Hey friends, and welcome to the blog!

I hope you’ve been having a great day. I’ve been working on a Baby Shark Outfit order from my Etsy shop, making sourdough bread, and I plan to continue painting my kitchen cabinets this afternoon. So many fun things!

My three youngest girls have spent their days at a dance camp this week. It has definitely been an adjustment! Moses has spent his time with a bunch of teenagers (and me, of course). I think everyone has really enjoyed it.

At first, we weren’t sure if we would send our girls to dance camp or not. But one of our oldest daughters is a teacher there, and she has been able to take them and bring them home. The camp is over an hour away from home, so this was definitely a blessing to me!

Tomorrow I will go and pick them up because they are going to have an end of camp performance. I’m very excited to go see it!

When I first became a mother, I enrolled my children in all kinds of activities. It definitely became too much for our family, and we toned it down to music lessons only. I’m grateful my girls have gotten to go this week of camp, though. I think they have made a lot of good memories.

I think it’s important to seek the Lord’s will about these kinds of things and also ask yourself some questions. Does this activity bring value to my children’s lives? Will going to this activity be a continuous burden to my other children? Will this activity stretch our family’s finances too far? What kind of influences will be introduced during this activity?

I plan to sign my children back up for violin lessons in the fall in a week or so. While these lessons are far from home too, I think the value of being able to play a musical instrument is immense. This is something they can carry into adulthood. I wish I would have learned how to play a musical instrument while growing up.

At the same time, I realize that my life was cultivated in other ways while I was a child. I was always encouraged to be creative and active. These are very good things!

We don’t have to do it all. Carefully curated extracurricular experiences can benefit our children a lot.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, friends. I hope to talk to you again, soon!

Blessings, Nicole