Into the Ordinary

Okay, I will admit. Though I don't think any of ya'll were doing cartwheels over my milestone, I almost didn't post again. Seeing that even number 1000 when I signed onto blogger was so cool. I almost hate to change it. But you know me. I will. :)

If you have just read this blog the last week, you might think that I am a downer of a person who does not appreciate the God-given roles in her life. I will admit, this weekend, I wasn't truly treasuring much of anything. I know the weather has played a HUGE part in it. Even though I am pasty white, I crave sunlight. It has also affected the kiddos who until this past week hadn't been able to play outside in about a month due to really yucky weather. There is also just the fact that I am a woman. Sometimes my emotions are on a roller coaster ride. I am just along for the ride sometimes screaming to get off but I am buckled in. Finally I was coming off a week of parent/teacher conferences, meaning I was SOOO tired. All that to say, what I went through this past weekend is not necessarily the norm.

Then, ironically over the same weekend, I kept visiting friends' blogs and seeing the following video. I actually resisted watched it for a while. I was in a funk and honestly just wanted to have a pity party for a bit. I had a feeling this video would stir up my heart, and at the time, I was content to just stay in the "mud" where I was rather than climb out of it. After about the third time of seeing it flash across my screen, I caved. I decided to watch it. The results? I boohooed like a baby of course.




I have recently been noticing those ordinary moments. They are the ones I don't typically take pictures of with a camera (and even if I get a camera out to do so, the moment would be over before I hit the power button). Yet I often take "snapshots" in my head, wanting to remember the moment forever. (Unfortunately with my memory, that may not happen) Things like...

• watching my daughter run up to the gym for her basketball practice. Sometimes when she is running in, her hair pulled back into yet another ponytail (hairstyle of choice right now), I catch a glimpse of the little girl I used to watch run across the yard. Where did that little girl go?
• Just last month I did an update post about our youngest. I talked about how he loved looking at books, though all we did was label and identify what he saw in pictures. Over and over and over. In the last week, he has suddenly decided he likes to READ books. He brings me the same books over and over and over to read, I actually say the words on the page. And he is beginning to memorize them and anticipate what is coming next. How did that transition happen?
• Conversations with our oldest. He (to me) has always talked about the deeper stuff of life even from a young age. This is the same child I wasn't sure was ever going to talk. When he did, he went out full force. Now our conversations have a totally different feel. We are starting to talk about some topics and issues I didn't think we could for a few years. They are good talks, open and honest usually. But I sometimes find myself wondering, "When did we stop talking about why the sky is blue?"
• At that same childs last parent/teacher conference, I suddenly realized that it was the last elementary parent/teacher conference we would have. It doesn't help that he has had the same teacher for three years (third through fifth grade). I immediately felt tears spring to my eyes when I realized that.
• Child 3 has also been interested in reading. The exception is that she is now reading to me. She isn't a fluent reader yet but she can read several sight words and figures out patterns, so we take turns reading books that I once read to her.
• Her vocabulary has suddenly shifted. She used words like "frigid" to describe the weather and "gills" to tell me what a shark does in the water.
• Child 4's vocabulary has also shifted. He gives us longer detailed sentences and tells me details about his day.
• He has decided he likes "showers" like his older siblings. Just last week, he wanted to take a bath instead.

I could go on and on, but I must get ready for school. I just couldn't help but reflect on those ordinary moments that we have around here that are fleeting. In the blink of an eye, they are gone, never to come back again.

Today I choose to enjoy them. How about you?

Reba