Three Weeks in Review - July 27, 2014

Three Weeks in Review

We have some big news.  Drum Roll… Zachary started walking. 

It’s still mostly just short distances, but he’s doing better every day.  The delay in the blog has been because I took the kids up to Dallas.  We had fun playing with Nana and Papa.  We started out with a trip to Joe Pool Lake and went kayaking with Tim, Christy and Dallin, Des, Stanley and Henry, as well as Nana and Papa.  Bekah Mae really enjoyed the kayaks except for when they came back to shore.  We enjoyed playing at the parks, went for 4 and 5 mile walks along the Joe Pool dam (saw a coyote on one of the walks).  I think the highlight of the trip was playing Batman Hide and Seek with Papa.  Batman (Benjamin) and Batgirl (Rebekah Mae) were chased by the Joker (Papa) while Zachary was given the role of Robin, though he was carried by the Joker.  We’ve had numerous repeat opportunities to play since we’ve been home and the one real benefit is that the kids are at least tired after all that running.

Robert and Ben have been building a little wooden car this week.  Ben decided it should be the Batmobile, so we are in the process of painting the correct colors.  We’ve also done a lot of building with Tinker Toys, it’s amazing what kind of things Ben and Bekah can come up with to build.

We’ve done a lot of playing at parks, reading and mostly just having fun together.

Our Cute Kids

I have fun listening to Ben and Bekah Mae say prayers.  Mostly they are just thankful for whatever family comes to mind, but occasionally they are a little more unique.  Bekah tends to be thankful for her baby dolls and Minnie Mouse or some of her books.  Ben in one prayer was first, grateful for Batman and then grateful for the prophet.  I appreciate that most of the things they are grateful for come without prompting, but it would be nice if they were a little better at blessing the food.

Thought

This week we finished reading about Alma the Younger and his visitation by the angel.  I enjoy reading this for the conversion story aspect that in most cases, no matter what your sins, you can be made clean, but as a parent there is another verse that stands out to me.

In Mosiah 27:14, the angel is speaking to Alma and says, “Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.”

I like knowing that the Lord answers parents’ prayers.  There are some days when I feel like I am constantly asking Heavenly Father for a blessing for either my children or my ability to raise them right.  We’ve been given such an important responsibility in rearing these precious souls and sometimes I wonder if I am up to the task and other times I wonder if it is there goal to make me absolutely crazy.  On the days that seem the hardest for either me or them, I often send up a quick prayer for guidance and ask that I might be able to recognize and appreciate my blessings.  I wonder sometimes if I’m getting the guidance, though each day that passes gives me better perspective and I think that helps me to handle everything else, but it’s the blessings that mean the most. 

Ben loves to come up and ask for Mommy Snuggles and he tries to so hard to be a helpful big brother. Bekah likes to watch shows and cuddle.  For her favorite shows, she has given us all the character names.  From Croods, when she is Eep, Ben is Guy and Zachary is Belt, Robert and I get to be the parents.  On Frozen, she is Anna, Ben is Kristoff, Zachary is Sven, I’m Elsa and Robert is Olaf.  She does this for several other shows (Zachary always tends to be an animal, which I find pretty funny).  Zachary has been a bit of a tough baby the last few weeks as he’s quickly added four new teeth, but even on the days and nights that he doesn’t seem to stop crying, he’ll wrap his arms around you and lay his head on your shoulder or lean in for a quick kiss.

I guess what I’m saying is that I truly feel like my prayers are being answered when even on the most frustrating of days, I am able to still appreciate my children for who they are and love all the little things that make them unique and special and the best kids in the world.  

Week in Review ~ July 6, 2014

This Week in Review

This week, we looked forward to a visit from Nana and some of our cousins.  We had a play date with Clara, Baby Bradford and Henry on Wednesday.  It was fun to watch Bekah and Clara play together with the dolls. 

The 4^th of July was busy.  We made a trip down to Bryan to visit with Grandma.  We had a great lunch and spent some quality time with family.  We came back home that afternoon to get ready for to see a fireworks show with one of Robert’s home teaching families.  About 15 minutes before we were planning to leave, it started raining, a lot, but the fireworks went on and the kids absolutely loved them, even Zachary handled them pretty well.

Saturday we made a fun discovery.  The tree in the front yard that we worked so hard to save a few weeks ago is now the home to a bird family.  I can’t say that it was our save the tree efforts that brought them there, but maybe it helped.  We put out some birdseed and hope that we’ll be able to watch them for awhile.

Our Cute Kids

So, I was pretty worried about how the kids would handle the fireworks, they acted excited, but I had memories of my little brothers screaming through fireworks shows when they were younger.  Not so with these kids.  Zachary was the most apprehensive, so I covered his ears, but he seemed to enjoy the colors.  Ben and Bekah were in awe.  Ben clapped and cheered.  His favorite color was the blue ones.  Bekah had the biggest smile on her face and kept asking to make sure that I was seeing them too.  I guess it means that we’ll have to make sure that we make it to more shows in the future.

Ben has enjoyed playing one of the Lego Batman games and so last night we watched the movie.  Ben was so excited, but did have to run out of the room when the Batmobile got destroyed saying that he couldn’t watch.

Thought

We have continued to learn about Abinadi this week and his teachings to King Noah.  For Family Home Evening we told a simple version of the story, so the kids would understand just a little bit about we were reading this week for scripture time.  I think their favorite part was the Gospel Art picture of Abinadi in King Noah’s court.  We heard a lot about the animals.

As I was getting everything thing prepared for Family Home Evening, I saw this message on the Church the website.  Maybe since I was already thinking about Abinadi and his willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for his witness of Jesus Christ, this thought really stuck with me.

How often do we give up on something because it’s simply too hard, while fighting for things that don’t really matter?  The most important things that we have are the things that we can take with us into eternity.  First, I think of my family.  I would do anything and sacrifice anything to guarantee that we can have a shot at eternity.  That is why we try through the occasional kicking and screaming and other various types of protests to have a meaningful Family Home Evening Lesson and scripture time, making sure that we say prayers and going to Church even when we know we’ll be so busy trying to keep the kids quiet and occupied that we won’t even hear the speakers.  It’s why we willingly sacrifice the things we want to do in order to maximize the time we spend with our kids.  We do these things not because they are always fun, but because in the end, the example that we set for our children and the opportunity to help them build a strong testimony of the gospel are more valuable than so many other options for how to spend our time.

There is of course growing our own testimony, so it’s important to ask what we are doing for ourselves.  Do we make the time to truly communicate with our Father in Heaven, to seek His guidance and then listen for His answers?  Do we make temple attendance a priority?  Are we willing to serve?  I must admit in some of these areas, I’m not as good as in others, but the point is that we have to keep trying.  We are not asked to run faster than we are able, simply to run.  We should seek to continually improve and press forward in faith, knowing that we will have Heavenly aid if we seek it.

One of the lessons we work to learn in this life is where our priorities lie.  If we focus on eternity and are willing to sacrifice some of the rest, than we are working on the things that will mean the most.