How it all began.

This is my blog. It's my first jump into the much-hyped world of blogging, so we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping it doesn't end up in a virtual pile of other unfinished projects. (does that make me a virtual hoarder?)

School lets out for the year on Friday. I've got a challenge for my boys. They'll each be given a spiral notebook, and a pencil. Part of their daily routine will be writing down 3 blessings/happy things for that day. Now, I'm sure this'll be soo easy for them in the begining. They'll start with things like "my family. food. water. air conditioning. cars." Alex's list might look more like "xbox. garages. railroad crossing signs." Nonetheless, I think after the first week or so, it'll become more challenging, and really make them think of all the little things that they're so lucky to have in their lives. Simple things, like the way Delilah yells "Naaaa!!" for Nik, when he's upstairs. Or the squirrel that climbed the front window screen, and they all thought he was crazy.

I kinda decided that I'd bring this challenge on myself, and see what little blessings in my life I can learn to recognize. If I could add up all the little things, the little moments (which are always the ones that will matter the most), they would clearly add up to a days full, weeks full, and a life full of happiness. The blog is completely indulgent, it's really just a vehicle for me to document my life while being grateful for the experiences I have, and to hopefully become a better person somewhere along the way.

3 for start.

Snuggling after naptime.

I love sleeping in. With the combination of pregnancy, Josh working from home, my poor sleeping, and dark blinds in the room - it's the perfect storm. But, I used to snuggle with my Bugs in the morning, for as long as she'd let me. That was back when she nursed. Once she weaned, she still cuddles, but it didn't necessarily have to be me. So, Daddy gets his snuggle time with her in the mornings - sometimes she's as generous as 6am! When she wakes up from nap though - she's all mine. I was worried when she weaned, that we wouldn't have the same cuddly, intimate time together. But she's really humored me with this post-nap snuggling, and it certainly has helped me in my acceptance of her toddlerhood. It's something that we'll have as long as she'll let me, and I never take it for granted.

Alex's ability to sometimes listen.

Today Alex had a great day, where his listening ability surpassed that of his 7.5yo brother. Super impressive stuff! Dinner was rushed, because we had baseball, so there was absolutely no room for error in my prep. Alex came down from his nap (which was also a fantastic thing that happened today!), and chilled until it was time to eat. He sat down to eat, only speaking up to say he wanted more pork. I was giving him instructions while he ate, that he needed to finish up, get his socks & shoes on, and if he wanted to bring crayons & a notebook - that would be his responsibility to remember. I spend the next 10 minutes taking Delilah's shorts off her head, putting in her tiny piggies, packing her diaper bag, filling up water bottles, finding the girl's other sandal, and then rush into the kitchen to rush Alex along. Only to have him meet me halfway, socks & shoes on, crayons in one hand, and a notebook in the other.

On the way home from baseball, I turned right on red - legally. He followed that up with "Mommy, you ran that light." He's clearly listening sometimes... If you know of an effective way to explain right on red to a 4 year old, I'd love to know. It was exhausting, and he still just thinks I ran the light.

Paper plates.

I love the environment, do some green stuff and all. But I do love paper plates. I'm not a fan of doing dishes, and it's not even my chore. I don't even like to look at dishes. It's certainly not the most offensive thing I could do to the environment, so I'll take some comfort in that. But yeah... I'm a pretty less-than-ambitious person, so I can't give them up. When I reached in the cabinet to get some down for their pork chops & potatoes, I realized I only had 5 left. Which isn't many, in this house. I instantly regretted using them for banana pudding earlier. I mean, who does that? Who has remorse at misappropriating the paper plates? Sigh.