Today Was a Good Day.

It's been a pretty good day here. Thursday, the 4th day of our "summertime" with Noah out of preschool. What makes a day a good day around here? Well, on this specific day, Quinn and I managed to "sleep in" a little.... Always nice... I got the kids dressed and fed with very little trouble or fuss. Quinn went down for a morning nap with zero crying. Noah and I whipped up a fun dessert for later in the evening (peanut butter and jelly pie. Easy! Remind me to post the recipe sometime.). Then a spontaneous dish bubble playtime ensued-- We made a whole sinkful of bubbles and I let Noah and Lucy fling them about, "skate" on fresh washcloths across the floor to clean them up, and blow the bubbles at me and each other. 

Then Noah let me give his shaggy hair a trim for the price of a lollipop and Lucy enjoyed a lolli of her own as a result. After that, Quinn still slept so the kids played in the sand table while I culled and edited a few iPhone photos on the back stoop. When Quinn woke, after a lovely long 2-hour nap, he was cheerful and snuggly so I brought him outside for a bit and we enjoyed a chat across the fence with our dear neighbor Opal.

Lunch was simple and the kids ate well, and it was pretty painless to get everyone down for quiet time at their various times. Noah got some "screen time", which he always loves, and then when he was finally in his room for Quiet Time, I indulged in a nap of my own. When Quinn woke from his nap, I wasn't quite ready to wake myself, so I brought him down to the couch with me and let him eat while I continued to doze a bit longer. 

Noah woke and then Lucy woke and we all sat out on the front porch to wait for Joe to come home. It was a lovely evening with stormy skies and cool temps. The kids LOVE when we hang out on the front porch together. Joe came home to cheers and squeals from the kiddos, and thanks to it being "leftover night", I got to step away from the family to get a much-needed massage. (My upper back has been KILLING me recently-- I think mainly due to my funky semi-upright way of sleeping the second half of every night when Quinn is co-sleeping with me.)

I got home to tag Joe as he headed out the door for a late work meeting, and the kids and I watched some "So You Think You Can Dance" while I fed Quinn. It was ridiculously delightful to watch Lucy and Noah boogie along to the dancing and music from the show. I was so entertained by Lucy doing "splits" and pointing to the screen and saying, "Music! Music!!" Noah, meanwhile, wanted to play the "SYTYCD" "game" and have me be the judge while he, Prowl the Transformer, danced for me. Awesome. And Quinn ate then dozed on my lap, so sweet... 

And then Joe was home early. And I didn't have to figure out how to do Lucy and Quinn's separate baths and bedtimes on my own like I was going to have to. My teammate was back to help! We got the kids in bed and I dashed out of the house again, this time to deliver a client's photos and go to the grocery store. I got to listen to my current favorite songs in the car alone, and I stopped by Wendy's to get Joe and myself a Frosty on the way home. 

Now it's past my bedtime and I am watching Joe's Netflix DVD, Django Unchained, while working on client photos and blogging. The Frosty was tasty, I'm not super tired yet (thanks, nap!) and I'm slowly getting things done for work. And heck, I'm blogging!

And today, that is what makes a good day.

Is every day like this? 

HELLLLLLLS no. 

I am, quite frankly, completely flabbergasted at how LITTLE crying there really was today. That Quinn was in such a calm groove. That Noah was entertained and not complaining of being bored a lot. That I managed to eat my own meals, and all of them at home and not drive-thru. That not only did we get the basics done, we managed some extras. 

And I am definitely aware of the special moments that don't happen very often: the massage, the nap, the drive alone with good tunes... 

It was just one of those days the Universe said, "Okay, mama. You need it. Here you go." And gave and gave and gave in abundance. 

So tomorrow, I hold no illusions that we've "made it", or that I've "figured it out" and that we get to have smooth sailing from now on. I fully expect that Quinn will cry his head off when I have to put him down to change Lucy's diaper and get her dressed and hair combed for the day. That's par for this course. And I fully expect I'll forget to eat my own breakfast and then wonder why I am SO DANG CRABBY at 10:30am. And I am prepared for at least 4 meltdowns from Lucy and 4 major complaints from Noah. And at least one emotional slump of my own. 

But today? Today was a good day. And I am so deeply grateful for good days. Because as I'm driving into the night with good music playing, head clear and time to let my thoughts wander--- I am able to come to center and remember fully that THIS IS A GOOD LITTLE LIFE. That I love this. That this is what I have always ALWAYS wanted. And despite the messes and the stresses and the physical exhaustion and the post-partum depression episodes and the craziness of wrangling small children, THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF. They won't always be this little, live with such abandon, and need me with every fiber of their being. They won't always be so completely huggable and open and NEW. So when the days are particularly good, it fills my well and recharges me and reminds me and enables me to keep going. To keep living all of this, GOOD AND BAD, with hope and a sense of humor and patience with myself and with them. 

So yeah. It really was a good day. 

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*The photo collage is made from the last 10 days or so of my Instagram photos.(Which, btw, are now included on this blog as a widget at the bottom. Fun!) I used "Shape Collage", a free download you can find here. Try it. It's fun! I used it a few times years ago, but then forgot all about it for years. But tonight as I was driving, I suddenly remembered it and happy day, it's still a viable thing.