Talent Telling

The boys and I have spent our mornings, this past year, studying the New Testament.  Each week we focus on one story or parable.  There is one morning that has really stuck with me.  It was a crisp fall morning and we were sitting around the table after breakfast (more than likely one with a little too much syrup) talking about the parable of the talents.  Jacob began to share with us things he had learned about that parable in his primary class, just a few weeks before.  

He explained to James and me that while the talents in the story were a kind of money, they were like the gifts and talents that Heavenly Father has blessed each one of his children with here on this earth.  He continued by telling us that he had learned how important it was for each of us to use our talents and that the consequence of not using them could be loosing them completely.

As he spoke, an LDS General Conference talk, I read several months before, came to my mind.  The speaker suggested that one way we could identify our talents was to talk to our parents about the strengths they see in us.  I felt impressed that this would be a perfect opportunity to help my boys start to see some of the unique gifts they have been blessed with.  


Since that lesson, I have been mentally writing this blog.  So once again, my beautiful babies, I write to you so that you will always know how you look from my eyes.

Jacob: You are a natural leader.  On that morning, the talent I focused was the way you are able to share your knowledge and enthusiasm with others, often people you are meeting for the first time.  As I shared this with you, your eyes lit up and you said, "This will help me be a great missionary!"  I think you are exactly right!  You possess confidence and poise far beyond your young years.  I am always amazed at how effortless it is for you to stand in front of a crowd to play your violin or bare a heartfelt testimony.  You are a special boy, sent here with a special mission.  I will never forget the clear answer to my prayers, earlier this year, when the Spirit confirmed what I have always known.  "I have made him this way for a purpose!"  

James:  You are still the color yellow.  That warm light you radiate has only increased as you have grown.  Like your older brother, you have been blessed with an incredible mind.  You have an ability to learn and comprehend things both academically and spiritually that not only amazes me, but often catches me off guard.  I love when I think you don't understand something (or are not paying attention) and then out of nowhere you will spout off the answer in that nonchalant way of yours.  However, it is your compassion and kind hearted nature that I mentioned during our lesson that morning.  At three years old you are already considerate of others feelings, often putting their needs and wants before your own.  I will never forget a walk we took this summer where you choose to forfeit your race home with Jake and instead turned your bike around so I wouldn't have to walk alone.  You share this gift each day and by doing so bless our home with peace and love.  

Scarlett:  You are our princess!  There is so much personality bubbling out of your tiny little body.  You are the perfect combination of so many contradictions.  You are a fearless mama's girl who is as sweet as she is stubborn.  You truly have a smile that "can light up any room" and a giggle that makes us all laugh, but you also have no trouble demanding what you want or expressing your frustration when you don't get it.  When you hear music you can't help but dance and when someone sings you can't help join in (perfectly on pitch).  In so many ways I see myself, but in so many others you are all your own.  I adore you, and know that you will bless others with your talents and gifts as you grow the same way you have already blessed us. 

What I thought I wanted

I took these pictures back in October with the optimistic notion that I would “get ahead of things.”  As any mother knows, this is not only impossible, but it is down right laughable.  

At the time I remember being so frustrated.  I just couldn’t get the pictures on my camera to match the ones I had imagined in my head.  Grumpy and defeated, I packed up my beautiful but hungry and very done with picture taking children and headed to the taco truck for dinner.  “What a waste of time,” I thought.

As I slowly made my way through editing (slowly=the next two months), however, I saw something I had completely overlooked at the time.  These pictures (while obviously posed and staged) perfectly represent this moment in my children’s childhood and the sweet (and sometimes sour) relationships they share.

Jake reading stories to Scarlett and James, James and Jacob constantly side by side, Scarlett looking up to them with so much love and wonder, and them loving her right back...sometimes with slightly more enthusiasm than she would like.  

This really is them.  This really is my life.  Isn’t it beautiful?!  

Words will never describe how blessed I feel.  

I tried so hard to stage these pictures perfectly, forgetting that the perfection was already there.  Looking at these beautiful faces on this beautiful evening, I can’t even remember what it was I thought I wanted.  

I think that is a lesson I am constantly learning.  I decide how I want things to be and then I feel let down and disappointed when reality doesn’t comply.  And then I realize, just like i did with the pictures, that while things may be different that what I thought I wanted, there is always a reason.  I am so grateful we have a Father in Heaven who knows us and loves us.  He doesn’t always give us what we want when we think we want it, but he will always bless us with what we need when we turn our lives over and trust in Him.

Jake, James, and Scarlett, I know that one of the greatest callings I have or ever will receive in this life is to be your mom.  Getting to stay home with you each day and helping you learn and grow is privilege and challenge that gives my life meaning and purpose.  There is no where else I would want to be than with you three and your amazing Daddy.  I know you hear it every day, but I love you...more than you can comprehend.  Thank you for helping me live a life of such beauty that I could never fully capture in a picture.

Happy Birthday, Jamie Do!

The night before my baby turned four, I couldn't resist picking up my camera.  James' last night as a three year old, and with no "freeze time" button to be found, my camera was like a dear friend reassuring me, "It is okay, I will help you remember this.  I will capture this moment so when you whenever you look at it, no matter how much has changed or how big he gets, your mind will remember and your heart will be able to recall it all."

