making mundane beautiful

Recently I was doing the things I normally do on any given weekday morning. Suddenly joy overwhelmed me and stopped me in my tracks. I was having a "moment." I was in the midst of a daily occurrence, experiencing a fulfilling joy at that very snapshot. I realized that though the days can be long, there are things that happen on a consistent basis and when I finally stopped to pay attention, I saw they were moments I treasured. Here are a few of them:

We don't need an alarm clock. The kids wake us up and my little morning glory is usually the one to do it. I love when I am groggy, get out of bed and the first thing I see is my daughter standing up in her bed waving at me with a beautiful, bright smile.

I love the way the light hits our bedroom in the morning when I open the curtains for the day. I consequently love walking by the room all day long.

I love that first cup of coffee in the morning.

I love when we are done with breakfast and I get on the floor with my kids and we all play together. I love how they always manage to make me and each other laugh.

I love the conversations I have with my son when its just the two of us, one-on-one.

I love the time of day when Jenna is down for her afternoon nap and Ben is in his room for "downtime" and I get to sit down, (many times for the first time all day) pick up a book, get caught up on email, or just stare out the window and daydream.

I love the anticipation of daddy coming home from work and how excited both kids (and I) are when he walks through the door.

I love when I am in the kitchen cooking dinner and can hear the kids laughing and playing with their daddy.

I love when after dinner I get to join them.

I love when we put the kiddos down for bed and my husband and I get to sit down and connect, talking about our days and anything else that strikes our fancy. Just the two of us.

Somehow my head gets all screwed up thinking certain things are going to make me happy that never do. I get so tired of the influx of bigger, better, more messages. I'm just thankful for that "moment." Otherwise I might not have stopped, looked around, and savored the beauty that is right before me every single day.