Friday Favorites 10/3

HAPPY FRIDAY! This week was a doozy- parent teacher conferences followed by an overnight middle school “field trip” to a local camp. Can I sleep for a week, please? Still, I keep reminding myself that these are the days! I am sure I will miss the packed calendar and the fun, long days of being with my kids while they do all the fun things!

Favorite 1: Window Washer

We’ve started teaching our kids how to pump gas, and they each take turns filling the tank when it’s their turn. Ezra is also REALLY into washing the windows off. He LOVES this task and would probably do it for all the cars at the gas station if I let him! I love his sweet heart and his enthusiasm, and this was one of those Mom moments where I just wanted to say no, but I said yes instead and just look at that grin. Can’t be beat.

Favorite 2: Kittens

We still have 3 kittens and boy are they adorable! They are now living fully outside and can take care of themselves, so we are loving this stage of sweet snuggles without all the extra work! Our cat Patience ran away when we brought the kittens home, and after three weeks we decided we would keep one of the kittens since we had lost Patience. We picked a kitten and named her “Petunia” (Ori calls her “tuna”)…and then the next day Patience came back. So now we are completely conflicted on keeping this kitten or not. It was a mistake to name her because now we are very attached! haha!

Favorite 3: Ice Cream Date

Last week, we had A DAY. Theo and I were both feeling exhausted, but we have committed to attend a small group. I get dinner in the crockpot, and as soon as Theo gets home we eat and then head out the door for small group. Well, Theo hadn’t stepped more than 5 feet in the door when his phone rang and it was a crisis at work. So I fed the kids a rushed dinner and loaded them in the van while Theo was on the phone, then we stress-rushed everyone down the driveway. I kid you not, at least 3/6 of us were crying. We just looked at each and said “we are NOT going to small group”. And we went and got ice cream and went for a family walk instead. It was truly exactly what we needed that evening.

Favorite #4: Soccer, Sunsets and Late, Late Nights

Kiah signed up to be a ball boy for our soccer team during home games this season. Honestly, I love watching soccer and the weather has been so lovely that I haven’t minded much at all. But it has made for some very late nights- I forgot how long soccer games are! I took this picture arriving home in the dark after I had been gone since 7:10am- it was probably 8:10pm when I got home!

Favorite 5: Girls Weekend!

I’ll write more about this later, but my friend Joy and I got to have a girls weekend together! We did next to nothing, and it was perfect!

Favorite #6: THE PANTS

While Joy and I were thrifting, we stumbled across a rack of clothes with some pants on it…the pants were brand new with tags. The original price was $80, and I got them at the store for $4. SCORE. And, these pants are epic…. take a look:

Joy got the same pair, but with stripes! Now, they actually aren’t really my style (other than a spirit day here or there) AND they are a bit snug on my waist, so I’m gifting them to a teen who will get way better use out of them. But I’m just so thrilled with my find!

Favorite #7: Cross Country

I knew I loved running, but I had no idea how much I loved watching my kids fall in love with running! Soccer truly is the most beautiful game, but….cross country might just be my favorite sport to watch. Everyone is so supportive of everyone, the mental and physical endurance is incredible AND it’s done and over with within 30 minutes. Plus, it gives me SO much joy to watch parents and grandparents sprinting across a cross country course to catch their runner go by!

The kids had a meet this weekend and they did amazing! Kiah was the first person from our school to cross the finish line, and ran his mile in 6:38! Tera finished her mile in 7:51 (amazing PR) and Ezra finished his first ever full mile at 9:48. Ori thought cross country was a big bore and wondered why someone had scheduled such an event during nap time. HAHA.

Favorite #8: Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher conferences are often not a favorite of mine. As a chronic people pleaser, I struggle with sitting parents down and telling them their kid might be struggling. I worry I’ve said the wrong thing or used the wrong terminology. I pray before every conference and make sure I’m listening to the parents as they share. Our school highly values the partnership between teachers and parents, so I feel like it is a vital part of our community. But it absolutely drains me- and that doesn’t even include the physical exhaustion from teaching + conferencing all day long! All that being said, I am thankful to work in such a wonderful and supportive environment. I did have to have several tough conversations, and they were all met with grace and understanding. I may be drained, but I’m thankful that I get to do this!

Favorite #9: Glory in the Mundane

I’m thankful for mundane moments, too. The moments when the baby is crying, someone is frustrated with their school work, the laundry is overflowing and the siblings are fighting. While I often start feeling flustered in times like these, I do know that even these moments can work together to bring God the ultimate glory. It’s a privilege to be home with my kids and to be carting them around to all of these fun things. It’s a privilege to be in a strong and steady marriage and a privilege to have the school that we have. Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of this in all the chaos of everyday. But I just wanted to remind myself of that in this moment. There is glory in the mundane.

And that’s a wrap on these Friday Favorites!