How often do you just sit back and really enjoy your family? I mean, just kind of sit back and watch them..really watch them. Observe every interaction, every little detail? If you really watch people, you can see that they belong together, that they are part of one another. My husband and youngest son are on the couch. My youngest son is 18 and he is the epitomy of the baby. He has to have the last word, he aggravates all of his siblings and takes great pleasure in it. He goes nose to nose with his dad every chance he gets, he expects me to do every little thing for him (and I do). Most would consider him to be an obnoxious, spoiled young man, I consider him the light of my life. I smile just watching him, because I know that someday he will be a wonderful man, he just needs to work out the kinks.
My daughter is on the loveseat, she is holding her baby. Her husband is sitting in the floor with his head rested against her legs. None of her three brothers approve of her husband, yet they all treat him with decency (even my obnoxious Josh) because they love her so much. These boys would do anything for their sister, the bond between the four of them is unbelievable.
My second youngest son, Jeremiah is sititng on the steps with his wife. I did their laundry for them today and they are folding it and getting it ready to take home (yes, I said I did their laundry....I do too much for these kids). Every time they are not looking, their little girl pulls the clothes back out of the basket and then she looks up at me and grins. I love that ornery little girl so much! She is a handful, that is for sure, but she is such a beautiful little handful. Jeremiah has reached over and drank Johanna's entire glass of tea twice now without her knowledge. I am wondering how many times she will get up and fill it before she realizes what he is doing.
My oldest son Johnathon and his wife and little girl left a little while ago. They were in a hurry and it is just so funny how kids will slow you down when you are in a rush. Little Miss Melanie had to kiss everybody goodbye. She made her rounds, very slowly, everyone got a big hug and such a serious "I love you, bye bye" and a kiss..it was as though she was leaving for weeks...she will be back at six in the morning! Not only did she have to kiss all the real people, then she had to say good bye to the birds and the fish. Her daddy tried to rush her, he is playing world of Warcraft with his buddues tonight, and she started her bye-byes all over again....I love that baby so much. Each time she came and kissed me, she just looked at her daddy and grinned.
My youngest grandaughter that is sitting on my daughter's lap is talking up a storm. Her newest word this week is "TOUCHDOWN", she watched her Uncle Josh yell at the Packers so much the other night that she would jump up and throw her hands in the air and scream "TOUCHDOWN" every time he yelled. She will be a year old next week and has already figured out how to steal my spoiled rotten, obnoxious son's heart. She lives here, along with her mommy and daddy, and every morning her Uncle Josh gets out of bed, comes out here in the kitchen and eats breakfast with her, then they look out the window and count the deer. It's their thing, it's their morning routine. When it's warm enough, they go out on the deck and watch the deer from there. If her Uncle Josh ever leaves here, she is going to miss him sorely.
So anyway, I am sitting here just watching my family and enjoying every boring minute of it. They are great. They belong to each other, I cannot ever imagine them being apart for very long.

My husband had a cousin dear to him, he was only 41, they were very close. His daughter found him dead in his home two weeks ago. He had this virus crap that is going around and somehow it managed to kill him. He was laying on his living room floor. He had been there three days. His name was Dave, he had four daughters and one grandaughter. Nobody in his family had talked to him or wondered what he was doing for three days. If my kids could not find me for three days they would be calling the National Guard! His father is dead and his own mother did not even show up at his viewing or his funeral. My husband has over 90 first cousins in this tri-county area. A handful of family showed up at this funeral, it was so depressing. This was a good guy, nobody hated him, he had no troubles with family members that I know of. What happened last Saturday that nobody could take two hours to remember him?

I thank God that my family is so close and that I have the time to sit back and watch them.
Please, Love Your Family, Enjoy Your Family!

