Originally I was going to talk about the gray hairs creeping in like the ones in this photo, but something else dawned on me tonight when I looked at the b-day cards again that the littles made.
Their handmade cards are always about love and family. One begets the other. They have it right. Life is about love and the family; a perfect formula for a child. It is so simple yet so profound. Why do we adults have to complicate things?
I have learned more in my short life from being a mom and wife than from any classroom. Immersion not only works for learning a language; it is learned from immersion in day to day living. And I continue to learn through the eyes of my children.
Right now I'm doing a lot of praying about the bigger guy in this photo. It is difficult for me to let go of my firstborn. He sees a branch of the military in his near future and the thought of it makes my stomach turn daily (and it has given me a few more grey hairs since the above photo at the top was taken last month.) We argue A LOT, yet he is loved dearly and I am proud of his many achievements.
And...
To keep things light - not mushy...
I just love my Knight's sense of humor.
The Knight took me to holy (half!) hour tonight, followed by Mass. Afterward we briefly got to see
Sr. Marie Magdalene of Saint Joseph in the church entrance, which was a delight. We last saw her in Ars almost three years ago. Then we went out to dinner and he got me a ribeye and mojito. Now it's back to Lent;-)
P.S.
Thank you to my dear Andrew for the Lindt chocolate bar (which was shared with the family this afternoon) and to my husband for the perfume. I was very spoiled today.
Glad to hear you had a happy birthday. Love the picture of the 11 of you! It's so cute! It is hard when the older kids aren't home all the time anymore. I miss them all! I don't think you ever stop worrying about your kids. Dad used to say that, and I believe him. We'll pray for Nathan's guidance and protection in whatever he chooses to do. It's a tough decision to decide on your future. I think kids feel a lot of pressure to invest time, energy, and money into something they are not sure of. I think kids can be whatever they want and do well as long as they keep their priorities straight.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday! What nice gifts from your family! I'm constantly learning things from Isaac already. This parenting thing is kind of crazy!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I turned forty, I was in Africa and it happened that two days had passed after my fortieth birthday(really I forgot what day it was) and I realized..."hey I'm forty!" There was about three seconds of sadness, panic, worry, frustration, etc...then it passed. I thought ...wow...forty...let's move on folks...nothing to see here...;-)
ReplyDeletefelicem diem nativitatem!
Hope to see you soon...
Canon G
Where have you been hiding? Glad to hear you survived turning 40, too. ;-)
Delete