Memories & Slowed Down Sundays

Sundays are usually not super restful for me....

yesterday was unusual and restful.

All these years Sunday has always meant getting the kids ready for church and driving the 35 minutes.

I've never experienced what it would be like to go to church with my husband. He always has to be there so early. Some Sunday mornings are calm and some are messy trying to get everyone to wake up and move after having a Saturday to sleep in. 

My oldest daughter sat with me during church and that was a treat. I had lots of memories during that service.  She will be fifteen this week. She was born on a Monday. Martin Luther King day that year. Today is MLK day...so I let all the memories wash over me of that Sunday before she arrived.  All the hours of sitting with my dog and letting him comfort me while my husband was at a youth group church event late in the night...

My daughter reached out and held my hand while we were singing songs. It's always so nice when your older children want to be close and show affection. I treasured those moments. My other kids were in children's church so this was a special hour just sitting next to the first girl. 

Every older person always tells you when you have a new baby, "They grow up so fast." 

I'm not that old yet...I hope..Not yet 40 but I found myself telling someone that the other day in a Texas Road House.  She looked just like me 7 years ago.  She was trying her best to keep four kids 8 and under happy until their table was called. I looked at her wistfully...."I was you not long ago..."

Watching your kids grow up is so surreal.  It seems like it is so long in many ways in the early years.  But time double speeds after elementary starts...and I think triple speeds during middle school...

It's weird how you feel or at least I feel much like that 22 year old that brought this precious girl home 15 Januarys ago....But so much has happened...For good and bad...but with my kids always for the better....This week will mean some nostalgia and some celebrating for sure....

Usually Sundays during the school year means that Sunday afternoon is a visit to see my parents and then meal prep, lunch making, ironing, and a variety of pre school week prep. No naps included.

With today being MLK Day we don't have school....so instead of keeping up that fast paced Sunday I fell asleep curled up on our loveseat. I woke up as the sun was about to slide down the horizon for the night...I hadn't meant to sleep like that. But it was so nice to actually feel rested on a Sunday. 

I spent a few hours away from everyone typing out lesson plans, but when it was over because there was no necessary bed time for a five AM wake up I went to my teenagers rooms and laid on their bean bag chairs. I love going into their room. All the LED lights, the signs, all the touches that transport you back in time. We ate a dinner of popcorn and watched shows together. Our puppy curled up with us. All of us sharing these rare moments of solitude together. 

Above my head I could hear lots of activity. My younger kids were lost in a play dough restaurant they had created. With all of their free time for the evening they had pulled out all of the play doh they had (which was way more than I knew about) and fixed all manners of cakes, pies, and pasta. I could hear my son's feet running on the old hardwoods above and they played this game of pretend for a few hours. 

It was a lovely unexpected evening.