So… moving here we had a major blessing already! A family I grew up with lives only 15 minutes away. Seriously… How lucky are we?!? We already had that family support system here waiting for us. The church we go to already knew that we were coming, and they welcomed our family with loving and open arms. We have had so much help with unpacking/organizing, help with the girls, invites for dinners, park playdates… heck, we’d been here a week and these Amazing people made it a point to come to E’s (very)last minute birthday party. I was really only planning on doing something with just us, but when they heard that she was wanting to have a birthday party, they helped to make that happen. It was unbelievably kind. My heart overflows thinking about it.

So this crazy week has been a bit of a roller coaster. But, even in its craziest moments, I have been blessed with these funny and heartwarming moments that remind me how blessed I truly am! I have to say, that most of this weeks blessing stemmed from making Lemonade with the girls!

Monday our friend Kate came over and spent the day with us. While she was here, the girls were doing a “bake sale” (It was actually a lemonade stand, but E insisted on calling it a bake sale… hahaha). This amazing friend of ours, well she has recently graduated from school and has been looking for a job. I told the girls that they weren’t allowed to charge her for the lemonade. Kate ended up spending the whole day with us (totally love her by the way). While we were cooking dinner, E comes up to her with their jar of money from the “bake sale”… She looks at Kate and tells her that it was for her. Since she doesn’t have a job yet, she needed the money more… she was being truly genuine.  I think I was just looking at her with my mouth hanging open. Seriously?? This kid can be so amazingly thoughtful!! Talk about melting my heart. This is the same monkey that can get so frustrated and angry at the drop of a hat. But, it gives me hope that maybe I’m not totally screwing my kids up.

    Now throw in Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday… craziness ensued. We had epic tantrums, things getting broken, mom(me) forgetting to get some big things done… the girls thought the world was going to end, the yard squirrel is back with a vengence(oh yes, those are a thing here… and you should see the hubs at 5 am when he sees one digging up the yard…)… it has been entertaining, and to be honest, a bit stressful. So, today we needed to do something fun!! Kate and I took the girls to see Inside Out. Have you seen that yet? I might have cried a little… haha! It was full of so much that is great!! You should seriously see it, if you haven’t yet. Seeing the girls faces light up when we were waiting for the movie to start… sooo sweet!! Listening to their little giggles throughout the movie was even better!!! (Insert sappy mom emotions here!!) After the movie we took the girls to eat, and then Kate came back to our house to help me get things done for tonight (Friday Family Fun night with our church family). The hubs had to work late (drill weekend), so she was sweet enough to offer to come and help me out. We spent the afternoon playing, diffusing tempers, and making brownies and homemade lemonade. I think between the two of us, we juiced at least 30 lemons… but it made some awesome lemonade!!!

Tonight was awesome! We ate dinner together, sang songs, the kids played… it was an overall awesome night spent building each other up. Ummmmm… so you know we are the Robinson’s right? Hahahahahaha!!!! I don’t think we can ever go somewhere without something happening. Yep, yep, yep!! So everyone is wrapping up for the night. People are saying their goodbyes, packing their belongings, and I hear this loud thud (more like a pop).I look over and see S just standing there with these wide eyes. Our friends are running around cleaning something up… and then I realize what had happened. My monkey was trying to get herself a cup of lemonade from the full pitcher, and it slipped off of the counter. This was one of those giant mason jar pitchers. Luckily when it hit the ground it didn’t shatter, however the top broke and about 3/4 of a gallon spilled onto the floor. So… I might have panicked a little. I mean, the lemonade was EVERYWHERE… all over the wood floors, saturating their oriental rug (ugh)… S was trying to help clean, but she was running through the lemonade while trying to help… Then the littlest monkey also decided to help… by running through the lemonade and tracking it even further… So this mama right here… breathing was a little difficult. I was slightly mortified. I wasn’t upset with the girls, but I felt soooo bad!!   I think I was apologizing repeatedly while cleaning lemonade feet. Everyone was so awesome!! Between helping me wrangle the kids, cleaning the floors, and telling me that it was really not a problem… I might still feel bad, but I feel better knowing that they aren’t at all upset. We got home pretty late. The girls were overtired and it was obvious. While saying prayers tonight I asked what the girls were thankful for… every night we share what we are thankful for, and what we need to work on. I just assumed they were going to be thankful for the movie and candy… nope. S – “tonight I am thankful for our new family”, E – “tonight I am thankful that we got to be with our church family and sing songs”, H – “tonight I am thankful that God gave us this family… and that the lemonade got all cleaned up”… hahaha. Love her!!! But seriously, how blessed can this mama be?!? It is those little moments that are so grounding for me. After getting them all tucked in, I came downstairs and found a message on my phone… I almost didn’t check it because I just wanted to park my butt on the couch and be lazy… I really don’t know what made me check it, but I am so thankful that I did. There was the sweetest message. A new friend telling me that doing what I do, even when the hubs isn’t around, it’s encouraging to her. She doesn’t realize it, but that little message lifted my spirits in ways that I can’t put into words!!! It’s the little things that make life big!! The little moments, that give you strength and hope when they days are crazy… Thank you friend!!!