this project that I too can appreciate the value of a dollar and find ways to save money as well.

Emerson & Pugsley snuggled on the new mermaid blanket! 

Unfortunately I am not a fan of cooking but we have to eat!  I do like to try to eat somewhat healthy and save time and money by not eating out. Freezer meals have been a lifesaver for my family.

Wondering what to do with the holiday cards you received from family and friends?  Do you keep them or trash them?  Most of us love receiving the cards in the mail every year as the holidays approach and for some of us it reminds us of the letters and cards now referred to as snail mail that used to appear in the mailbox on a regular basis.  After the holidays are over and clean up has begun there is that stack of cards and pictures.  If you are like me it is hard to throw the pictures away.

I love scrapbooking and about 12 years ago I decided to make a book of all the pictures we had received in the mail.   This little book project has not only become become a yearly tradition to make but a trip down memory lane as we all love to look thru the  older books from previous years and see how all of our friends and family have changed over time.  We all change and grow in many ways throughout the year!

What do you do with your picture Christmas cards?

These are my lovely kitchen cabinets and this particular one is the pots and pans cabinet.  I love the dark finish and I love to open the doors and see all the pots and pans stacked in size order.  Frying pans on one side and stock pots and sauce pans nicely tucked inside one another.

In life things may not always be what they seem or what we want.  Yep- here is the real life, inside view of my pots and pans cabinet.

This drives me absolutely INSANE!  At one time the pots and pans were all nestled nicely like a perfect  cabinet and I didn’t even notice.  Now I have help emptying the dishwasher and have given lesson after lesson on how to complete a preschool task of stacking smallest to biggest size order and unfortunately I have come to accept it is an unteachable lesson at my house.

I have gained a new perspective and am intentionally choosing to find the “meaningfuller” joy in an untamed pots and pan cabinet.  I am choosing to open a door and brace for a possible escaping pan.  I am choosing to be thankful the to teach my children a lesson in responsibility of household chores.  I am choosing to be thankful the dishwasher got emptied .

I have also learned to let the messy cabinet go and focus my time and energy on relationships.  It is now a family joke and provides conversation every time someone opens the door.  I won’t lie, it still drives me a bit crazy at times but in the grand scheme of things it is a wooden box with the contents a bit out of size order and the pots and pans still cook our food the same.  I have had to change my focus and see what I can learn from a messy cabinet.    For me it has been a lesson of what is behind closed doors is not always what it seems.  Life is hard and messy and many people are messy, in tangles and confused on the inside.  We  often don’t know what is happening behind closed doors of people’s homes or behind the smile on a face or behind the kitchen cabinet.  My hope is that we can find peace with the imperfections of life and find meaningfuller joys in the things that matter.

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Welcome to Living Life Fuller!  This site is designed to remind us moment by moment to live life to the fullest and also a play on our family name to live Fuller!   My hope is that we can find  joy in the mess, focus on the positive in every situation and to rely on God all the time.  It is a real life blog and will showcase raw and vulnerable snip-its of life,  lessons learned along the way, how to start over and reinvent your life, inspiration, money saving tips, easy recipes, crafts and much more.   Life is not perfect and LLF is a place where we can navigate this journey together.  Come join us!

A little about the Fuller Family.  I am Laura, the mom of four amazing kids.  The kids are Gracyn (14), Cannon (13), Anniston (11) & Emerson (9).  Several years ago our life as we knew it and our family was shattered and torn about because of a unexpected divorce.  We were living life and having a good time, thought I was happily married, I was a stay at home mom, my husband was embarking on a new and exciting business adventure and suddenly overnight everything suddenly changed.   I found myself after 17 years of marriage as a newly single mom of 4 kids in a state of shock and was trying to navigate life on a journey I had not in my wildest dreams ever planned on.  I suddenly had do things and make decisions on my own and reestablish a career after a 14 year absence in the workforce only this time trying to balance my career with a busy family schedule.  Talk about a big learning curve and starting over in more ways than one!

I had to learn to change everything about my life yet maintain the stability and consistency for my children.  I vowed to live “Fuller” and find the positives in our situation.  It was much easier said than done in the beginning but has became easier over time.  I was truly blessed with the amazing people God has surrounded me with on this journey.  My hope is by sharing my story it will help others see the positive joys and “Fuller” meaning in the life that God gives us when our lives suddenly take another path.