Sibling Love

After Amelie passed out Valentine's cards to us all, Billy told her, 'Oh Amelie, I'm sorry but I didn't get anything for you.' She got very sad (we weren't prepared for that!) and even told him, 'That makes me so sad, Billy.' So, bless his sweet, sweet heart, Billy went downstairs and put together a little card for his baby sister. He even wrapped a quarter in it. She was so happy--not for the money but that he had seen how much it would mean to her to get a simple little card from him that he took the time to put one together for her. There is nothing like the love and devotion shared between brothers and sisters!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Amelie made a point of making a Valentine for each of us this year. She tells me, 'Mom, Valnetine's Day is my favorite because it's for the people I love.' I got all my scrapbook paper, pens, stickers, stamps and cut-outs out and she went to town. I gave her some ideas on her first one, but she did all the rest totally on her own. They each sat in their own gift bag, also decorated, along the windowsill next to her seat at the dinner table for a week. She handed them out on Saturday at dinner and realized she had not done Dad's yet. So, this afternoon, she set out to make the biggest and best for her Dad. She was so excited to give it to him when she was done, but he was napping. Finally, I told her she could go check and see if he was awake, but that if he wasn't, she could just leave it beside him. You should have seen the enthusiasm on her face! She loves to be creative and shre her love with her family!
I gave her a little gift of Tinkerbll lip glosses for Valentine's (the boys all got a little container of M&M's) and though she was a little sad that her gift wasn't chocolate (go figure), she has enjoyed them. However, after a few minutes, she turned to me and said, 'But mom, I didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day.' 'That's okay, Amelie, you don't have to get me anything.' "Don't look, Mom--I am going to make your gift right now.' She turned to her easel and drew two faces--one with glasses and one without. She wrote Mom over the one without and Amelie over her's. "Okay, Mom, now you can look--Happy Valentine's Day!' It was the sweetest gift I could have ever been given by this little angel.

Be Patient

I have never been a very patient person. I want thing and I want them now. Perhaps that was the lesson Heavenly Father was trying to teach me in waiting for my Prince Charming to arrive. I complained to Him a lot and begged and pleaded to hurry up and let me meet him. Obviously, my way was not His way and I had to simply wait it out until the time was right. And when I met Jim, I knew there was something different there--I couldn't wait until he responded to my emails (we met on LDS Singles.com). And once we started dating, I couldn't stop thinking about him, talking about him, . . . Waiting for the next time we would see each other to come was excruciating. (We lived nearly an hour apart.) Despite Heavenly Father's efforts, I still was not learning patience as I should. And then we had to wait for a letter to come from the First Presidency so we could marry in the temple. It came rather quickly, though, so it wasn't as painful a wait as it might have been.
More lessons in patience came not quite a year later when our little Amelie was born. I love being a mom, please don't get me wrong, but I was not prepared for the lessons it would teach me. Patience is still one of the biggest and most difficult qualities I have needed and am still working toward developing. My husband and all six wonderful children get the brunt of my training and I am so sorry for that, but I am learning slowly...oh so slowly to be patient.