My bits of joy

I’ve kept my promise to myself (and to you!) to document joy this week, and I do believe I have been a happier mama as a result. With a houseful of children, there really is almost always a smile or a happy moment waiting to be noticed, if I am paying attention. As a mom, I also have the power to help my children transform the unhappy moments into joyful ones if I choose to do so, rather than getting caught up in negativity myself. That’s my goal this week, to do more of just that, (even on those days when I have gotten little sleep the night before!)

Here are some of the moments I captured:

Seth wearing a hat I knit him the other morning (that turned out exactly how this hard to please boy wanted)

getting a kiss from Shosta

Learning that black locust wood doesn’t need to be seasoned-especially good news during a winter that we somehow didn’t manage to prepare for, that has seen Jonny foraging for firewood in the woods around our house most every weekend

Happy girls with only paper towels, markers, and a spray bottle of water

(although situation would have been improved by the addition of a second spray bottle)

Two year old legs-so cute with or without little striped socks

A puppy who evidently got painted (around the eye) by a little girl

A little one who loves books even more than her bookworm brother Seth did at her age

A day with no fits thrown over piano practice

that messy head of hair

The boys’ first pinewood derby

Keats’ car came in second overall out of 58 cars (it’s the red one)

Keats knitting with double points for the first time (at age 7!)-successfully-I kid you not!

and-a mommy who knew that it was more important to use her late night time to support him finishing his project, rather than finishing the housework she had planned on doing

And speaking of Keats, the unphotographed moment (he ran from the camera) of him carefully painting Beatrix’s finger and toenails the other day, and then carefully blow drying them