Fun in the Sun

This morning was bright outside. The sun was shining. The weather perfect. The sun beamed down and left a warm glow on the grass.

Hayden wanted to play outside. He sweetly asked if he laid a blanket down, if I wanted to go outside with him. I asked what he wanted to do. And he sweetly replied for me to read to him.

The warmth of the sun on my skin was exhilarating. I loved how the warmth of its rays warmed my cold hands and feet. As I lay on the blanket, the coolness from the grass sent a chill inside me. The crispness of the sun with the coolness of the grass, made for a perfect moment.

With sunglasses resting gently on my face, I propped up on my elbows and began reading about Meg and Charles Wallace. Several pages turned, Hayden listened quietly and intently as he hung on to each word, anxiously awaiting the return of the dragons to he garden.

I felt a gentle touch of Hayden's hand on my back. I paused. I looked over at my son to see what emotion was accompanying such a gentle gesture. His smile was faint as I asked what he was thinking. His smile widened and his tender touched turned to a more playful and teasing smile.

I must have had a questioning look on my face, as Hayden quickly replied that he was just glad I was feeling good enough to spend a few moments relaxing and soaking in the sun. I playfully returned the gesture, ruffled his hair and assured him that mom will get better. I'm here for the long haul.

He smiled. Not just a normal Hayden smile but a smile of relief and joy and deep rooted happiness. He simply stated that he loved feeling like a normal family again.

That precious moment was short lived. But long enough to make all the difference in Hayden's world. One chapter of "A wind in the door" read aloud, out in the sun, was the perfect amount of time for him to realize that slowly but surely, life will return to normal.

Life really is made up of a series of perfect little moments intertwined among the normalcy of each day. It's those precious little moments along the way that make the journey so worthwhile, so magical and so worth living for.

Today, I am grateful for the sun, my son, and the internal and external warmth that fills my soul on this incredible journey of life.

Crabby Pants

Hayden is rarely in a bad mood. He is generally a happy boy. Every once in a while, he has an out of sorts kind of morning. Friday morning he was just grouchy. He had gone to bed so late and woken up before the crack of dawn coughing.

Everything that Thomas and I said to him caused tears or a melt down. We knew if we didn't help him break out of this mood, it would be a rough day for all of us.

I love how Thomas handles Hayden's crankiness. He tries not to yell or scold him as this just intensifies the situation. Instead, Thomas holds him down and "kisses the grumpies away". All the while Hayden is a hollering and yelling for his dad to stop. Hayden starts laughing after a while and when Thomas and I laugh, he may get grouchy for a minute but after about 3 minutes, Hayden is laughing and giggling right along with us.

I love that "kissing the grumpies away" still works and has us all laughing.

It worked! Hayden had a great day at school and came home in a wonderful mood!

Plus, I love these pictures. I love that our unconventional parenting methods sometimes work better than disciplining. And I love the sound of laughter within the walls of our home!