Stop and Smell the Roses....or build with rocks

It's been a long couple of weeks.  John has had visitors in and that means he leaves earlier and gets home later than usual, which makes for long days for me and Z. He does try and sneak home, even for a few minutes, to see us before his evening activities if he gets a chance. Zane has had the chicken pox so that has limited our outings and interaction with others and has totally goofed up our routine! We, and by that I mean me, are very much about our routine so when it is disrupted it can be challenging.  

Zane is feeling better now.  John's visitors start leaving tomorrow and life will return to normal....well as normal as it gets around here. It has been so humid the past few days that our time outside has been limited to early morning and late afternoon.  I can only imagine what it will be like this summer when it is REALLY hot! This morning, since we were up early anyway, we decided to just take a walk around the path at our apartment and then we wandered around in the courtyard.  The courtyard is beautiful and the buildings block out the harsh sun, but there is a lot of water to attract the Tiny American's attention, so we don't spend a lot of our time there.

One of Zane's favorite things to do is play with rocks.  In the courtyard there is a flower bed that is full of bamboo plants and the base is full of these big stones, just the right size for his hands, but not small enough to go in his mouth.  He loves to stand there and build with them and just throw them back in the pile. We stood here for 20 minutes today, just piling rocks up and then throwing them back in the the bed.  He couldn't have been happier! 

Sometimes I think my need to be busy, to have things planned out and scheduled gets in the way of just being.  As a mom I don't want to  push our days in one direction, making sure to get it all done, that i miss these moments.  I want to make sure that we take the time to just stop and be present.  I want to make sure that we stop and build with rocks, pick up every leaf that he sees, or enjoy whatever he is thinking about.  I want him to know that being with him is what is important, not what we are doing or how quickly we do it.  

So today take the time to stop and smell the roses or whatever it is that makes you happy.  Today don't let life get in the way, just enjoy the moment.