pleasantly surprised

in the last few days my kids have delighted me by doing two things very well. (do they realize how happy they can make us and how easily? they, of course, might ask the same thing of us.) we went grocery shopping after swim team one afternoon. this, in and of itself was a mark of insanity on my part. three kids close to dinner time. three kids tired from swimming and playing all day long. one peter who i can't nap or he won't sleep until 11 p.m. i had very little snackage with which to bribe. but it went perfectly. they were ALL angels. the day before i had asked them to clean their room. it was COVERED in toys. wall to wall helter skelter, as Mama Bear would say. I wasn't really expecting much, which i guess is reaching a new low on my part:) when i went upstairs it was SPOTLESS! my chin dropped before i could catch myself. i'm not really sure why i'm recording this. they were just two tiny, little sweet moments when you're so surprised that something so small from your child can make you SO happy. these kids are awesome!

recording this reminds me of something Jillian said when she completed a task i had asked her to do. she beamed up at me and said "Mom, I like doing a good job and making you happy when i do it!" I was busy with something else and almost didn't hear her. It felt like time physically rewound and then paused so I could check in to my daughter.

and lastly, a peter moment. one night before family prayers we were trying to calm down the troops in a renewed attempt to invoke some reverence during such occasions. we posed this question to peter "what if Jesus were here, Peter? how would you act?" to which he responded matter-of-factly "if a dino were here...long pause while we anticipated the inevitable...He would EAT Jesus." then he calmly closed his eyes and folded his arms, so, i guess, whatever works.

Family Vaca 2011

Classic Dad picture

A friend Jillian made that week. She kept going up to people and introducing herself, and our whole family, in one sentence, and then asking if they wanted to play with her.

We loved this hot tub!

Nothing better than summer fruit!

Morning Yoga