The little things

The past three days were absolutely scrumptious!  Upper 60s and 70s.  No clouds.  No rain.  Only bright, warm sunshine.  Aahhh... this past weekend... spring sprang and we all loved every second of it (well, except the part for Chris having to work, but that's another story)!  The boys played outside around the clock-- on their skateboards, on their bikes, with their baseball bats & gloves, at the park, in the driveway, up the street.  And all the while, Lolli scooted across the yard on her hands and knees and she played in the garden (ughh!) and she took rides in the wagon.  She also played peek-a-boo with any willing participant~

... the kiddos simply played and played and played all day long until darkness forced them indoors. And then they collapsed in bed.  And they didn't stir all night long.

So for three days, no coats.  No hats.  No gloves or mittens or snow suits.  Nope, just shorts and t-shirts and flip flops even (our footwear of choice on warmer days).  And as I washed and dried and folded mounds of laundry on Monday, you know what occurred to me? 

I really love summer clothing!  Really.  No doubt, it's a real treat to pull out the hot-weather wear and go outside without layers and layers of clothing.  But you know what dawned on me as more and more dirty clothes found their way to the laundry pile??  Shorts and t-shirts don't take up nearly as much space in the basket as do jeans and heavy sweatshirts.  It takes more items to fill said basket (since they're smaller and lighter weight), so as long as each child has at least a few clean items in the closet, I can go a lot longer between loads of wash!  

And you know what??  That's not just a time-saver. It's a "brain-saver" as well, because each time I walk past the laundry room and see the basket only partially full, I can smile, knowing I've got another day or two before I have to tackle Mt. Laundry again.  And it's the little things like that that often make a difference in my day :)

And now, the real reason for this post.  I must admit I'm just tickled with this next photo.  It's not a masterful work of art (not that I could ever produce such a thing!) and it's not a capture of an award-winning smile.  No.  It's simply Big Man, or at least his lower half, on his trike...

And here's the reason why I love this shot.  Check out those colors.  Not the bike.  The flips and the clothing.  Brown, orange and bright blue on the feet (I know it's a bit hard to see, but trust me, those colors are there); brown, orange, and bright blue on the bod.  And I had nothing to do with it!!  Big Man completely dressed himself and check out that coordination!  Is it a thing of beauty or what?

Now Chris, my wonderful husband, likely would not notice such a rarity.  Neither would my dad or most other men I know.  But... I noticed because I'm a woman and I love coordinating articles :)  Of course, Big Man's clothing choices were all completely random; no thought went into these specific pieces, but hey, let's not dwell on the details!  Let's look at the bigger picture here, and that's the fact that my 4 year old son played outside all day long-- in public!--- in a wonderfully matched outfit (ask Chris-- that just doesn't happen!).  And to a mom of three boys-- three very "fashionally-challenged" boys (plus one husband who clearly falls into that category:)-- this ensemble rocked!  Grin. 

It's the little things :)