Balloon Time sent us a tank of helium and some balloons and wanted us to figure out how we could share an extra dose of happy. We identified 4 people we wanted to share these bits of floating happiness with, and then, the two older girls wrote down a sweet message on each of the balloons. There was a bit of yelping here and there because balloons kept popping on us as they were writing on them, and the girls were giggling because I kept getting freaked out. After I think 7 (loud) balloon pops, we finally had 4 balloons with some delightful messages to share with some neighbors.
The girls loved this idea! There were so excited to be able to write on balloons! Seriously, who needs fancy toys when you can give a sharpie and a balloon?! Just make sure to supervise because you don’t want that sharpie to end up on the wall.

True’s message was, “Good morning!” and we gave that balloon along with some baked goodies to the people who serve us weekly at the local aquatic center…Brave’s message was, “It’s springtime!” and that went to one of our neighbors…
Soul chose to share, “Hello sunshine!” to another neighbor friend…
Glow’s balloon said, “Yippee!” and that went to another neighbor friend…
I said, “We have one more balloon for us to keep, so what message do you want to put on it?” And they said, “We’re so excited!!!” so that’s just what True wrote down.

It’s totally cute how they get all about this kind of stuff. My girls light up when it comes to creating presents for each other, for Ben and me, or other people. They are all about making and giving. It makes me so thankful for their very loving hearts.
In the evening, we went to deliver to the balloons and messages (along with a little treat from a local bakery) to our neighbor friends. We brought the first balloon with us to swim class in the morning. Everyone was so excited to know the girls thought of them and loved their fun messages! We don’t know all our neighbors really well, but we’ve been trying to reach out and make an effort. Ben and I are by nature introverted (I’m an extroverted introvert), so it really takes a lot of us to get out of our comfort zone (leave our house), but we’re totally working on it.

Our girls are super shy (it takes about 30 minutes to get them to talk to someone new), but we want them to love serving people (and giving to people), and one of the ways to encourage that is to model that behavior, which is another reason we do our Dinner Club Thursdays. I loved this little #HappinessFloats challenge Balloon Time had for us. It also goes perfectly with yesterday’s Fairy Birds story of giving.

Balloons were a simple gesture and it really doesn’t take much to bring a little sunshine into someone’s day. It could be a simple hand-picked flower (my girls do this all the time!), a little hand written note (I like to sneak it in Ben’s lunch), or even just a hug. Just that wee bit of extra effort really does make a difference!

Happy first day of spring! Maybe there’s a little special surprise you can do for someone today to celebrate it.