#5

This kid is 5 today!

It's been a big year for him too.  This year Levi has:

-learned to swim

-started riding his bike without training wheels

-ran his first race

-lots of adventures as a rescuer
-worked on writing all his upper and lower case letters

We had an awesome shark party at the pool on Sunday.  Friends and family celebrated and swam.  It was so much fun!
Today we took Levi to his favorite "french" restaurant.  It's really just the diner in Multnomah Village but he calls it that because he thinks they make the best french toast!  Then we went to OMSI to check out the submarine and the dinosaur exhibit.  Fun family day!
And very soon Gabe and I will be off on an adventure without our birthday boy...to celebrate our upcoming 10th anniversary.

Happiness: August

This month the happiness focus will be on Spirituality.  I will take time to contemplate devotion and peace.

The focus this month will be in these areas:

• Imitate a spiritual master (done!)
• Read a memoir of catastrophe (done!)
• Create a will (done!)

This goal is hitting me very hard right now.  My best friend Peggy was diagnosed with breast cancer on Monday.  So as I've thought about her (and the fight she has ahead of her) I've had trouble finding joy and happiness.  Writing my daily gratitude has been almost impossible.  I've been especially angry and confused by the unfairness of the whole situation because Peggy's husband Paul has fought thyroid cancer twice in the last four years!  It's all so wrong!  It's so unfair!  Because of the anxiety I've been feeling related to Peggy's struggle, Levi and I had some difficult days.  I hope my goal this month will give me new insight and peace for what lies ahead.  Maybe it will give me a new outlook to deal with the anger I have about what's happening to Peggy.  Maybe it will give me patience to be in the moment with Levi.  I hope it will give me what will best support my best friend as she fights (and wins) this battle.

Happiness: July Review

Honestly...this month I've really struggled on the happiness resolution.  I haven't gone on my morning runs in weeks.  And I knew I was slaking on the happiness goals this month and I couldn't get myself to really care about it!

Maybe it's because July has just been plain fun!  We played a lot with friends and family.  And I just feel happy.  It's amazing what summer sun can do for the soul.  The things I wanted to accomplish this month can wait!  The to-do list is always there, but summer will soon disappear.

While I've been slacking on the goals I set for myself in July, Gabe deserves a shout out this month.  He's working on getting our mortgage refinanced...something we've talked about doing for months!  We'll sit down and budget soon!