Joy in the Journey

Every day I try to take time out to enjoy my day. Not easy as it is full of making meals, cleaning up meals, preparing snacks, cleaning up snacks, taking out toys, cleaning up toys... and wiping bums, washing hands, making sack lunches, driving kids places, doing laundry...

And of coarse managing the teasing and fighting. Every once in a while there will be that time when I look at one of my kids and think, wow that was sweet. Like the time Braden volunteered to get Chloe the milk she was complaining for. I remember thinking as Braden handed her the cup, "That is a sweet boy I have." Then I saw Chloe's face. It seems my sweet Braden made a concoction of barbecue sauce, lemon juice, water, and Hershey's syrup, and gave it to his little sister.

I have no doubt that there is joy in the journey to be found no matter how burried it may seem. The key is making the effort to take the time to find it.

A Scary Weekend

The ghouls and goblins came out in a real way to our home Halloween weekend. Perhaps it was a hex, a jinx, or someone needled some Huffman voodoo dolls. We thankfully came through it relatively unscathed, and I use relatively very loosely.

It will not surprise anyone that the day before Halloween Braden fell while swinging from a tree. He landed on his outstretched hand and broke his left wrist. With a splint placed by urgent care the next day, we were waiting out the weekend to see the orthoped when Hadley tripped on the stairs and broke the tip of her radius and ulna. Hers was a visit to the emergency room. Monday morning when I called to make two appointments with the orthoped, I had the nurses betting on the cause of the injuries. They were disappointed to find that the incidents were totally unrelated.

There are only a few things that can't be spoiled by a broken arm, and Halloween is one of them. But this day proved to be full of "tricks" right from the beginning. Upon returning from my morning run, I found a tow truck in front of our house prepared to repossess Ryan's car. Ryan's attempts to convince the tow truck driver that there was a mistake turned out in vain. The car was taken right out of the garage. After a week the "trick" was finally over, the car was saved from the auction block, and it was returned it to its rightful owner.

I don't know that there is a Halloween trick that can beat the wrongful repossession of your car, yet we set out Halloween night just the same with quite a cast, including a storm trooper, vampire, and two Cinderellas. The weather was a pleasant 80 or so and we were delighted to not be wearing thermal underwear under costumes or coats over the top. With four trick-or-treaters this year, we definitely took in our fill of candy. The babies were spectacular, following the lead of their older siblings, standing at the doors side-by-side dressed as two adorable Cinderellas. What candy-basket-holding adult can resist dropping an extra treat in those bags?

Halloween brings with it wonderful memories and though we faced some frightening events this Halloween, the holiday will continue to hold a special place in our hearts. Ryan and I met on a blind date Halloween night fifteen years ago. Though there was nothing really memorable about what we did that night, it is thanks to that Halloween that we have had many memorable ones since.