these things are good

This morning while we were folding laundry Abigail said to me, "You're really happy to be a mom and have kids, huh Mommy?" and I said, "I am so happy." And then I thought about that some more, and about how much delight my kids bring me on a daily basis.

can i tell you how much it delights my orderly little heart to watch this kid fold her laundry and put it away?

Last night after dinner Abigail said it was the perfect day for Family Home Evening (her code for "I want to play all night,") and she was right, it was. We did the dinner dishes super fast and headed out to the greenhouse, where we had the loveliest time just wandering around all the plants. Abigail went crazy over all the roses, and kept running around saying, "Mommy, come check this smell! It is the most beautiful in the world!" We left with a raspberry bush and one more stripey heirloom tomato plant and went to Chick Fil A, because we had coupons for free berry smoothies (which was pretty sweet, because the smoothies are about $4 each and we each got one for free!) Then we watched the kids play in the playplace--I loved watching Abigail help Juliet up to each new level so that Juliet could get to the slide, which was just a bit out of her climbing reach (good thing she had Abigail there to push on her little backside).

Here is our dinner: paninis (chicken, grilled onions, arugula, pickles, tomatoes, and Muenster) with grilled vinegar-cooked potatoes (from the most recent MS Living) and grilled asparagus, tossed with olive oil, salt, and a grind or two of pepper. Delicious and perfect.

This morning has been very ordinary--stories, lots of housework, Lincoln Logs--but I've just been reflecting on how grateful I am for the chance to watch my kids learn and grow up and become such fascinating and endearing little people. I'm really grateful that they have each other, because I think they're learning a lot of lessons from one another--sharing, of course, but for instance yesterday Juliet was running around and fell down with her backside right smack in the middle of Abigail's beloved corn patch. I, of course, was like, "Aaahhh! Jules! You killed Abigail's corn!" and Abigail calmly said, "It's okay, Mom. There's still lots left. It doesn't matter."

I love that perspective.

And I love, love, love playing Lincoln Logs with Abigail (when I was a kid I wanted to be an architect), because her inventiveness constantly delights me. For instance, this little cabin--she built individual pens for each of her animals (built as a part of the house and into the foundation), constructed a little garden off to the side (that's the long line of logs near the gate), popped a swimming pool into the backyard (the blue door) with a swingset nearby, and surrounded the whole thing with a fence to "keep out the wolves." And, of course, as she's building this she also builds Juliet "smash houses," so that Juliet will wreck that house and not the one Abigail is building.

Pretty smart kid, if you ask me.