Things that make me smile

A feel like my phone is always filled with all sorts of little treasures that always make me smile. It seems like every time I turn on my phone, there is something new awaiting me and (don't tell the kids as I am trying not to encourage them taking my phone without asking) I kind of like the unexpected surprises that make me smile. 

Like these pictures of Milayla. Man, I love that smile and her front that is always covered in drool lately. Wearing bibs are not her thing and don't last long, so the dress needs to do the job. But with a smile like that, I'm not sure anyone would notice all that drool. And see the blurry picture of her with the chair? She is constantly on the go these days and it's awesome, especially when she uses that energy to help clean up like she was doing there. But when she uses it to dance, that's pretty spectacular as well. I must try to get the latter on video soon!

Artwork like this makes me smile. In part because none of us have arms, and in part because of all the things Atticus could have chosen to draw while he waited for us to talk to the teacher at a Kindergarten we were touring, he chose to draw our family with the biggest smiles that he could fit on our heads. I'm pretty impressed at the appropriate size proportions as well.

The treasures that I find in Milayla's activity walker always make me smile. Lately, it is usually filled with an assortment of books while she will wheel off to her favorite book reading spot of the day (which tends to rotate between the kids' play table, a corner by the book shelf, on the couch with Mommy and Atticus, or surrounded by her books on the living room carpet). I love her love for books.

The fact that Atticus already knows how to do functions on my phone that I don't know how to do. Like screen shots and voice control, and screen shots of him doing voice control. Smart kid. Tech savvy.

I love how excited the kids get about showing off our new Book of Mormon reading charts (that we printed from here). We've been reading the Book of Mormon every morning as a family for some time and it finally occurred to me that giving the kids a visual to see the progress we are making would be beneficial and, boy, has it worked wonders. The kids get pretty excited about getting to color off more chapters and we'll have a little celebration once we finish so I'm sure that helps too ;).

Other things that make me smile::: getting tackled with hugs and slobbery kisses from two energetic toddlers, going on date nights with Jason, listening to Atticus' perspective on things (he never ceases to amaze me), hearing Milayla call for Momma, seeing Milayla set to work to build her own train track after Atticus politely asks her if he could play with his own for now, seeing Atticus and Milayla work together, play together and laugh together, the sound of Jason's key in the front foor at the end of the day, the sight and sound of little feet running to the door to greet Daddy, goodnight hugs and kisses, lullabies, family home evening, how Milayla points out Jesus every time she sees a picture of him, how the kids love to show off when we facetime/skype with grandparents, aunts/uncles and cousins, the gentle squeeze Jason gives my hand to communicate a million words into one tiny little action that reminds me he's there and he understands (at least most of the time), the incredible encouragement and support I get from Jason and the kids as I start dancing again, giggles, being able to be a stay-at-home mom and focus on being a part of raising these awesome kiddos, hearing my children say "I love you" to each other,and to us, and I could go on but I'll just get to the point - I feel pretty blessed to have so many reasons to smile. I always dreamed of having my own little family and I just want to make sure that I drink it all in and enjoy the journey.