Treasures

My little love just LOVES to give and collect trinkets.  Whether it's the orangey-yellow fall leaf that she saw at school she knew I would love, the handwritten message that she jots down on a sticky note from her daddy's classroom before school begins, or the heart shape that she cuts out of scrap paper for me, they're all little trinkets.  They're tokens, really, tokens of her love for me.  They're moments of her day that she thought of me.  She gets incredibly excited to bring them to me.  It's the cutest thing I have ever. seen. in. my. whole. life.

Photo Courtesy of Laura Tavarez Photography

And she's been like this for as long as I can remember.

My three favorite silhouettes, Morro Bay, August 2013

When we take a trip somewhere (far or near), she is always on the hunt for that something special that speaks to her heart.  She collects petals, rocks, shells, leaves, scraps of paper in pretty colors or patterns, words...and she brings them home and will stare at them for days.  The last "favorite trinket" that came home with us was a shell.  Upon closer inspection (and discussion with her Uncle Ryan), she learned that it was the shell from a little crab that had lost it in order to move on to bigger and better things.  He'd left his shell on the beach for her to discover.  Except, she was a little confused as to whether or not a "new crab" would grow into that shell in it's place.  She was momentarily devastated (tears and all) when she had realized she misunderstood, but decided to make the most of it by pretending that it would grow if we put it in a cup of water (I almost cried, it was so stinking adorable - no joke).  She named it "Flower," and it sat on the windowsill of our kitchen, soaking up that water and catching some sunshine for a good week before I told her it was time to let it dry and keep in her "shell jar" in her bedroom.

Chasing the waves and collecting treasures in Morro Bay, August 2013

Each flower, each shell, each rock, each drawing or note....they're all treasures.  Treasures from a little girl who sees the beautiful details in everyday life.  I like to think that she got this from me.  There's moments when time stands still as we explore something that we've discovered in the midst of the "daily grind."  It's a beautiful moment we share that I'll tuck into the pocket of my mind where I keep my "treasures."  Sometimes, she asks to use my camera(phone) to take a picture of something she wants to remember. Sometimes, I let her...and then there's 10 pictures of the same thing.  She gets carried away in the beauty of things.  In the fun of things.  In the silliness of things.  In special moments.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope she's always like that.  Just. Like. That.  Easily swept into the beauty of the world God created, the moments that make up our life together on earth, the relationships shared with loved ones.  She's rarely in a hurry for anything.  Ever.  She takes her time to explore...to get easily distracted with what interests her.  Sure, it's frustrating, at times.  But usually, it makes me slow down more to just give her the moment she needs.  It's like she looks at life through a photographer's lens...one that sometimes wears rose-colored glasses.

She even gets excited when Mr. Max does something new, different, or sweet.  He's often silly (or grumpy), but she was so excited the other day when she had kissed his tiny "boo-boo" for him and he kept coming to her and hugging her for more.  The way she responded to him about it made her sound so mature.  They're growing up so fast and I want to treasure all of these moments with them.  If I don't record it, photograph it, or write it down in some way, I'm afraid that I'll forget these tiny details of our daily lives...the details of the here and now.  The "trinkets."

They're treasures of today.  The time will escape us, they'll continue to grow up, but I'll always carry the treasures of these moments with me.