i hope you have a fantastic amazing wonderful lovely weekend!

what. your kitchen doesn’t look like this? ;)

the other day i was in the bathroom scrubbing muddy white shorts (who buys their kid white shorts? that’s my first problem) with a bleach pen when i decided i should probably scrub the bathroom tub while i was at it (that tub is always neglected when it comes to cleaning.)  5 minutes later i returned to the kitchen where eleanor and samson were playing with my pots and pans (best toys ever) to find them like this. i have no idea where that bag of goldfish crackers came from.

“mama, we cook fishies.” eleanor said when i walked in.

sometimes i feel like all i do every day is clean up one mess after another.  it’s part of the job and i’d like to think it usually means we are having a lot of fun and really living in our space but also, it never ends. i’m kind of always cleaning something. and yet, my apartment still looks like this pretty much all the time.

i have been thinking nonstop about this article i read the other day in the huffington post. if you haven’t read it yet, please go read it right now.  i’m finding that when i’m really working on being present in my children’s lives– putting my iphone away, trying to eliminate phrases like “hurry up”., etc. which the author bases her essay on and also taking advantage of opportunities like this one to just get down on the floor with them and cook some fishies, too– i feel more joy and get the sense that my babes do too. even if there are mashed up goldfish cracker crumbs under our toes for a bit. (side note: eleanor actually helped me sweep them up afterwards which was fun to help her do. she’s getting pretty good at helping out around here.)

“pausing to delight in the simple joys of everday life is the only way to truly live.” — rachel macy stafford (from the essay mentioned above). amen and amen and amen and amen. i’d like to write down those words on my arm and read them every time i’d normally glance down at my watch.

i hope you have a nice relaxing weekend with the ones you love. i hope you’re able to slow down a bit and savor those simple joys of everyday life, even if they include some household cleaning and chores like mine do this weekend. it’s a good life we all live. and we are all incredibly blessed to be living it.

ps. two more things i found inspiring this week: 1. ashton kutcher’s acceptance speech at the teen choice awards (i know, right? who knew he was such an inspirational speaker!) and 2. a gallery of ballet dancers in random places (especially in love with that shot of the woman leaping across the train tracks as the train comes!) thank you maggie, for sharing.