This picture was taken August of 2005, right before we moved to Nebraska. My dear friend came over to let us love on their new baby girl. We were able to get a picture just in time before Sera started shoving the baby away, "I am done!" is what she was trying to say.
About half way through, I had the thought of "It is so nice that the children have been behaving so well."
Just before we stood to sing the intermediate hymn the kids started nit picking at each other and Eliza did her classic "NOOOO STOOOOP IT!" high pitch scream, whilst Jared would immediately put his hand over her mouth to muffle the scream. 2 of the kids left just before that song to go to the bathroom and upon returning, as we were singing the song, decided to stand up on the bench to sing the song or to poke a sibling. It is odd to me why a 9 year old would feel compelled to do that, but to each their own I suppose.
That is another thing I am always fascinated with. That a young person who seems as if they have no clue on what is going on around them can grasp and pay attention and give a full detailed description of what they learned. It does help me to realize that our children really do hear us and are learning, even if it may not seem like it. If they got just one thing I consider that a success.
A minor mishap....
Emma was upset that I took the book she was reading away from her toward the end of the meeting. Sorry, sweet child, but when you get upset with 2 and 3 year old's for touching you when you are "trying to read", it means it is time for you to have a break from the book....annnnnddd sulking about it does not get you your book back (.) !
We had lunch and then the miracle happened. Every single person in this home took a nap at the same time. What universe are we on. The stars must have been in alignment or something. I awoke first. I had about 30 minutes to myself. I got some dinner stuff prepped and talked with a few people on the phone.
I was happy to get a call from a new friend. She recently lost her father. She is the only child. Her father and her were close. Anyway she has been going through the mourning phase and it has been hard, as you can imagine. Before he passed we would walk together in the mornings. Just before her father passed ,and since then, we have not been walking. I have missed that, but I knew she needed the time to process and mourn her loss. I told her that when she was ready to let me know. She called me today to let me know that she was ready. I am so elated that we will be walking again in the mornings. She is just such a delight to be around and it is a great way to start my day.
One by one peoples started waking up. Each came in with a smile and a "Hi Mom!" I love that, because it does not always happen that way. Sometimes when they wake up, you almost wish you would have skipped the nap, and taken the person you would have had, come 4 o'clock because they would have seemed more manageable. So I am grateful that all was well on that front.
I started getting dinner ready. Breaded pork chops were on the menu tonight with fresh peas and carrots, noodles with salt and pepper butter and a little cream, watermelon, and applesauce. It all turned out so yummy for me. The older girls and Jared were very complimentary and I always appreciate that. Everyone cleaned up dinner while I got Daniel down for the night.
When I was done we watched our Sunday movie. A little background on this. Back in February I thought that it would be nice to give some incentive to being reverent during our services at church. My proposal was that if they got through the whole meeting without getting any warnings then they could watch the movie and have as much carmel popcorn as they want. 1 warning- small bowl of popcorn and watch movie, 2 warnings- no popcorn, yes watch movie, and 3 warnings- no popcorn and no movie. It has worked out so far. We watch classics. Like Fiddler on the Roof, The Other Side of Heaven (thanks to this one, Lucy in particular, will burp after every meal to thank me for a delicious meal), Gigi, Tyler a real hero, etc.
So the caramel popcorn was made and it was movie time. We had 3 spills of popcorn before the movie even started. Probably within minutes of each other too. It was funny.
Tonight we watched a movie I DVR(ed) from BYU television. Actually a lot of the movies we watch have been recorded from there. The title "Little Hero's" Such a cute film. Before the movie was done I came upstairs to change Eliza's diaper so I didn't catch the ending. When the kids came up, Sera came and stood by me. She seemed sad about something, so I asked what what the matter. She started crying. She told me how sad she was that the girl's dog died at the end. Moments like these I cherish, and they are a great reminder that underneath all that energy of this child that there is such a tender, compassionate soul who really does want to look out for those around her.
I told her about a time when I was reading the book "Where the Red Fern Grows" It was the summer of 2001. We had a young boy with us for the summer. I wanted to do some things that would make learning be a fun experience for him. So we had gotten some books from the library. We read "Where the Red Fern Grows" together. We finished the book on a Saturday. I remeber because we were out on errands and Jared was with us. As I read the ending I could hardly read because the dog had died and I was sobbing so hard. Jared and the boy just laughed at me, in a kind way, probably a nervous laugh come to think about it. It was such a good book to me.
At story time, Kady kept on passing horrendous gas. Jared thought someone had pooped their pants. At bedtime, Eliza had grabbed her singing toothbrush and would press the button to turn on the music and then would turn it back off quickly. I turned it into a game. So when she had the music going I would smile and nodded my head back and forth and when she turned it off I would frown. Kady and her just laughed and it encouraged me to keep on doing it so I could hear them laugh. I love the sound of children laughing!
No comments:
Post a Comment