Today

Today was amazing.  One of those days, when all the pieces seem to fall magically into place.  They don't happen often, but when they do, I just have to pause frequently, take notice and smile inwardly, deep in my heart.

Beautiful sunrise....

Followed by a totally smooth and easy morning of animal chores and breakfast (not always so smooth or easy!).  Which then lead into a blissful morning trail ride through forest and meadow as the fog burned off making way for the sunshine. Yes!  Sunshine and a trail ride?! Again, I squeal, "Yes!!!"

The early afternoon involved an unfortunately short nap taken by a little guy who I believe was too excited about the sunshine to bother with sleep.  During this brief interlude, I stole a few minutes to read up on some other blogs.  I read a couple of posts of the ladies penning the "Get Real" series -  seven mama's getting real about the behind the scenes of juggling motherhood, households, homesteads, homeschooling and the like.  Today's topic was balancing work into the equation. I read their stories and reflected on my own juggling act. What followed shortly there after couldn't have been a more perfect manifestation of the mama/worker-bee balancing act in action.

When Jade woke from his nap, I scooped him up and quickly dressed him for an afternoon outside in unpredictable spring weather.  We snagged his older brother and hit the trails behind our property for a quick walk.  Cedar and I caught up on what he had been working on all morning, discussed his feelings about the tragedy in Boston yesterday, and just simply had some "connecting" time.  Upon our return to the house, Jade and I jumped in the van and zoomed to the barn to get Sequoia from her riding lesson and barn work day.  On our way home from the barn, Sequoia and I had some heart-to-heart check-in time while Jade did his own thing in his car seat.

Once home, Jade and I headed back outside and collected, yet again, more rocks, roots and sticks from the new pasture area while I awaited a conference call.

About thirty minutes later, my call came in. I snuggled Jade into the carrier on my back and I hit the woods for another walk.  I spent the next two hours hiking the trails while "attending" a meeting via cell phone with a perfectly content baby on my back.  It was a gloriously sunny and beautiful afternoon in the forest and a highly productive meeting to boot!

About 30 minutes before my meeting ended, Jade decided he had heard quite enough about spreadsheets and deadlines, and conked out.

And, not five short minutes after my meeting ended and I decided to head for home, the clouds rolled in, the sky turned a dark and steely grey and thunder began rumbling in the distance.

Just as I passed the gate that puts me back onto our little gravel road, the sky opened up and caught Jade and I in a crazy downpour of rain and hail.  Luckily for us, we were just a quick minute from the house!

The evening concluded with a quick and easy dinner of burritos and left-over soup, followed by (you guessed it) another family walk in the woods and evening chores.  Jade discovered the moon for the first time as we walked through the twilight pasture to feed the cows.  He spent the rest of the walk home with his arms outstretched above his head reaching for the moon and babbling with excitement.  Once home, he boogied down in the living room to papa's guitar playing while the big kids cleaned up the kitchen and dining room from dinner.

Then... off to bed for little man.  A bit of time spent chatting and catching up for papa and the big kids at the end of the day while mama and baby do their bedtime thing.  Now, all are off in their own corners of the house, doing their own quiet thing. 

Yes, today was a good day, indeed.