Tag: family time

These Small Hours

julieannetaylor

Our family has experienced so many milestones in the past 6 months! From graduations to new homes to new jobs and marriages. There have been so many blessings! One big blessing that I have been praying for over the last several years is Zach, Katie and Parker moving closer to home! This past May they bought their first house and moved their little family from Columbus to Hamilton. Now, instead of being two hours away, they are less than 15 minutes. This has meant lots of pool time with Parker and his parents, and it also brought about Family Dinners! It has always been my dream to have family dinners with all ten of us every Sunday! I love planning and preparing the meal and having everyone come together before we all start the busy week ahead.

Tonight we all gathered at our house for a Mississippi pot roast, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, a fresh baguette, and warm apple crisp with ice cream! As we sat out on the patio enjoying this perfect evening, my heart was so full. I surprised everyone at the table with some question cards that everyone had to answer. Just to spur conversation. To put the phones down and talk. The question was “Which characteristic from someone in your family would you like to have?” Initially, no one jumped in to answer…and I thought my idea might be a flop. But, eventually each person went around the table and named a characteristic from someone else around the table that they wished they had in themselves. There was such beauty in everyone’s responses. Things that we shared – by being “forced” – were things that we most likely never would have taken the time to say to one another in a normal interaction. But hearing the kind words from each other was so touching. Watching my family’s faces light up when someone else pointed out one of their amazing qualities made me realize how important this silly little card was. And how important these weekly family dinners are to me. And to my family.

Last night Chris and I saw Rob Thomas in concert and he sang “Little Wonders,” which of course made me cry. And sitting here tonight after such a beautiful evening with my whole crew I hear the line from that song:

Our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders, these twist and turns of fate. Time falls away, but these small hours, these small hours still remain.”

These small hours tonight meant the absolute world to me. These people who sat around my table are my little wonders.

It’s the every day things

julieannetaylor

Today I spent some time with my grown children. It was not a special occasion. Not a family dinner. Just a normal, summer day that turned into time together. My son, Zach has lived in Columbus for the last eight years – so we have not spent a lot of time together. Recently he and his wife and my grandson moved to the area! This move has been something I have been praying for – a lot. When they first arrived we had family dinners and lots of family celebrations (graduation, birthdays, showers) spent together. I love all of that time. But today was different. I had spent the morning in my daughter’s future classroom helping her set up for her first year of teaching. We have spent a lot of hours in her Kindergarten room together. My son called and said he and Parker (my grandson) were out and about running errands. The four of us made plans to meet for lunch. While sitting in Chipotle, it just hit me. THESE are the moments that I truly cherish. Sharing a meal and talking with my grown children is the absolute best. We then headed to Costco just to pick up a few groceries…again, nothing earth-shattering. Just a normal day doing normal things together. It may sound peculiar that this run-of-the-mill day brought me so much joy, but I got home feeling so content and happy. I love sharing these moments with my grown children. Watching them live their amazing lives fills me with so much pride. I’m so grateful to be called momma by them! I’m so grateful to have played a part in their world – and so grateful that I am still such a big part of their world! Happiness and contentment does not have to be found in the “big” momentous moments…happiness can be found in the every day things!

Here’s my “it’s been a long time since I blogged” disclaimer. Yes – it’s been too long – and I have SO much to share! Stick around for the updates – good, bad, and ugly! Thanks for reading!

Forced confinement

julieannetaylor

sidewalk chalkToday started out as a sad day. This may sound silly, but if you are from Cincinnati, you will get it. Today was supposed to have been Reds Opening Day. That means the streets of downtown should have been lined with fans for the Opening Day Parade. Today should have been celebrated as a holiday – as is always the case for the start of baseball season here. When I was finally awake enough to look at my bullet journal and realize all of this, the tears came. I just felt so sad. So many things we are missing out on.

But then, I stepped outside and felt the day warming, saw the sun greeting me with its bright yellow smile, and my mood began to lift. And rather than being sad about all the things we are going without, I fixed my thoughts on all the positives that are coming about as a result of our forced confinement.

Sidewalk chalk. Four of my five kids are here at home. All day. Every day. While that can be a bit chaotic (and by a bit I mean a lot at times), it also is time that we would never actually take for ourselves. Never have all four of my daughters and I spent over an hour in the sunshine creating with sidewalk chalk. Being that they range in age from 7 years old to 19 years old, we just rarely spend time doing activities together (stop judging – just being real). But today, we did! We laughed and worked together and created something we were proud of. We were happy.

Later, my oldest daughter, Cart, and I took a walk through the neighborhood. If you have a teenage daughter, you understand that any time at all you get to spend with her is amazing…so my momma heart was happy. We took selfies, we shared songs, we talked. And as we walked I noticed so many positives all around us. At the end of driveways throughout our subdivision, there were notes of encouragement written in chalk. Smiley faces, hearts, and phrases. Each one brought a smile to my face. And the more and more we saw, the bigger my smile got, and the more my mood lifted. Families worked together in the yard. The smell of fresh grass wafted through the air. Children played in yards, rode bikes, climbed on swing sets while their parents lounged on freshly cleaned patio furniture and watched.

This virus is awful and the havoc it is wreaking on our world is devastating. But there is a flip side to all of the negative. The world is slowing down. People are slowing down. We are talking. Playing games. Putting puzzles together. Creating art and music. It’s almost like this virus has reminded us about who we are as humans.

Sitting here typing I have tears flowing down my cheeks. (I’m a complete sap these days!) (Ok – not just these days…I’m a complete sap all of the time). If you stop and look, slow down and listen, you will find the beauty in all of the chaos. We will all look back on this time of our lives and will be filled with the memories we made when the world made us all stop.

What memories are you making today?