Ordinary days

Looking back on this blog I find I write the most in the highs and in the lows.  The lows are not necessarily huge lows but at the time they seem huge to me.  Things like parenting my 5 year old, decisions to be made with our 7 year old and school friends, our move here, and the like.  On the other side of it are the highs.  The great things happening in life for example:  my last three blog posts were about building tadpole habitats, having our family pictures taken, and last days of school.  Great things.  Things that I am thankful to have down for records sake.

But what about the every day?  The mundane, day in/day out making food, sweeping floors, wiping noses and bottoms, teaching kids to share, teaching them to read, breaking up sibling arguments, witnessing sibling sweetness, getting frustrated when my 2 year old doesn't nap, wondering if I should have a cup of coffee in the afternoon type of days.

In the book I am reading, 1000 Gifts, Ann talks about the "ordinary days"  For our little group discussion I easily came up with times I felt empty nothingness and times I felt fully alive but it is hard to think about the life in between.  Why?  Because this is most often where I camp.  Those ordinary days where I am tempted to think about "just getting through this" or I am going to clean while my kids are playing nicely so I can get it done but then feel some regret later because I missed a good play session with my children who will not be young forever.  These past few weeks have been such days.  Days that have been "easy" or even just ordinary in a lot of ways, are also the days I sometimes do not fully experience or remain checked in.   Filled with things of summer: swimming and swinging, tv and Ipads, strawberries and freezie pops, bike rides and park time.  I have noticed that I can get into the rut of being on autopilot and sailing through these ordinary days.  I have been challenged by this book and just by God's urging to take myself off autopilot and truly engage when life at its most ordinary.

So my thankful list through the last few weeks of "ordinary days"

67.  Another bird one:  seeing a Heron on a pond during a morning walk.
68. A sensory water and shaving cream alphabet activity for the boys being super successful and just what our preschool lessons needed....break in the books!
69.  Andie's Fun run at school.  Running with her whole class
70.  Encouraging Isaac to make this over half mile run.  And his "I'm not even in kindergarten yet" proudness over completing the run.
71.  Bird feeder full of visitors
72.  Family night out at our favorite pizza place....complete with pizza dough for kids to play with.
73.  Going to bed when its still light out......I probably do this more often than I should admit.
74.  Getting up and starting my five mile run at 5:40 and running the whole thing in complete light!!
75.  My first baby shower in our "new" town.  Feels good to be connected again.
76.  Lots of places to hike and explore 10 minutes from our front door....taking advantage these past weeks with all the nice weather.
77.  Craig taking the kids swimming while Caleb and I nap after a few rough nights of sleep.
78.  Friends getting/purchasing a house down the street from us!! YAY for young neighbors and good friends close.
79.  Bald eagle flying over our heads walking Andie to school.
80.  Seeing a Male scarlet Tanager on a hike (promise...this will be my last bird one for awhile....I will take a break from birds)
81.  Washer and dryer - through 2 accidents and 2 puking episodes.....glad to have modern conveniences to clean the mess up for me.
82.  Backyard - fence, playset, bench, shade - has been our hangout most afternoons
83.  Craig playing/chasing kids at park - hearing them squeal in delight
84.  Hearing Craig say "say eeeee"  "say ahhhhh" as he brushes Caleb's teeth.  Something so sweet hearing a father take care of his children.
85. Bike rides
86.  Trees blossoming
87.  Smell of lilacs
88.  Running with the merry go round (its been years since I have done this)
89.  Spider swinging with the kids....their giggles
90.  Eavesdropping on Isaac as he helps Caleb after Caleb gets hurt because "we're brothers and brothers help each other Caleb"
91.  Watching Isaac get pitched to over and over and over and over (and over!)
92.  Looking for Andie - finding her in our backyard making a list of all the pretty thing around her.
93.  Playing in the sand at the park
94.  Parents living close so they can visit often - watching the boys so I can go on a field trip with Andie's class.
95.  Amazing lunch date with my mom at a fun restaurant.
96.  Morning in woods with friends and finding a creek to play in.
97.  Isaac playing with a 2 liter bottle with a hole punched in them for an hour (seriously) during a nap time one day.
98.  Mud squishing between my toes as I wade in the creek.......just like being at a spa right?
99.  Fun and adventuresome Memorial day cookout.
100.  Bugspray!! (yes we use deet around here.....judge away.....)

As I look back over this amazing list I realize that my ordinary days are really anything but ordinary.