A lesson in the leaves.

A couple of weeks ago, I was catching up with my cousin. Since the last time we had talked, both of us had had babies (yeah, it had been a while!). At one point in conversation, she seemed surprised that this whole being-a-mom thing is difficult for me (she has two as well). It made me step back for a second and question what kind of "front" I put on, even if it's unintentional.

I try hard to capture beautiful moments in our life. I do occasionally take pictures of our house when it's a mess just to remind me of it later (and give me a good laugh). But the pictures I post to this blog, to Facebook, to instagram? I mean, of course I want/hope to show pretty pictures. :)

BUT but but, just to ward off anyone thinking this is all a walk in the park for me, allow me to depict for you the events that took place before this fun little photo shoot of my kids joyfully playing in the leaves. 

It was about 4pm. Chris would be home in about an hour and a half, and I thought, "oh, I'll just take the kids outside and let them play while I do a little yard work." Easy peasey. Fun for all.

Ha. 

First off, it was my first time trying to strap Cooper into the carrier on my back, which was extremely difficult and awkward. 

It also just happened to be one of the windiest days we'd had in a while. 

In case you're unaware, let me just assure you that raking leaves and trying to put them into a paper bag that is supposed to stand up by itself while wind is blowing everything on God's green earth all over the place.....Good golly, I lost my train of thought. Basically, it's not a pretty picture!

Fifteen minutes in, I was beat. I haven't exercised in--well, I'm not sure how long it's been--and my muscles were aching like crazy. My dog was barking at the rake and her leash was getting all tangled in it. Molly's bag of sidewalk chalk was blowing down the neighbor's driveway. It was getting more and more miserable by the minute.

But at this point, the unthinkable crossed my mind.

Let it go, Amy. 

Let go of your expectations to have this task completed in this amount of time. Let your kids be kids, and enjoy them! 

Haha, looking back on that, it seems so simple. 

So THAT is the point I ran inside, grabbed my camera, and told both kids to just have at it in the pile of leaves. 

It's so funny what a simple shift in your frame of mind can make. It went from this late afternoon being totally miserable to so enjoyable. So thank you, Lord, for helping me!