5 Things I Am Loving

Just wanted to drop in and share a few things that I am loving this week.

1. Having a little walker in the house – Brynn is officially walking EVERYWHERE! It is so cute to see her toddling and shaking her little booty as she walks. And if she wasn’t into everything before, she most definitely is now. I present this picture as evidence….she got ahold of her sister’s art kit and pulled out the red watercolor paint. What happens when you mix the water in your mouth with the watercolor paint? You make yourself a masterpiece…which she did. Oh man, she had it everywhere. Toilet paper, small toys, markers…you name it, she gets it. 

2. Read Alouds with Kids – I had hard from other parents about how great it was to do read-alouds with their kids, having their kids do something quietly with their hands while they listened. I knew it wasn’t possible with young kids, but now that the girls are getting bigger, I thought we would give it a shot. We decided to read “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” thinking that we could use watching the movie as incentive for finishing and listening to the book.

Ya’ll, the girls have LOVED it!!  Kinsley has hung on every word and Emerson has left a few times to play with something while we read, but overall, they were able to concentrate through many nights of reading the book. Last night, we watched the movie and they loved it too, I think probably more so because we had read the book. It was even fun to be able to talk to them about how the book portrayed what Jesus did for us and how Aslan was fashioned after Jesus. And they are excited that there are more books like this!

3. the book “Present Over Perfect” by Shauna Niequist – to continue with the book theme, let me share another book that I am reading right now and absolutely loving. This book is rocking my world. It is reiterating and putting into words so much of what I have been learning/feeling and is bringing to light so many bad tendencies and heart wishes for this high-capacity, productivity-loving, control-liking mama of 4. Woah. Just WOAH. I am only reading 1 or 2 chapters a day because I want to soak it in and I just don’t want to miss it or get it wrong. See all those colored tags at the top? Those are my “CAN”T MISS THIS!” pages – and I am not even halfway through. Seriously.

4. Doing “Dateboxes” with Ed – a while ago, we heard someone mention this thing called a “Datebox.” I listened as they described it as a date in a box that comes monthly (you pay monthly or you can pay quarterly or annually at a discount). They are usually filled with a food or beverage you make together, questions to get conversation flowing, a playlist to listen to, and some activity you will do together. We opted to get one month at a very discounted rate to try it out and were so pleased with how it turned out that we signed up for more months.

I LOVE that it comes straight to my house and I don’t have to collect or run all over to get the supplies we need – everything is included. I LOVE that we don’t have to pay childcare but can do something fun and different and creative from our own house. I LOVE that they change it up and yet, it has always been fun. I LOVE that it has challenged us to make sure we are having date nights and not succumbing to the “we are so tired that we don’t feel like doing that” temptation.

Some things we have done so far are making eggnog, truffles, playing a “Guess the Carol” game, and decorating ornaments, making kettle corn popcorn, apple cider, and playing an “Escape Room” game, making homemade ice cream (with toppings they included!), taking salsa dance lessons (from our living room), and playing an “I Know You Better” game. We are always so excited to see what comes next and I would have to say that we are hooked.

5. Facetime – I know, I know. This isn’t a new thing. But I just realized last night how extremely thankful I am that we have technology like this, not only for family, but also to connect with friends. Last night, I got to Facetime one of my old roommates from college and catch up on life. It was so fun that even though she is in Arizona, we got to talk and pick up where we left off just like before.

I remember the days when this technology didn’t exist and when you had to have long-distance cards and calling plans. Now, it is so easy to stay connected, and while that can sometimes be bad, times like last night are a blessing.

What are you loving right now?

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