Today

Today the girls got up at 5:30.  Happy New Year, we're happy to see you!

I changed the baby's diaper, put my robe and slippers on...and opened the bedroom door before falling face-first into my pillow, thus freeing the baby to wander the house alone.  I'm such an awesome mother.

Wonder Daddy sweetly asked "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah.  Put me to bed at 10:00 last night and make the kids go back to bed."  I'm such a grump.  He didn't say anything, but he did take the kids into the basement.  I don't remember anything after that, but I woke up at 9.  My husband is a saint.

Everyone was at the breakfast table when I came out, I joined them for Santa Cereal.  Changed the baby's diaper again, took my shower.

Frog-Marched the kids through picking up.  We cleaned the kitchen (Ernie washed the tupperware in the sink, I may or may not have handed spoons and forks to my 15-month-old to load in the dishwasher.)  We cleaned the upstairs toy room.  Ernie ran and hid in the basement with the "fun" parent (who may or may not have spent the morning playing video games.  From this side of his laptop, I can't tell!  Or he could have been coding a database for my burgeoning piano studio.  Because, remember, he's awesome.  Never forget that!), and the baby fell asleep on my lap at 11.

Ernie took her nap at noon, and Mimi got up at 12:30.  Ernie followed at 1:30.  I then frog-marched the family into the backyard for yard work.  It's raining?  PAH!  Beauty knows no pain, girls!  (OK, so I got my work clothes on and called to Ernie as I walked out the door "I'm going outside!  Get your coat if you want to come!"  She ran to join me, and Wonder Daddy came as fast as he could get the baby's coat and shoes on.  They're good people.)

Wonder Daddy and I cleared 40 feet of blackberry brambles, the baby wandered around looking confused and damp, and Ernie ran from one favorite spot to another.  Ernie also discovered that somewhere during winter's long hiatus from parks and swings...she has perfected her swinging method.  She's a machine!  A park-going-animal!  She can't wait until the sun comes back in May.

Wonder Daddy and Baby made a bolt for the warmth and dryness of the indoors while Ernie and I finished up.  I turned two of the laissez-faire compost piles in the yard (it still seems like a miracle every time I find dirt in there.  Who put dirt in my pile?  Isn't this where I put my clippings??)  Also, I've decided I'm going to make a boxwood wreath next time I trim the bushes.  Buried in the middle of my large compost pile, I unearthed bright green sprigs of boxwoods.  Completely unscathed after nearly 8 weeks off the bush.  They'll last forever if I stick them up on the door!

I came inside when my ponytail soaked through my fleece, and the water started dripping down my back.  Brr!  It was a nice time in the yard though- wet, but warm.  Nice to know that my raspberries have a little more breathing space come spring time, when they want to get some growing done.

We drove into town for pizza and Lolo-House-Hunting, and came home to eat the pizza on the floor, watching the rest of last night's movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."  I made kettle corn on the stove and we watched "Sword in the Stone."  Mimi was like a Monster Truck, getting at that popcorn bowl.  She'd climb over anyone and anything to reach her fist into the sugary salty depths one more time.  And other time.  And another.

At 7 Mimi asked for milk, so I got her ready for bed.  She has some gnarly (probably lactose-related) diaper rash right now, so I let her have some nakie time.  Because apparently I'm stupid and really really really like to clean things.  (Look away now if you're squeamish.)  I stepped away to use the facilities, and she poked her head in to see what I was doing.  She thought it looked like a good idea, so she squatted down on my bath mat and did the same.  Then stepped in it.  Threw the baby in the shower, hosed off the bathmat and threw it in the diaper pail, then threw the baby in bed.  Double-diapered.  She never made a peep.  I wonder when I can start potty-training her??

We put Ernie to bed.  We read King Benjamin's words: "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Tonight's song request: Oh I wish I was a house with a drawer and a lid that plays music when you open it.  Wonder Daddy is getting a lot of practice ad-libbing songs these days- he made up a nice ditty about her little jewelry box.

Now the kids are asleep, and I'm researching Waldorf methods and Steiner education.  I want to be a more mindful parent this year.  I want to say yes instead of no, give my children a firm grasp and understanding of the world around them and their place in it.  I'm planning the garden, too- melons, squash, ground cherries, herbs, flowers, tomatoes, beans, peas, kale, chard.  But mostly, I'm ready for bed.

Gosh, these are the best days of my life.  And I truly mean that.  We never know when life will change, and children grow a little older every day.  I never want to say "I wish I had appreciated what I had when I had it."  I never want to spend so much time looking forward that I forget to look down and see where we're standing.