The perfect morning

I just want to do a quick post to mainly serve one purpose - to remind myself on some future gray and frazzled day how incredibly blessed I am. Today was the perfect morning and I could've not imagined it any better.

Dmitri and I slept in until 9am - thanks to Julie, who didn't make her presence known until about 10! (Well, I did feed her around 6:30am). While I was in the shower, he ran to the store and then started cooking breakfast with Emily and Natalie. After the shower, I peacefully nursed Julie while reading the Bible (on my phone - it's the easiest way!), while the delicious aroma wafted into the bedroom. Julie and I came down to behold a feast of scrambled eggs (by Emily), apple pancakes (by Natalie) and sausage patties (by Dmitri, but I will not elaborate on the condition of the sausage... The Lord would have been pleased with that offering). After we all ate, I enjoyed watching Dmitri, Emily and Natalie tickle fighting on the floor. It looked too good to resist, so I joined them. Dmitri then said that something was missing... and brought in Julie to join our fun. After good 20 minutes of squealing, snorting, sweating and laughing, I sat at the piano and we all sang Dmitri's favorite song from our childhood Russian movie.

After this spontaneous music number, I went to do the dishes and a while later I breathed a sigh of satisfaction seeing the kitchen sparkle, including the stove and the sink. By this point the baby was ready for her nap. So, this brings us to now, 12:45pm. The first load of laundry is going, the baby is sleeping, the girls are making bead jewelry, and I'm just about to bring out the school books. Ok, the afternoon may not go perfectly... But I am extremely thankful for God's grace and the blessing of my family. May this always be on the forefront of my mind, no matter how the kids behave or how messy the house is. Dmitri wisely says that it's signs of life. I want to treasure these signs for as long as possible...