Pajama Party Fun

My sweet Keira is 10 years old. I can bring myself back to that day 10 years ago in an instant... it was such an extremely long labor - it was frightening, painful - it brought a fear into my husband's eyes that I have never seen before or again since ... it brought emergency doctors into the room... not knowing if Keira or I would make it through . But we did. And the pure JOY I felt when she was placed in my arms... after such a scary experience together - just knowing she was safe and well... in my grasp... and that I would be here to guide her through life, forever... was so priceless and I am so very very thankful. And here we are now ten years later... celebrating together. We kept things simple this year but it was just perfect. A small pajama party with a few of her closest friends and her sisters... and *me*. I am so thankful to always be a part of these moments with my girls. I am so grateful to be one of their best friends too. Keira and I spent the entire day together planning, cleaning, preparing...

She is my sweet girl. Keira is my friend. She soothes me when I get crazy and I get crazy so very often. She understands me... she knows what I am feeling and sometimes I just wonder if it was me who was put here to guide her or vice versa. She is a light that is always near for me to reach for. And I reach for her often.

When I take photos of my children, my family and my life experiences, it is often very emotional for me because I know that I am capturing moments we are sharing together that one day we will look back on and want to reach out and touch. One day we will want to go back, even just for awhile...

And I feel as if I am doing a necessary task for the *future* us.... these photos I take - these blog posts and video recordings.... I feel as if they may one day be just the thing one of us needs to look back on and smile, to hold for a moment or two in our hearts to help us gather up the strength to then be able to move forward with the moment we need to be in.

I try to catch everything... the colors, the smiles, the tears... the background... I want to catch it all and keep it. I want to keep it for us forever.

But time moves forward and one moment leads into another...and all we can do is be present where we are...

And living in the past serves us none - because as you can see from these photos - *my* present moments that are here right now while I post this are AMAZING and living in the past would make me blind to the now.

So my wish for my daughters is that they savor each moment as it occurs...

Our party evening included 'make your own sundaes'...'fabric marker pillow cases and LOTS of rule breaking with sugar and (gasp, yes I will be honest) even a movie!

But it sure equaled a really, really fun night...

For a bunch of amazing young girls filled with love, joy and hope who I just know one day will help change this world we live in for the better. You can feel the goodness of them in the room the entire evening and it was pretty cool.

Happy Birthday my love....

xoxo