Childhood

I was walking past the girls' room one day and happened to see this scene, so I grabbed my camera and captured some of it. Noah was over, and whenever he's over, it's a never-ending party with them. They just love having him over to play with. They had taken all the pillows and blankets they could find and were stacking them up on the sides of each bed like a wall against each other. Just kids being kids. Busy doing the things kids do.

I love those moments with my kids where I'm on the outside looking in, detached from the scene and able to observe them and see them how the rest of the world sees them. Like this scene. They knew I was there but kept doing their thing.

My favorite is watching them play in the backyard from the kitchen window as I wash dishes or cook, puttering around the kitchen and always stealing glances of their antics. It often brings a smile to my face, but sometimes tears, because the moment just hits me straight in the heart. Those are my kids, and they are experiencing their childhood under my watch, in the home Bogdan and I created for them and in the childhood yard they'll remember fondly years down the road. Seeing the dynamic between them all as they play games on the trampoline reminds me of my own childhood, and all the negotiating and arguing and rule-making that went on. Ah, childhood, such a beautiful thing. I love seeing my children smack dab in the middle of it.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. 

The other is as though everything is  miracle." -Albert Einstein