Reminder

Sometimes I think that if a person could actually die out of sheer frustration, I'd need to be a Time Lord with at least a few dozen lives to still be alive after 7 years of parenting our spirited children (no mellow ones in our batch, at least not long-term). Last night, as I was encouraging them to get ready for bed (Mark was at a meeting), only to be screamed at in my face every time a bed-time related word came out of my mouth, I was trying really hard to remember what did I see so wonderful about motherhood and parenting in general that would make me enjoy it on most days and even want to have my children around me all day (homeschooling).

Thank goodness for photos, because looking at them I can see those moments that make it worth it. Parenting is not easy, and does not make you (or at least me) feel warm and fuzzy all the time. But those sweet simple moments, when they say 'I love you' out of the blue, draw their first *real* portrait, run up to you bursting with excitement to show you a new 'invention', or simply read quietly in the afternoon... those moments are the ones that outweigh all the frustration, doubts and overwhelmption (just made it up, don't Google it) I encounter daily as a parent. So I'll cling to those moments as much as I can, and keep taking photos of my children when they are sweet, and happy, and play nicely with each other. (they are in the backyard right now, spraying each other with the hose. Elijah says they are looking for rainbows...)


our floor is covered with Legos and Tinker Toys every single day. all that foot pain caused by stepping on them is always paid off by seeing how many creative ideas those guys can come up with while playing.




a daily occurrence - Ivy sitting on top of the kitchen table, very pleased with herself. this girl is a climber. we let her watch Ueli Steck's Eiger speed record too many times.


shoes on wrong feet never stop them.

Anya's hair never quits. "it's alive!"


always spirited. always full of love.