Cue the Elton John song, “I’m Still Standing.” It was A WEEK but here I am at the end of it and still standing. Onto the next one! One of the beautiful things about life is that we get to choose what we focus on and even in the midst of stress and hard things, there are many good things to see. Here are some of them! 🙂

VALENTINE’S DAY

This is a backtrack to last week but we had the sweetest Valentine’s Day! I got Finn back that day and picked him up from school. They’d had a fun time and exchanged Valentines’s and made cute crowns. I surprised him with a giant teddy bear balloon in his carseat and some goodies at home including the Squishmallow you see in the photo above. It came with the name Midi but he renamed it Beauty Sparkles Junior because “she’s so beautiful.”

This kind of love is love on a different level. So pure and simple – and so wonderful to celebrate.

GETTING OUTSIDE

For the most part, it’s been a beautiful February in Charlotte. The mornings start out cold but we’ve had so many sunny afternoons with highs in the 50s. That kind of weather where you’re not hot or cold.

We’re still going strong on our February walking challenge and what a gift it’s been. I can’t wait to share a recap of all the positive ways it’s impacted us.

Just this last week it’s been fun to see spring flowers starting to pop up. Also ecstatic that it’s staying light until 6:30p. Feels life changing. Very excited for the time change coming in a few weeks.

We’ve been meeting some neighborhood friends at the park on Thursday afternoons and I was shocked this week when Finn hopped on a swing and started swinging on his own. He’s learned how to hold on and pump his legs. He literally wasn’t doing this a few weeks ago and said he learned at school. So proud of my big boy! This photo was a screenshot from a video and I love his little tongue and lost teeth here. Joyful!

OUTINGS

Donut date. We went to Beyond Amazing Donuts and good lord – they ARE amazing. Finn had a glazed chocolate with sprinkles and I had a raspberry fritter that was probably the best fritter I’ve ever had in my life.

Three hours at the trampoline park on a Saturday afternoon – peak mom life, right? I actually don’t mind the trampoline park at off-times but it’s pretty hard for me when it’s bananas crazy. Luckily, we met a friend and it was wonderful to catch up with her while we chased the kiddos around.

We also love being at home with the dogs. <3

AM I CRAFTY NOW?

Have to be honest that I groaned on the inside when I read the email from Finn’s teachers about making a 100 days t-shirt for 100 days of school. While I pride myself on cooking, baking, yoga sequencing and writing workouts…crafting is not my super power.

The guidelines were that the shirt had to have 100 of something on it. I turned to Google and gave Finn five choices for 100 days shirts and he picked this one. It was supposed to be pink cotton candy but they didn’t have pink pompoms at Walmart so I got rainbow instead (which Finn likes more anyway) and we improvised. We got serious with fabric glue and fabric markers and I’m very proud of our effort.

FINAL WORDS

One thing I said in class last week was that everything in life comes, stays and goes. I took a training last summer and one of my teachers said his and it stuck to me like glue. It’s the nature of impermanence and change being a constant. It’s not bad or wrong, it just is. The more we can be okay with this, the more we can be free. But what a tall order it is, right? A daily practice of letting go.

QUESTIONS

How was your week? 

Have your kids done anything lately that’s surprised you? 

Thoughts on indoor activities like trampoline parks? 

Are you feeling ready for spring or still cozy winter vibes?