we paused to rest and it was great!

I came home last night just tired. Not exhausted, not emotional, just tired. There has been a lot thrown on my plate this last month and it caught up to me. I had no intention of doing anything or going anywhere. Wine and Hulu were on my mind when I walked through the door.

I went upstairs to check on my child and at close to 5pm, she was in bed with her head down. That is very unusual. I asked what was going on. She said she was sore from practice (legs and tailbone take a beating on a trampoline) and she just felt tired. I asked what she wanted to do and she looked shocked. "Wait, I get to decide if I go to practice?" I told her only she can read her body, so she decided to take a night at home and recoup.

We all stayed home and ate leftovers. No practice. No errands. No chores (except for that one load of laundry I couldn't ignore). Hulu, Netflix, and snacks were aplenty. And you know what? It was okay! 

Nothing bad happened. We didn't miss a thing. No one got scorned, shunned or judged. We just took a rest. And that is okay! Teaching kids to know the difference between skipping a practice and taking a rest when it's feeling like too much is monumental. Adults earned the right to rest, but at the rate our children are going, don't discount their downtime, too. 

taking a pause

Our family had quite the week! We wrapped up another camping trip. We started back with sports and activities. We mourned the loss of a dear friend. We took pause to be grateful, hug a little longer and reflect on the lives we have. We took a nice digital break.

We had lots of conversations this week that I wasn't ready for. "What if? Why? Now what?" Lots and LOTS of, "It's not fair." And I didn't quite know how to respond, except to use honesty, hugs, and lots of ice cream. 

We lived life to the fullest according to 10 year old guidelines this week. We baked cookies a lot so there was always a fresh batch available:) We bought a new leotard to support local. We donated to a child in need. We are skipping school tomorrow for a road trip! We stayed up late to watch girly shows. We embraced living life in the now.

Tonight we baked again. Fresh honey zucchini bread is cooling on the counter. Chocolate chip coconut cookies are in Tupperware. A homemade confetti cake is all set for frosting. We realized that the kitchen is one of our happy places. 

We chat, we laugh, we enjoy conversation. We learn patience, math, and cleaning up our messes. We experiment and bond over baked goods. I smiled and laughed more tonight than I have in a week. And now we get to eat well all weekend. 

All I can hope is that the love, laughter, and baked goods made my little one smile and be grateful. I hope she knows she is loved and that she has become a great baker. She learned to mourn loss while embracing life. We laughed through tears, ate the good foods, and decided to just say yes to life from here on out!

choose to dance through it all!

Once upon a time, the Dixie Chicks said, "Some days you gotta dance. Live it up when you get the chance." Then I saw this picture and realized that dancing and music make me happy and really do help! Instead of taking 2 pills with a meal, I shall crank up the tunes and move my feet. I feel like this is an amazing growth mindset statement.

I can't always choose what I listen to or hear or how my day goes, but I CAN choose how I respond to it. That is hard to remember in the heat of the moment. Summer is winding down. My mom brain is on overdrive these days with all the thoughts, questions, and to-do lists. I go to bed wondering if we did enough, did too much, did we read enough, use enough sunscreen, laugh enough, rest enough. I wake up with a list of things that I have convinced myself needs to get done.

This is why I crank the music all the time! It makes us smile. It makes us laugh. It makes us move. It quiets that inner voice that is always on the go (did we return the library books? What is for dinner? Should I paint that wall or not?). 

I will TRY to remember to hear the music and not the worry. I TRY to laugh and dance and play and realize I can't make everything perfect or complete all the time every time. We can't control the weather or anything else, but we can control our life soundtrack and how we move along to it. 

Here are some songs to get you started on your happy dance kind of day: 

I'm better when I'm dancing-Peanuts soundtrack

Hair Up-Trolls soundtrack

Let it Go-Frozen soundtrack

My shot-Hamilton soundtrack

Fun fun fun-Despicable Me soundtrack

we DID find it here!

This blue arch make us so happy! It means grandma time. Time to unwind, bake, eat ice cream, thrift shop and movie watch. Is it quite the drive? Yep! Have we done it enough that it's no big deal? Yep! 

We spent an entire afternoon binge watching children's movies and playing Uno. Then we moved to the front steps to watch my daughter ride her bike all over the neighborhood. There were naps and honey do lists. There was a day of reminiscing. An afternoon of hiking. A morning at the library. In my mind, this roadtrip always means SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY IT. 

The beauty of taking an 86 year old (but 68 at heart) and a 10 year old anywhere means you can go at your own pace and you aren't going far. Our big outings are always Goodwill, Dollar General and picking up Popeye's for dinner one night. I mean, we are party animals! These places are purely tradition. Even my ten year old looks forward to hearing, "I will give you this twenty dollars and you can buy whatever you want!" 

Spring has arrived. April has arrived. We got grandma time in. Things are looking okay! Heads up because the next stop is Easter!

enjoying the little things

Making time to sit down... I have been doing a much better job at this! This time of year is when things calm down a bit. No more holidays, birthday bustle is over, sports seasons end. I can enjoy spring unfolding and relax.

I picked up my bullet journal from the library last month. The month before we made our dip dyed coffee cups. This week I figured I should probably put all my good stuff to good use. I got all set up and realized my 10 year old mini-me had set up shop right next to me. 1 coffee, 1 hot chocolate, and 2 bullet journals waiting to be filled with all the fun.

We now have bullet journals started. Mine is a big book of lists: favorite memories, favorite vacations, future plans, etc. Her book is filled with sleepover plans, party ideas, and lists of beanie boos. We are so much fun! Crazy, I know...

Our new plan is to write in our journals once a week. Or just read through them and reflect. This requires sitting down! This requires us to find time to chat, read, reflect and enjoy each other. So far, so good.

Note to self: reflect, relax, and sit down every once in a while!