One of my blogger friends, Britta, is so good at finding joy in the little things in life. She often blogs about them and I love how she writes about their impact on her life. I tell you about that because all in all, this week has been uneventful for me. However, there were some little things that stood out for me.

At Least I Made The Top Ten

My wife Sam always goes through the kid’s backpacks after school. This week we had to chuckle at one of the things Ella brought home. “Ten Things That Make Me Happy.

In case you have trouble reading them,

1. Dolls
2. Barbies
3. TV Time
4. To Color
5. Tacos
6. Hats
7. My Nana
8. My Pa
9. My Mom
10. My Dad

Mom should be higher than me, I get that. What I don’t get is Hats and Tacos! They outranked every family member! In 6 months I will ask her to do this again and hope to rank just a bit higher.

Winter Walk

Andrew and I had a bit of time before we had to get Ella from school Monday. He really wanted to go for a walk with the dog, so that is what we did.

He led the way as we walked the neighborhood. He was talking nonstop for the whole walk. I hope he continues to want to do this. I miss my daily walks. I’ll just have to make sure I bring along those “poop bags” just in case.

Gimme and E! Gimme an L, L, A! Go Ella!

After watching my niece cheer at one of the football games last fall, Ella has decided that she wants to cheer. They have already had two practices and she’s loving it. This week, she hot her uniform and her pom poms.

Her coach sent us some video of the girls doing their cheers. I truly cannot wait to watch her cheer. I think this may be what she sticks with for a long time.

An Accident Waiting to Happen

Sometimes, when Andrew gets frustrated or angry, I ask if playing my video game will help. It almost always does. So while Sam was getting ready for work, he was playing my car/racing game (Forza Horizon).

I am watching him play this game, which he is really just driving around, and he’s taking out everything. He is crashing into trees, mailboxes, phone booths, trash cans, and smashing into other cars. I said to him, “Buddy, mommy is going to have to do Driver’s Ed with you, because dad cannot imagine being in the car with you.”

From the other room, Sam says, “Oh no. We have talked about this. Driver’s Ed is all you!” I began to object to this, but before I can, she says, “You’re closer to death than me!” At this point, I cannot even answer because I am doubled over in laughter. My wife sure can come up with a zinger when she needs to.

The Whole World In My Hand

On the nights when Sam and I are both home, I get to put Ella to bed. This usually consists of me reading from her chapter book, which is followed by a made up story. I will ask her what she wants the story to be about. Favorite topics are princesses and unicorns. I usually make them so silly and ridiculous and it makes her really laugh!

The other night she wanted to hear a story about a unicorn who ate healthy and a horse that ate unhealthy. Naturally, I had to put them in a grocery store and awkward situations there. We argued about whether a tomato was a fruit or vegetable, too. I love to give the characters silly names and give them wacky voices.

After the story, sometimes she will ask me to sing her songs. I will do my best and sing her Dean Martin songs, hymns, and kid songs until she falls asleep. Tucking her in is something I really miss when I have to work nights.

Anyway, this week, we were laying in bed and I was singing. She reached up and grabbed my hand and held it. She held it tight. She took her stuffed animal and held it with her other hand and smiled. It was such a special moment, I snuck my phone out of my pocket and took a picture. It was in “night mode” so it is a bit dark.

As I laid there with her hand in mine, I was reminded of something I read on social media a while back. It was basically about how fast kids grow up and how things they used to do kind of just stop. I’ll never know when I’ll be singing our song to her for the last time, so I always sing it as best I can. I’ll never know when she’ll be “too big” to want to hold my hand, so I won’t let go until she does.

I can’t believe she will be 6 in less than a month.