October Snapshots

The Queen Bee with her baby!

Highlights

Since it's been awhile, I thought I'd post some of the exciting things our family is doing. October was really busy for our family. The kids had a break from school for 2 1/2 weeks, so we started out with a trip to Disneyland (leaving Talmage with Aunt Jenny). Just a few days after we got back, Savannah, Talmage and I went to Richmond for a few days to visit Aunt Missy. While we were there, we hung out with the Bybee family, saw the James River, the Richmond Folk Festival, the Zoo, and (one of my favorites) a store called "For The Love of Chocolate"! Savannah and I also took off for one day to go to Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. Finally, last week we celebrated Talmage's first birthday, the boys' seventh birthday and Halloween! Whew! I'm glad it's over! I need a vacation from all this partying!

As I look back at the past month, I'm reminded of a conversation I had with my mom about four or five years ago when I told her we were not going to take a family vacation that year because we felt the boys were just too difficult to transport long distances! In a very nice, but urgent, tone she encouraged me to make memories with my children. I'll never forget the way she said it. It was one of those conversations that I don't remember the exact words she used, just her motherly intuition and her great sense of concern. While we did not make a trip that year, Cody took some time off of work and we tried to do some fun things around town. I'm grateful for a Mom that showed her children that life is fun, no matter how much money you spend or how imperfect the circumstances are!

At times I have doubts that I'm doing enough to foster the emotional and spiritual growth of these little ones. I'm aware of how much time it takes to raise a child. Times it by four and it's enough to run me ragged. Fortunately, It's getting easier to see the fruits of my labors as my children get older. I rejoice in the little things they do that show me I might be doing an okay job as a mom.

Two recent experiences come to mind. First, there was a program at church that all of the children participated in on a Sunday this past month. Cody and I could hear a very loud child singing (louder than the rest of the children). Every song was sung with almost perfect accuracy in lyrics and pitch. This particular child , bless his/her heart, stood out so much that I was quite surprised at how he/she belted out the songs and thought, perhaps, that the integrity of the music did not call for such strong singing. I looked all around and could not determine who it was. When the program was finished, I asked my daughter who it was and she said it was her!!! I really was shocked. She doesn't normally sing in such a way. Apparently, the leaders said it was important for the kids to sing out because they couldn't hear them very well during the program rehearsals. So, my daughter took it upon herself to be responsible for making sure everyone heard the many songs that they had been working on all year! I'm sure the Heavens are smiling down on that girl!

The second experience was yesterday, when I stayed home from church with all of my boys because Talmage was sick with a fever. Because it was an unusually long meeting (a conference) we kept the older boys home as well. They had dutifully gotten dressed, however, in their button down shirts and slacks. When I asked Grant if he wanted to change he said, "No, Mom, because I want to show respect to Jesus."