Totally TWObular

Good Morning Highlowaha, Happy Monday! It's Heather here to celebrate an important day with my friends here in HLA Land. You see, today is my daughter Lily's 2nd Birthday! We'll celebrate today by wearing a "Happy Birthday" hat to daycare, taking her to dinner out (a real treat!), going to swim lessons, and capping it off with some frozen yogurt at Dragon Berries. I debated long and hard over the tone of today's post. For awhile I was going to share with you all the details of her "Splish, Splash, Birthday Bash!" but I think I'll hold off until after the party to share all the pictures and fun that was had by our party-goers. No, instead I want to soak up the wisdom of the Highlowaha family.You see, today is a little bittersweet for me. I can't say that I haven't shed a few tears over the fact that my baby is growing up. It feels like yesterday that I was holding this in my arms:

And now, two minutes later I have a rambunctious, spunky toddler who tells me to "hush" every other minute.

Where has time gone? Better yet, what have I done to make the last two years matter? It doesn't escape me that time flies. With work, keeping the house in some semblance of order, and meeting the bare necessities of bath, meals on the table, and bed there isn't much time left to "savor the moment" but isn't that what highlowaha is all about? Originally highlowaha was a tool used by Claudia to make the most out of the dinnertime experience with her boys and now it has come to stand for a group of like-minded people getting together online to share how we make the most out of every day in life, how we personally embrace the spirit of 218. As one of the writers I feel like I should have this task down to a science but I can't lie and say that is the case. I feel like the past two years have gone by and I haven't soaked up every minute with my baby and now she has grown into a toddler and I can't recapture those moments.

So today will be about giving one another tips on how to capture those everyday moments, how to savor them before they slip away and as is always the way I'll start.

Our good friend Nan is a master at savoring the moment in time when your children are young and awe-inspired. Nan lets her kids be kids in the most beautiful way. You see, her youngest son Paul has a pair of rain boots that he adores and Nan, in her own way of letting him be the 3 year old he is lets him wear those rain boots, rain or shine, whenever his little heart compels him that they are what he wants to wear. It won't be long before Paul starts school and wouldn't be caught dead wearing a pair of red car galoshes and so Nan is savoring the moment where he will and she even lets him jump in any puddles along the way.

Alright, now it is your turn. What are your tricks and tips for embracing the moment where you are now instead of wishing it away for something better? This could be you as a college student, as a single person with no kids, or married with a brood.

Signing off until tomorrow...