hot slides, prince charming, and bottled serenity

Morning ! hope everyone slept well because i didnt... woke up about every hour and a half for no apparent reason... and im really not an early morning person, but if i sleep good, i do actually like mornings... there is something peaceful about mornings... when the world is just waking up...the quietness- you know the one before the 12 yr old busts out the door feeling like he is running late cause he fell back asleep, the dog that instantly needs to go out when he hears the front door open,  and then the baby starts talking to himself and anyone listening through the baby monitor in his own little babble "um, hello mother... im here and im hungry" and occasionally the ka-thud of the 3 yr old who rolled over and fell out of my bed that she has crawled up into late at night or earlier this morning. she is stealth i swear some mornings... youd never know how she mysteriously appears next to me...lol...

yesterday i did manage to take a walk with mason and courtney to the park that is about 2 blocks down from us... we pulled out the double stroller and left. it was a bit warmer than i expected, so i didnt figure we would stay out long... but we got there and courtney got to swing for a little bit. the big slide on the playground was hot so the one time she went down it, was the last time she went down it. i couldnt convince her- the girl who loves slides, and all things playground- to try again. we even tried mason in a swing... still a little too small but made for a cute pic anyway.

so after we played for a little bit, we decided to take a walk through the park too, to see where the path led us, since ive never been.  the path itself didnt go too far, but there was a trail- brilliant me thought ok, we can try it, the stroller pushed easily through the playground mulch, and the trail looked similar...yeah- no- not quite as easy... ha!  but we forged ahead . mason was so content laying in the stroller watching the trees go by. he loves being outside. courtney enjoyed looking for squirrels, and birds. we even saw a toad or frog, not sure which one- that she decided to name prince charming.

it was really nice walking through the woods... there is a calm... a quiet serenity that overtakes you. almost like time stops and you dont have cares or worries for a moment- you know some people want to bottle up the energy from a spastic child, but i think id rather bottle this amazing serenity... i need more moments like this in my day...where i can just take a deep breath and really appreciate my surroundings. i have to learn to stop every now and then and reassure myself that things will be alright- even if the living room toys are overwhelming me, and the laundry is sitting in baskets all over the bedroom. i have to tell myself that the world isnt coming to an end because no one seems to know how to change the roll of toilet paper, or replace it for that matter, or courtneys clothes get covered in sidewalk chalk because a budding artist has been hard at work...i have to remember to just breathe.

so one of my efforts in my happiness project is going to be- try to infuse each day with a little moment of serenity, where i take a deep breath and notice things that i would have missed being busy. what is a few minutes going to take away from the day?right?

well, after we got back from our hike, which is what it felt like- i thought i was gonna die. 2 kids in a big stroller isnt lightweight, especially uphill through mulch. we chilled out in the dining room and colored... 2 things off the kid to-do list checked!  and it really was nice to see courtney get excited when i offered our plans... and to my amazement she was better behaved yesterday than she has been lately...i guess that tells me i need to pay more attention to my kids- kind of a slap in the face to quit being so selfish i guess...

for now, im going to go rock mason , and enjoy his stinky piggies, share some mommy/mason time before courtney wakes up, then see what today holds...

im sure i will ramble again later...:)