First Weekend of Spring

I get to spend the first weekend of the season of renewal with my children. What better way to celebrate the new season than with the fresh faces of my babies.

Last night, I picked them up from daycare and we went to McDonald's where we ate and they played for a while. We went shopping after to pick up a few things and get the Little Man a little something for his birthday. Princess picked out her bathing suit for the summer (which looks adorable). Today, we picked up some milk and mac n cheese at the store and then went bowling. Dinner was hot dogs with mac n cheese. Gotta love children.

Tomorrow should prove to be fun. It's supposed to be near 60 and sunny tomorrow so I figured we'd go to the park. They don't know yet, though...it's my little surprise for them. I can't wait to see their little faces when I tell them we're going. Maybe I'll even make fluffernutters and we'll picnic at the park. There's plenty of tables and such or I even have a blanket in the car.

Of course, to make this weekend over-the-top perfect (not that it's not perfect already)? Just need one more person...

*sigh*

I Can't Believe It...

On Tuesday, October 14, I will be celebrating 90 days of being smoke free.

90 days.

I never thought that back in July, I'd be where I am now. I haven't had a smoke since the night of July 13. I'm running and walking. I'm doing tummy crunches. I'm going through a divorce. I have my shop again. And, yet, through it all, I haven't had a cigarette.

Honestly, I am amazed at myself.

And now people are calling me an inspiration.

I'm not an inspiration. I'm just doing what I have to do to make my short time on this planet a little longer and more enjoyable. It's scary enough to realize that your life may be cut short due to an illness (and the medication used to treat it), but then to realize that you can't even simply run around the yard and play with your own children is devastating.

I mean, three-quarters of the time, I'm so tired that it's a large effort to play with the kids. How fair is it to them that the 25% of the time that I feel good, I got out of breath so quickly that it wasn't worth it to play? What kind of mom was I?

Now that I'm feeling better, I take my kids to the park often. They find little friends to play with and I end up running around with a bunch of kids while the parents look on, sitting on the bench. It feels good to be the mom who gets muddy and dirty with the kids.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynfulfishy/2905263716/in/set-72157607358438933/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynfulfishy/2912485453/in/set-72157607358438933/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynfulfishy/2912483217/in/set-72157607358438933/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynfulfishy/2917948279/in/set-72157607358438933/

Oh, and as far as running? If I hadn't quit smoking, I would never see scenery like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynfulfishy/sets/72157607884420009/

Life Can Be So Simple

I took this shot tonight, as my children played at the playground where I was standing as I took this. The Princess asked me to take a picture of the sunbeams because she had never seen them before. I, of course, obliged. Unfortunately, the beams shooting out from the clouds didn't really make it into the picture.

I felt very peaceful as I relaxed on a bench while my babies played with the other little ones who were visiting the park this evening. I watched as they ran around, chasing each other, sliding down the slides, running across the zip line. They had not a care in the world. So innocent, they are.

Kids are wonderful in the sense that they don't care what others look like. They don't care if you have purple polka-dots, they still want to be your friend. I have lucked out with two beautiful children that are so full of love and life. They care so much about each other and about other children. They get along with everyone they meet.

Maybe, if the world could sit and watch children play for a little while, we wouldn't have the mess we do...