I Lava You

 

On Saturday afternoon, six out of the seven of our  tribe caught the 4:40 matinee of Pixar's latest creation, Inside Out. To my surprise, I enjoyed it--specifically, the message. I wasn't a fan of the fuzzy animation and I did fall asleep for a couple of minutes- (sleep is a given whenever I sit down). And still, I adored the message of family and sadness being a necessary element of family and life.











I don't know if it was the movie's message of family or the fact that I'm getting a bit sappy in my advancing years- but I've been thinking of some of the beautiful simple acts my children have preformed regardless of knowing sadness or disappointment in their lives.

 





 

Natalie and Scott- traditional birthday breakfast outing

Yesterday, one of my children was asked to fill up water balloons for a church picnic. The water balloons did not fit our water spigots- so, Natalie pumped the tiny water balloons up with a bicycle pump then carefully filled each balloon with water from a water bottle; needless to say, a tedious and lengthy process. To her chagrin, toddler picnickers arrived and SPLAT! She watched in dismay as an hour of her work was gone in 30 seconds!  In spite of the outcome, I was proud of her ingenuity, responsibility and sense of following through with an assignment.

Anna's favorite company in the universe

All of my children and I'm positive your children as well have had moments that reward our parenting experience. Perhaps when they show compassion for a friend or concern for someone hard to love. My heart soars when I witness the youngest tribe member bring home a half melted snow cone for an older sister or when two of my musically inclined children play Pachelbel's Cannon in "garage band style" on a Saturday night or when my high school senior decides to approach a teacher on her own to opt-out of an inappropriate assignment or when my 15 year old son still kisses his mother and sisters in public or when my oldest- with an infinity for texting as her preferred form of communication decides on her own to serve a mission for our church which will require A LOT of talking face to face with real live people!

What do you do in your hotel room on a Sunday? Ping Pong!

 And then there is the chief of this tribe- my husband. He knows disappointment and heartache, but continues to work with integrity and determination. He has a PhD in computer science. He has a rewarding job at a government lab. And yet, we are still driving our 1995 paint peeling, upholstery ripping, three time smog test failing Prizm and our van of 180,000 plus miles! We don't have enough cash for a down payment for a NorCal home, however, we have no debt. Scott is a rock star- minus the tight pants! The following is a link to an article my smartypants husband published in the esteemed IEEE magazine:



http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/co/2015/08/mco2015080018-abs.html

Jo Ann Lloyd family reunion June 2015, Boise, ID

Seriously, God knew what He was doing when he planned for all of us to be a part of a family. I Lava my family.