Most babies grab attention. I think it is in our nature to be attracted to a baby’s innocence. But I have never seen people as drawn to a baby as people seem drawn to you. Even children and roudy boys look at you AND COMMENT about how cute you are or how happy you are. It {literally} took me five minutes to get into the grocery store yesterday because of the two separate women who stopped me to tell me how cute and charming you were. It was as though I was walking around with a clown costume on, it seemed that everyone’s eyes automatically turned to the adorable baby I had sitting in my cart.

I just want to thank God for you tonight. A mother always loves when her baby is praised, but there is just something so wonderful and consistent about this praise. For one thing, it isn’t about me, but I am definitely benefitting from all the attention. It encourages me and uplifts me. So thank you. {Both of you.}

So, here it is, from our mid-week, end of summer (free) trip to the rinky-dink Pueblo Zoo.

Jordyn and Noah. Isn’t it nice when both children stop and look at the camera and sort of smile?

Andrew smiles. And watches the kids. And animals. And he drools, but we love him anyway.

The sun was hot that day…why does that sound like the opening line to something, somewhere? But, seriously, it was hot. And we picked the hottest hours of the day to be at this zoo. And we forgot to bring water so we had to pay through the nose to get some. Oh, yeah.

Jordyn and Noah watched the penguins eat their meal. They were jumping around and playing and not listening whatsoever to the woman talking about feeding the penguins, perhaps because she was standing behind everyone, but then, they decided to be cute.

Jordyn jumped. She jumped as far as a bullfrog.

Noah jumped. He jumped as far as a spider (that wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her).

Andrew did not jump. He slept. And he refused to sleep laying down, so smushed into the cupholder he became.

And that was our trip to the zoo and my first experience playing with Instagram. Whatdya think? I kinda like it!

Check it out yourself!

Today, I am thankful to be living in the greatest country on earth. And, though I know it didn’t come about until the War of 1812, and wasn’t even officially our national anthem until 1931, I would like to post our national anthem. All of it.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And now for some history (what is left of history- it seems these days that everything has been revised, taking out all reference to God, honor, nobility of character, so on and so forth). The history of the Star Spangled Banner (both the song and the flag).

I came home from taking Jordyn to school to find this lying on my bed. Some sleepy father-son bonding. So sweet.

Jordyn starts school tomorrow. Yes, she is starting kindergarten well behind the time that most kids start. The thing is, I’ve been homeschooling her for the past year and a half, but doing a poor job of it. The time has come to put her into “the system” and let her begin to make her way in the world. I have plans to go back to school and I am comfortable with this decision, though it is a huge reversal for me. Now all I have to get through is the fear and regret.

Yes, regret. I have had my daughter for six very precious years. She has been mine to hold and comfort and she has been mine, alone. I was anticipating having her home for a long time to come, teaching her to be a Godly woman, training her to run a household, and guiding her education. That has suddenly changed. What I realized tonight (as I watched George C. Scott’s version of A Christmas Carol) is that I’ve not been taking advantage of the time I had. Suddenly, I think of baking Christmas cookies during the day with regret. My time management with a hole in it where I was scheduled to school my daughter. With making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (herself) as an opportunity that will be missed from now on.

Why didn’t I realize how valuable my time with her was going to be? Perhaps this is the lesson that the Lord is teaching me. That my children are truly an inheritance, not just to watch grow up, but to nurture and to train. To invest time in. I’m not saying that you can’t do that if your children are in school, I intend to do just that. But think of all the hours I’ve wasted in my own selfish pursuits, watching a TV program with my dinner while my children sit at the table, requiring them to play in their rooms instead of reading a book together on the couch, having endless hours of “play quietly in your room” time because Mommy’s too busy for you. What waste!!!

For the longest time I’ve looked to elite gymnasts for their ability to schedule so much time in their day and here I’ve had all day, every day, and I’ve done nothing with it! Perhaps this change is a good one for me, for it will force me to realize what I’ve been missing and it will force me to make better use of the time I’ve squandered. Maybe I can redeem the time yet.

What have we been up to? After Noah’s illness, Jordyn got sick.

Then, just when she finally recovered, I got sick. I will spare you the visual.

I spent the rest of that week making Halloween costumes.

After that, my dad came into town for a visit and he enabled all of my sisters (and their families) to gather in the same place.

We went to the zoo and swam in the hotel’s pool.

And now we get back to normal.

So sad to be sick. So sad to be without his blankie to comfort him because Mommy was washing it. So happy to be watching TV all day long. Can you tell?