October 05, 2008

everything looks nicer in black and white...

OK-- most of you know how religious our family is. Twice a year our church has a General Conference. It is on TV (if you have more than 5 channels with bunny ears) or on the Internet (this is how we watch it) or you can go to the church and see it on the big screen. They have Saturday morning talks, Saturday afternoon talks, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. Each session lasts 2 hours- and is talks interspersed with songs. Honestly, this is my favorite time of the year because we get to stay at home and just learn and be inspired. Every year I have these grand visions of all the kids sitting down, feeling pricked in their hearts and thanking me for teaching them about Jesus Christ and promising me that years from now when they are on their own they will look back at these times we spent together with fondness. These are the snack baggies and "General Conference Packets" that I had ready for my kids. Doesn't "The Professor" look cute in this picture?! See how sweet my girls are coloring while they soak in the message of conference... you can't hear their fights over whether or not to color the next letter teal or blue-green. Even my sweet 2 year old is sitting nicely on the bed watching her brother "The Conference Beast" who appears to be coloring sweetly. Can we forget the angelic "Conference Police Officer"? In this picture he appears to be taking copious notes while his life is changed by the inspirational words in the background. He isn't telling us, as his parents, how unfair we are that we allow certain children, like the Conference Beast, to lay on the bed while other, more obedient children, are sitting up as they were told. And finally, look at that sweet Mother Hen holding her sleeping baby. Both look as if they are able to hear the words of conference and are enjoying the time they are spending together with their family. In fact, one would wonder if this sweet Mother Hen ever wonders how a nice girl like her ended up with six- runny- nosed- sassy kids... well, I guess 5 since the baby hasn't been ruined yet. Yeah, everything looks sweeter in black and white. It almost makes one forget the hellish day, the apologies from the Professor, "Sorry Drew, I shouldn't have told you to shut-up". (I shouldn't have put this quote in, but it was the highlight of my day- since I'm usually the one that looses my temper with the youngun's.) The encouragement from Mother Hen to leave her presence and go play Game Boy (which is usually banned on Sunday). The promises that next year, Mother Hen and The Professor are going to get a hotel room for the weekend and hire a sitter to inspire the young. Hopefully (Gaby), no one will actually read my post. If you just look at the pictures, we had a great Sunday. And, really, the kids did sit well for the morning part of conference... who can expect them to sit, feasting on the words of Christ, all day long. It's those stupid pictures that I have in my head of everyone else's completely well-behaved families... I bet they have the behind the scenes moments too. One part of conference that I did hear... and went back later to get the exact quote... was this quote.
Our modern-day prophet, President Thomas S. Monson said,
"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware. The tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered around the house, the piles and piles of laundry lying around to be tackled, will disappear all too soon. And, you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly."
I know, I know... that's the problem. Even when I have days that are stinky, it is very hard for me to stay cranky when I sit down to write about it. Why? Everything looks sweeter in black and white. My life... I'm just livin' the dream. My dream. This is what I choose, and it's the life I love (most of the time). And, somedays are like that, even in Australia. [Don't you know the book- The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day... this is where the Australia reference came from- the Professor didn't get it and needed explicit explanation...]

2 comments:

Diana said...

Everything does look nicer in black and white! What a great day and a great conference. I think I would like to have four of those a year instead of two! Looks like you are just loving your sweet baby. I wish I could hold her.

Rebekah said...

You really need to publish these things. Your writing is wonderful, as is your Mother-henning!!
Conference was great.

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