6 Yeti cups

I watched the patterns of that steam rise off our tea cups this cold morning with the sun as the backdrop; quite beautiful! I love getting up early each morning, making tea in 6 Yeti cups, setting out biscotti and then waking the boys to start their day. This morning, though, the miracle of those 6 cups lined up next to one another stood out to me. 

I've been given these 5 people to live alongside. Everyday I am changed by that fact and I am thankful. Because we spend life together, we annoy, disappoint, and pester one another and we know exactly how to be the worst part of each other's day. Yet, we also know how to love, encourage, build up and build into each other because we know deeply about one another.  

There's a little bit of crazy in this household - the chaos that isn't mastered by any kind of order. The granola bar nailed to a tree by the front door. The legos in the disposal. The constant stream of fixations that Lochlan brings to the table and our responses to them. The raft sitting in the living room "just because". The horse that periodically comes into the house. The laundry basket that is never not full. The driveway gate that refuses to stay on it's hinges. The kid who shows up for an outing with one foot fully shod and the other fully socked. The wild hair of a 9 year old who has crawled out of bed fully dressed for the day - includes morning breath! The tools scattered around the yard as the 13 year old completes another creative wooden masterpiece. The horse reins used as a belt. The kitchen sink always full of dishes. The dirt - so much dirt everywhere. The dog hair on the carpet. The disgusting "boy bathroom". "Dr. Frankenraffe" the stuffed giraffe that lives in our house and owns one of my children. 

Please note that my stove has eyes and a tongue. 

The adventure is real. I will live in it fully, as I am able. These days will not last forever and I will not always be filling 6 cups of tea. I love those 6 cups of tea and what they represent to me.