Roses

My grandpa used to say all the time, "Take time to stop and smell the roses."

It is a great saying and it is really hard to do if you are at all like me!

Last week I posted about my conviction to let some things go around the house and spend more time with my children, laughing with them and, well, "smelling the roses."

Today I had the perfect opportunity to do just that. Samuel woke up at 8 to eat and we had gymnastics at 10:30. Some may remember that I have always done a thorough cleaning of the house on Mondays. Well, I have tried to keep that tradition even with the addition of Samuel. I wanted to do the cleaning today but I also wanted to spend time with Katrina and Samuel and I did NOT want to be in a rush when it came time to go to gymnastics.

So, I vacuumed the floors and dusted a bit and then made a deliberate decision to stop and get myself and the kids ready for our outing with MORE than enough time to spare. We laughed and joked around and were able to leave the house at 10:00.

We made it to the YMCA early enough to walk in leisurely without hearing anyone say, "Hurry up, we are going to be late!" I even stopped to point out some little green plants pushing through the ground next to the sidewalk. We took time to "stop and smell the roses" and they smelled wonderful!