SAHM-ing it up!

It's been three weeks since the last day of school. In summers past, my only thought this time of year was a panicky "OHMYGOSH- three weeks gone already??? That's three weeks closer to going back to work and being away from my kids again!", followed by shortness of breath and a distracted claustrophobic feeling.
This year? Nope. It's so much more liberating when you can look at the month of August and include it in your summer planning. I JUST LOVE being a stay at home mom. I was thrilled on Tuesday when I spent the morning baking cookies, naptime teaching music lessons from my living room, and the afternoon inviting Chloe's friend over and letting the kids play in the wading pool outside on our patio while I watched them from the window and finished dishes. Normally any one of those activities would be the ONE activity I got done that day. It's baffling for me to think that 24 hours in a day is as long as it is. Well, sometimes. You know, one day at a time.
Yesterday I packed up the kids and we went and visited the very beautiful and very pregnant Alli out in Ft. Morgan. I brought my camera and didn't take it out of my car because I forgot that I brought it (lame!! I know...). We got there later then I had intended, but we played in their little sanctuary of a backyard for a while, ate lots of snacks for lunch, talked while the kids attacked all their toys in the basement (and attacked...each other- it was so good for Linus to have a little friend who was his age-little P was born a week before Linus!- size, and comparable energy level- the closest kid at church to his age/size is a girl who is as sweet as a button, Linus needed someone a little more durable I think!), and walked to the park and played in the wind and sand. Both kids the whole way home thanked me for bringing them out there to play and had a great time and I was just so grateful to spend some time with my "soul sister".
The drive home was beautiful. I had two tuckered out kids in the back who were dirty and suntanned and tired and the sun was bursting through the clouds as I rolled through all the hills on 34 driving towards the mountains. It was so beautiful and it felt like the sun was shining right down on my heart (cue gushy music). I sat there thinking on how lucky I was to have such good kids and to have this time to spend with them before they grow up. It was so beautiful, in fact, that I pulled over to take a picture so I could remember the beauty and the feelings I felt. I turned into the entrance of a ranch to the north and pulled out my equipment, got the right lens on, ran up the road a few paces while my kids sat confusedly watching from the car, and started to capture those glorious rays of sun gaping through holes in the clouds. I took about three or four shots, then looked down at my LCD screen to see how they turned out.

Or in my bag. Or in my car. Or in a 40 mile radius.
Right, well then, that little heart picture will just have to remain in my heart then. Probably a better place for it anyway.
ALSO, families are SO important. Really they are. This is why: http://lds.org/ensign/2011/06/defending-the-family-in-a-troubled-world?lang=eng.