Greetings from the place that can’t make up its mind about the weather. One minute it’s in the 60s with wind gusts up to 35 mph, then the weather’s finicky personality kicks into gear and shoves us all the way up to a near 90 degrees. Rumor has it it will be back down into the 60s tomorrow. Our A/C and heater are in a huge territorial brawl. I imagine, from experience, the A/C will immerge victorious, much to my chagrin.

The girls in the house have been on the down and out lately with viruses. I’ll blame the weather. Amazingly though, this is the first bout of illness we’ve had since Thanksgiving and minor at that, so no complaining here. Especially when I have a hubby who takes good care of me when I’m sick.

It’ll be early to bed for me this evening (I’m writing this Monday night), so let me jump right to it. A few things I’m thankful for this past week:

• I can’t help myself. This might just be a delight to me and Matt, but this video of Kensington is a sure-fire way to put a smile on my face. The boy adds an extra amount of entertainment, too. By the way, I’ve noticed I unintentionally adapted my wave to be that of a floppy, weak-noodled wave like Kensie’s. That needs to change.
• I’m grateful for a solid day of taking it easy with the kiddos on Friday. It’s rare we have a stay-in-bed-all-day kinda day, and because we weren’t feeling that great, it was just right. We played dinosaur games with the sheets, watched movies, read books, wrote our Compassion girls, and snuggled. We were in the same place we were when Matt left for work: our big, comfy bed. An extra bonus was when Brennan wanted me to hold and rock him just like the boy in the book “Love You Forever” after we read it.

• I received a much needed reminder of God’s love for me. A love that is solidly and profoundly enough. (I highly recommend listening.)
• It takes a special physician and his team to make a woman walk out of her annual OBGYN appointment and say it was one of the highlights of her day.
• Saturday I had a date! Brennan and I went to ZACH Theatre to see “Goodnight Moon”, a play based upon the children’s book. It was so much fun! It was the first time, however, that my little guy didn’t want to sit in my lap through a play <tear>. Afterward, we ate lunch together at Shady Grove, an Austin hot-spot. What an awesome five hours! Brennan was most excited about getting a dessert. We ordered one that exceeded both our expectations.

• Aside from my signature/favorite Magnolia blossom, the fragrant Mt. Laurels hit a sweet spot in me. And I sure appreciate the moments the kids and I take together to take a whiff of the aroma or catch a beautiful bird perched on a tree singing its melody.

• I’m thankful Kensie and I weren’t detained, charged or arrested last week. You see, the cute little girl above shoplifted a few Croc jibbitz from the store by placing them in the basket of her stroller. Thankfully, she pulled them out when we got to the car and I was able to return them before we left. She has a knack for hiding things!
• In the confusion and challenges Matt and I find ourselves in this particular season of parenting, a time when I long for a formula and feel stretched way beyond my comfort zone, I am so grateful for a husband who holds me and whispers in my ear that it’s ok. That as we seek God in it, He’s giving us soft hearts that can then be shaped by Him.
• Can’t help but rejoice when these two play well together, help each other, and love one another. Endearingly, Brennan recently named Kensie Jane his “sissy” or “Kens”.

How about y’all? What are you thankful for?

I hope you all have a fantastic week! I’m off in search of my pillow where I can dream about that awesome dessert then wake up from a nightmare that I found a whole stash of shoplifted jibbitz.