Inspired by one of my favorite blogs I thought it would be a great idea to look back each week at those things that brought me the most joy. This is far too fitting for my blog to ignore the idea so I look forward to posting these each week!
1. Movie day with the littles
On Monday morning I wasn’t feeling well so I declared it a movie day and Mercedes chose Frozen. She brought up her Anna and Elsa dolls and we all watched it together. She did her best to sing along to the songs and hearing her giggle over Olaf is just adorable.
2. This Ninja Turtle
Jamison got a new TMNT sweatshirt from Grammy and Papa for his birthday and decided to “test it out” while playing on Monday afternoon. I asked if I could snap a picture and send it to them and this was the pose he struck. He is definitely my child!
3. Free Ice Cream Day!
Did you go to Dairy Queen last Tuesday for Free Ice Cream day? I wasn’t feeling super hot and the thought of bringing all five kids to a restaurant by myself didn’t sound like the greatest idea but I knew they would love the special treat. I sucked it up and “took a wrong turn” after leaving the school and surprised them. Thankfully they all behaved wonderfully and really enjoyed the special outing. Plus – free ice cream!
4. Rocking her to sleep
This little one. She skipped nap and then ran around outside for two hours and by bedtime she was just plum tuckered out. We listened to a couple chapters of Magic Tree House #17 as a family, talked about our days, prayed, and then I rocked her. It took about two or three minutes and she was out. I let her sleep in my arms for a good 10 minutes before attempting a transfer. All was going fine until I tried to shut her door and it squeaked. Oh well, the cuddles were fantastic.
5. Baking together
Mercedes loves helping in the kitchen, sometimes a little TOO much, and I hesitate when she asks because the kitchen is my happy place. It’s where I spend time and create to maintain my sanity (my secret is out!). But I can’t always tell her no, either.
I had some bananas that were in dire need of being used so turning on my brain I got all the ingredients prepped into individual bowls, opened the peels of the bananas enough so she could do the rest on her own, and then called her in. She LOVED getting to peel the bananas and drop them into the bowl, empty each ingredient into the bowl, and run the mixer with just a little help from me. It was a great experience for both of us!
6. Starting the celebration early
Jamison’s birthday was Saturday but I love spoiling the kids for birthdays so I wanted to start the celebration a little early. The local donut shop has “happy hour” for the last two hours of the day which happens to coincide with school pick-up so it’s like destiny 😉 Unfortunately Micah was stuck at work but I made sure to bring him home a couple. Jamison chose a Maple Bacon donut – a kid after my own heart!
7. Birthday Time!
He’s six now! I feel so blessed to be this boy’s mama. He is compassionate, thoughtful, insightful, and imaginative. He loves to help out when I need extra hands and is a great cuddler. I’ve been blown away with his kindergarten reports and he has neater handwriting than some adults. Never a shortage of joy with this kid around!
And as a bonus to this, here’s the birthday cake he asked me to make. He wanted a LEGO minifigure cake that looked like the minifigure he created for our LEGO family portrait so I got my “cake decorator” hat in place and did what I could. We were all pretty darn happy with the results!
Where did you find joy this week?