Simple Happinesses

I thought all these pictures on my memory card were random, but really, they’re not. They all capture small, simple happinesses.

I take pictures of things that are beautiful…things that make my heart happy.

A Break the Ice game between Mr. FG and Sonia.

Candyland too.

A colorful sunset outside my back door.

A date night dinner with Mr. FG…we used our date night money to buy some dry scallops from a local seafood store, and then we used a Cook’s Illustrated recipe to grill them (I had a copy of the magazine from the library.)

Heaven on skewers. And their method really DOES keep the scallops from sticking to the grill. I was amazed.

So worth using our whole date night budget for the week!

An unseasonably warm day.

The water scenery we can enjoy even though we don’t live waterfront.

The ability to pack up and take school down to the neighborhood pier.

Because doing flashcards on a pier with your bare feet dangling over the water…well, it doesn’t stink.

A seagull that came to visit us.

The way the sun is sparkling on the left side of the boat ramp. See it?

Sunshine. I love me some sun.

Children who are easily entertained.

Down by our pier, they recently fixed the edge of the road, which means there’s a strip of really smooth blacktop on the hill.

It’s perfect for scooters, which all three of the girls have (Lisey’s is from Goodwill, and Sonia and Zoe’s were Christmas presents.) They have so much fun with these!

And I’m happy because the scooters are sturdy, low-tech, and they encourage the girls to be active and outside.

There really is a lot of space between that section and the boat ramp, so don’t worry…no one was in danger of scootering into the water. 😉

Zoe had an unfortunate slipping accident when she was running on a grassy (and muddy) area.

Fortunately, there’s water nearby for hand-washing.

And a little mud wasn’t enough to keep her off of her scooter.

They went up and down that hill somewhere around 742 times, I think. But the sun started to set and so we headed home after a while.

Do you ever have moments where you just look around and think how beautiful life is?

Me too.

Scooters do carry them faster than my legs carry me.

But I am thankful for obedient girls who stop at the stop sign and wait for me (they’re waving at the mail lady.)

Obedience is good for one’s safety*, isn’t it?

I know I say this often, but if you develop an eye for the lovely things in life that don’t cost much, you’ll find joy even when you haven’t got much in the way of money.

I’ve said that in photos and words before: Simplicity.

Enjoy the little things,

for one day you may look back and realize

they were the big things.

~Robert Brault

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Today’s 365 post: Sunday Waiting

Joshua’s 365 post: Amazing Grace

*speaking of safety, I know the girls don’t have helmets on. That’s because I just discovered that we need to go helmet shopping because their noggins have all grown…and Sonia’s head is no smaller than Zoe’s, which means her helmet definitely can’t be handed down! Although I bet Lisey’s helmet will fit one of the younger two…)

I promise we were only on the real road for a block or so, though, and it’s a quiet block. And I promise we’ll go helmet-shopping before we do any biking. 😉