Following Their Lead::

Today we were able to get outside and take a walk. It is sunny, in the upper 40's and absolutely beautiful. It was so nice to be able to walk our usual little route and see all there is to see out there today. I would have loved to get in a solo walk, a brisk walk for exercise but that's not going to happen today anyway.
A few times I caught myself telling the kids to "Come on" so we could keep moving and when one of them asked me why I realized there was no hurry, we had all day. So I decided to let go of the idea of our walk today being about anything other than enjoying some time outside together.  Following the kid's lead is slower, yes, but we see so much more. Pine cones, pennies, leaves, puddles, bird nests, broken glass...all of it. I could see just how happy being outside made them too, they were excited about every little thing and stuffed their pockets full of so many treasures. So many lessons to learn from our children and a very important one for me today:

Slow down and enjoy all these little moments...

There really is no hurry at all.

 

Around The Neighborhood....

I can't wait until walks around the neighborhood are part of our daily routine again. Can. not. wait. The fresh air and sunshine are essential to my sanity as a stay-at-home mom. Seriously. But until then...walks in the snow on a sunny day will just have to do.

"The Creation Of A Thousand Forests Is In One Acorn. " 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fall Walks And One Embarrassed Mom

Yes, I am still going on about how pretty it is here right now   and we are trying to take at least one walk every day while it is nice out. Last week it was rainy and gloomy and before I know it it's going to be snowing here in Illinois so we need to take advantage while we can. The trees are so pretty right now and we have been taking our little bags with us to collect lots of leaves--we have found huge leaves, heart-shaped leaves and every few steps Charlotte finds "tiny, adorable leaves." So yesterday we were on a walk and I guess I was looking off another direction because before I had a chance to look back up Charlotte says, "Some people sure do have big, fat bellies!" At first I thought she was talking about me so I looked at her and was just about to give her a lecture about how that is not nice and we shouldn't say that--but instead I look a few feet in front of us and there is a woman dressed all in purple walking a dog wearing a purple sweater and YEP, she had a pretty big belly. And YEP, she heard Charlotte. UGH. Guess we will be taking a different route today, just in case!