What is Surprising me Lately...

a roundup of small things

• Our raspberry and blackberry bushes surviving not one but two very wet May snowstorms with freezing temps! They are green and growing still, which gives me hope.

• The realization that my oldest son is halfway through elementary school at the end of the next week. That feels wild to me.

• The discovery of an amazing French bakery a few miles from our house–Charlie brought home delicious pastries on Mother’s Day, and we can’t wait to go again!

• Shep is starting kindergarten this Fall, which means these are my last months with a “little” kid (little in this case referring to kids who are still home some of the school day). This one is hitting me hard. I was blinking back unexpected tears at his Kindergarten Sneak Peek, watching him walk confidently into the cafeteria for a cookie with his friend.

• The prices at Panera! I feel old saying this, but the you-pick-2 menu used to be a lot more reasonable, amIright? Sheesh. I can still crush some broccoli cheddar soup, but it’s pricier than I’d like.

• Speaking of prices, gas…! Holy cow. I audibly gasped while pulling into the gas station the other day.

• Not a surprise, but more of a delight–how much I am enjoying Small Steps by my friend Kim and Love Like a Mother by Elizabeth Berget. They’re both absolutely wonderful and worth buying if you haven’t yet.

• When Alexa generates the absolute best 90’s/2000’s playlist after I request “Walking on Broken Glass” by Annie Lennox. It was a *chef’s kiss perfect combo, with Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Train all making an appearance.

• The short amount of time it takes for my freshly cleaned and vacuumed car to be covered in crumbs, wood chips from the park, small pieces of gravel, gum wrappers and more. It’s bananas how quickly it happens. And even more so that I imagine the “clean feeling” will last longer than it will.

• How my husband and I can feel so on top of bedtime, heading upstairs at 7:15 to do bath and bed and then all of a sudden time warps and it’s 8:45–what happened?!

• The joy of bringing out the craft bin on a Saturday morning, covering the table with a disposable tablecloth, and letting them have at it. Tape, scissors, paper, paint, it was all fair game. And it was so dang fun.

• How good it feels to let my eyes close on the couch for a few minutes in the afternoon. Sometimes it’s best to put away the to-do list and just rest. I love to check items off a list like no one’s business, but this short nap has been surprisingly refreshing.

• How much God loves this broken, messy world and every person in it, myself included. How He gave us rainy days and blue skies and hummingbirds and spring flowers to remind me of this very thing.

Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash

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This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Surprise."

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