this is monday morning.

Me, showered but undone in the makeup or hair department, doing our lesson planning for the week, since our weekend was far too busy to allow for it. Reveling in the thrill of a brand-new pad of list paper, and all the promise and potential therein, and enjoying the much-needed cup of coffee my sweet sister brought me when she came home from her morning shift.

Rosalie, still in her pajamas and yesterday's ponytail, happily tracing shapes and humming snatches of songs to herself (much to her sisters' annoyance).

Emma, also undone in the hair department but still cute, on the computer doing her math, clicking away on the mouse and keyboard like an old pro. She claims she hates it, but I think she secretly likes doing it because using the computer all by herself makes her feel grown-up. Anything that makes math more fun is a thumbs-up in my book.

Annabelle, concentrating on her grammar workbook, which as of now is one of her favorite subjects. Curly hair all wild from the night's sleep and glasses perched smartly on her adorable nose, I look at her working independently and think how much older a second grader seems than a first grader.

Bennett wanders around the house in a t-shirt and diaper, seeing what he can get into, every once in a while climbing on top of things like the computer desk from whence I  must rescue him. His toys of choice this morning are a pancake turner and a potato masher, which he wears on his arm because he figured out he can.

And Violet the dog sleeps soundly on top of forgotten pillows upon the couch, and the breakfast dishes sit on the counter still because I somehow haven't gotten to them yet even though it's 11 in the morning. I'm ok with that. Some things can wait. They'll get done sometime today, as will the laundry and the picking up of scattered toys.

These are just unedited pictures from my phone. I like it that way, because these moments, these snapshots from this Monday morning in September, aren't necessarily anything special or spectacular. It's just life; the normal, imperfect, messy, sometimes crazy or frustrating or exhausting, simple and beautiful and wonderful kind. And these are the moments I want to capture, because they are NOW; but someday they won't be, and I know I will miss them and cherish the sweet remembrance.