Simply Simple

I woke up this morning feeling exhausted.  Not a great way to start your Monday but it was my reality.  With the exhaustion comes the need to be cranky, lazy and just plain blah... As I sent Em off with Tony to catch the bus, I felt and saw the beauty of today and decided to fight that exhaustion with all my might.  I wanted to enjoy this beautiful Monday with my little guys, not wish it away or waste it away inside while they watched endless hours of tractor videos.  So I powered through my second cup of coffee, got the boys dressed and decided that we should take a walk.  Of course, after getting both them and me ready, I was even more exhausted and I really just wanted to turn right around and head to the couch.  Thankfully, I just kept moving with the boys right out the front door.

It was simply gorgeous outside and I instantly gained some energy.  We started our walk only to make it a few yards and had to stop because there was a small mound of dirt.  As I watched the little boys play in this piddly pile of dirt, it dawned on me that I had access to endless amounts of dirt.  Why weren't we there, playing and enjoying the day.  This city girl had almost forgotten where she was and why she was here.

So I scooped them up and to the FARM we went.

Most of the soil around the farm is sand which is AWESOME, making it the largest sandbox EVER!  As we headed out to the farm, I realized that it had been almost 2 weeks since I had been out there.  Too long!  Just driving down Main Street road made me feel more at ease, calmer and more at peace.  I found myself smiling, almost chuckling, as the boys shouted "big tractor, combine, pumpkin, corn, and MOO."  Melons were overflowing in wagons and corn was so high that I couldn't see around bends.  The overall view of healthy, farm fields was breathtaking (sounds strange I know but watching the corn wave in the wind created this amazing picture...wish you all could be here to see it).

Upon arriving, we found our "perfect sandbox" which sits right at the end of the road that leads to the fields by the house. With combines, tractors and a few snack cups in hand the boys got right down to it and so did I.  Not too long after beginning "our great dig" as I like to call it, Tony pulled up on the John Deere.  Exciting things were happening just down the dirt road and he invited us to join him.  An excavator was there to dig up a couple of trees.  Well for anyone who is a boy or who has boys, you know that this is quite the event.  We once again scooped up the boys and relocated them down the road.  We found a shady spot (which is very hard to do because Jerry has just about dug up all the trees) and resumed our sand playing.  Just down the road, we could see the excavator working to dig up dirt and eventually the trees.  My boys were in heaven.

We played for well over an hour in that spot digging, dumping, oohing and aahing at the dirt and the trees falling.  It was the most fun that I have had in a long time.  The joy that I gained from watching my two boys play in the dirt and to see their two faces when the tree came crashing down was just priceless.  My sister-in-law brought the Ranger down and Harrison even enjoyed a speedy ride on it.  It was like we were at Disney World for little boys.  They don't need much, actually less is more in their case.  Having their mom and aunt, a little dirt, some combines and an excavator is all they really need.

I love this quote from Laura Ingalls Wilder because it reminded that it is quite simply, the simple things in life that we gain the most joy from.

"It's the simple things in life that make living worthwhile 

- sweet fundamental things such as love." 

-Laura Ingalls Wilder