I love creating moments, which in turn create memories for my kids. I think in the mommy department I am pretty run of the mill. Average even. I yell at my kids, snuggle them when they let me, I tend to be strict, read to them, teach them how to be independent, spend time with them – you know everyday mommy stuff. So to really stretch myself and be the over-achiever I so love to be, I try to “exceed expectations” by creating wonderful memories for them. I strive for it to be a creative wonderful memory… but I admit, I am very happy just even hitting the bar of creating a wonderful MOMENT. And for some reason… I really tend to focus on this more in the summer. Perhaps because I have more free time?

Some of the things are pretty easy to do right? Send them to camp. Expose them to varied places, cultures and experiences. Spend time playing with them. Go on cool vacations when we can. Create something together. Make something ordinary – extraordinary.

Then there are just little extra touches that make the day to day stuff even better. It really does come down to the details right? Moments equal memories. I wish I had the stamina to do it all the time, but I don’t. So I try to little special things when they will have the most impact. Like when were at Disney World, That was a huge trip and the whole thing was special. We (that’s the proverbial we in this marriage) planned everything out and the whole thing is such a stand out memory. But it’s the little things that really captured moments and we still talk about. Things like the Magical Gathering Safari we took with our family and how wonderful it was … Jambo! Or watching the Fireworks on the Beach as a family, under the palm trees, the smell of cocoa butter still wafting through the air, listening to the music piped in while eating special treats. All these little things that required a touch of planning… but made the memory all the more special.

So last night while I was watching Six Feet Under on DVD, I was thinking about what details I could add to the kids camp experience to make it more memorable. Hard to do since I am not there. But it hit me… tie myself to it somehow! Let them know… how much I love them and how much I want them to have fun! So I made homemade love notes for my kids. I got out my scrap booking supplies that haven’t seen the light of day for MONTHS and made little cards to put into their lunches. They came out beautiful. I personalized them for each child… and used the “3-D pop stickies” to make all the paper piecing pop. They came out great. And it was so nice to get back into the “creative” again. Creativeness married with Love… what could be better? Inside the cards I told them how much I hoped they enjoyed the waterslides today at Camp (They are going to a water park) and how much I loved them. I hope they are thrilled with the little note when they find it.

And I hope it creates a special moment for them. Because I do not want to be average in the “letting you know I love you” department.

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