This week had a lot of good – as the girls stayed busy with playdates, preschool, ice skating, swimming, and even a family trip to the mountains to play in the snow (with Isabelle) while Clara participated in ski lessons. Tim and I had a date night, which included seeing Daniel Hill speak at our church. His book and his talk (on race & reconciliation) are fantastic. Tim also had had some ‘guy nights’ and I had time to relax a bit. I had Thursday morning to myself and enjoyed some coffee + blogging at a coffee shop.

But this week was also very hard – as our community grieved together. It’s hard to balance overwhelming sadness with ‘normal’ life, and self-care – but it’s necessary, especially as a parent.

I am going into this next week feeling drained yet hopeful. Now I just need to find the energy to tackle some items on my to-do list. But first…

Things I’m Into:

• I bought this dress (from Nordstrom) and am very pleased with how it looks! It’s not a maternity dress, but it is stretchy enough for me to wear at 31 weeks pregnant. I sized up, so it’s TBD how it will fit post-baby. It might be a bit long, but I still think I’ll wear it often because it’s flattering and it’s comfy!

• I’m reading “Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids” and am getting a lot out of it so far. I’m going to read “Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings” next, because Lord knows I could use some help with these girls o’ mine!

• “I’ve never been anything but fat. Is there something in the fat version of me that also makes me likable and creative and a decent human being? Are the best parts of me all knotted up with the worst? Is there some way to untangle it and keep just the good stuff? Most of the time I think of my fat as a husk—something I have to shed so the best part of me can come out. But sometimes I wonder if I’m more like the shells you find on the beach, where the outer part is the attraction, and the animal inside is dull and shapeless.” (here)

• Have you seen the films about the Frye festival fiasco? I watched the Netflix documentary and it just blew my mind. My favorite podcast is covering the Hulu documentary next week.

• “Practically speaking, to be a minimalist smartphone user means that you deploy this device for a small number of features that do things you value (and that the phone does particularly well), and then outside of these activities, put it away. This approach dethrones this gadget from a position of constant companion down to a luxury object, like a fancy bike or a high-end blender, that gives you great pleasure when you use it but doesn’t dominate your entire day.” (here)

What are you loving right now?! Share in the comments!