Happily Ever After Moments

Just as we can’t expect to totally relax on a family vacation with little ones, we can’t expect our entire motherhood experience to be Happily Ever After. We all know here that sometimes–and by sometimes I mean often for many of us–we would rather be a thousand other places than dealing with what we deal with some moments of the day. (Bathtime, anyone? Waking up at the crack of dawn to cries of “pee pee! PEE PEE!”)

Just like we have to look for those vacation moments, we have to look for those Happily Ever After Moments in our days.

I try to cultivate an attitude in myself that helps me look for those Happily Ever After Moments. The surprising thing that helped me to start really being intentional about that was my Facebook feed. I know so many wonderful mothers who post about funny or sweet things their kids do. I have a handful of friends who have probably the funniest kids on the planet, and I love reading about the hilarious things they do and say. Reading those posts always reminds me to enjoy the Happily Ever After moments with my kids. It’s funny how social media makes the genuine joy of these mom friends so contagious to me in a good way. God uses many things to draw us to him. 🙂

We’ve had some good summer backyard baby pool fun this week. We had popsicles on the back porch today while we watched the afternoon thunderstorm roll in. We talked about how God is kind of like the wind, “because you can’t see Him but you can kind of feel Him.” Faith picked flowers from the pots and gave everybody a flower for our hair (even her brother).

They sleep in the same bed now, and they literally go to sleep giggling and wake up giggling every day. When they woke up early from naptime today, I popped some popcorn and we snuggled and read books on their bed while a thunderstorm finished rolling through.

We spent the morning with my cousin and her little ones, and Faith put on that princess dress and proceeded to put on that So Stinkin’ Cuteness that almost-three-year-old girls are so good at. “I’m going to school, mom. See ya later crocodile. I gonna vacuum first though.”

Why is it that I love to just look at my babies while they sleep? A mixture of how beautiful and kissable and perfect they are…and certainly some momentary relief I think…

Michael and I actually got to have a mini vacation earlier this summer. Some friends invited us to their camp on Lake Ponchartrain for the weekend, and we spent a couple of days with some of our best friends (and without our kids) hanging out on the lake. It was a wonderful, wonderful weekend. I even got in the (chilly) water and did some tubing. Yay for a Vacation Moment and a Happily Ever After Moment! We even got to go to a lovely mass by ourselves on Sunday morning–bonus points?!

So…we took the kids to Magic Kingdom for the day. It was an awesome day. Really and truly. The kids were great. Michael was a superb trip leader. Every one of us had fun. Even little Gianna was clapping and laughing with delight in the Ariel ride.

This baby makes me smile so many times a day. She certainly gets fussy a lot lately, especially in the evenings (it’s like my right hip is the only thing that makes her happy sometimes!), but she is so darn delightful most of the time that I forgive her very quickly.

One of my favorite recent pics of the Franklets. It captures one of those moments when the three of them are just enjoying each other. It is in these moments that I catch a glimpse of a special part of my gift to them as a mother–each other.

Peace to you and yours this week! Here is a little Scripture to ponder this week as you keep your eyes out for a few Happily Ever After Moments of your own. This verse always reminds me that my children are my love and service to God, and they are really not my own. Also, I always laugh at myself when I read this verse because I think of all of those times that my kids aren’t acting super-loveable, and I don’t feel like being Nurturing and Sweet and Infinitely Patient with them because they are being incredibly ungrateful, annoying, disrespectful, etc. When it comes down to it, I just try to remember to do what I do for Christ, who gives all and takes nothing.

“Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others.” -Colossians 3:23

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