Out of the mouths of babes...

I love watching my children learn new things. And to hear the things that come out of their mouths can make your heart melt, your eyes water, and your smile grow. Well, both of my children have learned how to express themselves in new ways. Ann Catherine has recently begun praying her own thoughtful prayers to God. In the past, she has always said one or two of the traditional children's prayers that we've taught her. She still says those at meal times. However, I recently found a daily devotional book my family read together at the dining room table every night when I was a child. I thought it was time to start that tradition in my own family and so, lately, we've tried to read through the devotional book every night. However, every time I say we need to pray after reading it, Ann Catherine will announce that she wants to pray. The first time she did that, I was expecting her normal, standard prayer. This time, however, she started to pray her own prayer - and it was beautiful. I don't remember exactly what she said but I do know that her prayer was filled with thanks for her family and asking God to bless the people she knew had needs. How much sweeter can she get than that? And, of course, I teared up. And, two nights ago, I teared up again - this time because of my laughter. Will has been humming his favorite songs for a couple months now. Well, two nights ago, he started singing his new favorite song. I heard him say "Ashes, ashes, [mumble, mumble] fall down!!" So, we started singing it together and then he grabbed my hand. It took me a second to realize what he was doing but I suddenly realized that he wanted to sing it while we went around in a circle holding hands. We did it and he promptly threw himself to the floor at the "fall down!!" part. The next thing I knew, Ann Catherine and Daddy had joined us. I have never seen Will grin so hard as he did when we all four joined hands, sang as we danced around a circle holding hands and sat down on the floor at the end. And, of course, I had teared up once again - this time from the laughter and joy of watching my family play together.