fleeting childhood

Today I was given a great reminder about how quickly time passes. For the last few weeks my mind has been bent toward my little sister & her baby. Haylee's baby has a brain cyst & has had to have one surgery already and is back at the hospital scheduled for another.

Well, this morning, I was getting Rachel some strawberry milk when the phone rang. My mom was calling to give me the update from Haylee and when I came back from the phone call to see how Rachel was enjoying her milk this was the scene in the kitchen.

It was such a visual reminder to me to enjoy the moment and be there for my kids. I love being around when my kids have flavored milk because they enjoy it so much and it is a sure way for me to get a compliment on being the "best mom ever!"

So, seeing the empty cup when I came back just reminded me how important it is to be there to enjoy my kids & to be there with them whenever I can.

Ellie's Baptism

Saturday Ellie turned 8 and was able to be baptized on her very birthday! She was so excited & we had a wonderful experience. When Becca got baptized, she wanted to follow up on the theme "Black-White-Choose the Right" that the primary started, so we had black and white decorations and black and white treats for dessert.
True to Ellie's personality, she decided that it would be much more fun to alter the theme a little bit and have a "Be BRIGHT Choose the Right" party. We had rainbow pinwheels in the flowerpots, and decorated the tables with Jelly Bellies, balloons, crayons, markers and all things BRIGHT.
The baptism itself was wonderful. We were so grateful for the support of our family, neighbors, friends, and teachers (both Ellie's primary teacher & 2nd grade teacher attended).
What a wonderful experience it was for her to be surrounded by so many people on such an important day.
We had her bear her testimony last night at family home evening, and she said that getting baptized and getting the Holy Ghost made her feel warm inside all through her body. She felt so happy and was all smiles that day (as evidenced by the lousy picture I tried to grab with my phone).

Sarah's Homework

I was helping Sarah sound out some words in her homework & she said, "Mom, I don't really need to do my homework. It's just reading & I like looking at the pictures more anyway."

Silly girl!