A picture may say 1000 words, but sometimes written word just does the trick in preserving memories. Occasionally I just like to write about small moments or snapshots of our days, because I may not remember them in the years to come, but those small moments are really the fabric of our lives right now.
Here are a few snapshots from our week:
Going on a Leaf Hunt
Nathan always tells me I’m not allowed to purchase books from the preschool book orders because we already have too many books. It’s true. We do have a lot of books. But I don’t think you can ever have too many. It’s one of the few areas where I go against his wishes. In September, I ordered a few dollars worth of books, one of which was Going on a Leaf Hunt.
One afternoon this week, I was reading this book to the boys (who love it by the way), and Elias exclaimed, “Let’s go on a leaf hunt!” We got on our boots and our rain coats and we started tromping down the street looking at all of the leaves. Elias and I definitely have different tastes in leaves. He picked up a lot of brown crumpled up leaves on big long sticks. I tended to pick bright yellows and reds. As we headed up a hill in our neighborhood, Elias yelled, “we’re going up a mountain!”
As we were returning to our house, arms full of leaves (and sticks) I watched some of the passengers in the cars driving by. They were all looking at my boys, wide smiles on their faces. I felt so lucky to be their mommy, and I really cherished the time with them. While having young boys is tough sometimes, they won’t want to go on leaf hunts with me forever.
Since that day we have been on a number of leaf hunts, but none stick in my mind quite as much as that first.
The Blessing
We say a blessing before (or at least at the beginning of) dinner each evening. Usually we let Elias choose who says the blessing. Sometimes he chooses Nathan or myself, but sometimes he chooses himself.
One of Elias’ blessings this week:
“Heavenly Father, I don’t know Lord…..(something I couldn’t understand)…..and please bless help Nana to come here tomorrow and bless Ama and Baba and Uncle Jared and Audrey. Amen.
I thanked Elias for his blessing and told him how nice it was that he was thinking about family members. I also told him that I think about family members a lot too.
His response:
“Actually. I’m thinking about the government and the Dodgers.”
Bedtime Antics
Some nights Elias goes through his bed time routine and lays down, closes his eyes, and falls asleep. Many nights however, he has entered the phase of the bed time antics. He gets up and wants a drink of water or lays in the hallway. This evening he had to go to the bathroom. He did his business, and before he left the room said, “I love you toilet.”