**Before I jump in, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the devastating events of this past weekend. My heart is breaking and my mind is swirling as I attempt to understand what has taken place. I have no words, no opinions, just sadness and an abiding gratitude for Jesus and the hope that He brings, even when all seems hopeless. I will be doing all that I can to educate myself on the issues of racism and prejudice so that I can know better and therefore do better. I hope to share a list of helpful resources soon. For now, let’s move on to this post that I typed up a few days ago, when my heart was in a much lighter space.***

Despite our seemingly endless spring, it seems that summer somehow snuck up on me! I could have sworn it was just Easter, but suddenly everyone was talking about graduations and summer plans (or, more often, canceled summer plans), and now here we are on the first day of JUNE. Though Texas has opened up quite a bit and life is getting back to “normal” in our area, our own family rhythms and routines haven’t changed much, and other than hotter temperatures and hopefully some increased social interaction, I don’t know that our summer will look all that different from spring. But that’s not to complain, because life in the Jernejcic household has been pretty great lately. Here’s a glimpse at some of what made it a lovely May.

// READING LATELY //

With the exception of this book (which infuriated me), May was a great month for my personal reading life. I loved this powerful exploration of grief and this riveting courtroom thriller, and was deeply impressed with the writing and emotional depth of this novel. In the world of nonfiction, this parenting book was fantastic and I really enjoyed listening to this deep dive into one of my favorite shows. I also continued this year’s study on joy with this great read.

// LISTENING LATELY //

I had been in a bit of a music rut lately, so I was so excited to learn about this playlist curated by Annie F. Downs. The playlist (available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora) features a great mix of worship songs, including tunes from Hillsong, Lauren Daigle, Cory Asbury, Amanda Lindsey Cook, and many of my other favorite Christian music artists. We recently got a new Sonos speaker for the twins’ room, and this lovely and inspiring playlist has been our soundtrack for morning and afternoon playtimes.

// WATCHING LATELY //

Luke and I were both blown away by the cinematography, costuming, and whip-smart writing of Season One of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and were excited to dive into seasons Two and Three. (To be honest, I’m not quite sure what took us so long!) These two seasons follow Midge and the gang into the 1960s, and we are once again treated to a visual and comedic feast.

Mrs. Maisel continues to be one of the most impressive shows I’ve seen: the pacing, dialogue, and outfits are all perfection. Unfortunately the humor is increasingly crass in these seasons, and the swearing is atrocious. And while some of the stories are fantastic (I loved the episodes set in the Catskills and in Vegas), I was repeatedly frustrated by the character of Midge, whose humor simply can’t compensate for her selfish antics. Thankfully we are given several other delightful characters whom I have no problem rooting for. I hated the cliffhanger ending of Season three and am dying to see what lies ahead for this show.

My Rating: 4 Stars.

// LOVING LATELY //

Subscription boxes are all the rage these days, and there are a handful of great kids’ subscriptions I had been wanting to try with Charleston, so we were thrilled when my in-laws signed us up for Little Passports. His first box—the Science Junior box—arrived in the mail a few weeks ago and it was a big hit! His introductory kit included a backpack, a seals experiment kit, an Antarctica-themed board game and comic book, and trading cards with scientific facts. We enjoyed learning about Antarctica and doing the experiment together (though I have to admit that the seal assembly was a little too challenging for me and Luke had to come to the rescue after I nearly destroyed the poor creature). Charleston has been proudly wearing his new backpack around the house and is looking forward to adding more items to his pack with next month’s shipment!

These days it seems like every podcast has a Patreon. Unfortunately I don’t have the budget to support all of my favorite content creators, or the time and mental bandwidth to keep up with their Patreon-exclusive content. For the past year, Luke and I have supported The Bible Recap on Patreon because we love their mission, and this month I became a Patron of a second worthy content creator: What Should I Read Next (the book-recommendation podcast from Modern Mrs. Darcy). I’ll admit that I joined solely to get access to the expanded Summer Reading Guide and had planned on canceling my membership at the end of the month. However, I have deeply enjoyed the bonus content—including extra podcasts, exclusive book lists, and behind-the-scenes posts—and decided that I am more than willing to dish out the $5/month to stick around!

// MONTHLY CHARLIE-ISMS //

Life with my five-year-old has been pretty wonderful lately. No, he’s not perfect, but we have had tons of fun with homeschooling, creative projects, and just spending time together. Some days I look at him and am just amazed that he is my child because he does and says the most remarkable things. He had some true zingers this month!

+ After I reminded him that if he chose to use his spending money on a certain toy, it would use quite a bit of his savings: “I know, but I’m okay with it, because I didn’t get the last pieces of money that I’m ever gonna see.”

+ When Sully ruined our game of Memory by trying to chew on the cards: “I thought I was going to like them crawling. But now I’m thinking maybe I’m not going to like it.”

