"How was your week?"

"Crummy." "The pits." "Making me wish and pray for a super early retirement."

These would have been likely answers had someone asked me this question at 3:15 today. Or the day before. Or the day before that. It's just been that kind of week.

But here are the answers as of 9:27 p.m.: "magical." "beautiful". "A gift."

Our kids can drive us crazy at times, but man oh man, even on the worst of days, they make us thankful.

While my "work week" was not so hot, there were a few moments that made up for all of the ick:

Lizzie enjoying the cool breeze, groovy music and good company at North Country Brewery; Nat drawing an amazing picture from his favorite book; Greeting my favorite Amish family after a long, cold winter and having them place their precious 4-month-old baby in my arms; Nat, Lizzie, Buddy and I roasting marshmallows over a hurricane candle on the porch this evening and hearing Nat say, "Mama, this is my favorite part of the day".