Tidbits from this Week

It was a nice and somewhat normal week. I've been working hard on trying to find joy in the minutia and not be so uptight about having a clean house and folded laundry---because let's be honest, it's never ending!!! I've been praying to find ways to enjoy my kids, especially now while they are still young. I've found that if I'm not careful I get swallowed up in household responsibilities/chores and I miss precious opportunities to love on my kids and enjoy them. On Friday, Mylee had a friend over and instead of utilizing the time where all my kids would be preoccupied playing to get caught up on some chores, I invited their mother to join us and we visited for over an hour in the backyard while our kids played. Yes, I still had a pile of dishes to do, but I was able to connect to another human being and help develop a friendship. My kids also benefited from me being out there during their play. I also made the effort to go to our ward's playgroup this week at the park...again I had stuff to do around the house, but I went and I didn't regret it. I've been missing out too much on this stuff. It's amazing how much connecting with other person beings can lighten up your spirits!

On Saturday I babysat my friend's little girl who is Kayden's age. It was so cute to watch them play together. They sat in this bench swing forever...so adorable. 

I usually let my kids watch "Wild Kratts" (super cute PBS kids program that teaches about different animals) while I get dinner ready. As I was making dinner earlier in the week, I happened to capture this precious moment between Kayden and Mylee. Mylee is my little nurturer. She LOVES babies and you better believe she was eating up all of these Kayden cuddles. 

I thought I might re-introduce you all to our dog Bella. It's been almost exactly a year since we got her. The kids love her, Blake loves her, I'm trying to learn to LIKE her. At one point this week I was determined to sell her, but then I watched Kayden interact with her and I changed my mind. She is a good dog, just hyper and loves to play. The wind blew down part of our fence this week and I thought she had run away, but she was waiting just outside our gate, not knowing what happened....like I said she is a good dog. Blake constantly has to remind me of this. 

 Blake and I went to the newly built Alamo Drafthouse Cinema for our weekly date this Friday...yes we have a date 3 Fridays out of the month, the 4th Friday we babysit kids that are part of our babysitting co-op group---best thing ever for us by the way!!! We saw the new Captain America and ordered a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a root beer. The Alamo is essentially dinner and a movie all in one. We had our own waitress and table right in the theater during our movie, pretty unique and fun. The food was SO good and the fries were to die for!! The movie was good too, but it was especially nice to have some one-on-one time with my man..love him! After every date I can't wait until the next week to go on another one. It re-charges my batteries and it's fun to get fancied up a little bit.