Word Pictures

I've been forgetting my camera more often than not lately.

Although there is always the expected twinge of disappointment when I first realize I've left it at home once again, I can't deny the feeling of being more fully present and engaged when I'm not constantly watching for that perfect photo to capture the moment.

And yet I don't want to forget those moments either...

So many trips to the park, where the boy's first request is always to be pushed on the tire swing, higher, faster! Pure joy as he swings and spins through the air. The baby's grins and giggles as he swings in the baby swing. The boy sharing his cars with the other kids in the sandbox, each of them trading back and forth, working out their disagreements amongst themselves. The baby alternating between crawling around and chomping on grass and sticks...

Apple picking with our other young home schooling friends, fall jackets and rosy cheeks that match the deliciously sweet apples. Watching him pull on an apple, nearly falling over when it finally lets go. Pockets full of small treasures, leaves and tiny berries found amongst the apple trees. Running down the rows, tripping and laughing with that full-out enthusiasm that we somehow seem to lose as we grow older...

Picnics celebrating another year together, "not back to school", home learners gathering to enjoy days with our children and each other. Climbing trees, getting braver, trying to follow the older kids but just not quite ready. Hushed children gathered around a field mouse, watching him eat. The wide open ocean, the shore blanketed in sea shells. Walking in the tide pools, deeper and deeper until the water pours over the top of rubber boots, filling them, the squelching sound accompanying us as we say goodbye...

Curious faces pressed against the glass at the museum, questions pouring forth...

My boys with their Grandma and Great-Grandma, a rare visit with family far away. My mother's grin as she talks with her first grandson, holds her second one, me silently asking myself why I had been so anxious, so worried. Forgive me, Lord, my unjust judgement. Pent up energy bursting forth on the ferry back home, little boy running wild circles on the deck, wind nearly blowing him over...

Thanksgiving with their Oma, Opa, and aunties. Puppies chasing and nipping at boot-covered heals. A bonfire followed by a bath to wash the marshmallow out of a certain boy's blonde hair. His Opa pushing him on the swing, both of them gloriously happy and content in that moment. Endless books read on their Oma's lap...

Old friends reunited, walking ahead, hand-in-hand, stopping to fill pockets with red leaves and yellow flowers. Oh, to see excitement and beauty in everything, as they do...

Sweaty red faces, deliriously happy, racing around a gym packed full of all the best toys - balls, ride-on cars, trucks, trampolines, swings, ropes, mats, crawl tunnels, play houses, slides, toys, teeter-totters, and more. Preschoolers alternating between fits of selfishness and of generosity, claiming toys, giving them up, sharing, collaborating - always, always, growing and learning. The baby taking tentative steps towards independence, crawling away to explore, back for reassurance, then away again...

Slow walks through the forest, stopping to inspect slugs, choosing the best rocks to fill pockets with. Listening, watching, observing. Picking the last of the blackberries as we pass by. Leaving the trail to pick our way over tree roots, finding new paths and forging some of our own...

I pray these are the moments they carry with them into adulthood. I know I will cherish them always.