8:55 pm

That's what time we STARTED dinner last night. All 7 of us. Between football practice, science fair projects, nursing a baby and backyard play, it just didn't happen until then. Bill drove in the driveway from football with Brock to find a half naked Barrett and Hannah playing in the backyard at 8:20 pm... much to his surprise! Hunter and I had just finished his science project which we'd been working on since 3 pm. And you know what? I wasn't even upset. I re-heated the dinner I had attempted to have done before football and we all sat down and ate together--- at 5 minutes to 9. And I enjoyed it!

This talk given by Elder Ballard at April's General Conference for our church really spoke to me. It has changed how I view life. It was written just for me! :) Here's my favorite part:

First, 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).

And so we did... at 8:55 pm.