Happy Friday, Friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July! Since I've been taking a break from Meal-plan Mondays, my posts have been a little more "planned," and I thought it was high-time we chatted! Here are five things I'm loving today {in no particular order}:

{1} Long Weekends

Can I get an "Amen" for this one?! Dan took a vacation day on Monday, and he had off on Tuesday for Independence Day, so we had a string of four days together! I love it soooooo much when Dan's home with us. Not only do we get to spend time together as a family, but he can also see how we operate on a daily basis. Some of the pressure is off of me, and I actually get some help keeping the tiny humans alive! (And I can take some time to do something for myself... like paint my nails that have grown out at least half an inch since my last pedi.) I was also able to do some projects with the older boys that I'm reluctant to do when I'm the only adult at home, like baking patriotic cookies and making SLIME! (I'll be posting about that soon.) Dan's taking our oldest two boys to Six Flags next week, and he's taking another vacation day after that, so we're looking at another four-day stretch next week. Woo-hoo!

{2} Downy Wrinkle Releaser

Umm, where has this been all my life? If you read my post about how I keep "Mount Washmore" away, you'll know that I hate, despise, loathe, and abominate ironing. To keep our clothes (fairly) smooth, I take them out of the dryer and promptly hang them up. The only downside to this is sometimes they acquire a bit of a crunchy feel, and they can still be more wrinkled than I'd like. I finally tried Downy Wrinkle Releaser, and it is ah-mazing! You just mist a little onto your crunchy t-shirt, tug at the sides of the clothing to "release" the wrinkles, and allow to dry! It leaves clothes smooth, soft, and smelling great. You do need to wait a bit more for them to dry, but this is not a big deal for me. I'm stocking up on this stuff the next time I'm at Target!

{3} Sweet Surprises

I was fussing with the floral hanging baskets on our front porch, and I found a sweet surprise inside one of them! I had no idea how long the nest and eggs had been in there, so at first, I was worried that I might have scared away the mama bird during my daily watering sessions. The next day, though, I found her on the nest several times! I still needed to water my flowers, so I stood on a chair while watering to make sure I was giving my flowers a drink and not flooding the nest. When I was up there, I found two more eggs! It was so fun to show the boys the sweet surprise the Lord had given us.

{4} Moana

I was scrolling through my Netflix suggestions looking for something to watch (the boys had long been in bed), and I happened upon Moana. I almost dismissed this movie, because, while watching a preview of the movie, I had noticed a lot of talk about demi-gods, a non-biblical creation story, reincarnation, etc. Since I was by myself, though, and not able to find anything that looked better, I decided to give it a go. Oh. My. Goodness. I loved it. Dan loved it. And the boys loved it, after listening to an explanation about how other cultures may have (or had) different beliefs. I think I watched it five times that week, and the rest of the family was close behind with four or five viewings. I'm telling you, Disney nailed it this time. The animation is dazzling, the music is beautiful and catchy (who knew Dwayne Johnson had a good singing voice?!), the storyline is fun and clean (only the tiniest bit of potty humor). Dan also noticed that another appealing characteristic of Moana is that it lacks an awkward romantic relationship. Things are totally platonic between Moana and Mauii--more student-teacher or daughter-father, if anything. Just a heads up, I needed to pause the movie to discuss Moana's decision to disobey her father. I asked the boys if it was good or godly for Moana to disobey her father's wishes. (Obviously not.) I then pointed out that two other people, her grandmother and mother, did approve of her going on her voyage. This was only okay because these people were {a} related to her, {b} loved her, and {c} were wise and their actions were not driven by fear. Anyway, if you haven't checked out this movie, I highly encourage you to do so. You're welcome. (Ha! Those of you who already watched it know what I just did there!)

{5} Dove Minis with Dark Chocolate

My hubby likes to tuck into giant bowls of ice cream. I mean heaping, gargantuan bowls. It's especially frustrating for me because he can eat one of these mountainous bowls of ice cream (at night!), weigh himself in the morning, and proudly declare, "Hey! I lost half a pound!" Harrumphf. (Once, I showed him what an actual serving size, 1/2 a cup, of ice cream looked like, and I have never seen such an expression of disbelief and disgust!) I like the occasional ice cream treat too, but my waistline doesn't even like the 1/2-cup portions. I recently rediscovered Dove Minis with Dark Chocolate, and they are ah-mazing! Just one little bar satisfies my chocolate and ice cream cravings, and they're only 64 caolories each! (The box says 60, but I did the math.) You can find them in the freezer section with other ice cream treats.

There you have it! If you haven't already, be sure to check out my very first guest post by my dear friend Sarah. She has lots of wise things to say on the topic of bullying, a topic which is very close to my own heart.

I'm off to a doctor appointment to get some heart palpitations checked out. Some friends told me it might be something as simple as my thyroid being out of whack, so I'm hoping for that! Prayers are most appreciated.

Happy weekend, friends!