Sunday Gratitude – 19.VII.2026

How does a summer fly by so fast??? I’m grateful, truly, that the kids get a bit of time to relax, and I’m not up so insanely early every day having to shuttle them around. That being said, there’s still a lot that they’ve been doing, and a bunch of things that they’ve needed to be at, and so, again, it seems like I blink my eyes and it’s another month or so.

It’s gotten a bit too dry now, but we had a couple of evenings where we burned off a bunch of bits of wood and leaves in the backyard fire pit. The yard is so overgrown! I always loved tending an outdoor fire as a kid, and a couple of my kids like it a lot, so it was a lot of fun to do that, and I’m thankful for the time just to spend with them at a slower pace. I’m also grateful that there have been two activities this summer that all five of them have taken part of, not exactly together, but not completely apart, and it’s been a looong time since I could say that.

I made a trip out to visit one of my cousins recently. She’s in a tough spot and could use prayer. Despite that, however, we had a really good time! I’m thankful that the whole thing turned out well.

I’m thankful for the social things my little girls have been doing with classmates of theirs. It’s strange to me because I have a summer birthday, but as a kid, I knew nobody was going to bother coming to someone’s summer birthday party. It’s a much smaller community, but it’s astonishing to me to see how many people manage summer birthday parties, and that there are a bunch of kids that show up. It’s given the girls a chance to reconnect with their friends without school being upon them.

I’m grateful, too, for the rare times when I just get a little one-on-one time with kids. When it does happen, it’s not like there’s much super-special going on, but even if it’s a walk or a quick visit to the park or just hanging out at home, but it’s still something nice that I’m really thankful for.

Here we are, ready for another week. I’ve got two kids who have dentist appointments before 9am tomorrow, so, it begins again early.

Thank you so much for reading! I am grateful for all of you!

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