A Very Happy Easter

This could come out sounding like Thanksgiving, Christmas & Easter all rolled into one.

I'm very thankful - life has been incredibly good to me. I'm most thankful for my family. I had 2 wonderful parents and some amazing people up and down and side-to-side on the family tree. But I'm always elated when our 4 kids are all together with us, which is unfortunately less frequent as they start slipping out of the nest.

But Saturday evening we were all home and they pulled out old VCR tapes of home videos from 14 years ago. To see them laugh at themselves as children and to be taken back to those precious years was exhiliarating. They couldn't believe how much the 3 of them chattered and asked us, while rolling on the floor with laughter, why we didn't just tell them to shut up back then. "How could you stand all that blabbing?" I don't think I gave them a good answer because I was laughing as much as they were.

Those early years go much too fast and we don't spend enough time with our kids. I never had hobbies or went out drinking or to the movies much. We spent a lot of time with them and I think that's the best investment you can make in this life. All 3 of our girls have good vocabulary and communication skills. You have to talk to your kids from an early age - not baby talk, talk to them like you would to yourself or other adults. Encourage them to tell you what they're thinking or their interpretation of events around them.

Yes, we have 4 kids and our son enjoyed the movies of his personal prehistory even if he wasn't one of the stars. His older sisters were very entertaining back then and seeing the changes to our house in 14 years was fascinating also.

Most of us watched most of "August Rush" together this afternoon and evening. A little sappy and predictable but it involved some of my favorite themes - children, family and coincidences. We joke about the ridiculous coincidences in movies but if we all paid more attention to the amazing twists of fate in our own lives, we'd realize that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and "miracles" do happen.

Yes, it was a very happy Easter. I hope yours was also.