Every week I like to take a moment to showcase the moments that brought me the most joy, but also keep it real with the chaos. The key is seeing that despite the chaos, there is still so much good! Sometimes it’s awesome activities and other times it’s a sweet moment between the kids. There are always moments that can fill us with joy if we choose to see them with a thankful heart.
A week that starts with sunshine and sushi is bound to be awesome, right?
The week started with Mother’s Day and the kids and Micah of course spoiled me rotten. I got handmade gifts from Parker and Jamison plus all five kids answered a silly “All About My Mom” questionnaire. Some said my hair is purple (which is has been in the past) and some said my hair is all the colors (which is also has been in the past) and almost of them said their favorite thing to do with me is cuddle. I’m a sucker for a kid asking me to cuddle on the couch!
Micah picked a few things off my ever running Target and Amazon wish lists. I got this tank top, this necklace, these bracelets, and this incredible hair oil. I got a sample of this oil spray back in January I think and fell in love. It smells amazing and detangles better than any spray I’ve ever used. I will forever love it.
The afternoon was spent at the park burning off lots of pent up energy. I walked around and asked each kiddo what they their favorite part of moms was. The overwhelming answer? Cuddles. To me that means that the kids just want to spend time with mom. I’m guessing my kids aren’t alone. Those minutes spent in your presence are their favorite – don’t miss out on them just to get one more thing done.
We of course ordered sushi for dinner. I picked out the non-customized party platters along with a couple extra rolls but we’ve decided now that we have to order our own to make sure there is enough of the rolls that everyone loves. The philly roll with cream cheese and crab is a favorite around here and one roll was simply not enough!

Monday was a non school day so we got a bit of extra time with the big boys at home. I had planned on making taco salads for a quick dinner before track and field day at school but my lettuce smelled sour. Considering the fact that I was still dealing with my epic cold I figured it was a bad sign and tossed it 🙁
Thankfully we always have some ingredients for super easy meals and I was able to pull together a pan of Pepperoni Pizza Pasta. Everyone carb loaded before heading off to run the races 😉
The boys were each allowed to pick three events at the track and field meet for school. Jamison chose the 100 meter dash, long jump, and softball throw.

He came in second in the 100 meter dash in his heat and earned a 1st place ribbon for his long jump over all the second graders!

Parker picked the 200 meter dash as well as the long jump and softball throw. I don’t think he realized just how far 200 meters is because he started slowing about half way only to have to speed back up. He ended up getting fourth place in his heat which is still great!
Tuesday brought us back to normal life. I managed to get the kitchen brought back to normal…
Only to mess it up again when I made homemade Orange Chicken and Fried Rice for dinner. But it was worth it because yummmmm 😉
On Wednesday I sat down at the computer to get some work done and I glanced out the window only to be greeted by this frightening sight. Eeeek!

I just can’t even. It was wiggly and kept lifting the top half of it’s body away from the wall. I snapped a picture to show Micah and then promptly smashed it to nothing inside a wad of toilet paper. Yuck. I’ve got the heebie jeebies just typing this story out!
We also hit a crazy high temp of 92* on Wednesday so I pulled out the sprinkler for the kids and after Jamison and I made Easy Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Pasta live on Facebook together. He’s such a good helper!

My new Stitch Fix box arrived on Thursday and I did a live unboxing on Facebook <–click to go watch it! — and I thought I’d have a hard time deciding what to keep once I put it all on. Ultimately I only decided to keep one piece which I showed off on Instagram Stories on Saturday. I’m really enjoying the surprise and fun of Stitch Fix and this box was so much better than my first box back in December.

Friday was a normal shopping day followed by homemade pizza and a movie. Jamison chose A Goofy Movie which we checked out from the library.
Saturday we had to go to Menards and pick out a new lawn mower. Bringing five kids to a store they don’t really want to be at plus both of us needing to be active in the decision making process is always a challenge. They climbed in and out of the lawn mower box area but overall were really great at being patient with us. We let them play with pool noodles for being so great 😀
And can I just say how incredibly thankful I am that we live in an age where we can look up reviews for products while standing in the store? We were trying to decide between two mowers – same brand, but one had a slightly larger engine and a push start. We thought the push start might be worth the small amount of extra money but once we checked reviews on a few sites we decided on the lower cost option.
Micah put it to work when we got home and it did a great job! Plus the handle was high enough for his 6’1″ frame that his back wasn’t aching when he was finished. I have done the majority of the mowing for the last year or two because he would be so sore from bending over to reach the handle! You’d think this would be an issue that would be fixed by now with so many tall people, but apparently not.
I ended the week with a celebration! Another MOPS year has come to an end so the leadership team got together for a potluck on Saturday night. We sat around chatting for nearly five hours. I love the bonding time that comes with being on leadership in this group. Some of my absolute favorite people on the planet I’ve met because of MOPS and any excuse to hang out with them is fabulous in my book.