Friday Photo Dump.

In the spirit of attempting to write and record more over here in this little spot of mine, I'm trying something new!  

A weekly (give or take a ......month....if we're keeping it real) photo dump of all of the pictures I've taken in that (hopefully) wee little span of days.  This spot is, for the most spot, my recording of my Joys - and more often than not, it's my phone camera that captures these little random snapshots of Life.

Little boy letters to friends who have been sick...

Memories captured in pixels,...

Little moments I want to remember...

Simple pleasures that I try to stop and breathe in amidst the crazy that is our day....  

Simple Pleasures like the day's first cup.
And Jamberry nails.  They make me feel like a real girl.
To which Kaden replies:  "Except you don't act like one."
To which I reply:  "You're no longer welcome here."

And I am always, always, always reminded of the quote:  "Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things."  

Kind of hauntingly true...  

Puzzles and snacks.....and sunlight.

Nothing really major happens in our days, for the most part.  

Just a whole lot of the same.  

And  yet, somehow....my biggest boy is almost a teenager, and my baby now speaks in full sentences and pees on the potty.  

She also bribes her big brother to paint her toenails whilst on said potty...

I blinked, and in the midst of all of our normal, simple days of nothing....they all grew up.

And so these pictures are my recordings.

They are my Pauses and my Pushes to Reset.

They are my Little Things....that actually make up my really big things...

Dinner.  Caught by my men.

That's been my prayer as of late...honestly, my prayer always.
I want to be fully present.
I want to embrace the chaos and slow and see the sacred that's found right smack in the midst.
I want to savor....yes, savor....this last go round of potty training.
I want to delight in the new words and phrases that are exploding from London each and every day.
I want to celebrate the victories of brothers who work to get along and be patient with each other.

I want to encourage the creativity in the kitchen and at the table....in the basement....and wherever it overflows.

I want to pause in the evenings and drink in the sweet, deep breathing of all four of my babies still under my roof.

And breathe deeply at my children's decorating of their own rooms....

And I don't want to wish any of it away.

These are the sweet, simple days.

These are the days where the biggest frustrations are still just the messes and the chaos and the LOUD.

We have yet to enter the deep seasons of friendship betrayals, and broken hearts, and major life disappointments.  We're still in the weary and crazy - but easy - stage of our parenting.  

A bear hug from Daddy and a snuggle from Mama can pretty much wipe away any woes of our days to this point.

But I know the Heavy with come.

And I want to embrace that, as well...

This is just still such sweet Simplicity....

And this I want to drink in deeply.

Sweet simple Joys...

While the coffee perks.....a Daddy and his daughter do what she loves best...

"Children are not a distraction from more important work.  

They are the most important work." 

~ Jonathon Trainer ~

Childhood is a Journey, Not a Race....

And the Days may be long....but the Years......they are fleeting.

These are the days....