Family Time

You ever have one of those moments where you step back and look at your life at that exact moment and think everything is perfect?

If you could stop time and make it stand still you would be content to stay in that moment forever?

Saturday I had one of those moments. 

I actually got up from what I was doing. 

Stared at my family in all their glory and smiled. 

The biggest smile a girl could smile. 

Oh, and then I took a picture.  LOL 

 

 

Saturday was our "recoop from staying up way too late the night before and recovering from birthday sleepover day".  We made it through basketball (with only a few tears) and nap time, before the kids looked at us and asked "now what are we going to do?"

Usually I give them the cookie cutter answer... "Do... there is so much to Do.  Go read a book, play with your toys, go play wii, watch tv, anything but mommy is doing something right now."

This is not the "moment".

This is more like a not so good parent moment but the moment every parent needs once in a while just for some peace and quiet. 

But instead I told the kids "let's play some games!"

We all got our pajamas on and got out Rosie's new game Headbanz. 

It's a game where you wear a funny looking blue band on your head and then try to guess what object/person/animal is on the card up there. 

It is very hilarious.

We don't have enough "game nights" with the kids. 

But usually we have excuses that we are too busy or one of us has to watch our two year old or she will destroy the house while we are not looking. 

But on this night Daddy was in the mood to play too and Mommy had no excuses to do anything else.  So we all played. 

Lil Miss played with the headbanz and tried to join in occasionally too.

 

 There wasn't any fighting, except when they were wrestling cards away from their baby sister, and the game was really fun and appropriate for their ages. 

Yes, some of the objects were hard for them to guess. 

But as they play this game it will only get easier.  

{looking good honey!}

After the game was over, mommy won, Rosie wanted to get out her castle.

One of her friends had gotten her this big cardboard castle.  Isn't that the best gift ever!  I want one just for me.   I helped her set it up and got out the markers and her and I started coloring. 

Soon Gigi and Bubba had asked to help to. 

Rosie was nice enough to let them help with her castle. 

She definitely didn't have to let them color but she did. 

Soon we were on a roll coloring away and taking breaks from coloring when Lil Miss wanted to get in and play peek a boo.  After awhile Daddy came to see what we were doing and picked up a marker and to my shock started coloring too!!!!!

 

 {a little blurry but Bubba captured this pic of mommy and daddy coloring}

Now daddy is an engineer and a bit (said sarcastically) of a perfectionist. 

So he took his time at coloring in his little torch but I was really impressed at how he just let the kids color how ever, even though he was trying to make it "just right".  

The torch turned into the crown on the frog and then the whole frog and before we knew it Daddy had been coloring for an hour. 

I think that is the longest time he has ever colored.   

 The kids all really enjoyed it and we only had to get up and check on Lil Miss a few times. 

And here is the big shocker... she never once got her hands on a marker laying around. 

Put that down in the record books.

This was the "moment" I was talking about. 

I had gotten up to get a new marker and looked around me.

At Rosie supervising her sister's work.

At Gigi doing her best to color in the lines.

At Bubba with his head phones on singing "Beat It" coloring in the shield.

To my husband bantering with the kids sprawled on the ground coloring in a frog.

And at Lil Miss in the background playing with her dolls.

At that moment I remembered how lucky I am.

It almost made me cry. 

I remembered we don't have to be running around finding things to do to make memories.

We can color in our own basement and find the greatest joy of all. 

I had forgotten that somewhere. 

 

I went to bed knowing how special my family is.

They make me smile and laugh and cry.

And it is pretty perfect. 

 

And to make it even better, get this!!  

At 7:30 this morning my alarm went off. 

This is shocking because usually Lil Miss is up at 6:25 on the dot everyday but today my alarm goes off and there was no sound from the baby monitor.  Then I remembered I turned it off in the middle of the night (because of some feedback through the speaker) and got up to see if my kids were still sleeping by some miracle. 

None of the kids were in their beds. 

No kids were downstairs in the office watching tv.

Where do I find them?

In the basement coloring and singing. 

I think I was ready to have a heart attack. 

There they all were sitting on the floor coloring and singing Christmas songs. 

Really, can someone pinch me. 

 

I always knew I was a lucky girl.

But sometimes you just need a reminder on just how perfect life is.

I wouldn't trade mine for the world!!!