This post presented because contentment and thankfulness are key parts of frugal living. If you can’t be content with what you have right now, you probably won’t be content with even twice that. And listing things that are making you happy is a super helpful way to grow your contentment/thankfulness muscles.
Happy Monday, frugal peeps! Let’s start off the week with some cheerful stuff, shall we?
My brother helped me with a plumbing problem.
Almost every time Mr. FG is out of town, something unusual happens that requires skills I don’t possess. It’s like clockwork!
This weekend, the girls were filling up water balloons outside, and I thought I was hearing the hose run.
But when I went into the laundry room, I discovered that a pipe on top of the water heater was actually spraying water.
(!)
Thankfully, my brother was able to stop by and look at it. He helped me get the pressure down so we could remove the pipe and he told me what to buy to replace it.
Luckily, it was an easy fix (just screwing the ends of the new pipe on), so I was able to do that by myself.
Water balloon fun
A great thing is that Sonia and Zoe are old enough to handle this all on their own. They can fill up the water balloons, play with them, and clean up the mess all without me!
They’ve been enjoying using the balloons on the trampoline, mostly, where they randomly pop during bounce sessions.
Driver’s ed is done!
Lisey’s all done with the two-week class portion of her driver education, and she finished with a 96. Sweet!
The school was close to our house, so it was pretty easy to drop her off and pick her up…but still, it’ll be nice to have one less thing on our schedule.
And now maybe she’ll have time to do some actual driving.
Fun with friends
Now that school’s out, Sonia and Zoe have gotten to hang out with their friends a lot more. It’s sleepover season! And trips to the donut shop season!
A quieter week in front of me
Last week was an unusually busy week and I was hardly home at all. Way too much going on for my taste.
But this week promises to be a little slower, and I’m so thankful for that.
Your turn!
Perk up your Monday by listing some things that are making you happy.
Kelly
Tuesday 13th of June 2017
I'm curious to know how you handle sleepovers - what are your rules in deciding where your kids are allowed to spend the night? I hear so many scary stories of inadequate supervision, abuse, peer pressure, etc and have seen suggestions not to allow sleepovers at all (to avoid sticky situations/judgements). But there is some fun in the right situation. What has guided and worked for your family?
Kristen
Tuesday 13th of June 2017
We don't have a sleepover ban, but we are particular about where we will let our kids sleep over. We have to be very familiar with the parents and kids involved and be comfortable with the level of supervision and care our kids will get.
And, as I mentioned in another comment on this post, we regularly remind our kids to let us know if they're somewhere and things don't feel right or they're being treated inappropriately. You can't necessarily protect your kids from every potentially problematic situation, but if your kids know that they can tell you when something's not right, that's going to go a long way. If I'd known that when I was a kid, the problematic situation I was in would have been brought to a stop way, way earlier because I would have told my parents about it.
Oh, and of course sleepovers at our own house are a-ok with us!
Mrs. Picky Pincher
Tuesday 13th of June 2017
Way to go, Joshua! I love the idea of taking a trip in lieu of a ceremony. I'm sure he'll remember it for years to come. :)
This week:
1. I'm so, so happy I got to see my dad last weekend. I haven't seen him since Christmas!
2. I filched another pair of Mr. Picky Pincher's socks, which means more socks for me. :)
3. I've been keeping up with my exercise routine, which has been great!
4. We're harvesting veggies like crazy from the garden. Loads of fresh produce are around here, for sure!
Ruth
Monday 12th of June 2017
1. We just got home from a trip to see friends we moved away from 2 1/2 years ago. We could not have felt more loved! Our time there was so special and part of my heart will always be there. 2. We got a new a/c unit for our bedroom with our tax return and it is making life way better in this crazy heat. 3. My kids did so well on our trip!! Other than my baby hating sleep in the middle of the night, I'm so proud of how well they did handling lots of new people and places. My three-year-old is so sweet and friendly. 4. We have enough. We do not have the nicest of the nice, but we have enough and I'm thankful.
Laurie
Monday 12th of June 2017
1. I am grateful for my home and family and our health. 2. Summer is in full swing. Kids get to sleep in and enjoy their days. Lots of pool time. 3. I have a stable job that provides for our family. 4. I have great faith. 5. We are eating more at home which is huge for us.
Amber
Monday 12th of June 2017
Happy the weather is nice enough to play outside, and we're getting to meet up with friends at the park this week. The kids have had a great time checking out new books at the library and logging minutes for the summer reading program. Happy both of them love reading because I am getting a lot of time on my own to clean up homeschool items and do some general decluttering. Yay, for all of these things! I LOVE SUMMER, AND being content just makes life so much happier! Thank you for always reminding me of this!!!