Yesterday

(I'm linking up with Stephanie's Blog Your Heart challenge!)

So this happened yesterday.

It's not her first lost tooth. It's number three. (Though you might have guessed it was number one by her squeal as she ran downstairs to show me.)

It's number three, but my eyes filled with tears just like they did when that first bottom one became wiggly.

They teared up just like they did when the very first one...my last first tooth...appeared in that baby grin some five and a half years ago.

My eyes will likely tear up over that smile again...when she loses that other top one soon. And the last time I see her before the braces go on. And then before they come off.

I imagine I will tear up when I first see that "finished" smile. The one that she will be known for. The only smile that most people in her life will know.

But when I see her smile, I always see them all, woven together. A smile that has become.

And I count it a precious privilege to be the keeper of her smiles.

What's not captured...

(I'm linking up with Stephanie's Blog Your Heart challenge!)

I started blogging in 2006, just a few years after I began to scrapbook...in both places, recording our stories through words and pictures.

And for a long time, I would think in terms of a scrapbook page (do I need a vertical or horizontal picture...what should Hadleigh wear to match this cute paper?) or a blog post. I composed thousands of blog posts in my head those first few years. 

I'll admit, I don't do that quite as much now. (Except with food. Brent lovingly joked with the kids the other night while I was making something: "Okay. Now here's the important part...before you bring the drink to the table, take a picture of it." Guilty as charged.)

In fact, it's almost the opposite. I now recognize moments where I'm so involved in the moment, that I don't want to pick up the camera...even if I know I might wish I had later.

The picture above reminds me of the precious grin & excited eyes of Madeleine when she handed me a thimble-sized winter bouquet of white. I'm thankful for the reminder...but also thankful that I fully engaged Madeleine with my eyes and didn't scramble to find a camera in the moment.

But I'm guilty of not recording as many of the stories if they don't have a picture.

So here are a few un-captured but not un-preserved moments from this last week that I love:

~We gathered in the library to watch Nathanael reenact a "show" with his mini Star Wars figures. The Hoth scene, built with white bathroom-sized Dixie cups, green rods and purple spheres from a tent-making set. His creativity never fails to amaze me.

~A conversation between my daughters: M: "Hadleigh, will you help me fix this, just this one time?" H: "Of course, Madeleine. I'll help you with it every time."

~Nathanael, putting on his brand new (and bright green) shoes and running back and forth through the kitchen to show me how fast he goes in them.

~Playing "I'm going on a camping trip" around the dinner table. "We're going on a camping trip and we're taking an apple, bike, Caroline, drinks, eggs , featherbed, grill, hamburgers, imagination, Jedi Jabba, a kite, Leia (as in princess), Mommy, napkins, an octopus..." (That's as far as we got...and can you tell we have some Star Wars fans?!?)

~Seeing thankful hearts respond properly to the kindness of strangers.

~Hadleigh choosing to wear her glasses more often...and seeing all the ways she is really growing up. (How can she be nine?)

~Three bright green tongues as Madeleine shared her "Fun Dip" valentines candy with her siblings. (I loved that stuff when I was little.)

~Every time we leave in the car, before we're completely out of the garage, Nathanael asks, "Can we listen?" He loves listening in the car (Adventures in Odyssey, Slugs and Bugs, Greathall Productions books on tape are some of our favorites.) and as much as this consistent question gets a little old, I don't want to forget it.

Don't get me wrong...I still plan to use my camera plenty...but I just want to remind myself (and you) to record these unphotographed moments too.

Today

Today, I'm linking up with Stephanie's "Blog Your Heart" challenge. You can read more about it on her blog...but basically, you just blog authentically from the heart. :)

Today, it's a gorgeous early autumn day. We have the windows open, and I think it would be quite cool without the AC running except that I've had the stove or oven on all. day. long. Baking up a storm for church tomorrow (we have refreshments!) and making a from-scratch most-involved-ever lasagna recipe for dinner tonight.

Today, I'm so looking forward to seeing these girls (the top row) tonight:

We are nine years older than we were in that picture, taken obviously on the 4th of July.  In the picture above, two of us were expecting our first girls...and the other two would soon find out that they were expecting (also two girls).

Tonight, we will be eight adults and thirteen children.  So much has changed...but these girls, who were among my first friends as a newlywed, well, I know that we will all pick right back up where we left off.  Heart-to-heart friends are like that.

It's been eight years since all four of our families have been together, since the summer of 2004, when one-by-one we left Goldsboro, NC for Texas, Alabama, and Nevada. Along the way, we added Utah, England, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, North Carolina, and Germany to the miles that have separated us (and I'm sure I'm leaving somewhere out.)

Now, we all (plus one more not pictured above) live within 30 minutes of each other in Virginia. Even though it takes a lot more effort to get together now (we used to all live on the same two parallel streets), after having some assignments where kindred friends were scarce, it's so encouraging to know that dear, old friends are near. That's amazing to me. And such a blessing. God is so gracious to bring us all back together again.

Today, ever-the-procrastinator, I am finishing some preparations for the 31 Days writing challenge, hosted by the Nester, which begins on Monday and continues through the end of October. I'm excited about my topic (though I've had a tough time choosing between two) and look forward to sharing with you more about it on Monday! Hope you'll join me!

They're still little.

(Please join me in this blogging challenge from my friend Stephanie Howell! )

I love the baby stage.  And the toddler stage.  (I pretty much love every stage of childhood we've encountered thus far, except the potty-training stage, and thanks to hindsight, that is a short-lived season.)  

I have loved these little years.  I miss having a baby in our home...in our family. So it's no surprise that with each passing year, I get a little misty-eyed thinking of how my babies are growing up.  I have a tendency to say "They're not little anymore."

Not too long ago, I remember taking this picture.

Autumn 2009.  Ages 2, 4, and 6.  We are at a local corn maze. 

This was the time we'd grown accustomed to having a new baby enter our lives. Odd year, October, that was our normal.  Three c-sections later, there would be no new babies.  And my heart hurt.  My babies were SO big. Not babies anymore.

My Mom reminded me once (and continues to remind me) during such conversations and reflections that they are still little.  She has much perspective and wisdom to share.

Today, when I look at that picture above, I see how little they were then. Though to me they seemed big, they were, indeed, still little.  I didn't see it then.  It took some distance and perspective.  

I am thankful for that perspective...and hope I hold onto it.

So take this sweet picture:

Autumn 2011. Ages 4, 6, 8.  Hugging each other as Nathanael opens birthday gifts.

Of course, I still say it.  They're growing up. It's true.  Faster than I'd like the time to go.  Not as little as they once were.

But still little.

I know that in two more years, there will be another picture. (Yikes, we'll hit double digits then.)  And I'll see how much they've grown and learned, and this picture above will show how little they were right now.

(And don't get me wrong, I love these ages too...the details of their personalities, finding their sense of humor, their likes and dislikes, watching them soak up knowledge, seeing the people that they are in the process of becoming. It's wonderful and amazing, and I feel privileged and blessed to live these precious years with them.)

So I've learned to take this moment right now~today~ and treasure it.  Not wish the time away or wish for the past.

So today, I've read "just one more chapter" three times.  Let playtime go a little longer before starting school.  Taken twice as long to make homemade applesauce so that six little hands could help.  Stopped working on the computer to just snuggle my littlest, freshly sleepy from an afternoon nap.  They won't always be this little, so today, I'm holding these little years, these little ones close.

Savor and relish this moment...for how grown up and how little they are at the same time.