I think as a girl, I have always loved collecting things…I remember collecting barbies, those creepy little troll dolls with the spazzy frizzy hair, at one time in my life…bad boyfriends {yes, went through that “good-girl” attracted to the “bad boy” stage…THANK GOODNESS I made it out of that ok :)}, beautiful softened broken glass on the seashore, gorgeous fabrics, and the list goes on and on…
It seems at every stage of our life we are always looking for something meaningful to collect. Today it took a few simple yellow wildflowers for me to see some of my daily beautiful collections.
Why are these wilting hand picked little flowers worthy of a little photo session???…they are really the only tangible collection of the day, but they remind me of all the beautiful memories I can collect along with them if I just take time to “pick them out.”
The days have seemed a little longer lately. Pregnancy is starting to tire me out a little and I have had my grummy mommy moments to go along with them. I have been reluctant to punish myself with trips out to Target or Wal-mart…So instead we spent hours playing in the house…
Some of my “hand-picked” favorite moments to add to my collection of treasured memories…
….the morning batting practice held in the dining room with Dora Bats and purple gloves, taking breaks from sewing 3 sweet little polka dot spring dresses to play puzzles and learn a few more ryhming words, soap sudded crazy hair-dos in the bathtub, blanket tents built and torn down again and again, tears shed by sisters practicing the difficult tasks of sharing and “being nice” just because Mommy says too, homemade boboli pizzas and the sweet little fingers that grated the mozzarella and spread the sauce, requests for “barney, bottle, and a bed” by Mia in her sweet little language…
…how cute My Ava Olivia was at Golden Spoon tonight as she looked up with her big eyes and said..”my head hurts”…teaching her how to avoid brain freeze over a giggle and a hug was a real treat for me…
My favorite part of the day was taking our afternoon walk in the jogger. I need a triple jogger, but we make do with our double. I love to chat with the girls as they are all bundled up in their blankets waiting for the part when I let them out to run and play at the park.
Today we just all giggled as we attempted jumping jacks, ring around the rosy, relay races, and rolling down the grassy slope ( I watched of course!).
On our way back up to the house, they all 3 walked hand in hand singing..”my sisters are my best friends” (ella apparently wrote the lyrics to this one) over and over again. Ella kept stopping to hug Mia and Ava smiled up at me.
I put it here, so hopefully my memory will last longer that way. Being a Mom really gets me. I have days where I feel like I am being tortured (really…somedays it just seems so hard) and I know that is all part of the job. So, for me, the best way to really enjoy it is to really focus in on and collect the good things. Put those moments and memories up on a shelf to see and remember.
And so, today I am so thankful for the four little flowers we each picked at the park this afternoon…I remember the way they looked tucked sweetly behind my little girls’ ears as they ran and played on this windy afternoon. When we arrived home and got out of our muddy pants and dirty clothes, I snatched these sweet flowers up knowing that I was really holding on to much more…
the days memories…just like these flowers, would soon fade away…or get lost in all the busy moments of multi-tasking as a mommy…so instead of letting them wilt, I collect them, put them above everything else…somewhere special and like all beautiful things, want to share them…
so now that bathtime is over, the books that draw me close to my little ones have been read and tucked away, “ONE” game of princess UNO has been played, the girls are sleeping (finally), and I am left to the quiet (and the soft singing of Barney in the neighboring room as the DVD runs to it’s end)…I sit here to share a couple of my collected items…
hoping today, tomorrow, and each day I can always find something sweet to hand-pick and cherish…big and small…
xoxo
Mommy Tonya
