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!
It was pretty quiet around these parts because Micah’s schedule hit the heaviest part. He worked 19 hours last Monday and put in about 16 most other days. Even Friday when he figured it would be a 12 hour day turned into 22 hours including driving six hours round trip to a location out of town. Needless to say, he’s beat. On top of that two kids got a stomach bug and we were prepping for the first day of school. It took all our energy for every single one of us to continue to choose good attitudes. But there were some bright spots!
1. Fake food picnic
While Mercedes was recovering from the tummy bug she caught the boys and I enjoyed some nice, almost fall-like, weather on the deck. The big boys brought out a tray of food and we pretended to feast on all sorts of goodies. It’s really wonderful to see the little guys getting in on imaginative play with the older kids.
2. Neatly packed school supplies
One of my August goals was to get all the school supplies bought, sorted, and packed. I had lots to go through from last year (I really should have sorted through it in May!) before buying new things but I’m so glad I did instead of buying everything on the list right way. I found that we had almost half the items for each boy leftover! This definitely helped us save quite a bit of money. We plan on stocking up on items that tend to run out or get destroyed like glue, crayons, and folders when they get put on clearance in the coming weeks.
3. Triple chip (chocolate, white chocolate, & butterscotch) cookie bars
These bars are amazing! I’m sharing them tomorrow during the last food prep post but they are so fantastic that they definitely sparked some joy in our lives this week. I froze them and I’m not sure how long they will last because we all keep grabbing them for snack time! I mean, I guess that’s the point but I definitely need to make these again soon!
4. Learning from example
One of the jobs we require of our older kids is that they clear their space from the table, rinse their dish, and (if the dishwasher is empty/dirty) put their dishes in the dishwasher. The little guys see the bigger siblings do this and want to follow in their footsteps. They actually get upset if they don’t get to wash their dishes! I love seeing them so excited about something that so many of us dread because maybe, just maybe, we can keep encouraging them to have a good attitude about chores. Or at least we can enjoy it while it lasts.
5. First day of school!
The boys were very excited to return to school and my teacher heart loves that they love to learn. Both were excited to find a few friends in their classes this year. It’s a little quieter in the house with two less kids but the little ones all seem to be adjusting well and look forward to picking their brothers up each afternoon.
Where did you find joy this week? Anything exciting happen lately? Let me know in the comments!
