small wonders

We had a little taste of spring there for a bit, but winter is still holding court around here. Ari has been going out for a morning ski every day (saying- "this might be my last chance!") and he is just whipping along with his new skate-skiing skills on that firm ice crust out there. Admittedly, I have not been getting the rest of us out as much as I should- the same paths we tromped all winter are feeling a little old these days, and my energy for getting baby and kids bundled and out the door has dwindled. But we are keeping busy with lots of projects and creations and book reading and playing together. Some days the kids even get dressed! (I'm realizing that almost all the pictures I've posted of my kids lately they are wearing their pjs. To my credit, they do get dressed (almost) every day, but since I tend to get the camera out more in the mornings when the light is nicer, there are a disproportionate number of pj shots. That's my story anyway. Though it is true that it is sometimes well into the day before the kiddos bother to get dressed or I bother to encourage them. We'll call it a homeschool perk.)

We did a big spring clean/baby proof/ furniture shift last week, and it is amazing what a little refreshing can do for the head-space. The kids are loving the new space, and the new toys that have been cycled from the packed-away boxes (and I am loving a brief hiatus from the teeny plastic bits that all got packed away this time,) and lots of fun creative play has emerged. And cycling out old books for ones that haven't been seen in awhile has made for lots of quiet reading moments. We also have a new nature table space and a new homeschool corner, and an area for Willa to play with all the baby-friendly toys and books. She is getting into stuff now, and she's a busy little girl- though she hasn't started a full crawl yet. The bum-scootch is serving her just fine for now it seems.

And oh, her sweetness. Her sweet, sweet, sweetness. I can hardly stand it sometimes. Last night I was rocking her to sleep, singing to her, holding her sweet little self in my arms, her soft soft hair and warm little head against my face, her body calming at the sound of my voice and I just had this urge to simultaneously stop time right then and there- forever rocking my sweet girl- and also to go downstairs and scoop my other babies out of their beds so I could rock all three of them in my arms together. Of course this is hardly practical, considering the long gangly limbs and big squirmy bodies of my boys, not to mention they would probably balk at being rocked to sleep. But still, there was this deep sense of realizing how fleeting this is, how precious it is, and how each one of them is growing up even in this very moment of holding them tight. Growing up. Growing out of my arms and into themselves. What beauty and joy and heartbreaking wonder it is.