Background Music

We were all playing in the front yard this afternoon when our four-year-old, David, asked us to make noise for him while he hit the T-ball. We wondered what he meant, and it turns out he wanted us to provide background, or theme music for him. Our sweet children have always been musical, and apparently our wishes have come true and we now live in a musical!

David's request reminded me of the Calvin and Hobbes strip, below:

While I don't really want my boy to turn out like Calvin in some ways, they do share similarities: David inherited my hard-to-handle spiky hair, he has a stuffed animal he thinks is real (read an account here), and, like in this strip, he thinks life is more fun with music and laughter.

This experience, and many others, reminds me of the scripture which fairly sums up life in our home: "If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving" (D&C 136:28).

Merry? Check.

Singing? Check.
Music? Check.
Dancing? Check.

Normal fun day at home: Priceless.

Christmas eCard

We created a Christmas eCard for you to enjoy. Click here to enjoy a short story of our family and to see a cute collage of pictures.

Backlighting

The other day we were enjoying family together-time by the Christmas tree singing songs as Maryann played the piano. We were having a great time when I noticed Rebecca quietly slip out. Curious, I quietly followed a minute later and caught her in the act of extreme cuteness. She was lying on her back beneath our smaller Christmas tree looking up at the lights with a smile on her face, with her little arms gently reaching up to the lights. She was backlighting. (I hope it's okay to make up new definitions of words.) I imagine she felt the spirit of Christmas and wanted to have a quiet moment to herself.


I recall backlighting as a child. There was a distinct wonder that the bottom-up view of a Christmas tree invoked. The colorful lights making the rest of the room seem dark created a light-canopy of Christmas magic.

After she was done with her moment, I lay on my back and tried to capture the same feelings that she may have felt. It was fun (and a bit silly), but I think her experience was more magical than mine, judging by the little smile that spread across her whole face as she was backlighting.

On the Rebecca - Christmas tree theme, here's another observation. Last night, after reading scriptures as a family, we were enjoying a short Christmas story when I noticed that Rebecca wasn't responding to my questions any more. She had slipped off to sleep in the middle of a sweet story, holding her "dolly" tenderly.


While probably not visions of sugarplums, I wonder what her dreams were of last night.

Catching Up — Question Marking

The end of the semester and preparations for my PhD qualifying exam took the wind out of me, and pushed me to neglect blogging. I like to blog for a bit of clarifying therapy; needless to say, I'm a bit of a mess right now from not writing in a while (at least my daily journal has provided some solace). Nevertheless, at the start of a nice vacation, I hope to accomplish many things I've either neglected or put off—I've quite the "to do" list.

I'll start with a question on a question mark. My sweet boy, Benjamin, steals my heart with every smile. His smiles are so genuine, pure, and enormous that they make me wonder what makes me that happy—happy enough to have my body twist into the shape of a question mark.


The next time I feel like question marking, like Benjamin does, I'll take note. I'm pretty sure that there will be lots of question marking during this Christmas vacation as I spend time with my little family. Besides, what is Christmas without question marking?