I am learning, slowly, the value of self care as a mother and wife.

Luckily, I was recently given some dry green clay to make masks (thanks Jessica) as a gift from Italy. This is the perfect excuse for a little “me” time.
Of course, mixing clay in the kitchen draws a crowd that follows me into the bathroom. Where they insist on being included and when I pin their hair back to join me, I realize that teaching them about self care is important. It’s really hard for me to relax, especially after a busy school year and the slow building of homework. But it is possible, with eyes closed, legs outstretched in sunshine, giggles in the background, and nothing but free time.

They sleep hard after playing all day outdoors. Her latest habit is to bring a book early in the morning, read a little, and then fall back asleep.In the story pictured above, we like to change the names of the two ducks peeking at the Ollie egg to Henry and Paul. This is one she has memorized.

Joe was hired at a Long Beach school for a moderate/severe class yesterday!

We went to Lola’s after a morning at the aquarium

celebrating with their cheese fondue

and soaking up some of this free time we have together.

It’s hard to imagine how different our lives will be this fall. Joe will be a first year teacher and no longer a stay at home dad. So many years of hard work, plus the celebration of finishing school, and I can tell it hasn’t all set in. While I am starting to imagine a life with a different routine, roles are going to shift for us around here. We are feeling blessed by the timing of it all, even with the stress, because this is how our faith gets stretched.