Precious...

It's been a fun few days around our house. With the heat wave (which, in my opinion, can be the LAST one of those we experience this summer) lifting, we've been able to get back outside and play without running the risk of overheating. Last night, Joshua had great fun with his "mowder" while Daddy used the big mower to cut the grass. I thought the pictures were precious, particularly the one with Daddy in the background and Joshua in the foreground, both pushing their mowers in unison. The last picture shows Joshua's red cheeks. That seems to be the first sign of him overexerting himself. I think he drank 2 sippy cups of water after coming in from all of the running up and down the driveway that he had been doing.

The shot below is one for your enjoyment just in case you hadn't gotten your fill of Joshua personality for the week. I was trying to take his picture and he kept squirming away and making funny faces at me. Then he'd jump down off the couch to "see it" in the camera. It's like he knows that the sillier he is in the picture, the funnier it will look when he gets to see it.

I also read something this afternoon that I thought was worth posting. This was posted on my BabyCenter Birth Club board this afternoon. I don't know where it came from, but it is poignant. Coming from a mom who is blessed with a career that I love and a very full, rich life, I can tell you that if someone asked me what the most important thing in my life is, it is this precious little boy who has been entrusted to us by God, hands down. Forget anything else. Forget the race for fortune and fame. Forget the worldly things that we so irresponsibly place so much value on. It's this little person, who I love to the depths of my soul, that really matters. And it's the family that we provide for him as his parents that counts. So, enjoy this. I wish I could take credit for having written it.

The Girl That I Used to Be…

She came tonight as I sat alone,The girl I used to be...

And she gazed at me with her earnest eyes and questioned reproachfully:

Have you forgotten the many plans and hopes that I had for you?

The great career, the splendid fame,all the wonderful things to do?.

Where is the mansion of stately height with all of its gardens rare?

The silken robes that I dreamed for you and the jewels in your hair?

And as she spoke, I was very sad for I wanted her pleased with me...

This slender girl from the shadowy past, the girl that I used to be.

So gently rising, I took her hand and guided her up the stair,

where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay, innocent, sweet, and fair.

And I told her that these are my only gems, and precious they are to me;

That silken robe is my motherhood, of costly simplicity.

And my mansion of stately height is love,

And the only career I know is serving each day in these sheltered walls for the dear ones who come and go.

And as I spoke to my shadowy guest, she smiled through her tears at me.

And I saw the woman that I am now pleased the girl that I used to be.