today we made soup.

ellie & i have our comfy pants & aprons on. 

[and maybe shoes on the wrong feet.]

we're doing our normal dinner prep.

it comes between taking a break to blow pinwheels,

having a tea party [with apple juice & string cheese] &

a dance party with bouncing, twirling & bopping.

i don't get many things done in a day.

yesterday, we did grocery shopping.  

i kid you not that it took close to 5 hours from 

leaving the house to all groceries put away.

but, i [try my very hardest] to

involve the kids.  even the babies.

sometimes that means that an onion rolls across the whole produce section 

as it misses being THROWN into the produce bag.  

and it means that we all laugh and i tell clay,  "try again.  gentle this time."

even despite the dirty looks from the man that almost tripped over the onion.

[the lady that smiled at the kids and winked at me trumped him anyway.]

sometimes it means waiting patiently as ellie explores something in the store.

don't get me wrong, we expect our children to obey,

but often my rushing isn't all that necessary & i could take the time to 

explain to her about something that's caught her eye.

sometimes that means that there is quite a bit of water on the counter, dripping to the floor,

as ellie carefully washes the dishes in the sink.

it means that although cutting up the veggies would go much quicker on my own,

she pulls a chair up and gets to join.  

it means that as much as i want to buckle them in their highchairs sometimes 

and hurriedly get some things done,

the babies often roam and explore the kitchen beneath me.  

bianca will pull every towel & bib that we own out of the drawer.

clayton will proceed to place them on his head and look at us all to laugh.

it always means that i have a lot of damage control to do at nap time and late at night.

i hope it also means that i have children who know how valued they are right now.

that they know that learning, exploring and being is their "job" right now.

that they know that none of the stuff is more important than 

guiding & loving their little hearts.  

i could look at today and say that we just made soup,

but i think we did much more.