• the way Jase still holds the passenger door open for me.
  • sharing jokes and laughter with Jase and the kids.
  • the way Cali has conversations (with no one) on our cell phones.
  • it when Malakai and Zoe tell “Knock, Knock” jokes.
  • playing battleship with Malakai and coloring with Zoe.
  • when Cali roams around the house then comes and pushes her way onto my lap, even though my laptop is there.
  • when Jase looks at me.
  • when we all blow kisses at bedtime and the way we “catch” all of them and put them on our cheeks.
  • that Malakai loves science and mechanical-minded things and Zoe loves drawing, coloring, reading and writing and that both of them love music.
  • hearing Malakai on his drums, especially when he plays that song from 20th Century Fox.
  • eating sushi and watching movies with Jase.
  • when Cali calls out “Mommy?” from her crib and when she roams the house saying, “Daddy?” over and over again.
  • when Cali puts a shirt just on the top of her head or around her legs and then starts cracking herself and everyone else up.
  • when Jase emails or IM’s me for the sole reason of saying, “I love you.”
  • it when Jase and I talk about the things we’d invent, the movies we’d write, the commercials we’d do and the t-shirts we’d make.
  • when Zoe paints pictures, over and over, on the computer and Malakai can spend hours creating songs on GarageBand.
  • that Zoe and Malakai still get scared at night and crawl into our bed.
  • that while I’m writing this, Jase is beside me watching Sarah Connor Chronicles on his laptop and his hand is on my knee.
  • that my children still hold my hand.
  • when Malakai and Zoe slide down our stairs, even if they aren’t allowed to.
  • that Jase loves a clean house and that he helps, so much, in keeping it so.
  • when Cali hums the “I Love You” song and the “Go To Sleep” song when she’s going down to sleep, whether we sing it to her or not.
  • the way Cali dances (think Bill Cosby).
  • when Malakai tests Zoe with math and spelling.
  • when Zoe and Malakai read to Cali.
  • watching Malakai and Zoe’s faces when I surprise them with a “Yes” answer when they ask me, with doubt, for treats at the grocery store.
  • cuddling on the couch under a blanket, with Jase and the kids, watching Christmas movies… or any movie.
  • the blessing that my husband and my three children are to me.