I have five little kids, and even when I only have one or two, I only get a number of things done, even with a to-do list that gets longer and longer everyday it seems. There are just so many things to do, to make, to be, places to go, people to see, things to try. But I will never have time for all of them, it's Elder Oaks' talk about Good-Better-Best in real time. I am constantly having to choose what is gong to get done, and what is going to have to have till another day, or another life stage. There are pieces of material cut of just waiting to be sewn into a new dress for me, there are pages of notes about the different tasks needing attention for my music callings at church, the books and stacks of books that I want to read so badly, the coloring book I got for mother's day that hasn't seen a single mark, the 60 books on the shelf that we checked out from the library. But to any mother of children, this is just a different list comparable to her own. A lesson in picking those things that matter most.
Well, we did pick one thing that will matter, we finally took the kids camping. Joe and I had camped a number of times together before we had kids, each of us had camped before we met, but have not done more with the kids than set up the tent in the backyard for the night (we didn't end up lasting the night though so it didn't really count). SO after the ward's father-son camping trip to which Joe took Sean, I decided that we needed a family camping trip, and invited a bunch of friends to join us. It was awesome. The site was about 30 minutes from home, but really only about 15 miles. Though I have lived here all my life almost, I had never been there, what a shame. I have already booked the same site for August. About 25 people from our ward came and it was amazing, so much fun. I did learn that June camping means an early wake up time and late bed time. That will be a nice thing about going in August, it will be at least as hot then, and there is about 90 minutes less sun light, mostly less morning sun, Yeah. The kids had a blast, Joe and I worked hard to get the tents set up and down and I spent lots of time cleaning up afterward, but the kids had so much fun with their friends, and want to go back. Yeah.
A few months ago I was looking at our town recreation guide and saw the drama camps and noticed that there was a play that I could put all three girls in. The practices are only for three and four weeks, for Julia/Molly and for Cassidy respectively. We went to a orientation two weeks ago and got to see the people who work the various drama camps. Watching them be flamboyant and lively and silly and just be themselves, was great, and made me remember how much I want for them the be free and not worried about what others think of them. That is so different from how I grew up, I was always aware that others were thinking of me, whether they really were or not. I was too caught up in them and didn't let myself be free enough. I am slowly learning how to not care, but I am hoping that I can stop the girls from starting to care too much. Cassidy has begun but the other two not so much. They all love to say hi to so many of the people we meet on the street, in the store, at the fair, etc. I am excited for the girls to be off for 1.5 and 4 hours a day, learning how to follow another person and be free.
oops i ran out of time... until the next time
