Life

While James and I were talking a couple of nights ago, I shared some fun blog posts I'd read in the recent past. That led to a discussion about blogging and the purposes and benefits (or not) of it. I view my blog as a family journal with the hope/desire of publishing it yearly. In this way, I tend to keep it largely factual without too many thoughts and feelings mixed in. Although I don't plan on changing that (much) I do enjoy reading other people's thoughts. And I have been thinking . . . in fact there are many times when I do way too much thinking: "What should I be doing, what should the kids be doing, what is most important, what are we/should we be learning, how can we improve this, that, or the other, etc?" Sometimes it is invigorating, sometimes inspiring, and a lot of times tiring. One of my latest thought processes led me to think we should:

1) have more relaxed fun as a family
2) spend more time "out" -- I love being in nature and the kids seem to be happiest there and come home way more content and happy with life than when we pay to "go" somewhere (movies, bowling, dinner, etc.) [We'll still do these things, but since we still are enjoying beautiful weather we should take advantage of it!]
3) incorporate others in our lives more -- it makes us happier and I hope makes others happy as well

So for the last two Friday nights I've had each of the older kids invite a friend and we've done dinner and treats at a park from 5-ish until dark. The result -- great fun! We really have had a good time being out with friends in a relaxed atmosphere. Last week it ended up morphing and changing all evening, but that was part of the fun and we ended up at the middle school watching UP after it got dark at the park. This week we just brought the kids home and put them to bed, but we brought content kids home. James took the littlest 3 to the store to pick up a couple of things on the way home, and I dropped the friends off and brought the older two home. Instead of Katherine and Michael rattling around the house and wondering, "What's next?" and needing more -- more from me, more screens, more from life, more stimulation -- they came home and settled in. Each one picked up a book and read.

I hope that some of this can continue in the future. Instead of adding more and more to our ever filling schedule, I hope we can find time to be "out" like this. At least for now it has been wonderful and changed the tone in our home for the positive.