"wet's howd hands geowgie"

• George and Katie, you're always the first ones up.  You both come to my room straight away to say hello and have a little snuggle or two.  This morning you were wrestling and being all crazy and it was still only 6:30.  Sheesh
• This morning, a little piece of my heart, that I previously had not even known existed, broke and shattered into a trillion little pieces.  It hurt.  The tears didn't stop for a while.  But then they did, and I took a deep breath and gave myself a little pep talk.  Mothering is HARD.  There are pieces of my soul that will never be the same again...but it's all making me into the person I am today.  The future me will benefit from the heartache and the lessons learned.  I'm beginning to understand more about myself than I could have anticipated at the beginning of this journey...deep, hidden places that could never have been unearthed except to experience this.  I will survive.  Already by this evening, I feel mostly recovered and encouraged to carry on.  
• As usual, my solution to the crappy start of the day was to head outside.  George and Lila, we went to Mundy Park, and you played from 8:30 until 12:30.  We picked salmon berries, played in the sand at the ball diamond, collected cotton wood fluff and leaves, played ninjas, and ran around playing tag.  You guys were incredibly cute today.  You were holding hands and laughing together.  It was good for my soul
• Katie, you had soccer tonight in Port Moody, and Lila wanted to come with us, so the two of us went for a walk during your practice.  Sometimes I wonder if people think I dress Lila up for photos.  I wish everyone knew that she does all this on her own.  The costumes and crazy outfits...totally 100% her idea
• Lila, you decided you would collect enough salmon berries to bring home to eat with our pancakes tomorrow morning.  You picked quite a few.  Then decided to eat just one.  Then one more....and one more...and then, well, lets just say, we'll be having plain pancakes tomorrow
• During the soccer practice each week, a train parks itself right by the field.  Sometimes I wonder if the train conductor's daughter is practicing and he just dropped by to watch.  It's so weird though...he's always there, and always just parked.  I realize these photos look really dangerous, but trust me, they're not
• Jane, you showed an incredible amount of grace and character this evening.  You demonstrated initiative and creativity and I was genuinely impressed by it.  You're an exceptional person Jane.    My hope for you is that you realize this and use the many many MANY gifts you've been blessed with to make the world a better place.  I know you have it in you.