Little girl playing Uno at a kitchen table and using an automatic card shuffler.

1. Two games the kids have been playing a lot of recently – Uno and checkers. Isabelle played a lot of checkers with a classmate this past school year and loves it! And everyone has been into Uno (the automatic card shuffler they got for Christmas last year has continued to be a hit, as well as the card holders we got many years ago). And Joseph is always up for a game of chess (we rarely beat him anymore! He got this magnetic set in his Easter basket because he was taking a regular-size board to school, because he and his friends would play at lunch and at break times).

2. While I try to not subscribe to a scarcity mindset, this piece on “One Less Summer” is meant to inspire us to enjoy our days and really live in the present.

3. And on that note, if you’re not quite ready to say goodbye to summer yet, here are 18 End-of-Summer Activities to Try If You’re Not Ready for Fall Yet.

4. I finished reading Funny Story last week and enjoyed it; it followed a similar path as other Emily Henry books and was an easy read. I started reading The Paradise Problem and while the premise seems incredibly far-fetched, I’m giving it a shot! I’m not very far into it, but will share my thoughts next week.

5. Love this reminder >> Sharing Meals Could Be the Key to Happiness

6. Currently craving: the most epic rice krispie treats.

7. The Need for Boredom… such truth to this, and why I think kids being bored is totally fine; they don’t need to be rescued from boredom. Though I’m not sure about 30 minutes where I do absolutely nothing 😅

8. Something great to remember from a recent James Clear newsletter:

“Strangely, life gets harder when you try to make it easy.

  • Exercising might be hard, but never moving makes life harder.
  • Mastering your craft is hard, but having no skills is harder.
  • Uncomfortable conversations are hard, but avoiding every conflict is harder.

Easy has a cost.”

9. What have you been watching? We watched Untamed on Netflix, and now we’re watching Dept. Q… both are good!

10. TGIF! Happy Friday from the big guy!

Golden Retriever laying on a kitchen floor.