Kate, Claire and Me

I'm not sure how it happened, but on the last weekend of a February leap year, the heartland received a huge gift...70 degrees and sunshine.

And I received the gift of caring for my two daughters while my better half took our son on an epic Boy Scouts camping trip.

Admittedly, I went into the excursion feeling tired.  Drained from a full week, I was praying that the Vitamin D would give me the extra boost I needed to hold down the fort.  With a steaming cup of coffee in hand, a deep inhale and exhale, pink tulips on my table, I decided...no agenda.  No getting the laundry caught up or the groceries bought or the clothes donated or the house picked up.  Instead, we would go where our hearts took us.

Kate (8) and Claire (5) decided that their hearts wanted to paint fairy houses and sew pillows and curtains to go inside.  This lasted a short while before Kate's inner servant kicked in and she decided that it would be a better use of time to paint rocks, sell them, and give the money to the poor.

This took us through a good chunk of the morning, until Claire decided that it was time to blow this boring, altruistic pop stand and set out onto the open road.

Equipped with their bikes and a backpack of supplies, we found our coveted path and traveled to the park. 

While I was pushing them on the swings and they were screaming, "Higher, higher, all the way to the tippy-tops of the trees!!!" I couldn't stop beaming that I almost started crying, until Claire jolted me out of my "What a Wonderful Life" mini-movie because she was afraid to jump.

Because it was an unusually hot day, gelato was a given.  Peanut butter chocolate for Kate, plain chocolate for Claire and Espresso for me.

While eating the yummy goodness, we decided that it wouldn't be the perfect day, until we blew bubbles.

Watching them travel high into the sky, headed on an adventure of their own made everything right with the world.

After a bath, stories and a few songs for good measure, we started to pray and this is what I heard...

"Thank you God for this fun day and the best mama.  Thank you for painting rocks and toe nails and digging in the sand and chocolate.  Thank you for riding bikes and sunshine.  Mostly, thank you for the money that our rocks will bring.  May every child feel loved."

I quietly closed their door and went into the kitchen to work on the dishes. 

This little life of mine is a good one.