Originally written on July 24, 2007 this post still makes me teary-eyed. I feel so blessed to get the honor to raise these children.

Any mother who says her children are perfect is not telling the truth. All kids are naughty at times, they can be rude or mean, they can be loud and obnoxious and just plain irritating. We do have days like that at our house. I normally choose not to write about those days because the good days outweigh the bad and while things like that happen, those aren’t the memories I want to go back and relive. I get a lot of joy in going back through my archives and reading about the sweet things the kids have done or the funny things they’ve said. Sure there are naughty things too but normally the ones I write about are the ones that I know once I get away from the situation for a bit will be funny once I read it again.

One of my joys as a mother is seeing my children interact. While I know having a lot of children is not for everyone I know that I would have a hard time being a mother to an only child. I love to see the kids playing. I love to see them hugging and snuggling. I could probably do without the arguing but not if it meant I had to give up the other stuff too.

Today, like most days, we had several memorable things happen that I hope to not forget. The first was the girls arguing over who I was going to live with when I got “old and wrinkly”. Now, luckily they were all arguing that each of them wanted me to live with them and not that the other had to take me on. They never mentioned Mike but normally Savannah is willing to take him too. LOL Still it was sweet that they each felt so strongly that they wanted me to live with them “forever” that they would argue about it now. I suppose I want to write it down so that later in life I can remind them that they actually did want me to live with them!

The second thing that happened made me giggle. Bella found the leash we had for our dog and decided that since Ben wasn’t up to use it on (if you remember a previous post about Ben being our new dog) she used it on Anna. The difference between Anna as a puppy and Ben as one is remarkable. It’s amazing the difference that almost 2 years can make. While Ben was more than happy to be led around by the leash, Anna not only let Bella lead her around but she barked and licked and pretended to be hungry. It was adorable and I hope I never lose that memory of the two of them playing so intently… one as the owner the other as the puppy.

My final joy today was at supper time. Because Mike wasn’t home I fed the kids without him. I decided to wait to eat so he wouldn’t eat alone. Normally we don’t allow toys or books or crayons at the table while the kids are eating but tonight I decided not to be so strict about it. While I sat at the computer (which is in our kitchen) pondering the songs I am going to use in a photoshow for the Sheriff’s deptartment I heard Emma reading. She had a library book in front of her plate and was struggling to figure out some of the words. I was just about to tell her to put the book up and that we would read it after supper until I heard Kaylie sounding out the words with her. I found it so touching that here this 14 year old girl was helping her little sister when she didn’t have to. No one asked her, not even Emma. She just took it on herself to sound out the words. I almost took a picture of the two of them hunched over the book, intently looking at the words with fingers guiding them but I didn’t want to ruin their mood. For whatever reason seeing the two of them together really hit home for me that we have an amazing family. There are many times that I think it and there are many times others say it to me but tonight there was this resounding click that life is amazing and that we are so privileged to be raising these children. Why we are so blessed I have no idea. I know that I don’t deserve it and yet everyday I wake up to find that our blessings have multiplied.

I hope that my children will look back on their childhood the way I do. I look back and see these children who bring such joy not only to Mike and me but to everyone they are around. I hope they look back and remember the close bonds they have with each other. I hope they look back and know that we always did the best we could for them and that our main goal was their happiness… both emotionally and spiritually. Most of all I hope they look back and know that every moment of their lives is etched in my heart forever. That I remember every smile and every tear and that all those moments meant the world to me.