Days Like Today.......

I have so often mentioned how time spent together as a family brings us closer....how I always feel more connected to Jeff and the kids after vacations and holidays. It is amazing to me how everyday life can worm its way into things and cause us to go on autopilot. Homeschooling has helped us to take back some control because we are able to find fun in things and times that were impossible before. However, the last couple of days reminds me that nothing compares to complete together time....no work, no school, no social functions....nothing but what we choose to do.....when we choose to do it.
Jeff took Monday through Wednesday off this week. I really expected him to want to hang around home most of the time and rest, which was absolutely fine with me...I never complain about being home! However, he woke up Tuesday ready to take us to the movies. First, we went to buy our fireworks for the 4th, then went to see Ratatoulle in the afternoon. When we got home, we got into some of the fireworks...we just couldn't resist! We decided not to go to the firework show that we went to last year. It's just funner to stay home and pop them ourselves. The neighbors popped theirs at the same time, so we just had our own firework display :). We had a lot of rain this afternoon, so we almost didn't get to pop any at all. The kids couldn't be too upset about the rain, though, when my friend...next door...and I told them all to go play in it. That was all fine and good until Madison took it a step further, as Madison usually does with things, and started playing in the mud. Mud started piling on and clothes started falling off....that's when it was time to bring them in and clean them up!
Jeff cooked steaks on the grill for lunch. I baked some potatoes and made baked beans and Hawaiian sweet bread to go with them. We shared some of the steak with Ginger, who loved it so much that she gobbled it down without chewing, resulting in throwing it all back up a few hours later. This is why we DON'T usually feed her table food, but hey, it was a special day!
Now, as I sit here and watch Jeff sleeping beside me, I am humbled with how much he loves us...how much he desires to be with us and make us all happy. He could have spent the past two days resting and doing things alone that he wanted to do, but that isn't how he chose to spend them. I just stood back and watched him as he picked out fireworks with the kids...how he knew which ones they wanted from all the times in the past when he paid attention and remembered. He insisted on going to the store to pick our food out for the 4th....came back with special little treats that he knows that we love...sweet rolls for me and ice cream for the kids. Every time he heard us pop a firework last night and all day today, he was right there ready to play with us...didn't want to miss out. He makes himself so available to us, and the greatest thing is that he does it because he wants to, not because he feels that he has to.
Tonight, as we finished popping the last of our fireworks, I saw Carter standing off alone looking as if he would cry. I walked up and asked him if he was sad because the fireworks were gone. He started to cry and told me that he wasn't sad, but that he just loves us all so much. He said that he is so lucky to have me and Jeff and to be a part of this family. I knew exactly how he was feeling.....it is what comes from time together. Yes, the movie was great and the fireworks were fun, but it was enjoying one another in those things that made it great.
Thankyou Jeff....thankyou for spending time with us because you want to....thankyou for wanting to!