Playing in leaves

Aren't weekends great? Well, I mean, the ones where you don't have a thousand errands or things to get done? We just had one of those really relaxing weekends a few days ago (sigh). While I was finishing up some dishwasher loading/baby feeding time Brad got to work outside raking our leaves. We had to buy a rake after we realized as home owners...its just one of those things you HAVE to spend money on if you own...a yard, with a tree... that sheds thousands of leaves a day :)

I found myself stopping and watching him a few times. Stuffing massive amount of miniature yellow leaves into those huge paper bags. This is a dream come true. It's always been my childhood dream to 1) own a house 2) have a yard 3) have a yard with a TREE in it. So now at 27 years old it felt good to watch my hubby take care of things outside and just breathe out a "thank you" to God for providing such wonderful, everyday moments of blessing.

The most fun was letting Ava have her first experience in leaves. I remember being very little and doing some pretty impressive diving into huge piles of the crunchy fun things... and I so hope thats a part of her childhood as well. Every kid needs to experience dried up leaves in LARGE piles :) Did I mention it was like 70 degrees that day? So we stripped off her socks and plopped her right down in the middle of pile of leaves - waiting to see her reaction. At first, she just layed there....like, "what is this? and, why are you two idiots smiling at me like that?". Then she slowly moved around, never touching one specific leaf - just feeling out her surroundings. It was adorable to watch her take it all in. "hey, this could be fun".

Then....Daddy sat down. Have I mentioned that recently Ava is ALL about daddy. No sooner had he reached the ground when Ava lunged to him for protection from these silly, crunchy, leaves. It was heart melting. And, it gave this momma just another glance of what my walk with the Lord is like. Lunging to my Heavenly father when life is scary, or...in this case... a little uncomfortable. Brad, of course, scooped her up and began the tickle/kiss game which she just loves. And again, I found myself (behind the camera) thinking... God rejoices in ME just like this daddy joys in our Ava. Parent hood is an amazing window into understanding my relationship with God.

The leaves were a hit...especially now that Ava had daddy rolling in them, as well. :) I am truly, truly grateful for days like that. When the world and all in it just seems to stop so we can enjoy these very special moments that we only get once. There will be more - but, not like this one, exactly.