Some moments are precious

I took this photo yesterday morning. It was probably around 8 a.m. and I was on my way downstairs to take Colin's 9-month photos. We still had about an hour before Jack had to be at school, and we had already eaten breakfast and gotten dressed and ready for the day.

Some days, an hour to kill before leaving for school can spell disaster. But yesterday, that time was beautiful. Jack had gone to the guest room by himself and decided to work with the perler beads. He wanted to make another pirate ship. When Reid finally realized what Jack was doing, he joined in. Jack was counting out the 90 black beads he needed. Reid jumped in and helped Jack pick them out of the bucket. Then Reid decided he was going to do his perlers, which are a bit bigger and easier to grab. For about 30 minutes, they worked nicely together. No fighting, no yelling, no hitting. And then it was time to go to school, and they picked up nicely.

I want to remember moments like these. Too often I get caught up in the struggle to get people dressed and out the door, or to eat the meal we have prepared, or just to be nice to one another. But the times when my boys are happily occupied with something they have chosen for themselves and are being kind to one another, those are the times that deserve my conscious remembering.