Quiet, lovely days

This is the kind of day I imagined when I pictured myself staying home with children. The morning started with an ordinary breakfast of cereal and toast for me and the kiddos, followed by some quiet play time and me doing the dishes. The girls have colds, so no school for Livy and no plans with friends either. Malia was down for a nap early, so Liv and I enjoyed a cup of tea and a little craft time, which ended up including glitter (um...who invented this insidious stuff? It's in every crack and crevice and I even have some stuck to my cheek and cannot for the life of me rub it off!) I thought I was so smart to do the glitter outside, forgetting that my child would be wearing much of the glitter when the art project was completed. Now the patio and my kitchen floor are covered in minute speckles of red, yellow and green.

Mid-morning was spent online organizing some meals for my friend Kristen who just had her baby (welcome Junebug!) and researching gift ideas for my cousin-in-law Justine, who is graduating from high school (!) in just a few days, while Liv watched the movie "Alice in Wonderland" for the first time. I won't go into the fact that when I met Paul, his God-daughter Justine was in something like second grade...ah-yah how time flies!

But my favorite part of the day was lunch time. Livy washed the grapes, then crunched on celery while I prepared some chicken salad for myself. She wasn't sold on the chicken salad, but still helped me mix in the mayo, apples, celery and curry powder and gamely took a bite when my sandwich was all put together. She stood at the island as I made our sandwiches (her turkey and cheese with mayo on wheat with grapes on the side, my chicken salad on wheat with grapes as well) and we chatted and laughed and played her favorite game of late ("I love you in the morning", "I love you in the dark", etc.) Very sweet game for a very sweet morning together. No, three is not the easiest age, but it is a very loveable and fun age full of imagination, intensity and love.