The Power of Scent

When my babies were tiny and brand new I remember being very conscious of any scents I used on my body. I didn't want any of their senses to be overwhelmed, including their sense of smell as we spent so much time in skin to skin contact with one another.

I have scent memories of my own mother. Camay soap and Tigress perfume. The very ideas of these make me think of clean snuggles and safety. The smell of Mr. Clean reminds me of my best friend's house. I often wonder what scent memories my own children would have of me.

One day a couple weeks ago my 6 year old son walked up to the clothes drying on the clothesline and grabbed a handful of a garment and put his nose in it. He then said to no one in particular, "smells like mama love". Guess that answered that question.

The Lazy Days of Summer

Okay, so summer hasn't been very lazy but so far it's been wonderful. The weather has been beautiful and we've had loads of perfect summer days at the beach, in the pool, playing with friends, lounging playing games in the yard. Life is good. Summer is wonderful.I feel so blessed to be able to be home with our children and be a part of every minute of their lives in these precious and fleeting years. Thank you to my husband from the bottom of my heart for that.

I am firmly of the belief that playtime is as important as school. Unstructured free play is where a child's mind explores and develops itself. It is my greatest pleasure in life to sit back and watch my kids and their friends play.
They have experienced nature and learn respect for it as they did when playing in the river rapids. They have played in the sand and stalked minnows and crabs and periwinkles.

and Joey found a heart shaped rock that now sits on my kitchen window sill that reminds me not only of our day at the beach but of a friend who has passed away this past winter. She saw hearts everywhere in Nature. When I find a heart I feel it was left by her for me.