sweetest, fondest

It's been snowing for six hours.

Tonight after church,
we played outside in the dark
until 9:45
so they could experience the wonder and magic of a snowfall
(a big deal for this Texan).

Too soon for them,
we came inside
and removed their wet, snowy layers
in front of the heater,
ate bowls of hot bean soup from the crockpot together,
changed into fleecey footsie PJs,
sipped some warm sleepytime tea,
and managed to have enough energy
to sleepily read a couple books
before snuggling down,
a tangle of little warm hands
and rosey cheeks
and icey toes
and chapped lips
(soothed with a layer of coconut oil),
under three layers of blankets.

They were out cold in minutes.
Now I'm in bed before eleven,
reading my beloved CS Lewis
and sipping my own cup of sleepy time tea.

I'm beat.
Then I remember I forgot to brush their teeth.

But I'm thinking...
these are the moments
that make my life so full.

These are the things
I wish to write down,
so I can come back
and remember forever.

These perhaps
less-than-exciting days and nights
as a mommy will have created
the sweetest, fondest memories
in my lifetime.

Encouraging
and enjoying closeness
as a family
is what my heart yearns for,
it's what I drink in day after day.
It's what my soul needs,
God knows it.
And it makes me feel so close to him.

Thank you God, for my children. 
That sentence carries so much weight.
Because upon their little lives
rests so much of my love,
my commitment,
my purpose,
my joy.