I get a surprising amount of joy from the fish that technically belongs to my 8 year old! My husband even said “I found myself chatting with Sparkle the other day”. :)

-My mug collection. I switch them out seasonally and many of them are thrifted or gifted. They remind me of family and friends.
-I always envied quilts but never had one. One day, when I was picking up an extremely heavy bookcase, I realized I forgot a moving blanket. The woman was kind enough to give me a beautiful old quilt, full of blues and whites. I think of this kind stranger often.
-My boyfriend and I have been making cards for one another. I have several of the ones he’s given me frame around my house.
-I had a stained glass, small cow that used to hang in my grandparents farmhouse. It makes me think of when we’d visit them growing up.

Reading these made me realize there are so many non-flashy things I love about our cluttered, chaotic, busy, parents-to-a-wild-2-year-old life!

– When my daughter asks me to climb in her crib with her at bedtime to snuggle (specifically for the duration of one “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”)
– Hanging out in our imperfect front yard for hours on end, pushing her in the swing while my husband putters in the garden and our two aging dogs bark at everyone that passes
– Weekly dates to swim laps with my best friend (read: slowly, slowly paddle back and forth in one lane together while we chat)
– Morning iced coffee with the best creamer (Trader Joe’s Brown Sugar Oat Milk) in my favorite mug, a green striped one made by my ceramicist SIL
– Answering approximately 8,000 questions a day for my 2-year old (generally in the vein of: what is that thing? What is that noise? What’s his name? What that do? What I doing, Mama?)
– Finding and rewearing a perfect pair of pants at least 3X a week (currently: Everlane Utility Straight Leg Pants in Bone)

Away awaaaaaaaay, we set a course to find, a brand new island everywhere we rooooaaaaaam!

Same!!! My husband and kids call it my “chug jug” because it’s so huge. The kids always come into our room in the morning and drink big chugs of water from my bedside table! Such a perfect little pleasure.