Jammies, chalk and 'skinny pigs'!

Today was one of those days. You know the kind that involve no real plan or agenda, no to do list or plan of attack! The kids and I played with chalk out on the porch in the morning, (in our Jammies), watched a movie while we ate our lunch, and went to the bookstore and Petsmart in the evening.
It is always fun to see them look at the blank slate in front of them, pick a color and see what they come up with.

Gracie is a scribbler. She grabs a color not seeming to put too much thought into her choice and goes for it. She quickly lost interest and found more fun in the leaves, twigs and grass. She sat at the edge of the porch and made pies, cakes and breads to her little hearts content. She didn't seem to have much detailed purpose to her drawing but the baking of leaves and twigs were exact, little piles that were purposefully placed and arranged.

Nic is always very methodical in his color creations. He drew a picture of someone and a few other things that weren't very distinguishable to the adult eye. He also got bored after a while and found fun in throwing the chalk on the ground and watching it break into several pieces. Imagine that, a boy finding pleasure and joy in destroying things, weird!

Around 5 we got bored of being stuck in our tiny apartment and needed to get out. We went to Barnes and Noble and played with the train set and read several books. The kids each got to pick a book, Nic picked a little beginning readers book about pirates that I could help him read, (good practice for kindergarten), and Gracie picked Amelia Bedelia, (OK she was persuaded to pick that one, I loved that book as a little girl). On the way home we stopped at Petsmart. The kids always enjoy looking at the fish, cats, birds, gerbils, lizards and particularly fun is when a dog is being groomed. Anyway, today the favorite animals were the cute little guinea pigs. They were really active and it was fun to sit and watch them. Gracie called them 'skinny pigs', it was just too cute to correct her. When I said it was time to go we had to make one final walk through and say goodbye to every animal individually. "Bye fish, bye cats, bye turtles, bye birdies, (and best of all), Bye Skinny Pigs".

I love these kinds of days, where being a housewife and all that that involves doesn't get in the way of being a Mom. I love spending time like this with my kids. I love seeing, hearing and being a part of what they are doing. Most days I am too busy to really pay attention to every little thing they do, every little idea they have, every little game they play and every little thing they want to say. It's days like today that remind me why I do not miss having a job, social life or a clean house. Tomorrows back to work. Number one on the to do list, clean up yesterdays mess of being nothing but a Mom.