One of the best days in a long time....

Friday, July 14, 2006 - This was one of the best days that I have had in a long time with the kids. I decided to sort of kick back, relax, and enjoy some time with them instead of stressing about cleaning and getting things done. Mom and I set up the pool for the kids and I loved watching them splash around in it. Later on, we were out there during Braden's nap and the kids had been playing in the pool and were done. I was sitting on the picnic table reading a magazine watching them. Well, I had to rinse off to go inside so I turned on the hose and started spraying my feet and then Madison and Ashton's too! I then went back to sit down and spent a lot of time telling Ashton not to spray by the table where Madison was running. Then I got up and moved everything so in case it did get wet, nothing would be ruined. That got me thinking...why don't I just join in the fun instead of being the "mom". So, I started to coerce Ashton into spraying me a bit by doing it myself on my legs. Then when he sprayed me, I sort of ran away screaming which made him want to spray me worse. So, of course it progressed into an all out water war! I gave the hose to Ashton and he worked his way up from spraying my feet to chasing me around the backyard spraying me every place else. I ended up totally soaked! I have not laughed that hard in so long and I truly enjoyed every minute of it. Some of the time Madison would jump in my arms to have me "save" her but most of the time was just us running around getting soaked by Ashton with the hose. I can't believe how much fun we had. It made me think that I need to do that more often and then maybe I wouldn't be so stressed so much of the time. I plan on doing that at least once a week where I just kick back and dedicate the day to doing whatever the kids want to do. It was just nice to spend the time with the older two while Braden was asleep as sometimes it feels like I don't get much quality time with them anymore as so much of my time is with Braden. I totally needed that day to connect with the kids. It was a blessing that God gave it to me to remind me what is important. Cleaning will wait, but kids grow up too fast. I want my kids to remember me playing with them, not the spotless house.