+ “You know the teacher guy at your adult church . . . what’s his name? Buck, yeah. I have the same question that Buck has. Why would a good god allow bad things to happen?” Apparently he’s been paying attention to our weekly online church! (This conversation came up out of the blue on a Friday, several days after the sermon on this topic.)

+ After our nightly reading in the Jesus Storybook Bible: “God is the author of the Bible, right? Did he do the illustrations too?”

+ When I pointed out a grasshopper flying in our yard. “That’s not a grasshopper. Grasshoppers don’t fly. They hop. Otherwise they’d be called grassFLYers.”

+ Picking flowers while out on a walk: “Oh man, it’s not working,” clearly frustrated. Me: “What’s not working, Bud?” Charleston: “I’m just trying to get to Heaven before I die. I just want to see what it’s like. And I thought one of the flowers might be a portal.”

+ Watching Snow White, in the scene where the dwarves are surrounding an apparently dead Snow White: “Oh man, is that really how it ends? I can’t believe it!”

+ “I wonder what kind of foods are God’s favorite foods. I bet he likes EVERY food because he made the people who make the food, and He’s proud of everything He makes. Except the foods bad guys eat. I think He doesn’t like those foods. Hmm, I wonder what kind of foods bad guys eat….”

+ After I showed him a picture of a human heart that he’d asked to see. “Ew, that’s disgusting.” Me: “Yep. Good thing we have bones and skin to cover up all our muscles.” Charleston: “Seriously, right?! Thanks, God!”

+ “Okay Sullivan. This is very important. No playing with scissors when you’re a baby. No, no. No, no.” (While waving scissors [a safe distance] in front of Sully’s face.)

+ Me: “We should watch the movie Babe. It’s about a pig that talks. Isn’t that silly?” Charleston: “Nah. I’m not surprised. Talking is a thing a lot of pigs do in stories.”

+ Soothing the babies at bedtime: “It’s nighttime guys. And we have to have nighttime or the other side of the world will never have daytime.”

+ “So if someone doesn’t believe in God we should punch them in the face, right?” And here I thought our spiritual education was going so well. We’ve decided to include this comment in our church’s Yelp review. 😉

+ At the end of an at-home Mama/Charlie date that he planned for us (of his own volition): “I’m the master of fun, I would say. I think so. Even if I still throw tantrums, that doesn’t mean I can’t be the master.”

+ Pointing out a hole in his shorts’ pocket: “Why is this hole in my shorts? Is it so I can scratch my booty easier?”

+ About the end of my workout video, when the instructor says good job on the workout: “She doesn’t know how good you’re doing because she’s not watching you. But it’s nice that she says good job even if you don’t deserve it.”

+ “Sullivan is my favorite baby I’ve ever seen.” Me: “What about Kali?” Charleston: “I still like her. I just like him the best of all babies.” And the next day: “Kali, you are just my favorite baby in the whole world.” Me: “I thought yesterday you said Sully was your favorite.” Charleston: “Yeah, but today it switched because he’s being more fussy.”

+ Watching the space shuttle preparations for takeoff: “When I go to space I’m not gonna like the start. It’s long.”

+ And then, after the launch, “It wasn’t as exciting as I hoped. I’ve seen enough of Earth. I want to see new planets.”

+ On a good school day: “I’m glad I’m getting better at stuff. Thanks brain, I’m glad I got you!”

+ “What’s the little fishy guy’s name in Finding Dory. The kid. Is it Elmo?” (Referring to Nemo. Later that evening, when I told this to Luke, Luke told me he was wondering why Charleston had been talking about Elmo all day. He’d been referring to his stuffed Nemo.

+ I came into our living room to find Charleston had created a paper winter wonderland, complete with drawings of snowballs, Santa, and a snowman. “I was going to try to trick you into liking the coldness but I couldn’t figure out a nice way, so I decided to do this instead to help you like snow.”

// HAPPENINGS AND HIGHLIGHTS //

We had an absolutely wonderful Mother’s Day: not only was it my first Mother’s Day as mom to three kids, but it was our first day in a long time that felt somewhat normal. That morning we had church at home (okay, that part wasn’t so normal) and while we watched the service, Charleston drew me several beautiful, heartfelt pictures. Afterwards he and Luke gave me my gifts: personalized cards and a quartet of succulent gardens they had arranged themselves!

That afternoon we went to my in-laws’ house for the first time in months. It was wonderful to see family again after being apart for so long! To make up for lost time, we packed a lot of celebration into one day: we had three birthdays and Easter to celebrate, on top of Mother’s Day. We opened gifts, had barbecue and cake, and even did a confetti egg hunt for Charleston and my nephew, Collin. Just as my years of infertility have enhanced my appreciation for the privilege of motherhood, our time of social distancing made me more grateful than ever for the gift of family. I was thankful for the opportunity to celebrate these joint blessings this Mother’s Day.

How was your month? What are you looking forward to in June? Life might be a little different right now, but I believe there is plenty to celebrate . . . even if we might have to look a little harder for it.