There's no one like you...

I was walking by the computer this afternoon and a picture of one of the children popped up on the screen saver and I thought "Gosh I love that kid. He/she is just my favorite right now...Except that so and so is doing this oh, and so and so is doing that and oh, yeah, what about this?" and I came to the realization that today, this minute, all four of them are bringing such joy. It's not always that way. There are times, days or weeks even when one or more of my children is a challenge for me to deal with on a daily basis. There was the struggle with the Teenager a couple of years ago which I honestly thought would tear our family apart. And of course my earlier entry about my Future Engineer and his idiosyncrasies which can be maddening and then there's the Princess and the challenges that being the baby provide and there are times with The Social Butterfly when she is so shy to adults that are hard to deal with. But today? None of that is in my heart. Today I'm thinking about the Teenager and how much he makes me laugh. He has my sarcastic sense of humor and my gosh I must think I'm funny because that boy can make me laugh like no one else. He's also recently started wearing a hat that keeps his hair out of his face since it's rather long right now and I am so in love with that face that I feel like I haven't seen for a year or so. I just keep looking at him and his amazingly big and gorgeous eyes that change colors with the weather or his mood. They go between blue and grey and green. Someone who once drew him said that his eyes were so amazing and that he just couldn't find the right color for those eyes. They are stunning.
and then there's my girl, the SB. She is so kind and compassionate and loving and amazing. And the Best. Big. Sister. Ever. She is so caring and wants to be next to me and do whatever I do, but she also is everything I ever wanted to be. She is strong and athletic and graceful and amazingly beautiful. I am honored to be her mother. Really.
My Engineer is so cuddly. He loves for me to lay with him as he falls asleep. He plays with my hair. He prays every day for everything. He wants to be just like his daddy. He loves buttonup shirts and nice pants. He likes to get dressed up for church. He loves animals and babies and has a really big heart.
and The Princess who is who she is. There's no shushing her. She says what she wants when she wants. She'll talk to anyone anywhere anytime. On her terms only. I fought with her for an hour last night to take some medicine and then when I put her to bed she wrapped those arms around me and looked deep into my eyes with the biggest brown eyes and the longest eyelashes I've ever seen and my heart just melted. She sings all the time. She is the sunshine in my life, truly. She held our family together during the challenges with the teenager and the bond between the two of them is something to behold. The Princess in pink with the 6'3" teenager in black and she can get him laughing like crazy. They have their own little world sometimes and it is beautiful to watch.
So, today is a love affair with all four of them. What will tomorrow bring? I don't know. More of the same I hope, but if not we hang on and muddle through. For today I'm going to go watch my girl cheer for the football team that my teenager coaches and watch the two little ones run and play.
It's a good day.