Perspective

Henry is turning into such a big boy now. He is my light and the happiest part of every day. Watching him change over the past 3 years has been so incredible. That he understands what I say and I can have a conversation with him about almost anything is so amazing. He comforted me last week, when I was feeling sad. He hugged me and said “It’s okay baby.” This is a person that 2 years ago was just learning to speak and walk. Getting older is strange. You gain this wonderful perspective of how special and glorious your life is. You realize that every single day is precious. But at the same time, you only get that perspective from the knowledge that time is passing and that your life is not forever. It is a bittersweet truth and I have felt it's heaviness the past few years. The only way that I can come to terms with it is to try my hardest to enjoy every day. To never wish for the weekend on a Monday. To close my eyes and feel the breeze. To smell the flowers and hug my babies and laugh with my parents and focus on the moment as much as I possibly can. I am not always good at it. There are days that I feel sad that I am getting older. And that people around me are getting older. But every second that I think about that is a second that I am not here with them. So I remind myself at the end of the day that even a mundane day with nothing special happening is still something special. It is a day that when I am old I will be glad that I had, and a day that I will wish I could do again.

Happy bits

Today my friend Emily gave me a globe that she bought at a garage sale on Saturday for a dollar. It's perfect.

I also forgot that I ordered a book from amazon that was on back order until it arrived this afternoon. Many birthday gifts are going to come from this book.

Lastly, a package from the UK was in my inbox this morning. This lovely pin was in the box and now it adds the perfect bit of Spring to my gray purse. Her etsy stuff is amazing. Check it out. I think I want this one next.

Tiny

I was one of the parent helpers today and Henry’s preschool. It was so fun to spend the morning with such a sweet group of kiddos. And I really loved getting a glimpse into what Henry’s mornings are like there. The place has so many windows, the natural light alone is enough to make me smile. I love that someone always brings fresh flowers and that they have a bin for recycling and a bin for composting. Walls covered in kids paintings and drawings and a table covered in glitter and paint splatters and shelves of art supplies and a huge papier-mâché globe hanging above the tiny tables with tiny red chairs and the sounds of kids playing and laughing. And the snippets of conversations that I overheard-
Ben- I am working on this leeky oil pipe.
Henry- Me too. I have a tool.
Ben- Don’t worry. Oil is not explosive, just flammable.
Henry- I will not worry. I don’t mind if it is fwamable. Smelly stuff doesn’t bother me. I have cats.
It's a special place.

Someone had put a quote on the window over the sink. I read it as I cleaned a million tiny, colorful, plastic cups and pitchers. It was something like this-

“The world needs worthwhile people. To make that happen we need people that feel worthwhile.”

I’m flubbing it up, but it was something like that. And I thought for a while about the mission of the school, building character and confidence for these sweet kiddos so that they can go on to be everything that they want to be in life. And I thought about the mission of a parent. Raising a child that believes in himself. That challenges himself. That is loving and kind and sensitive. That understands that he is part of a community and contributes and gives of himself. It all, for that moment, seemed wrapped up nicely in that quote. We are all worthwhile, whether we recognize it or not. As a parent it is my job to make sure that my child recognizes it. And in that room, at that time, the heaviness of that responsibility didn’t bother me at all. I guess maybe that is what happens when you are part of a community, supporting each other with a common goal. Or maybe that just happens when you love someone so much that all you see is the promise and possibility. Either way, it felt really good.

5 Years

Things That Make Me Happy Thursday Part 2

I got on the subject of San Francisco this afternoon and it brought back all my great memories of our trip to SF many many years ago. We weren't married at the time but so far this is the closest we have come to a honeymoon. There is a ton of great stuff going on in the Bay Area, we didn't even scratch the surface during our visit. Alcatraz was really cool. Shopping in Berkeley was fun. But my favorite part of our trip was Muir Woods. That is a place I could go back to over and over again. It was breathtaking.

Photoshoppin' it

This photo was my first attempt at photoshop. I cropped it, changed it to black and white and then adjusted the contrast and the brightness. It is a little grainy because it is actually a scanned photograph originally taken with my 35 mm camera but I love it as a black and white. I am so excited about using photoshop, there are so many great things you can do in that program. Thanks babe, for showing me how to do it!

Last year at the patch