Fleeting moments

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

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” (Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)." -Elder M. Russell Ballard.

Boy am I guilty of that! I am not a perfect mother, far from it in fact. But, it's the sweet, tender moments with my boys that bring me such joy. For the past several weeks, I have been on a quest for a camera I can be happy with. I have bought 3 different cameras and, so far, returned 2. I want to capture crisp, clear memories so that I don't forget the details of Sam and Nathanael's childhood. Details like this one: I love holding his little hand, and pretty soon, way too soon, he's not going to want to hold my hand anymore....

Today I got to go with Sam on his very first field trip. We went to the pumpkin patch. Again, it was a beautiful fall day. He had such a great time with all his little buddies, and it was fun to watch him interact with friends that he has made in the last 6 or so weeks. The kids learned about growing pumpkins and how the bees collect the pollen. Then they got to go into the field and pick their own pumpkin.
I think Sam picked a beauty. Maybe he had a little help....


Next we got to see some animals in a small petting zoo area. It was a little bit hard to get to see/touch/feed the animals with so many children crowded around such a small spot, but the animals were cute and Sam actually petted the calf, which surprised me.


And the final hurrah was a snack and quick jaunt through the mini corn maize. I thought the maize was quite lame; we just walked in a straight line right through the thing. Not terribly exciting. But, whatever. When I asked Sam what his favorite part of the field trip was, he said the wagon ride and the maize.
It was a fun morning spent with my boy. And we decided to top it off with an afternoon trip to the park with our friends. Nathanael located several bottle caps, straws, paper cups, and one lollipop stick which found it's way into his mouth before I could reach him. Ay yi yi.