Oops, it’s been about a week since I last posted! We’ve all been busy around here doing our things.

Sadie has been working hard with homeschool. Mama has working hard with homeschool, too!

Niva is doing well with her therapy dog training. It feels so wonderful for me to get out of the house with just Ni once a week for the class. It’s something I was passionate about before having kids. It’s like a little piece of the “old” me is being put back into place and I enjoy it so much.

I know I could be using this time each week to do something else more productive while I have child care like catching up on chores or even something considered more “fun” like getting my nails done, but I think there’s a case to be made for liking what you like and investing in that. I like working with my dog and I value hopefully being able to be a therapy team, so that’s where my free time is invested right now!

Jimmy recently challenged me to make homemade sushi, so I tried my hand at it and it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. The key was having the right ingredients: seaweed, sticky rice, rice vinegar, and California roll fillings!

I’ve been continually adjusting my attitude about life at home. I attended a women’s event at our church recently and one of the lessons was about how a Proverbs 31 woman takes care of her home and family as an extension of her service to God.

My main job right now is serving my husband, raising our children, and caring for our home. God has given me Jimmy, Sadie, Mordecai, and our home. I serve Him when I care for what God has blessed me with. It makes my heart a lot lighter when I vacuum under the kitchen table three times a day, pick up stray toys constantly, prepare meal after meal, and tackle the never ending pile of laundry. It’s all service to God when I care for my family and home.

I made some banana Nutella swirl muffins last week and nobody loved them more than Mordecai. He chowed down on these. Can’t wait to see him with his smash cake at his birthday party!

Baking lately has reminded me of another thing I heard at the women’s event. As women with skills, interests, and talents, we provide the depth and God provides the breadth.

I’m not nearly as busy with baking for business as I was about a year ago, but that’s okay. I’m right where God has me. I am finding just as much joy in baking for occasional orders and my family as I did with fulfilling wholesale Etsy orders a year ago. The depth is always there. I’m continually trying new recipes and honing my skills. Who knows what the breadth will look like a year from now!

We’ve been doing our family things as always! We found ourselves in the tricky parenting time after dinner but before the kids’ bedtime on Friday night. We didn’t feel like sitting around the house staring at each other, so we went to Top Golf. It was fun to spend time doing something new (for the kids) as a family.

Let’s talk about books for a second: I just finished The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting and it was intense and thought-provoking. The author, Evanna Lynch (who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter Movies) detailed her descent into and recovery from an eating disorder and she described how she learned to invest her energy away from hating herself and towards things she creatively enjoyed so that she didn’t have room in her life to engage in her eating disorder and didn’t have the desire to, either.

This got me thinking more generally: do we invest our energy into trying to change who we are with things like hiding our true personality, beauty treatments, trying to change our body via diet/exercise, and buying things to feel joy or earn approval.* Or are we investing our energy into pursuing what God has for us? The talents He has given us. The things we are passionate about. The people we want to help. Basically, it got me thinking: am I spending my energy in the right way each day?

*There’s nothing wrong with things we do to change or better ourselves, but I think the intent behind it is really important.

I am currently working through Life in His Presence, which is a guided journal by the author of Jesus Calling. Jesus Calling and Life in His Presence are unique devotional because they are written as though Jesus is talking directly to you. This is my second time going through this book and I’m enjoying it as much as the first go-round!

Okay, this post has been filled with quite a few deep thoughts. I guess I’ve been contemplative lately! How about a few more pictures and less intense musing?

Niva and Runah have been living their best life on top of our hot tub. We pet sat Runah one day and I truly think they spent 90% of their outdoor time playing and laying on the hot tub!

Sadie is my fashion icon. She just wears clothes that make her happy. I love that about her! I put Mordecai down for a nap on Saturday and Jimmy hung out at home while Sadie and I had a girls’ afternoon. We went to the library, book store, and then grocery store so I could introduce her to watermelon Sour Patch Kids, aka the best flavor of Sour Patch Kids 🍉

These two! I just love them so much. Can you believe Mordecai turns a year old tomorrow?!

What have you been thinking about lately?