Day 32: Eat lunch with my girls at school.

This task is one of the reasons I love being a stay at home mom. It's so fun to pop in and surprise the girls and eat lunch with them. It takes just a 1/2 hour and it totally delights them. And it totally makes my day, too.

Life is soooooo about the Small Things! The things that fill up an ordinary day, but if you take time to appreciate them, they are the fixins' for the best memories.

I could not logistically do -2- lunches in one day, so I had to stagger the dates. First up was Sydney.

And, it happened that I got to eat with her at preschool on her fourth birthday. Big Girl! She had the birthday place mat, the birthday chair and was, basically, giddy with excitement. So cute. There were three other fellas (teammates) at our table and I got to hear all about their lunches. One kid had "Scooby Snacks" which were dog bone shaped graham crackers, I think. Haven't seen those before. Syd demanded that I go find them at the grocery store. We also got to share the birthday cupcakes I made after lunch. Nothing like 21 preschoolers high on frosting!

Holly was next up, a few days later. I had to bring her little sis with me, but I know we totally surprised Holly. Her smile (toothless as it is!) can light up a room. She had her spelling test later that afternoon, so I was able to give her one more good luck hug and "I know you'll do awesome, Squirt" pep talk. And the kids let me play "telephone" with them during lunch. I, of course, teased them and got them giggling. Until we got a little bit rowdy and the sub had to "shush" us. :)

And once again, the kids all had to share with me the contents of their lunches. From a strawberry cream cheese sandwich (Christian) to Tali's weird looking school pizza (I totally get why Holly refuses to eat Hot Lunch!) to the boy (Jacob) who always eats dessert first - there is just something so endearing about first graders...

And I just feel so blessed to pop in and do this with my little girls. I am nearing completion on my -40- things, but this task ranks as one of my faves. And one of the things I plan to incorporate into my life as a 40 year old. Maybe I'll shoot for once a month.

The days are long, but the years are short. That is my new mantra (Thanks for the inspiration, Gretchen Rubin!)