What a wonderful vision to share. I thought I was the only who sat back and just took it all in. I dont have the big brood you do, we are only 4 now. My oldest DD and her babies had the nerve to leave my nest!! How I love and miss them. Even two little towns away is too far.
I sat back and watched DS and DH on the couch together watching a movie last night. I marveled a the similarities of their mannerisms. I watched DH say good night to his boy tonight. Hugs and kisses, and I love you's. I fast forwarded in my mind, and could see my boy, now 9, at 17 or 18. And him hugging his dad, without reservation and telling him he loves him, the way that same dad does to his own father every time we leave him. They are 'my boys'.
Probably the same way that my youngest DD and I are DH's 'girls'. Stuck to me like glue that little girl is. Told she looks like me, she wants to do everything I do. Are their any sweeter word during our evening cup of tea than, "I love you Mommy, just because"? Daddy's Pretty Princess indeed. Has him wrapped right around her little finger and she has since the moment he laid eyes on her.
My favorite moment has to be when DS and DD are doing something, and it catches the eyes of both DH and I. We watch them and then look at each other. No words are spoken, there doesnt need to be. He simply comes to me and puts his arms around me and we together watch the miracle we created together.
Dorothy was right. There is no place more precious than home.

Kelly..i think your youngest sons twin lives with me although in the body of a 17 year old girl.. but i wouldnt take anything in the world for her..or any of my other sisters..i have 3..it is just so wierd to think that this little girl that i have watched grow up is going to start college in the fall..time just slips away so very fast..

I think everyone needs to by far pay attention to these things. We all get so caught up in things that we miss out on family and love.

Wow, you just painted a beautiful picture. I have 3 boys 10,8 and 4 (almost 5). The youngest is like yours definately the baby! But he's GREAT! The oldest is so responsible and considerate, the 2nd one is SOOO wild and driven! I love them and their Daddy more than words could describe. I love sitting, just like you did and taking it all in. Sometimes it's so crazy around here, but it's not really hard to remember, even then that no matter how much they are driving me crazy how blessed I am. I had better appreciate it because it is flying by. Makes me choke up thinking about it. Sometimes I get tired of people pointing the bad things out in kids and teenagers. What they are................are kids! They will grow out of it. I know that my 3 sons will grow up to be fine men just like their Dad.

It's funny that this post was bumped tonight. I was thinking about the night I wrote it a little while ago. The whole family was together again tonight, it was the third time this week. My oldest son and I were discussing that a lot of his buddies his age don't go see their parents, don't live close to their parents or just plain don't want anything to do with their parents. I cannot fathom the idea of my children not wanting to be close, it would be the biggest disappointment of my life. Anyway, we were talking about how often our group gets together and how awesome it is and I remembered this thread. Just this week we had two birthdays and a birth and every time the whole family got together.
My kids have buddies that come here often, sometimes I think half of them live here. Some come from good homes, some come from horrible homes, but they are all family here. When my kids were in their younger teens, a lot of their friends lived here on and off for various reasons. I was teased by my friends that a owned and operated a halfway house....I would not have had it any other way. My children learned acceptance, tolerance, comradery and love, so did their friends. I am proud of my children, I am proud of how they are doing with their young families. I tell people a lot, I may not have been successful at a lot of things in my life, but I was blessed with wonderful kids, and to me, that is the greatest success one can achieve

Kelly, you are so blessed to have your "babies" all so close - both in spirit and geography! Thank you so much for letting us "peek" into your home. What a sweet, sweet post!

My oldest son lives all the way across the country - I miss him so much my heart aches. I haven't seen him in a year this month- - though we talk on the phone every 2 or 3 days. My stepson is in the Navy on a ship in the middle of the ocean, my stepdaughter lives 3 hours away. We have our my teens here at home still, but we get so busy that it's easy to miss those little moments.

Last night my 17yo came in from work and I went into his room and we just chatted about a new CD he had gotten, his upcoming school trip, a couple of movies and his night at work. It's so rare that I even get those little moments with him anymore, I cherished it and thanked God for it when I went to bed.

I often think I'm "losing" my kids because they are growing up and getting busy with their own lives.... Thank you for reminding me that even when they are grown, we can still grab those moments and hold onto them.