the best possible way to start your day...

I'm Feeling: cheerful
Background Noise: Sweet Potato Pie by James Taylor

This morning, I woke up to hear little voices chattering in the bedroom next to mine. One voice was using actual words, the other was simply baby babble. Kristen, her mom Linda, Timmy and Joshua made a surprise visit to our house last night. They were in Jackson, got semi-snowed in and wanted to crash in Mason as opposed to making it all the way back to Flushing. We were thrilled to have them stay!! Seriously - happy little kid noises are the best things to hear when you first wake up - how can that NOT make you smile??
To add to it, this morning while Timmy was eating his yogurt at our kitchen table, he told me I was doing a good job stirring my oatmeal, that he liked my white shirt, AND he helped me blow on my oatmeal to cool it down. If only every day could start out with such innocent and genuine encouragement!! It isn't very common to receive accolades from a 2-year-old for stirring your oatmeal, and it might sound a little weird to some of you - but it's awesome! :) And Joshua just walked around, smiling and hanging on to everyone he came across - he has such a happy spirit!
I love our house - and not just because it's pretty or has certain things in it... but because it allows to do things like we did last night. We had friends call us up, needing a place to stay, and we were able to give it to them, and comfortably. I had no idea what a blessing have a house would be! I absolutely love that we are able to use our house to provide for our friends and family - it's a real treat. What good would be to have a house and never share it??
Thanks to Kristen, Timothy, Joshua and Linda for making our night last night - Mark and I adore having people stay with us! And thanks for making my morning so ridiculously enjoyable (honestly, no one should be that happy to get out of bed on a Wednesday morning!)