slowing down to see the awesomeness

Do you ever have days where you feel like your eyes are wide open to the world around you?  I am having one of those days. 

My morning started with my son waking me up at 7:11 a.m.!  7:11...YIKES!!! We usually leave the house at 7:20 on school mornings.  This was definitely not the way to start an awesome day.  I ran downstairs and made myself a Diet Coke...because, can any of us truly function without some sort of caffeine first thing in the morning...even when running late?!?  I told the boys that as long as we got out the door by 7:30 we'd be fine and that none of us need to panic.  I made them a fast breakfast (i.e. poptarts) and told them that I'd make their lunches later and deliver them up to the school.  As they ate, I prepped their morning snacks and decided to go ahead and get a head start on their lunches, and I was actually able to finish them!  I couldn't believe the way this was turning out.  We were rockin' and rollin'!  In less than 20 minutes we got up, my oldest son showered, I got breakfast on the table, prepped snacks/water bottles, made two (healthy) lunches, and got them to school with 5 minutes to spare before the tardy bell rang.  What had the makings of being a rough morning, really was turning out just fine.

Once I got back home, I finished my Diet Coke, made myself a Green Monster, and then started noticing what was going on outside.  Stuff that happens everyday, but that I am too busy doing busy work and/or chores to notice and truly appreciate. 

These are the things that I've stopped and noticed today, and that I've appreciated oh, so much more.

*Each morning my dog walks along our back fence.  Our house backs up to a lot of woods and there are a lot of smells first thing in the morning.  She loves to walk all along the backyard and fence to sniff around.  I sat and watched her and wondered what animals had been in the yard or near the fence last night.
*Hummingbirds coming to my feeder on the back porch
*Lots of chirping in the trees
*Playing tennis with great friends on a beautiful day
*Going to our golf/tennis club with same group of friends and eating outside
*Appreciating the fact that our waitress was exceptionally busy (and slow) which meant we had more time to spend outside with good friends
*Watching the (very) senior citizens "made the turn" playing golf and hoping that when I'm that age that I'm still active and having fun with friends
*Impromptu play dates for my children
*Taking the cover off our golf cart and feeling like I'm driving a convertible
*Popsicles
*The boys (7+ of them...) are outside hooping and hollering and sounding exactly like little boys are supposed to sound

And the list continues...I've got 7 more hours until bedtime!

So - I challenge you to "open your eyes" today and share in comments some things you "see".  Sometimes the most mundane and routine things in our lives are what we'd miss the most if they were not there anymore.