It's the Little Things

Okay, I'm going to admit that I've been feeling a little crappy lately.  I think we all have those spans of time when energy levels are down and moods fall closely behind...well, I'm in one of those phases unfortunately and am not sure how I got here.  I'm not going to bother trying to figure it out because there's probably either no good reason at all or it's just a combination of a bunch of little things.  So, to follow up from my last post where I listed all of the sacrifices I've made since becoming a mother, I thought I'd make a list of all the little things that make me happy right now:

- Zoe taking everything literally lately (ie: Zoe: "Is that a surfboard, Mommy?" Me: "No, it's a kickboard" Zoe: "You KICK it??"

- Owen eating more and more "regular food".  I gave him Cheerios the other day, which means I can stop spending money on the expensive specialty baby puff things...Yay!

- Seeing Nathan come in the door after a run.  He's just as happy to be back into it than I am and that's awesome in many ways.

- Having at least 8 people I feel comfortable calling/talking to when I need some immediate reassurance when it comes to choices I'm making with the kids.

- Finding out that the crazy squirrel I've become irrationally skittish of at the playground almost definitely does NOT have rabies.

- Trying to find simple ways to answer complex questions (ie: After our outdoor movie night the other night where we used a sheet as a movie screen  Zoe:  "Mommy, why could I watch the movie on the blanket?"  Me: "What?" Zoe: "Was it a magical blanket?")

- Being able to make Owen belly laugh his little breath away even while he's in terrible pain (another ear infection).

- Watching Zoe run to comfort Owen at the doctors office when he started to cry.  She quietly sat next to him on the table and sang "Maybe" and "Twinkle, Twinkle" and gave him a hug and a kiss

- Thinking about my run the other day when I was so tired I got startled by a painting of a wolf on a bridge I was running under.

- Thinking about my amazing sister Rachel, who is training for the Lake Placid Ironman in July (okay, that one ain't so little!)

- Watching Zoe and her friends run and ride their bikes around our neighborhood like the hoodlums they are bound to become.

-  Finally going on one of our favorite day trips after about a year hiatus.

That's all I can cram out of my brain at this point, but hopefully this will jump start my mood and I'll spend the next couple of days thinking "Oh, I could have put THAT on the list!"

I had another happy thought/memory the other day when I discovered I could make an egg carton into a mancala board and teach Zoe how to play.  I remember playing this game with my brothers and sisters for hours and hours and I think it's a great game for all ages...it's simple but mesmerizing.  We had some glass pieces left over from making our stepping stones so we used those too.  After we were done, we ripped up the egg carton and soaked it in some water and just sort of watched how it changed and played around with it.  It was another nice, quiet afternoon during Owen's naptime and a great thing to do in the shade on a hot day...

The setup

Although she didn't ask to play again, she did play the game all the way through which is a good sign that she didn't HATE it, at least

Smoosh