We are so glad to have Riley here for school, and we regularly pick him up for church services. It's a great opportunity to reconnect with him every week. Tonight, as we pulled in front of his dorm to drop him off, I remarked that there was one really tall, bushy palm tree and lots of little palm trees. Funny how they were all planted in a row, probably at the same time, and yet one was towering over the others. So, Anna quickly retorts...."Aww, it's Goliath and lots of little Davids!"
One of the blessings of being a parent is you get to hear things like this that make you just stop and smile. I've been writing these phrases on my gigantic calendar we have posted on the fridge ever since the kids learned to speak. Aden's first sentence..."I go night-night now" when he wanted to be put in his crib (he loved his crib!) or Drew's "I think baby sister really wants to be named Cassie....Cassie Sassy Bassett.....that's a good name." (Sassy was Mom's horse and Cassie was a cartoon character from the show Dragon Tales.) We go through those calendars occasionally and love reading all those cute comments from years past.
The kids are growing up so fast. I see my friends at church with babies or toddlers and realize that was me not so long ago. I miss it. I don't want to ever forget the joy and innocence of little ones, the way they see life, and how they communicate. Yet, the new stage we're entering of having older children is a very different, very exciting one. I will keep recording their thoughts. I think someday they'll enjoy this window into their past that I've kept for them.
