SHINE

It Just Feels Right

There's something very comforting about having homemade chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge, ready and waiting to be eaten.

Sweetening Up Mom

I was trying to get Carolyn to lay down for a nap with me Saturday. I knew I needed one, and figured it wouldn't hurt her either. She wouldn't have anything to do with it, though. I finally got her to lay down on Jamie's pillow for .0013 seconds, long enough for her to say, "Hey! It smells like dad!" Then she wanted to try my pillow. "Your pillow smells like you!" It was an exciting discovery for her. I asked her, "What do I smell like?" "Chocolate chip cookies!!" I took that as a fine compliment. She said Jamie smells like chocolate.

Still Swinging...

First off, I guess I ought to explain the name behind all this.

I woke up one day with a super desire to GET THINGS DONE. You know the drill, race like mad to get things tidy after a not-so-tidy few days, involving lots of PBS and DVDs for the kids. I dropped my oldest three kids off to school, and before I could even make it back inside with my 3 year old and 5 month old daughters, the 3 year old was BEGGING and BEGGING to go in the back and swing. This girl has been an expert swinger before she turned 2 and just loves to do it. Thinking of all the things I needed to do inside, I gave in to her persistence, wondering how long I would have to swing with her before I could get back to what I needed to do.

Swinging, swinging for a couple minutes.

"Honey, mommy needs to go wash the dishes."
"Nooooooo! You need to suhwing with me!"
"Okay, okay"

Swinging, swinging.

"Hey look! There are some birds in the tree. Can you count them?"

We started watching the birds fly from tree to tree, counting every time they stopped again.

"Mommy, did you he-uh that? The buhdees wuh singing!" (We say she has a Christopher Robin accent.)

So then it was listening to the birds sing, still counting, still swinging. And she was grinning away. It certainly was a beautiful day. Nice to be outside rather than cleaning.

Suddenly, the wise words of a three year old. "Mom, does this make you happy?"

I kid you not. Did she ask that because I'm a grump? I hope not. I hope she was feeling so much joy, that she wondered if I was too. And my answer?

"YES! This is really fun!"

I threw the question back at her, "Does this make YOU happy?"

"No." And she burst into a fit of giggles, the little snot.

So if you need me and I'm not answering the phone, check the swingset. Or the front yard where I'm playing catch with my boys. Or the couch, where I'm cuddling with my baby girl. A clean house is nice, but playing with the kids is way more fun.