What is real

They destroyed my freshly planted mums yesterday. That is the price that I pay for having the girls roam fancy free every afternoon. Our beloved little hens just started laying in earnest last week. Although two are still holding back.
Egg yumminess in the morning is what my growing boys love. Yesterday I took a dozen to our early morning seminary. The beautiful wife of Quayde's teacher makes breakfast every morning for those hungry teens.
This morning she asked with much wonder, "Why are your homemade eggs so much brighter?"
Smiling, I explained and at the same time I was a little sad that she had never had eggs from wild, crazy happy hen before.

Shifting

Time shifting..I know most say that time sails by quickly as the children are getting older. I haven't found that I have lost any time though. It has been full, very full and happy. With many layers of play & tears, toys & school , it has been a wonderful life. They are becoming grown ups and it is time for us to expand.

Our foyer area is the gathering place for props, feathers and hope of happily ever after. She is excited and wanting time to go faster so she can be with him and not 2500 miles away.

My heart is so happy for her and that she has an amazing, honorable man who loves her so tenderly. I can't wait for her to step into eternity with him. Yet, as we are silly and laughing together this evening, my heart aches knowing she will be so far away and that our moments of being 'loose cannons' are limited.

He took the test for his permit this afternoon. He is pleased with himself and happy to join the ranks of drivers on the road. Tomorrow I know he will want to drive to his seminary class at 6 am. I am wondering if I can be brave enough to let him cross that psycho roadway to get to the other side.

He still loves me, just like when he was a little boy. He is becoming an incredible man. Next year, he too will be leaving and we will have to shift again.
So the heart must remain open and enjoy all that life is offering. Time is precious, but it is precious every moment whether they are 8 or 17 or 25. There are joys and struggles in each cycle. That is what makes our time together as a family irreplaceable.

September

In the early morning before the hint of sun rays touch my quiet backyard, I have noticed the change. The change that September always brings as the earth turns and Summer is left behind. This year the trees feel it too, as the leaves are already giving way to shifting their colors. September has always felt to me like it should be where the calendar lets go and starts anew.

Last week I went back to my old blog to create it into a book for myself and my children to reflect on. I realized how much I missed blogging, how I missed the community and how much it was my journal of our amazing journey here. I also knew that I just couldn't pick up with where I had ended.

Things are shifting and changing so much in our lives, in good ways that are challenging. My darlings have grown into tender, kind and loving souls. My littles are not so little anymore. We have a wedding next month and we adore the young man who will bring my strong warrior daughter peace and love to her life. With this marriage comes parting as she goes back to Arizona to start her bliss with him.

So it is time I think to renew, to start blogging/journaling again. To stretch and feel, to shift and grow and to record so when the time comes around again I can re-read and understand myself a little more.