Every single day ...

One of my favorite things about being a momma (because I have about a million) are all the little moments of life that I get to see repeated through the eyes of my kids. I don't mean that to sound selfish or as if I want to live through them, I just love being able to watch them and kind of know what's coming next. Maybe it's the planner or control freak in me...but I think it's more that I love them so much and want so much to see those smiles, and I cherish knowing and remembering these precious moments myself. 

I can remember Mom and Dad loading up the GIANT orange van when I was little in preparation for a road trip. There I was, being nosy, asking questions, gathering all my "necessities" like my woobie and snacks and staking my claim on which section of the seat I wanted. 

(I can also remember the duct tape that was holding parts of my car seat together - safety standards have changed a bit, I guess.)

And I can remember the anticipation of what adventure would bring as we left the safety of home for that great big road ahead.

MaMaw and PaPaw's house still looks and smells the same to me. Rich in history and stories. Filled to the brim with laughter, endless card games, family reunions, grease stains from the best cooking around. Tears of joy and sorrow and noise for days. There are lost hidden marbles through out the air duct system that was in the floor instead of the ceiling... perfect to cool down a coke on a hot summer afternoon. The bread is even softer there. 

The backyard is like a giant mystery waiting to be solved. Plants just pop up out of nowhere and flourish unlike the plants that you intentionally place in the ground in Texas only to meet their death weeks later. 

That giant magnolia tree that you could once climb all the way to the top makes you sound like a hero and seem so brave to these wee ones that can't even imagine hopping onto a bottom branch because the tree has grown at least 10 feet since you were young. 

Watching them retrace the steps of my childhood is such an unexpected gift of parenting, for so many reasons. I get to see their joy in the smallest things, like "bug skeletons", and giant leaves, and prickly caterpillars. And I get to attempt to relate to what my parents must have felt while I was doing these exact same things. 

And I'm so gently reminded that it's the smallest, most insignificant moments in life that can bring out that joy. I spend so much of my time and energy thinking about how to make their lives special that I miss out on the point that their lives are special... every single day. 

And all these every day moments are what will go on to become their lives. Their happy endings. Their fairy tales to tell their friends and their kids. 

And as strange as it sounds and as much as I don't want to rush their lives, I am also so eager to hear their stories and memories. (I am also the girl that reads the last page of the book... I just get too excited). 

The privilege I feel to watch their stories unfold. To witness their memories in the making. To live the every day with them. Well, it's undeserved. 

Grateful can't explain or give justice to this parenting perk.

My 3 greatest gifts are in these 3 tiny treasures... 

and We 5 Kings have so many adventures ahead. 

And I am thankful for the big and small ones and so overjoyed that I get to be next to them, to watch them, to (re)discover with them all the adventure of life that lies ahead. 

And while we are doing that, we will hold them when they are scared...

gaze with them in wonder...

and celebrate the every day of life as it is waiting to be explored!