Date night and a few moments out.

Yesterday, Friday, my Mom called and said that they wanted to take the kids to the rodeo. Let's stop right here for a minute. First I didn't even know that we had a rodeo, and second how did Mom and Dad find out about it? Crazy. Anything is possible with those two. They are like a couple of teenagers who are always trying to steal my kids. But I guess that's cool, even if I don't like sharing I know that the kids have a blast and they are WELL taken care of...ahem...spoiled. ;) So Ben took the kids and dropped them off with my parents, then he came back home and surprised me with take-out, a movie, and chocolate....*insert hallelujah chorus here*.......Do you know what take-out means to someone who hasn't left the house in weeks? Oh, it's heavenly. And a grown up movie that you haven't seen fifty times? And chocolate? These, my friends, are the makings of the BEST date-night- in ever! It's the little things, it really is.

This morning Ben called to see if he could go and get the kids, and was denied. Apparently my parents and kids had grand plans to go to the national park and enjoy this beautiful day riding bikes. Brats. ;) It is a BEAUTIFUL day, almost seventy degrees, a nice breeze, the kind of day that kids should be riding bikes all day. The kind of day that, under normal circumstances, I would enjoy outdoors start to finish. This is where my day gets really good. Ben took my big cushy green chair outside for me! He dragged it out to the end of the porch, where I can see all of my animals, and let me plop my big pregnant rear right there for as long as I wanted. It was so nice...no, perfect. I've been needing some fresh air and I've really been missing my animals.

And there we sat. We talked about all of the things we want to do in the spring, the garden, camping, bike riding, walking, building a new bridge with the kids over the creek, climbing. We talked about having a new baby here soon. Still a crazy thought! We watched Dot and Kitty play together, those two are such big buddies, it's adorable. I listened to the goats talk to each other and watched them climb the big new roll of hay, goats are so much fun to watch. I looked at how dirty the arms of my green chair look in the sun, and mentally planned to wash all of my slipcovers next month when I'm up and running again. I noticed that my toes could use another polish, and smiled as I remembered Molly saying "Mama, until the baby comes I'll keep your toenails painted for you." It's funny the things that you appreciate so much when you have been "down" for a while. It has just been a wonderful weekend, full of unexpected simple pleasures, and I want to remember it just like this....I hope that your weekend is full of unexpected simple pleasures too! xo, Sam