Going-ons this week in Instagram

If you follow me on Instagram (username @HappierStill) please feel free to skip this post.

Otherwise, here's my going-ons last week via Instagram:

1. "Hey you! Stop throwing leaves at your sister!" which he found hilarious. 2. Throwing rocks with James. Love the fallen leaves in the river.


3. When did he become one of the big kids on the playground?  4. Daddy was out of town for work. Someone is happy he's home!


5. Taking his baby for a walk. 6. Yes. :)


7. Lots and lots of playing in the leaves this week. (Look how much he's changed since last year!) 8. One of his friends turned three and hosted the world's best digger party.


9. Best digger party also included it's very own giant excavator.  10. What? Your clothes and quilts don't coordinate?


11. Juliet loves loves loves chomping leaves. I posted this photo and shared some insight into the "perfect life" that is seen here and on IG. I'll share a few more thoughts at the end of this post. 12. Daddy's girl.


13. Watching a waterfall with Daddy. Juliet is behind them on a quilt in the sun. 14. More sunshine and beautiful leaves at Sugarhouse Park.


15. "Don't help me Mama. No help. Don't touch me." When did my boy get so independent? And also best playground view ever!  16. More leaf chomping by this brown eyed girl.


17. Red Ridding Hood in the deep dark woods. 18. Sliding after lots of leaf raking.


19. Another park. Another beautiful day. Another shot of Juliet trying to eat leaves. It became kind of a joke on Instagram, so I decided to just go with it and started hash tagging them #julietchompsleaves. So silly.  20. "Don't help. No help. You sit there, I do it!" Ok bud! Thanks for helping.


21. We still walk to the goats from time to time when the weather is good. James loves them. "This one is my favorite, his name is James."  22. Oh October. Love ya.


And two that didn't make IG but I love nonetheless. My dad hosted a backyard hot dog roast with my family. We had such a great time. Everyone cooked hotdogs and s'mores, and my dad added dry ice to the lemonade for a witch's brew. James was in heaven with all his doting aunts/uncles and grandpa.

And in addition to an early birthday party for this kiddo, we also decided to give him an early birthday present. After much thought I decided a balance bike would be something he'd love. He hates it. That's not to say he'll love it at some point, but I never posted about his present because he is only on the bike for a moment at a time. Last time he tried it, I snapped a quick photo, to prove to myself that he "likes" it. Ha.

And as promised, some thoughts on my "perfect life".

Nobody has made comments, or anything, but sometimes when I write a new blog post or post a new photo on IG I'm struck with how "perfect" it all seems. I have two healthy kids. I have a handsome husband that has a wonderful job. I have a home. We can afford for me to stay home, which is something I love beyond all measure. Yea, my life is pretty damn perfect. I don't take it for granted. I know many (many many) people struggle with huge hurtles in life, and my life, to them, might feel unjustly lucky.

And it is. I am lucky. More than I could have ever dreamed.

But that doesn't mean my life is perfect. The photo of Juliet above on the orange and pink quilt? That was taken less than thirty minutes after James bit Juliet for the first time and raised a huge welt on her thigh. So many tears. Double timeout. More tears. I was so upset.

And the photo of Juliet chewing on leaves in the orange sweater (number 11) was taken when James was in a time out for throwing toys.

We have our rough moments around here. People cry. Things get thrown. Small people get bit (let's hope it never happens again, right James?). But what I share on this blog and IG is not the rough moments. It's the perfect moments. The sweet moments. The things I cherish and want to remember.

Life is far from perfect. It's life. But I choose to document, photograph, and share the sweet.

I'm sure you know that by now.

xoxo