these are a few of my favorite things

I’m linking up with Rachel today and doing it early so that if today repeats yesterday’s toughness, I will hopefully be better armoured to deal with it.

Joy is a flame that glimmers only in the palm of the open and humble hand.

~1000 Gifts

This face. It never fails to crack us up and when her daddy is telling her not to do something and she responds like this, I know we are goners.

Friends with gardens so my children can indulge in their love of cucumbers and ranch dressing.

The squealing of my big girls as they pull on rain boots to go with their swimsuits on the day our pool plans got rained out.

Here’s an unknown fact about my husband. He plays the cello. And last night he dusted it off for the first time in 10 years so he can play in the orchestra piece the church choir is planning for Christmas. He practiced by playing Disney showtunes for his princesses.

Candlelight. It’s soothing and calming and somehow when I light the candles after the kitchen has been cleaned and the girls are settling in for bedtime I feel like I can breathe a little more and realize that it’s small stuff, all this strife. And they bring me the candles from the Easter baskets and beg for them to be lit too so they can have a little flame of my light.