Heaven Neatly Packaged and Delivered Today

I don't know how today could have been any better. It was a gift from God, I think. We woke happily and despite my reluctance to arise, the little people were persuasive and very pleasant. Maddie needed "bweakfast" and Brian obliged while I fed Little Man. Then, without any complaints, tears or whining, everyone dressed and brushed teeth. I'm sure I had a huge smile on my face. We were ready and out the door to make it to MOPS early! Ben has had freak-out tantrums the entire year that has made the drop off procedure a disaster. I bargained with him (as I usually do) that if he could go into his class without clinging to my body so he has to be physically pried off my leg for this meeting AND the next we could find a special treat for being so brave. To my total amazement, HE DID IT!!! He was still having a hard time, but he kept it together. His coping mechanism changed to zipping his jacket up so it looked like he had no head. His teachers were great and played right along. They were likely just as surprised as I was that he wasn't tantruming. The meeting was fun, all about how to vacation with kiddos from camping to Disney to roadtrips. Then we made super cute flip-flops and they cleaned out their closet and I scored a new plastic bin to store the toys in and organize the basement! When I picked Ben up from class, I was able to announce that we didn't have any other meetings at the "MOPS church" building since the last meeting would be a picnic at the park. He was super excited! I loaded up the troops after MOPS and called dad. He agreed to meet us for a lunch at Baja Fresh. We waited for his arrival on the lush green lawn in the warm sunshine. I taught Ben a fun game. He picked a number and then we counted cars to see what he would drive when he grew up. He never got anything super cool, but Maddie will be driving one of those trash trucks that empty dumpsters. The mexican food at Baja Fresh was plentiful and tasty, the company was delightful. All the kids ate really well. They were happy the entire time and Jacob was cute as a button playing with daddy. Brian and I were stuffed. Then Daddy headed back to work and I took the kids home for a nice afternoon. Naps for Maddie were a bit of a fight, but nothing wild or too frustrating. Jacob wasn't interested in his afternoon nap either, so I finally laid down with him after calming him the twentieth time. I got to rest on my bed cuddling my Little Man. Ben watched his favorite show, Zula Patrol, on the bed next to us while we lounged. Jacob finally dropped into a deeper sleep as Brian arrived home from work so I could go down to Ben's restaurant in the living room. The weather was perfect! After Maddie woke up, Ben headed out to the front yard to play with Jacob the neighbor and to "learn how to climb trees". They had fun together and found some water balloons in the pantry closet. Brian and I helped launch them across the field with the slingshot. The kids were almost as anxious to clean up the balloon pieces as to launch them. Then we heard a siren approaching nearby and could hear the engines running. I took Ben and Maddie on a walk to follow the sounds and investigate. Someone fell down in the ravine one street over. We checked out the ambulance and fire engines and watched them bring someone up on a backboard. Still can't figure out how they fell. There is a guard rail and honestly, nothing down in the ravine to attract attention. In any case, while the rescue workers did their job, we went on a caterpillar hunt. We found six caterpillars, lots of ants, one weird black bug with red marks on the back and one orange-red frog. We "played" with the frog. Sure we enjoyed it more than he did. Took all six caterpillars back home to show dad. At almost 7 pm we finally went inside to get dinner before the kids turned into monsters and ruined the day. We nuked some leftovers. Still mostly full from our great lunch feast. Maddie asked to say the blessing on the food. She wanted to pray for the guy who fell in the ravine. Her prayers are always the same. She says, "Father Thank you for the food. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." It was a huge thing that she wanted to pray for someone else without any prompting. Of course, she said "thank you" for the guy rather than asking a blessing for him, but it was cute and I know God got the intended pure message from a sincere little two year old. When we were almost done with dinner, Brian abruptly told us to look out the window. Two beautiful deer were wandering through the field outside our window. It was just too cool! I saw one of them the other day driving a few blocks away, but here they were at MY HOUSE!! We have the best location. Right near the woods. No parking lot or roadway views for us. Brian grabbed the zoom lens and I took some pictures. Then we watched. And watched. When we couldn't see them anymore, I quietly went outside to get a view again. They even went up on their hind legs and fought for a minute over who got to eat the leaves on a particular tree. They were gorgeous and so close to us! Finally, the left the grassy field and went back into the woods. The whole family walked out to try to find them in the woods, only to see our fox running out of his home. Ben and I found deer tracks and fox tracks in the dirt since we knew exactly where to look. Then we finished dinner, everyone got pajamas on, happily. Ben asked to see the fox tracks online, but couldn't mentally picture how they made that shape with their feet, so we walked over to Katie's house and borrowed her dogs and let the kids feel the soft pads on the bottom of their paws. I think it all made sense to him after the visual. Then, everyone climbed in bed, exhausted. As usual, Ben was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Maddie read books for 30 minutes and was out without a single complaint. Today was just a little piece of heaven. I'm glad it was neatly packaged and delivered to my doorstep today. I am a happy woman as I lay down tonight. What blessings I've been given. Three great kids, one amazing husband and father, a steady job to provide for our family, a home perfectly situated to allow such outdoor happiness and fun just steps out the front door. We love Virginia and all the happiness we've found in our lives here. Spring is wonderful and I'm enjoying the fresh air and the happy kids.