I love this boy!  I love the way his eyes smile!  I love the way that his smile can brighten any moment and his tight hugs can squeeze away a bad mood.  He presence exudes warmth, and I already see people (often adults) wanting to just sit and talk with him...and they are always smiling.  There is just something about him...

Our Jamie Do is naturally silly and goofy, but over this past year I have also seen his intellect blossom.  He is incredibly smart, but rarely wants to show off.  However, engage him in conversation and you will find a deep and practical thinker.  He is deeply empathetic and is a great problem solver both academically and socially.  There are countless times during "school" where I think he isn't understanding something because he isn't responding, and then just when I think "oh, maybe he isn't quite ready for this" he picks up his pencil and completes all the problems on the page.  I have also seen him teach what he knows/understands to his peers (sometimes even his big brother).  He has a way of being clear and concise, but never condescending or rude.  One of my favorite James moments, one that perfectly illiterates who is his, came one afternoon while he took something unsafe away from Scarlett,  "No, no, no, Scarlett, you can't have that," he explained in his sweetest high pitched love voice, but just to make sure she didn't feel bad he ended with, "but you still are pretty!"  That's my boy!
He is my sunshine.  And while watching him grow will always be bitter sweet, I love being a part of it.

James, I don't just love you, I like you, and if you weren't mine I would sure want to be your friend!

And I'm not the only one.  Your 4 year old party was full of some of the people who couldn't resist celebrating your special day with you.  These people didn't just spend Saturday afternoon with you at the bowling alley, they even came back to our house that night to watch you blow out you candles and make a wish.

Happy Birthday Jamie Do!  We love you!!

Ready??? Play

Well, James was certainly ready for his first violin concert.  He had practiced that "first part of Twinkle with Mississippi Hot Dog" to perfection!  And the concert itself was high on the list of favorite conversation topics for weeks leading up the big day.  He was excited and I was excited for him!

However, the concert was talking place in Nashville, not the same campus theater he has watched Jake perform in almost a half of dozen times.  We were also combining with our teacher's Nashville students, so I knew the room would be filled with many unfamiliar faces.  And instead of sitting on the stage together, the students remained sitting with their families until it was their time to preform.  This could make for a long walk for a little guy.  I had a sneaking suspicion that the combination would prove to be a little too much for my not even four year old boy.  And it was...

We were one of the the first families to arrive, and as the the other families slowly trickled in I saw the wind start to leave James' once very full sails.  The eagerness began to fade and I could see him begin to shut down.  I've known James long enough that it is pretty much impossible to reverse this process.  Once he has decided, he digs his heal in deep and unless you want him to melt completely, that is the end.  Miss Robin, of course, tried her magic, but even that reignite his enthusiasm or unglue his bottom from the church pew.

Even though he was not quite ready to play in front of this audience, I love how much James enjoys playing at home and in his lessons with Miss Robin.  He has learned so much this semester and I love that at three years old, he is already filling our home with music.

Our cheering section was not out of luck because another Orr boy was ready to play.  I honestly don't think that Jacob even knows what getting nervous feels like, at least not to when it comes to performing.  If anything, he get more comfortable, more confident (if that is even possible for Jake) in front of a crowd.  

He played Song of the Wind beautifully.  It was the best I have ever heard him play it...and I've heard it A LOT!  He seemed much more comfortable playing with the piano accompaniment this time around, and his tempo was just right.  We had a little talk about how he was only playing one piece so he shouldn't play too quickly or his turn would be over very fast.  While he did not milk it, I could tell he wasn't in the rush to relinquish the stage.  Don't be full by his serious face, he is loving every minute!

Jake is really beginning to pick up momentum with his violin.  He is picking up each piece with much more ease despite their increasing level of difficulty.  And while the variety is fun, I don't mind hearing each piece over and over again because he is becoming a musician.  I love that he is learning to play the violin, but even more, I love that he is learning to play...to feel the music.

I also need to say thank you to our local cheering section.  These boys are so lucky to have an aunt, two uncles, a great grandmother, and some amazing grown up friends who are willing to take time out of their busy lives to come support and love them.

Part of the cheering section.
Not pictured: Uncle Ethan,  Tio Lui, Miss Julia (Tio Lui's girlfriend), and of course Mommy, Daddy, and Scarlittle)

Mommy Marathon

October 1st starts the beginning of, what I feel is like, the Holiday Mommy marathon.  I plan my route...go straight to the Halloween decorating, make a left at the Halloween sugar cookies,

keep going until you get to the pumpkin patch (twice) and make sure not to forget your camera,

Round 1 was at Christian Way Farms 

Jake thought his friends looked cool with their faces and hair painted. 

This was the time that he has ever been interested in having it done too.  

Round two!  Hanging out at the Pig Races!

Scarlett was less than interested in our family selfie

Success!

Jake even slept through the transfer into the house...that NEVER happens anymore!

then make a right at pumpkin decorating.

...oh crap! it is Halloween Eve and you still don't have costumes finalized and you need to finish planning the Halloween Homeschool party!