I loved this weekend...

Jesus loved the children and took them in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them (see Mark 10:16).

R's school has a "Self-Manager" program. They learn what it means to be caring and responsible, a manager of themselves. Then they have to get signatures from certain people at school on a special slip. No one pushes them along, if they lose the paper, they have to get a new one and start over. R finally got his done. I told him when he got it done I'd take him to 'Horton Hears A Who'. So Friday night R, L, and I went out to dinner, shopping at Target, and then the theater. So fun!!
The whole evening out we chatted, talked, and just enjoyed each others company. And then on the drive home R and I got into a discussion about R's future. And then when we got home we had another talk about something that he was struggling with (not too big of a thing, but to a boy it was) and I told him that he can always come to me no matter what, over anything and everything. He then says to me, "Thanks for the talk Mom, that was nice."

I taught today's YW lesson, the topic was "Encouraging Family Unity". In preparing for this lesson I came across this talk, "Marriage and Family: Our Sacred Responsibility" by Elder W. Douglas Shumway.
This quote from this talk really hit home:

Parents have been given the sacred duty to “bring … up [children] in the nurture … of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). “The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Liahona, Oct. 1998, 24; Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102). Our responsibility, then, not only is for the well-being of our spouse but extends to the watchful care of our children, for “children are an heritage of the Lord” (Ps. 127:3). We can make the choice to nurture our children accordingly and “teach [them] to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord” (D&C 68:28). As parents, we must regard our children as gifts from God and be committed to making our homes a place to love, train, and nurture our sons and daughters.President Thomas S. Monson reminds us: “The mantle of leadership is not the cloak of comfort, but the role of responsibility. … ‘Youth needs fewer critics and more models [to follow].’ One hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of a car we drove, what kind of a house we lived in, how much we had in the bank account, nor what our clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because we were important in the life of a boy or a girl” (Pathways to Perfection [1973], 131).
Although life sometimes makes us weary, impatient, or too busy for our children, we must never forget the infinite worth of what we have in our homes—our sons and our daughters. The task at hand, a business engagement, or a new automobile are all of benefit but pale in value when compared to the worth of a young soul.

I am so thankful that Heavenly Father gave me this opportunity with R. He is growing fast and I love these moments we have together. One thing I pray for most often is that I can be able to communicate with my boys, teach them the things they need to learn, and that I can recognize teaching/learning opportunities. These boys are truly a great blessing.