All three kids woke earlier than usual today, and not for the better.  They were whiny and fussy and teary, and I thought briefly about putting them back to bed.  But instead, I managed to make them a breakfast that they didn't cry over, and then they picked out a video - Snow White - to watch, which gave us all a chance to breathe and rest.  

Evie went down for her morning nap around 9, and shortly after I laid her down, the movie finished.  The toddlers and I ended up tumbling out of the house, into the sunshine-soaked yard, where we discovered it was already plenty warm and the dirt seemed to be calling their names.  A little part of me cringed as I saw their hands and feet, faces and shirts fill up with dust and dirt, but I reminded myself that it could all be washed off, and they were happy to scoop and dump, shovel and fill, over and over and over again.  

Evie woke up and I brought her out, to get some fresh air.  I slipped inside to pour a hot cup of coffee, and came out to find that Ezra had thought she needed to join in the dirt fun, by dumping a container of dirt on her tray.  She was running her fingers through, with a look of mischievous uncertainty in her eyes, and all I could think of was her mouth filled with slobbery dirt!  That was quickly put to an end, and I tried telling her sweet, sharing brother that she didn't need to play in the dirt right now.  

I turned around to find him, tongue sticking wildly out of his mouth, full of dirt and teeny pebbles, making an "blegh" noise in his throat.  Oh Ezra!  I asked him if dirt tasted good, and he shook his head hard, "no"!  We found his cup, and he tried to spit it out, which of course only resulted in him having spitting practice in the yard.  All I could do was laugh at him, as he made attempts to "be like Daddy".

Eliana was content to "make pasta", as she kept saying - by scooping dirt, filling her bucket, and bringing said bucket to me - I then had to pretend to eat my pasta, and she would go back and do it all over.  I ate a lot of "pasta".  After awhile, Ezra ran over and reminded me that we needed to water the plants, as he does every single day.  So we got out the watering can, and made sure all the flowers and plants had a good drink.  Or five, since my little watering helper sure does love to water those plants!

I sat back and watched as the kids soaked up the sunshine and filled their buckets over and dumped dirt in new piles.  And although it was messy, and although we had encountered a not-so-perfect morning, the sunshine and the dirt ended up being quite good for all of us. 

Well, except maybe, for the kitchen floor.  But that's alright.  It'll wash off.