Time Flies

Yesterday was a whirlwind, as the kids went back to school after the long Christmas break. The house is now once again littered with school papers, boots, mittens, and empty snack wrappers. It is always with misgivings with which I send them back to school, having enjoyed their time at home, yet feeling it is always much too short. There are always so many more games to play, toys to make believe with, sledding to do, or cookies to bake. The time just flies by.

This afternoon, we took the opportunity of the slightly warmer weather and bundled up to play in our backyard. For the first time, Thomas joined us also. We all took turns pulling him around in his little penguin sled which he seemed to enjoy. However, he was not a fan of the ice cold blowing wind and snow in his face. Since he cried both inside and outside all day today, I decided he may as well stay out with the rest of us so that at least we could have some fun regardless of his current psychotic mood he has been in lately.

The kids pulled out all of our sleds, and got creative with riding down the hill on other things as well....the still inflated inner tubes from the summer pool two years ago were a hit! The snow was slick and packed down making a super fast track just perfect for little sleds and tubes. Even Laura was getting the hang of it this time, and had figured out how to trudge back up the hill all by herself. The school kids met us in the back upon their return home...they thought the "note" I had written all over our front door with chalk was a fun idea, and now Melissa would like me to write a note daily. After an hour, the wind had sufficiently chilled us, and we all needed a good dose of hot cocoa before our( imaginary )dinner that we never got around to having.

Jonny and I were the lucky ones tonight to leave the house for another Timberwolves game with his Cub Scout den. It is always a nice treat to do something special with him as it seems so often that life passes by so quickly that we breeze right over him. It was also simply nice to get out of the house and away from the noise for a little while. Poor Alex was stuck with the crying baby for over an hour as Daddy just couldn't quite get home early enough....usually it is Jonny who is the Baby-babysitter! (Hopefully Alex will recover from the mental strain and stress quickly!) I definitely had guilt leaving the baby crying, the house an after-school mess, and no hopes of any dinner in sight, but it sure was great to spend that time instead actually playing with my kids. Dinner and dishes and messes will come and go on a daily basis....but my kids are growing up so fast, and I need to grasp every opportunity to share in their childhood that I can.