when i'm not looking

I am sitting in the sunshine, covered in blankets, drinking...coffee...of course.

My kids are playing playmobile knights. Dont you love it when they dig up toys they havent played with in awhile and you are like OH! all that money WAS worth it. Ha.

In any case. Sunshine. Coffee. Lazy Friday morning. You KNOW this is a recipe for a happy Sara.

So, what Ive been thinking about. Mainly just noticing life more. Perhaps the week of sunshine is helping me to open my eyes a little wider, taking it all in. I seem to be catching a lot of precious moments between my kids as they play, from around the corner in the kitchen, as I walk by the bedroom door. Yesterday I caught a glimpse of little man, his head bent over baby toddler dears fuzzy head through the bannister rail as I walked upstairs. He was showing her a book, pointing out the pictures, patting her on the head. And then later in the day, as I walk down the hall, I catch a glimpse of a sister hug and little miss saying. "hey sister? Sister. I love you."

I think there was a time this (loooooooong) winter, where I was observing only to ward off squabbles/chaos. Instead of looking for these magical moments in their interactions I was looking for their opposite, tension, mean words, crabbiness. And you know what they say, when you look for something you see it, you know? And in doing so I missed the blossoming friendships happening between these little people. Baby, who is no longer just a baby but a playmate too. Little miss who brings babies and princesses into pretend play of knights and ninjas. Big brother who actually said to her the other day, "hey, do you want to play princesses? I will play with you!"

And now baby walks up to their elaborate knight/princess set up and says "I wanna guy!" and little man says "oh baby! Here is a guy!" And she smiles. (And yes, we call her baby, and she calls herself baby, I am picturing her at 16, answering to the name still...and learning to dance at a summer camp with Patrick Swayze....HAHAHA.)

To see this play, these interactions, to get to witness lifelong friendships forming,  and not only that but knowing that these relationships will form ther basis for how they interact with the world around them as adults, well, its precious and its a privilege, and its going on under my nose every day.