We had a wonderfully quiet weekend in the jay house – everyone healthy, lots of relaxation, new challenges and yummy food.

Some weekends feel all about errands, exciting and otherwise, necessary chores and busyness. Those weekends are fun and certainly more productive but a quiet weekend of nothing but playing, creating and resting feels good for the soul.

We enjoyed going out for a walk in a whirl of big, soft snowflakes, a skating lesson for the older three kids with a sweet friend, and a trip to the library to restock on essentials. We cuddled in for stories, naps, baking and dress-up. We cherished moments of laughter, of the ridiculous, of dreaming, of quiet and of chaos.

A relaxing…

…challenging…

…exciting…

…growing…

…nourishing…

…dreamy…

…stolen moment kind of weekend,

with a cherry on top.

How did you spend your weekend?

Joining SouleMama today with this moment.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments.

This little boy spent his weekend feeling under the weather. It was very sad for him and very sad for Mommy. Thank goodness Daddy was able to keep it together. We are so grateful that he is on the mend and back to smiling, laughing and strange animal noises.

Although it was nothing serious, it sure made me reflect on many of those things I remembered on our winter walk and also how very quickly this boy is growing up (not to mention his siblings).

All I can do is cherish every moment.

Here’s one of those moments.

We love smoothies. Simon is no exception.

They get a little messy.

And suddenly they get a lot messy.

It’s no surprise and when you’re so darn cute bits of frozen berry just add to the charm.

That was one good smoothie.

“That’s it?”

And then we were all laughing at this funny little face.

“I am pretty funny!”

And pretty darn cute.

(I was laughing too hard to hold the camera steady.)

How I love these moments.

Joining SouleMama today with this moment.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments.

This stretch of winter can seem very long.

We often get a snowfall as late as May but after March the end is in sight. In February there is a lot of winter to go. There are plenty of things I enjoy about winter – the woollens, the cozying up in blankets, the beauty of a blanket of fresh snow.

A recent stretch of warmer weather has been a great reminder that spring is indeed coming. Our eldest was even so bold as to announce spring had arrived. We certainly felt hopeful all the while knowing that winter had not worn itself out yet.

Last night the weather changed again, temperatures dropped, the forecast reported fog ice (that was a new one) and this morning there was great excitement as our children shared the news of new fallen snow.

We’ve had a few sick days this week as a cold has struck a few of the kids and it was a lovely change to get out for a walk despite the burnt checks and chilly mittened fingers. The winter wonderland we found outside put me in mind of thankfulness. For all the things I can complain about there are far more to be grateful for.

Here are some of things I am thankful for in this moment.

••• love •••

••• hope •••

••• family •••

••• friendship •••

••• seasons •••

••• adventure •••

••• strength •••

••• weakness •••

••• health •••

••• healing •••

••• freedom •••

••• grace •••

••• peace •••

••• home •••

••• beauty •••

••• past, present and future •••

What are you thankful for in this moment?