Sometimes my favorite posts to write are simple enjoying ones.  They’re quick and easy little prayers.

Enjoying…

Listening to the big sister read to the little sister.  First grade delivers lots of lovely things, but this is one of my favorites.  

Hearing shutters clank from the other room and knowing exactly what he’s up to.  Open, close, open, close, open, close.

Making heart cookies in the middle of the day just because.  No kid help.  I made them for me.

The tickle side crunch.

Catching a casual arm over shoulder.

Mac-and-cheese face staredown love.

And these last bits–a little warmth sent to our frostbitten friends north of us.   You’ll have it soon, guys.

After school hose fun.

Happy Humpday.

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An Ode to Naps over at All Parenting this week.

Want to end your week in an amazing way?  Go check out the #honoringmaura hashtag on Instagram and Twitter and see just how wonderful people can be. 

A note from Clare’s sister:

I am so touched by everyone’s willingness to jump in and spread joy.  I have read every single comment on the post and on Instagram.  I’m still discovering posts on Facebook and Twitter and tumblr.  Kelle, my whole family was smiling all day yesterday.  I sat down with my parents to show them a few posts and nobody could say anything.  And the momentum is still going.  My brother texted me yesterday and said, “best day of ‘grieving’ ever.”  I think we were all shocked at the level of participation.  We all had our moments of tears, but honestly, I had no idea how cathartic and healing it would be to tell others about Maura.  To know that because of her and strangers’ generosity, people all over the world were smiling.  Tears.  Happy, bittersweet tears.  People have written some of the kindest, most thoughtful things about Maura and my family–and they don’t even know us.  So thank you.  Thank you for honoring Maura.

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A few Friday Favorites:

Moments:

Making rainbows on the beach

Time with Grandma

Sailboat coveralls a gift from our talented friend, Leanne at Lee Marie

Morning Cars and Trucks

Activity:

Getting some Valentines stashed away. 
I helped Lainey set up a place to take pictures, and she used my phone to photograph some little still lifes with candy and puffy hearts and a portrait of our dogs (we bribed them with cheese).  I cropped and edited the photos for her and had them printed with some others through Printstagram (through my phone, arrived just days later).  We stapled the photos onto paper bags filled with candy and sealed them with decorative washi tape.

Kid Stuff:

I’ve been meaning to mention this since Christmas.  We’ve been playing this game at least once a day, and Nella loves it.  It offers some great cognitive and occupational therapy skill practice–sorting, patterns, colors, counting, tweezer grasp and pinching (we swapped the tight tweezers that came with it for some from another game we own that are a little easier to manage).  It’s the Learning Resources Super Sorting Pie, a great toy for any toddler but an especially good tool for kids who need a little extra practice with skills.

Links:

I really loved this one this week from Momastery: One teacher’s brilliant method of using math to make sure every child feels valued and loved in the classroom.

And I’m at All Parenting this week with our favorite cold remedies (I’m the last one in our house to be sick, and it’s almost gone, thank goodness).

Have a great weekend!

We’re teaming up again with the folks at Target to help promote Cartwheel, Target’s shopping app and something our family uses to save money.  This post is sponsored by Target.

I’m excited to continue our partnership with Target this year.  We know that there have been some issues in the news with Target lately, but everything I have seen and experienced as a Target customer has indicated that everything has been handled extremely professionally and with remarkable dedication to service recovery and customer satisfaction.  We still love Target, we still shop there, and there are plenty of red shopping carts and cafe’ slushies in our future.

Yesterday I just received my “Benjamin” badge for officially saving over $100 with the Cartwheel app since using it.  If you’re a Target shopper and Cartwheel doesn’t ring a bell, check out your app store and download it for free to begin saving money on things you’re already buying.  And if you’re clicking around the collections in Cartwheel, take a look at that little button with the sidewalk chalk.  I’ve picked out some favorite deals and things we love at Target to share with you in “Kelle Hampton’s Picks” collection.

New to Cartwheel and want a little app tour?  It’s as easy as this:

Deals on several of our Target favorites can be found in the “Kelle’s Picks” collection, and new savings will continue to pop up. This week, you’ll find 25% off all styles of Threshold Bedding & Bath, savings we applied to new sheets and a pretty white ruched pillow for a quick and easy bedroom makeover.

I love the simple black and white sketch pattern.

There’s also a 25% off deal on all toddler, baby and children’s Cherokee apparel in the collection right now.  I’m putting an appeal in to Cherokee to make each of these outfits in my size.

My favorite thing about Cartwheel?  No coupon clipping, no organizing and sorting deals–they’re all in one place and the app is so easy (and fun!) to use.  Perfect for multi-tasking mamas.

New deals are continually swapped out, so keep an eye on expiration dates and new additions to the collection.

Thank you Target and Cartwheel for partnering with us, and thank you readers for supporting the sponsors that help support this blog and our family.