Monday, January 09, 2006

BLISS (n : a state of extreme happiness)

Do you ever have moments in life (and I mean literal moments, tiny little portions of time) when you feel almost perfect bliss? I had one yesterday. I have these every now and then, and they always involve my children. I wish I could freeze these moments and bottle them up, and open my 'bliss bottle' whenever I need a little happiness.

Anyway, yesterday, I took the kids to a small town right across the Mississippi River from my small town. It was a beautiful day, almost 80 degrees, sunny and breezy. We took the ferry across the river and went into town. It's a pretty shady, hilly area with lots of charm. We went to some antique shops (the girls have caught this shopping disease from me at an early age). I found a new place that we've never been to before, it was an antique shop on a hill, with a smaller antique place at the foot of the hill. There were 2 manmade ponds, one atop the hill linked to the other at the foot of the hill by a small waterfall. There were fountains, and benches and the little spot was so quaint and pretty. We stopped there, so that John M. could play for a while. He had the best time picking up rocks and throwing them into a little bucket of water and splashing Emma. Hold on . . my blissful moment is coming.

So, I'm watching the three of them. Noticing how they're each doing their own thing in their own way. Anna is walking around with her backpack on, exploring by herself, and looking way too grown up to be any part of what her little sister and brother are doing. Emma is talking non-stop, totally into her baby brother, and giggling at everything he does. John M. is totally captivated by the rocks and the water and the bucket. He's laughing everytime he splashes Emma and I think he would have thrown rocks into that bucket all afternoon if I would have let him. They were each so perfectly beautiful to me in that moment. I almost started crying watching them. I felt so blessed and blissfully happy.

I always stop, when I have moments like that, to thank God for blessing me with these three children that make every bad moment worth it 100 times over, with good moments. I know I complain a lot about these kids, but without them, I don't think I'd ever have moments like that one.

13 comments:

Speckledpup said...

yes, yes, yes.

that's what it's all about.


sweet.

the pup

beki said...

What a nice experience.

Christa said...

Sounds so blissful!! I love those moments when everything seems so perfect. It's funny, I was just thinking of something similar to this earlier tonight. I love it when my son (2 1/2) gets the uncontrollable giggles. It's contagious and so funny to hear! Makes my heart light, I love to hear him laugh so hard.

Great post, Renee!

Anonymous said...

What a great post. I always take time to thank God for my blessing when I have moments of bliss as well. I also am very thankful FOR the moments of bliss.. without them I would be totally grey (or insane!

MarkD60 said...

I was thinking "awwwww", then I scrolled down a little and saw "WANTED:HANDCUFFS"
Heee hee
Sounds like you have a great life!

Spikey1 said...

Yep, been there, done that. I usually get all teary when I get in the moment because I miss the people in my life who are gone and can't see what I see!

tara said...

beautiful renee! yep- mine always involve greyson or moments with my husband. times like that make up for when like is stressful and hectic. i also try to keep my camera handy for times like those, so i can scrapbook them. i am a huge scrapbooker!! -tara

btw- i love antique shops too!

Carrie said...

I love moments like that. I also wish we could bottle it all up and save it for those times when you *really* need a reminder of what it's all about.

Cindy N. said...

Awwweeee. That's so nice. My kids are much older but I have lots of good memories of when they were young. You made me cry.

still_figuring_out said...

bliss...

Lala's world said...

hi happy DLW!

what a great moment, we need those don't we!! I cherish them as well!!
great post!!

Julie Marsh said...

Oh yes. I know that feeling. And I can picture the scene you described, and I understand exactly why you felt as you did.

Mary Tsao said...

I totally know what you mean. Hey, it's not always easy but if you can step back and see the good times, too, that's a perfect life.