My mother tells me that someday I will miss this stage.  Will I even remember it?  It's a blur. 

Tickle wars in the "clubhouse."

The constant creative mixing of toys.  Imaginative, but a pain to clean up.  But so fun!  Daddy's shoes are great for dressup, too.

Secret puppy tea parties behind the couch.  Using blocks for food, of course.  Never mind that we have a twelve course meal of play food upstairs that hardly gets used.  The puppies prefer blocks.

The "art area."  This is surprisingly clean.  Usually it spills out all over the floor and someone trips on a crayon and gets hurt.

Piles of pink and pastel laundry.  There is no grownup laundry in this picture.

The Bu, content to sit with her ball right in the middle of all of the action. 

Misty of Chincoteague, our latest obsession.  (just like Mommy as a girl!)

Sight words all over the back of Kate's door.  51 to be exact.  Yes, the green one says "parrot", which was a word she really wanted to learn for some reason, so we added it to the door.  The rest came from a pack of post-its specifically for this purpose.

A growing pile of Babette squares.  Grandma, I am really putting your old secretary desk to good use.  It's stuffed to bursting with yarn, fabric, and sheet music, and all of the supplies that go with those passions.  I bet you never suspected that the little letterboxes inside would be chock-full of knitting needles.

So, future self, hope this helps you remember what you did all day when the kids were little.  You'll probably miss it a lot.  Right now I am just trying to enjoy every little moment and not get so caught up in the challenges that I miss out on the joys.

This sweet smile always helps!