Family Days

Sometimes we plan to do something big for the weekend. Sometimes those plans don't exactly get executed. Last weekend we were sure we needed to go camping since we can feel summer drawing to a close.

Instead, we worked on the house, made a new sage garden with the plants Moma and Papa gave me for my birthday this year, and cleaned the garage. Not exactly a big camping adventure, but we did manage to go out to dinner up in the mountain town of Evergreen, where the temperature was a balmy 78, compared to the 93 we were experiencing down here in Denver. Thanks for dinner Mom, I used birthday money for that too!

After dinner we went for a walk around the lake and played and talked and had some more family time. I love being a Dukesherer!

I took this photo of Ace while she was climbing on a children's statue near the lake. Often she is in the right place at the right time when I snap pictures. Sometimes everything is perfect. The light. The composition. The kid. This was taken with a camera phone. It makes me wish I had a real camera to work with. More on that some other time.

It is sufficient to say that I had a great weekend. The kids helped us with all our projects and the feeling I get when I look at this picture tells me that the love is big, even when the adventures are small.

I promise to listen

Last evening something came up and I heard a few things about our children's behavior that made me squirm a little. No one's kids are perfect right?

So here is what I did. I listened. I listened to my beautiful wife weave me the tale as it was presented to her. I listened and tried only to interject, if I had what I felt was an important question, to clarify the issues.

Then we talked about it. I listened to Margo's words and feelings as she tried to sort everything out. When it was my turn to speak, I was careful to guard my tongue and my tone. That makes everything nicer, you see?

Then we took the time to listen to our children's memories of the events.

From all this listening we have formed a plan to correct the past and improve the future and we have been able to act on our plan as a family. A well informed family.

I love being a Dukesherer!