Dinnertime

Mealtime is very sacred to me.

As a mama, I have always tried to make it a priority to sit with my kids for breakfast and lunch and I have given myself a no-talking-on-the-phone rule for meals, giving myself the time and space to be intentional with my children.  As a result, I have come to treasure these times.  We eat and talk and laugh and tell stories.  Sometimes we are more quiet, and sometimes (more often than not) we are VERY loud.  I love eating with my children.

As much as I love these times, I love even more our family dinners.  After a day full of juggling activities, appointments, diaper changes, feedings, dishes, laundry, and discipline, my hubby comes home and we SIT. We sit together at the table and all else fades to the background.  The toys may surround us, the counters may be heaping with paperwork to be sorted, the kitchen may bear evidence of a busy mama making dinner with littles underfoot, but when we sit at dinner, we get to stop. and breathe. and enjoy our precious ones.

Tonight I grabbed Zach's phone to snap a picture to try to capture this dinner hour, this precious time we have together as a family.  Ella's hair, which started the day in neat pigtails, is completely out and disheveled after a hard day's play, Sophia is chewing on an Olympic "medal" the boys got from Sunday school, most of the food is strategically in the kitchen instead of on the table, and the boys were telling stories, laughing, and reporting about the day.  They took turns standing on their chairs to demonstrate their dance moves, and Ella protested eating her carrots.  Nothing about dinner was perfect...Ella was fussy at times, the boys had to be reminded to sit down and fill their tummies, and we are in such need of groceries that I was scraping the bottom of the refrigerator for ingredients to round out our meal.  But as I sat soaking it in, it was so very real.  It is the way we work.  We have messes and imperfect meals and imperfect children, but it is our family and our life and I...LOVE...IT.



p.s. I just pulled some banana muffins out of my oven that are filling my home with the most delicious of smells...If you are interested in the recipe, check it out here...http://www.catcancook.com/awesome-banana-muffin-recipe/.  I just did a Google search for something to do with my over-ripe bananas!  YUM!