When Did You Last Blow Bubbles in Milk?

When's the last time you blew bubbles in milk?
When did you last stop to notice a pretty flower, a rainbow, or the way a child seems to run everywhere they go?

Last week I was looking through old pictures and observed a few things; first that I used to get my "real" camera out for pictures all the time.  Possibly because there weren't really good phone cameras then, but my Canon was never far from my hands, and there are so many pictures I love.

It also made me realize how quickly it goes.

I don't photograph the little day to day moments nearly as often as I once did.  Let's be honest, my kids have much less desire for me to photograph the little moments now.. plus they sure were cute when they were little!

They are still cute now, but there is something about little chubby baby hands, little toddlers discovering the world that is just so adorable and amazing to photograph.

I sometimes miss those little moments, the little kids with little problems.  I know, I haven't yet entered the teenager years with my kids, though we are so close, and I really do like the ability to just run to the store by myself... but sometimes I can't help but wish for those magical days.

But I can't live in the past, instead I need to find the magic now.

What can I do as a mom to help pull them back to some of the magic, out of the ruts of busy lives, school work, homework, and after school activities?

The answers is-- in some ways I can't.  It will never be back to the days of kids being home all day and a days worth of activities about the Letter A being enough.  I will no longer be the center of their universe every single day.  I need to adjust as a mother and find a new kind of magic, new adventures and things for us to document, to remember to live and enjoy.  Mostly, I just need to really be there-- to be-- as it goes so fast.

For those with tweens and teens, what do you like doing as a family?