Happy Saturday, friends! Although we are still getting used to our temporary normal, we had a pretty great week. We had no school work to worry about and Matt actually had a few days off to enjoy with us. We had so many wonderful moments together and I realized quite a few things too. 

On Monday, R turned 8. My baby is 8 years old! Although her birthday was celebrated a little differently this year, it turned out to be an amazing day for her. She got to video chat with a few friends and family members, she picked out dinner (she opted to have breakfast for dinner and ate pancakes), she had a birthday scavenger hunt (so thankful for D and her great ideas), and of course, got some pretty cool gifts (yay for planning ahead and online shopping!). She also had some delicious birthday cupcakes, which she helped make the night before.  

On Tuesday, the girls helped us with some yard work. We tend to go pretty easy on them as far as "chores" are concerned, so I was surprised when they both wanted to help out with such a laborious task. They were outside for 2 hours raking up leaves and helping to bag them. It was nice to get some fresh air, sunshine, and exercise. It was also pretty great when they went to sleep within 10 minutes of their heads hitting their pillows.

Yesterday, the girls spent nearly the entire day side by side. They worked on cleaning their room together, they played games together, they made artwork together, and then they had a "sleepover" in the living room where they played video games, watched some movies, and stayed up late.

Over the course of these few days, and of course Wednesday and Thursday,  I found myself really enjoying "little moments". I had literal moments of pause where I was thinking to myself  "WOW! I'm so absolutely blessed". 

Not to say I never realized this before, but without all of the busy-ness our usual days contain, I am able to recognize the blessings right there in the moment. It's a pretty magical feeling and one I'm hoping to capture every day, even  (and especially) when the social distancing part is over. 

Like Helen Keller once said- "  When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us". 

From now on, I'm going to be focusing more on that open door!

What special moments have you been experiencing recently? I'd love to hear about them, so be sure to leave a comment. Let's keep our focus on the positive!

Have a spectacular Saturday!