We spent this month at the beach and celebrated another birthday!

“I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. This is when I interrupt my typical recipe content, and take time to share our family’s favorite moments from the month! Here it is for May 2026!

My​Favorite Things​– May

Here are my 7 favorite things for May. Find ​all my favorite things here ​or in ​my Amazon shop.

• This SPF lipgloss – the only SPF lip product I’ve tried that doesn’t leave your mouth tasting like sunscreen! Love the color too!
• Jane Eyre – not sure how this was the first time reading Jane Eyre – but I loved it.
• These sticker books are a must when traveling. My kids play with them together!
• ​Vitamin C & Retinol Serum ​– I use these daily and have for many years (along with the entire Oak Essentials skincare line). I also use this face oil daily.
• Rubber pool bag – a beach/pool summer must-have.
• These earrings – lightweight and perfect for the beach. I’ve been wearing them (and the round ones) all month and love them.
• ​My favorite Vitamix.​ I have ​this old girl​ at our beach house, whose been my trusty companion for over a decade, and I am always reminded​ how much I love her. ​Blends like a dream 10 years later.
• ​This mug – the seashells. I got a set for our beach house and I love them!

Recipes I’m Making on Repeat

We were traveling this month, but these are the recipes I made at the beach, where I keep it super simple!

homemade latte (every day) | ground beef tacos |sloppy joe bowls | burgers | puppy chow | chocolate chip cookies always.

New May Recipes

pasta with burrata cheese | chocolate dipped bananas | buckeye brownies | pad thai recipe | key lime pie bars | blueberry bread | raspberry brownies | raspberry buttercream frosting | brown sugar chocolate chip cookies

Life Lately

Ritch continued recovering from his ACL surgery and we spent most of the month in FL! I went ahead with the 4 littles, while Ritch, Gabe and Bethany came once B was done with school.

We had the absolute best time. I loved traveling with the 4 littles, they all love the beach and we had a blast swimming and playing every day.

Naomi and I even got our huge paddleboard down to the beach together – which Ritch usually does but he 1) wasn’t there and 2) couldn’t carry it when he came because of his ACL! This photo doesn’t do it justice, it fits our whole family comfortably and could fit more. We were able to carry it, but I did end up getting a cart that made transporting it even easier.

The ice cream boat finally docked at our beach – twice! So we of course got some treats!

The highlight of the trip for me was getting to spend time with my childhood best friend and her girls. They flew out over Mother’s Day weekend and being together was such a gift.

Casey was my very best friend – we grew up together and practically raised each other! 🙂 We lived across the street from each other and I think I slept over at her house about as much as I slept at my own during the summers. She feels like home to me, and it has been years since we have gotten to spend sustained time together since we live so far apart!

Watching our girls play was the best, and brought me back to when we were kids. Zach would randomly decide to get down on one knee and serenade her girls and it was so cute (I mean, he was the only boy amongst 8 women)!

Being with her is so easy, because I just love her, and being with someone who has known and loved many versions of you is just the best feeling in the world!

It was quite a long time to be apart – although every day on the beach flies by – so we were all glad when the rest of the crew showed up.

We played on the beach, went out to eat at our favorite spots and just enjoyed being together. We did a lot of reading and boogie boarding in the waves!

I love going to Florida for a month once we finish homeschool because it gives me time and space to rest and transition from “teacher mom” to “fun summer mom.”

Naomi turns 11!

Then, we flew home the day before Naomi’s birthday. Ritch and Bethany took care of making her Eclair Cake and freezing it before they came to FL – and it turned out great.

She truly is a special girl. I offered to let her have her best friend come over to hang on her birthday, and she insisted that her friend’s entire family was invited because it would make everyone happy (all the kids are close friends)! She’s always thinking about how to bring joy to others and is one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met.

She chose to do a craft day with her friends (since the weather was not conducive to swimming), and then asked for PBLATs for dinner (BLTs with avocado and pickles). She was the sweetest opening her gifts and enjoyed every second of her special day!

Midlife Thoughts

Has anyone else turned 40 and had a legit mid-life awakening? I don’t want to call it a crisis, because I’ve never cared less about things that don’t matter – which is freeing, not panic-inducing as most crises are. But it’s like I know what I want – and what I definitely don’t want – in life more clearly than I ever have before!

I crave peace more than I ever have.

I want a simple life.

I crave authentic people who live out their faith in an unpolished way.

I accept that not everyone is for me and I’m not for everyone.

I deeply cherish the people who know me fully and love me anyway.

I often consider selling everything we have and starting over on a remote island somewhere (there are plenty on Zillow, I’ve checked haha) with my two friends (literally) and our families and no one else.

I saw this post and thought it was so good I had to share it here. The call to stay soft really hit me, because I’ll be honest – life has a lot of ways it can harden us and staying soft is the true flex.

Welp – that’s all she wrote. I hope you had a great May and are ready to embrace the summer magic!