Friday Favorites

1. We had a soccer-free weekend. That's not the case for this coming weekend, but it was so nice to have a Saturday without any games. 

2. We managed to use the time on Saturday to get some cleaning done around the house.  With 5 kids I doubt I'll ever be caught up, but at least things are a little closer to clean. Well, were closer. Now another week has gone by.... it's like being on a hamster wheel.

3. I coached Bud's final soccer practice of the season on Monday. It actually went really well. I nearly jumped out of my seat with excitement when Bud's team executed what we had worked on in practice to score a goal during the game on Tuesday. Fantastic.

4. I got the final part of my root canal finished up on Thursday. I'm hoping to have a pain-free mouth from here on out. Considering it hasn't been pain free for 4 1/2 months, I think it's about time.

5. The best part of this week, hands down, is the other thing that happened on Thursday. Because Bud's back was doing so well this Spring, his doctor gave him the Summer off from wearing his brace. On Thursday Rophone took Bud in to have his back x-rayed to see how it is doing, always hopeful for a miracle but expecting the news that we need to get him fitted for another brace. Well, we got our miracle-- no new brace is needed! In fact, Bud's spine is even slightly over-corrected to the other side. 

The doctor told us a few years ago that there was a slight chance, with how flexible Bud is and because of how early we started him with the brace, that someday we would take the brace off and Bud's spine would hold position, but even he was surprised that it actually happened. We just need to keep Bud involved in activities that will maintain his strength and take him back in for another x-ray in 6 months (as long as we don't notice a big change). If it looks good in 6 months, then we'll go to yearly appointments. Yearly. I can hardly believe it.

Awesome.

6. Big is on a play date right now and Edith is napping. The house is quiet. I think I'm in heaven! Considering that this (see below) is how Big feels about hanging out with me these days, I'm pretty sure he's in heaven, too. A win-win.

7. My brain is too tired to put together any more thoughts, so I'll just finish out the post with a few more favorite pictures from the week.