together at home.

can i tell you how much i love this picture?
it's a real-live shot from my living room... with all my kiddos, reading together.
i LOVE having all my kids together, doing good things.

at the beginning of the summer i was lamenting to a friend one morning.
we were packing to move and not doing many fun things.
i said something like, "sometimes, it is just so hard to have all of them home all the time."
my friend, Michelle Smith, is a wise mother of seven or eight kids who are a bit older than mine.
Her oldest daughter is at college, her oldest son is on a mission, and her teenagers are busy.
She said, "Just enjoy this time, when they are all young and all home with you.  I love that feeling of having all my kids under one roof.  Soon, they will grow, start driving, and begin to spread out.  You will miss these days."

i read a short story in the magazine, Real Simple.  It was about a mother whose daughter got a license and all of a sudden the mother realized how much she loved driving the carpool.  She missed picking her up from school, hearing all the kids talk in the backseat, having that short drive to find out about her day.  Since i read that story i have tried to enjoy the driving times with my kids.

As i was hiking this weekend with another wise mother of seven boys, Ines Erickson, she told me a story about her ancestor.  He was crossing the plains as a Mormon pioneer and his toddler daughter died.  The next day he wrote in his journal that as they were walking, many little children prattled along beside him.  He commented at how he loved the sound of sweet children under his feet.  (I'm afraid I'm butchering that quote.)

I have thought of Michelle's quote many times this summer.
I have tried to enjoy a house full of kids.
Enjoy this time and hold it close to my heart.
Today, I have all seven pieces of my heart together.
Sometimes they bicker. 
Sometimes they whine when i ask them to help out. 
Sometimes they complain that they're bored.
But, we're together.
Soon school will start.
Soon, life will take over and my children will grow and spread themselves around the world.
Today-- we are home and I'm going to cherish this day.
Someday, I'm going to miss this.