a sunday dinner outside

I once heard a story about a woman who found an old picture of her family eating a picnic outside on a warm, sunny day. As she talked about the picture, she mentioned how her biggest regret is not actually living in the moment with her children. Without the picture, she wouldn't even have the memory because she was too busy worrying about the next activity or next meal.

I can be a lot like that. I fret about my schedule, my chores, the meals, the girls, etc so much that I often forget to enjoy the moment.

As I photographed my small family tonight during dinner, I thought about that woman and her story. I was the last one to sit down at the table because I was busy tending to thirsty mouths and dirty hands, but I decided that it was more important for me to sit down and laugh with my girls than it was to hurry, eat and clean up the mess. And that is just what I did.

Tonight, I want to remember the smell of lilacs permeating the air, the cool air closing in around us while we ate my best batch of sweet potato fries, ketchup-stained cheeks, mismatched pajamas paired with Christmas socks in the middle of May, one very tasty handmade cheeseburger,  Elle's silly snorting face and sticky hands stealing all the croutons off my salad.

It was a great night. A really great night.