MotherHood

Last weekend I made a cake for a very good friend of Ron and I's. It was a beautiful autumn themed wedding in a backyard in Orem. It was a lovely day. and although I had to rush through some of the week to get it done, it was a beautiful cake. Four small bottom layers, a larger second layer, glass pillars and a small top layer. All were done in a dusty pink, with white crown borders, and brown ribbon accents.
The flowers were red zinnias, gerbera daisies, alstromeria, white mini zinnias, and some awesome brown, red, and green foilage I purloined from someone's overgrown shrub. (Thanks, it was just what I needed!)
It was all balanced on a plexiglass square, on four glass vases, filled with red petals. It did turn out quite well, and I was pleased. I knew I wanted to take pictures, so I took the girls with me, set up, and the boys came later to wish them well. (Congratulations Noelani!)

While I was there, in a beautiful setting, with my four kids, all reasonably mess free, camara dangling from my shoulder I thought, "hey, why don't I take some pictures of the kids?" As I look at these pictures now, I wonder why I wait for some special event to take pictures. Aren't the every day events just as special? (If a little more messy) My kids are growing up faster than I would like, and I would like to freeze them all, just an hour, and sit down. Forget cakes, and lessons, and homework, and just laugh, and treasure the little moments we have together.
"Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “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”
So this is my goal. Play with the toys, don't just pick them up. Laugh with my kids everyday. Let them help, even if it makes a mess. Let them be themselves. Make time just for time. And hope they don't grow up too fast. I love you guys!