PAUSE

yesterday evening we went over to our bishop's house for dinner and Family Home Evening. during the lesson we talked about "grumpy or glad" and what we can do this week to be happy. ivy said i could put her toys away for her. perfect. i said "i won't let the small things bug me." to which ivy replied "like us?" she is a jem that little ivy, we all had a good laugh at that one. at times velzy and ivy are the small things, or the causes of the small things that bug me, it's true. but for the most part, they are the small things that bring me so so much joy in life. at least 1,000 times in the last week i have taken a step back and just watched them thinking how great they are. i am not, or at least i don't think i am, one of those "put my kids on a pedestal" moms but, they are pretty great little girls. then again, i am biased- i did birth them.

saturday morning while it was luke's turn to surf went for a walk down the beach. it was simple. it was nothing grand. but i had the best time with them. we jumped, belly and knee sided and tackled each other down the sand bank. we climbed the little and big rock formations- it's amazing to watch them learn. the first time it took a while but after that they were climbing up and down and jumping off the rocks, it was so fun. then we found some crab sheds (ya know, when the crab sheds their exoskeleton) and talked about that for a while, taking them apart and keeping the pinchers for my collection. we found the top of a baby coconut to use as a bowl to hold them, velzy was very impressed by that. then we walked down to where there is a little area protected by the reef that you can swim in and we swam. we found green, purple and black urchins on the side of the reef. ivy was so brave and took one off by herself. their little sucker legs stuck to our hands and we laughed as they "crawled" on our hands and held them by the rocks where they could find good hiding places again. we walked out on the reef a bit and then decided to go back to our starting point (chun's) for lunch and my turn to surf. ivy rode on my back and velzy and i trotted in the sand. it was so fun. i love their little comments and their conversations with each other are even better. i love that a long walk on the beach is fun to them. i love so many things about them.

and this happens all the time- this evening when the four of us went for a walk on the beach to swim and play on the reef before dinner. it was the most beautiful evening, i can't even start to describe how cool the clouds were. we found crabs (with eggs!) and sea cucumbers and shells and sea glass. they have so much fun doing these things and it's go cool to watch them learn and love the things we do.

this summer velzy will start school, which is just crazy to me. but she is ready and she is so stoked. i have been thinking a lot about what i want to do for school. do we send her to the elementary school here, or to sunset? do i keep her at home and home school? she really wants to go to school. when we were talking about it the other day i was saying she could stay home and do school with mom and i could be her teacher, to which she replied "i think i have a lot of friends i have not meet yet." and later said "i think i should go to school and meet new friends and see what i can learn there." i agree with that, and it's cute. but i also don't. ah. it's a frustrating topic for me right now. there are so many options and i don't know what is best. the one thing that i am allowed to complain about here in hawaii is the school system....

anyways, what i am trying to get at is i wish i could press pause. i know we have so many good times ahead, but i really like the life we have right now at this moment. i love the stages and ages of velzy and ivy. they are full of life and curiosity. they are full of laughter and love. and sometimes they are just full of it. but they make my life full and i like that.

so, where is that pause button?