A letter to my daughters....

It's true. One of these days I'm not gonna be around these parts anymore and my hope is that I will leave my daughters to remember me with lots of silliness, sweetness, giggles, smiles and very, very few tears.

Remember how wonderful it is to be wrapped in a big, fluffy towel just warm from the dryer each time you step out of the bath. Bake cookies with your little ones and let them measure, spill, stir, drop, pour, lick, roll and cut, decorate. I'm thrilled that you are both voracious readers and I'm sure you will snuggle up every chance you get and share the same bedtime stories with your someone special. Continue our ritual of visiting the library once a week to dig for buried treasure and never lose that excitement that comes with hauling home a bundle of new books to read, not knowing how to choose which one to start first. Tuck little love notes in the lunch boxes.

Don't forget to be silly and belly laugh every chance you get. K, remember when we used to replace words in books with potty words instead? "Goldilocks tasted the mama's porridge and said, "this porridge is too much like diarrhea."

Relish the comfort of sipping hot cocoa (from scratch with milk! never, never, use a mix and add water) and nibbling on sugar cookies while watching every claymation Christmas movie ever created back to back.

Remember to make each one of your children feel special. K, remember when we played hooky from school and had a girls day out....checked into a lodge, swam in the pool, had lunch and went to a movie? J has had lots of mommy and me time with trips to the zoo, movie dates, picnics in the park, perusing the toy store just because.

May you find yourself every Christmas morning enveloped with the smell of cinnamon rolls baking while you open your gifts followed by a breakfast feast with the works. Be the cool mom that hosts slumber parties where everyone is allowed to eat as much junk food as they can stomach and stay up all night. Save every love letter you ever receive. Write down the funny things your children say and the lessons that they teach you.

Share all the things you love, it only makes them better. Ice skating, driving cross country , camping, hiking, annual trips to the pumpkin and apple farm, homemade mac n cheese, snow, early morning walks while the world is still asleep, splashing in puddles with your yellow rainboots, collecting leaves and acorns, fingerpainting, and celebrating all the holiday traditions old and new.

Keep a journal! Save the art work. Bring flowers to every performance and recital and tell them how proud you are. Tell them you love them every single day. Tell them the story about the day they were born. Frame their school picture. Have pictures taken of you with your children.

Remember all our adventures in San Francsico, our days spent in Golden Gate Park, our trip to Yosemite, our visits to the mountains , hanging out at the beaches and playing near the ocean, dressing up and attending the Nutcracker Ballet, those chicken wings and sparkling cider in plastic champagne flutes on New Years Eve, and our goofy matching fleece Christmas pj's.

Never, ever forget that you were the love of my life.