Grateful Morning

This morning was pretty standard for us.  Cian wakes up before everyone else and then proceeds to come into everyone's room to tell them it's morningtime.  This is good for us now as we're trying to get him on a schedule in the morning to get out the door for school that starts at the end of January.  Keith reminded me earlier that this is the last month he'll ever not have school with the exception of summer holidays.  I almost started crying and he realized that maybe I wasn't ready for that hard cold fact.  Anyway, I digress.

Keith asked the kids if they wanted skinny pancakes (aka crepes) and of course they did because they are delicious.  We had our usual breakfast chaos with Emily repeating things over and over again and Cian trying to appease her "I want syrup" "I want syrup" "I want mommy's pancakes", etc. etc.
Somehow though I was really happy for my leisurely morning when I get to go to work at 9am instead of the usual 7am start as a resident.  I got to be there for the morning chaos and drink my Melbourne espresso (God bless the Australians for their strong belief in strong coffee).

Everyone got ready as Keith has been getting the kids out the door by 8:30am every day so that they are a well-oiled machine by the 1st day of school.  I was exempt from this hurriedness today though since I could start a little later and I was the thankful recipient of the chorus of "Bye Mommy!" as they paraded out the door like a herd of elephants.

Keith's bribe for today's early morning was the colourful park with the sandbox.  Other days this week it's been the pool or the aquarium but my kids are really happy to be outside doing whatever.  Keith also told them they had to get out this morning cause it would be hot this afternoon (he was right it was 35 degrees later today).  As I was getting ready I could hear their giggles outside and looked out the back window of the house to see them on their bikes.  Cian is getting so fast on his pirate bike I wonder if we'll be able to take the training wheels off soon.  He was pedaling far ahead of Emily with their sand bucket and shovels on his handlebars.  Emily was trying to keep up on her little green tricycle - very much befitting her helmet with the flames on the sides.  Behind her stood her dad - always the steadfast anchor to their madness.  They don't even know how lucky they are to have him with them every day.  And I got to watch it all from a birds-eye view - my beautiful mess of joy and love.

My walk to work was already warm in the early morning but the heat seems to bring out smells from my childhood.  The washing on the line and the roses seem to mix together in strong fragrances of memories I forgot that I had.  Bittersweet reminders of my grandmother but slowly the balance of that is becoming sweeter.  It really is a beautiful way to remember someone - trying out the smells of all the different roses on my morning walk.  The Kensington Community Garden across from our house has installed planter boxes and this morning the seniors were out planting their fare before the sun got the better of them.  It was beautiful to watch them tend to their plants so lovingly - all the hopes in new growth.  I seemed to be noticing all the beauty around me in my small little corner of the world and thinking of how it was sort of a "Normal Rockwell" morning and then turned the corner to a man actually painting a white picket fence a more brilliant shade of white :).  That clinched it and I laughed to myself: Oh what a beautiful morning.