Birthdays, Family, Motherhood, Spring, To Do with Kids

Life Lately – Spring

Goodness gracious it’s been a busy couple of months. Que deep exhale.

March and April are Luke’s busiest months of the year and he has been working hard. He’s had great business and we are grateful for that. We are ready to have him home more regularly . . . mama needs some help!

Summer is almost here. Elle’s last day of school is Wednesday and the boys only have two weeks after that. We don’t have a lot of summer plans but we will be hitting the pool a lot, going to the lake, the mountains and we’ve talked about a road trip so we will see if that works out. If anyone has some great tips for summer entertainment that 4 different age kids will be interested in and one mama can take them to by herself . . . send them my way! We will probably do some library events and I’ve heard about a fun farmers market on Folly on Tuesday afternoons.

Here are some pis from the last couple of months.

Birthdays

Fleet turned 8 on April 30th. We played hookie from school and spent the day on the boat. He wanted to go to Fort Sumter and Morris Island. I’ve probably said this before but I love my kids birthdays. I know, duh, right? But truly, I feel like it’s a day where I can so easily put EVERYTHING else aside (laundry, cleaning, etc) and spend the day just loving on them. I wake up almost as excited as they are.

Elle turns 3 on Saturday. I don’t know how that happened. And Charlie Mac will be 1 year old in another month.

Girl loves her Charlie Mac

Anniversary – 13 years! And here is what it looked like . . .

Bowling with the whole crew. It wasn’t romantic but it was pretty perfect anyway.

Blogging

I started this blog about 2.5 years ago. It’s been an awesome journey of discovery. I rediscovered my love for writing, for stories – others and my own, and ya’ll, I’ve made friends. Friends I never thought I’d make. This blog has been the best thing that I have ever done (besides my family, of course). I am asked often, “Do you make any money blogging?” Nope. I wouldn’t turn money down but that wasn’t why I started. Writing been way better than a paycheck, it’s been a path of self-discovery, self-care, truth and friendship. When you spend hours crafting a post and don’t get paid for it, the only explanation is that it just FEELS GOOD TO WRITE IT AND SHARE IT!

I heard a quote from Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) recently speaking about her craft. She said that she made a promise to her craft that it would never have to support her, she would support it. Now, I’m no Liz Gilbert but yes, yes, yes.

If there is something that you want to try but it seems like a waste because you are already busy or it won’t bring in a paycheck or it isn’t a direct stepping stone to what you think you want – do it anyway. Do it because you want to. That’s enough. Take care of yourself. You never know where it will lead, what doors it will open, what path it will set you on.

I’ve posted this before but it seems even more appropriate here . . .

Working

You may have seen on social media that I took a big leap and started working with Beautycounter about a month ago. As you would expect, starting a new job, I was very nervous. As time goes by and I learn more and more about BC, I more confident, excited and inspired about this decision. It’s important work that has the potential to have massive positive change in the world and that feels good. I will be posting more on SM as I continue learning so stay tuned. I’ve also been really happy to be working again, I think that I just love working.

Here are a couple of resources in case you are interested. Reach out to me if you are curious about how to switch to safer skin and beauty products and why it’s important. If you are in Charleston or Columbia and want to attend an event- let me know!

Today Show with Beautycounter founder Gregg Renfrew

Fast Company

Beautycounter Website

KINDNESS

I will leave you with one final thing today . . .

Be kind.

Always.

Over the past couple of weeks I have meet some people going through tragedies that I can’t even bring myself to consider. Most likely, you know someone who is going through a very hard time. Be kind to all people, always. If someone is a jerk to you, be kind back. Sometimes it’s really all we can do. And if it’s you, if you are going through a tough time, show yourself some GRACE, all day long, every single day.  Make it your mantra. GRACE. GRACE. GRACE. GRACE. GRACE. YOU deserve all the GRACE.

Torch = Kindness and Grace.

Happy Summer friends.