Joyful Noises times six!: Highs and lows

My inspiration for this record of my days:

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” -Anna Quindlen

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Highs and lows

My friend Crystal has a fun dinner time tradition. Every night they go around the table and everyone gets to tell their “high” and their “low” for the day.

In a frantic attempt to keep my family at the table for longer than the 30 seconds it takes to devour the meal, I have been asking for everyone’s highs and lows. It’s a fun way to share what is going on in each others’ lives.

Here are a few of my highs lately:

Reading in my hammock with the perfect amount of sunshine on my skin

Jumping on the trampoline with Jonah and Simon

Setting up the Christmas tree, and listening to all the kids say “Oh! I remember this one!” as they take out each of their ornaments.

Watching Simon imitate everything his siblings do or say

Getting those stinky baby chicks out of my dining room and into the coop where they belong.