it was a good day.

today was a good day.

even though my house is a little messy.
i never quite got around to attending to that.

but i did:

wash the same load of colored laundry for the third time (i washed it twice yesterday but kept leaving it in the washer too long and it would start to smell musty because it is so humid here) and this time finally got it into the dryer. it is drying right now. i can hear the dryer humming in the basement, and something--probably a button on my jeans--clicking each time it goes around and falls.

go strawberry picking with my babies and emily + sadie and abby, suzi, + tyler. the berries were delicious. we picked a gallon of them and then sat on a blanket and had a picnic next to the rows of strawberries. the sun was hot and made my back all toasty. the sky was wide and clear with perfect fat puffs of cloud like white cotton candy floating in the air. the grass was green and lush. the whole field smelled like jam. i thought--this is perfect. it was so beautiful. we had sunscreen on but are now pink in the spots on our faces that we missed.

make it home in time to watch katie brown workshop (the poor man's martha stewart?) on pbs with gracie. it is only on one day a week, and it somehow became our tradition to watch this one show together before her nap on thursdays. we talk about what she is making or cooking, and have discussions that grow from those things. we usually cuddle on the couch, too, unless charlie has to be fed (which he did today). it is one of our special traditions.

make a double batch of (to-be) baked penne (which should be baked ziti but we never buy ziti) for the freezer while minding my own children + temporary for-the-afternoon adoptees from across the street. i felt very domestic looking after children and preparing a freezer meal. how mormon am i, right? booyah.

hear my little girl tell me (twice) that i looked like rapunzel (because my hair was in braids today), that i was a princess, and that i was beautiful. every woman needs someone to tell her those things. even better paired with the soft touch of baby hands on your cheeks. even though she is growing so fast and is not really a baby at all anymore. i love her.

lay on a blanket in our front yard with charlie smiling and yelling happily as three children ran circle after circle around us or stood frozen, depending on whether i had yelled "red light!" or "green light!" then they gave up and just ran around us screaming and shrieking with delight at the sound of their own voices. then we all flopped down on our backs and i looked up at the sky through the canopy of leaves and over at the green green grass peppered with those lovely pompom clover flowers and thought again--this is perfect.

and if you can think that twice in one day, then it is a really good day.
(which it was.)