Rainy days, half-birthdays and celebrating the ordinary

It’s pouring with rain here today, and I mean POURING. Cold, wet and grey, it’s the sort of day that’s perfect for curling up in your snuggliest clothes and staying indoors, baking and watching old movies all day long. Of course… Lola had to go off to school this morning, there was a grocery order to put away, I had a long list of work to-do and the kiddos were full of beans. The middle two and I spent a couple of hours finishing off ‘Walk Two Moons’ -0 our book club book for this month {not giving anything away, but tissues are very much needed for the ending}.

Now, it’s three o’clock in the afternoon, it’s almost dark, I’ve just put the heating on, lit some candles and sat down to edit some photos. Kiki is in her room {most likely facetiming her friend}, Beastie and Baya are playing in the playroom, G is working in the kitchen. It’s a super ordinary kind of day. The kind we take for granted, overlook and see as ‘just another day’.

Yet, editing phtoos, I came across this one above, of the half cake Kiki made last week for Lola’s half brithday. And it made me smile. Not that you ever need an exuse to make a cake, yet half-birthday cakes -have become a tradition in our house. An excuse to celebrate, shower one of us with a little extra love and of course, eat cake.

These ordinary days, ordinary moments are the ones that our whole lives are built on. Not the special occasions we spend weeks or months planning – birthdays, christmases, holidays… but the normal, every day, routine kind of day. Days filled with laughter, and hugs, and chatter, and busyness, maybe a few tears. Days spent with our kiddos, or our friends, tackling hte everyday tasks.

The best days are those that don’t need anything special to happen to make it great. When you look around at your life and smile, because whilst it may be messy sometimes, and certainly isn’t perfect, it’s your life and it makes you happy. Days that you appreciate and enjoy for what they are.

As I type this, I can hear the rain pitter pattering on the windows, hear Beastie’s giggles and Baya telling him a story, I can see the world going past my window, and I know how lucky I am. To have these kiddos, and these normal days, to have a family and a life so filled with love. Learning to see the beauty in the ordinary, and celebrating normal days makes such a difference to how we view our lives and how happy we are. As Souza said ‘Happiness is not a destination’, these normal days are the backbone of our life, the highlights – not just days to endure while we wait for those special occasions to arrive.