Living Full on Life

Boys and Bikes

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Sam rode his bike to school this morning, a glorious, sunny spring morning and home this afternoon, a glorious, drizzly spring afternoon. It is a ten mile round trip. I was so proud of him. I was proud of me too for being ok with it! He braved the 4 lane/ 40 mph North County Parkway (thankfully with a decent bike lane) and was totally exhilarated by the challenge.
As if that wasn’t bike excitement enough…WILLIAM LEARNED TO RIDE A BIKE! He has been very hesitant to learn until today. Something just clicked and he was ready! He learned with only a little advice from me in under one hour! He rode around our yard for a little bit then asked if we could go to the church parking lot which we did (who needs to get the garden in anyway???). After a half hour he rode his bike home on the sidewalk and now William can ride like a champ! He was so proud. I love his sheepish, pleased smile. I love that when Grant and the kids got home everyone went outside to see him ride and then boisterously cheered his success. He kept saying, “I can’t believe how fun this is!” Tonight I am thankful for healthy boys, bikes they can ride (even if William’s is a pink and purple hand-me-down), Spring weather, a safe hometown, and room for them to recreate.

My Wonderful Time Living at Costco

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I spent last weekend with Alexandra in Chicago. It was four days of great conversation, sister bonding, yummy food, olive oil tasting, a little shopping, relaxation, and a lot of laughs. I felt filled and rejuvenated coming home. I got home at about 11pm and kissed all the children. Anna awoke enough to have the following conversation with me:

Anna: YOU’RE HOME???
Me: Yes, I am! And so happy to see you!
Anna: Were you living at Costco?
Me: No, I was visiting Aunt Ali in Chicago.
Anna: Were you far, far away?
Me: Yes, I was but I’m home now.
Anna (with relief): Oh, thank you mom!

My Delicious Bread

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I have been using this amazing recipe for bread lately that makes a wonderful spongy loaf with a chewy crust. I guess kids don’t really like chewy crusts. William has been asking me to cut the “bark” off all his sandwiches.

A Tradition I Love

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When Grant and I were first married we lived high up in one of those Soviet apartment buildings you see all over Moscow. Every morning as he left for work I would open our window and watch as he walked down the block. Before he turned the corner he would look back at me and we would wave to each other and blow kisses. Sometimes he would round the corner  out of my sight and then come back again for another wave and kiss. Who would of thought that that would be the beginning of a tradition that still happens every day!? Each morning as he leaves the children and I gather around the front window and we wave and blow kisses. Grant will back out of the driveway and then pause at the top, wave and blow kisses. The children are sticklers for observing this tradition! I remember doing this with baby Sammy, waving his arm for him before he was old enough to do it at our townhouse at Falls Reach Drive in Virginia. I remember gathering two toddlers at a window in the front of our tiny cape cod on Chestnut Avenue in Falls Church and waving so enthusiastically. And now for the past eight years we have gathered each morning, adding babies as they came and teaching first William, then Anna the joy of tradition. 

Worth

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Recently my half-sister Megan (Greg’s eldest daughter) and her family stopped by for a brief visit. She has been wonderful about keeping in touch, which I really appreciate. It was nice to talk with her and her amazing husband and sweet children and to get to know them all a little better. She told me that when they were going through our Dad’s (Greg) drawers at work they found a pile of letters from Lex and I from our high school and college years. I was shocked and moved. With this little bit of information I feel like she has given me a little treasure that I can keep in my pocket. A treasure of love, worth and acceptance. Oh how important it is to give our children a place in this world! 
Today in Sunday school we talked about the difference between “worth” and “worthy” and how we need to understand that even when we are not “worthy” we have divine “worth” and that our worth in the eyes of God will never change based on our worthiness. I believe that when we are unworthy Satan’s favorite tool is to make us feel like we do not have worth. I made a goal then and there that I would help our children feel my unconditional love even when they fail, or fall, or disappoint. I can love them by allowing them to understand consequences to their actions and not by withholding my forgiveness, attention, or love. Being a parent can be scary business! I really feel like it would be very easy to mess up these sweet children because really I’m just trying to understand big lessons myself! Thank goodness for the Spirit, for Grant, and for a host of other people who love and guide them too!

Biological Warfare

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When I go downstairs to tuck the boys in, Sam has the habit as I bend over him to kiss and hug him, to wrap his arms around me and grab the waistband of my pants so I can’t escape. Usually this ends in me tickling him, pretending to be a dead body and squishing him or doing the dog sniff in his ear, all of which usually get him to let go. Last night I tried a different tactic. As he was clinging for dear life I let my hair fall on his face, (he is super ticklish) which drove him nuts but he still didn’t let go, then I accidentally passed a little gas (it really was an accident!), and then I said in an obnoxious breathy voice right next to his nose, “Do you like my brhhhhheeeath??” (we had had a strong smelling soup for dinner that still lingered a little). Sam was squirming by this time and finally let go saying, 
“Mom! Will you stop with the biological warfare!”

Mommy Moments

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I was folding laundry and William said:
What if all of our clothes turned into bees?
ME: That would be great! Then they would all fly away and I wouldn’t have to fold them!
WWB:  Then we would be naked all the time! Actually I would have to just wear this uniform over and over.
ME: Did you know that in the olden days people had just one pair of work clothes and sometimes one pair of church clothes?
WWB: With great enthusiasm, “They had clothes that could go to church for them???”
Yesterday I drove for Lizzie’s field trip. She was so happy to have me along! And she held my hand all day as we toured the capital and the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum.  I felt honored by her attention and excitement.
Anna has been such a joy lately. She started Ballet (she calls it her “Tippy Toes” Class) and loves it so much! The only thing she doesn’t like is that the other girls don’t talk to her during class. I think we have another social butterfly in the family. I told her that they were there to dance and that the teacher doesn’t really want them to chit-chat during class. So she replied with a plan, “I know! When the snow melts we can go to ballet class early with all the other girls and sit on the grass and talk to each other!” 
I love this picture of Anna in the snow. I had her all bundled up in her snow clothes. She got really warm shoveling all that snow and so she went inside while I was shoveling (for the third time that day) and changed into the most natural thing in the world for snow playing…a princess dress! I especially love the look- princess dress, snow boots and a yellow shovel.

Losing a Friend

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I just finished reading Julia Child’s autobiography, “My Life in France” and I actually feel like I miss her! I feel like my friend that I have spent three days with just moved away. She was such a rich character and of course reading about her passion for food and anything French was a delight for me. One of the things I liked about her was her total lack of materialism. Here is how her grand-nephew and co-author of her autobiography described her:
“The day Julia gave up La Pitchoune (her home in the south of France where she and her husband spent part of every year for 20 years), she simply handed the keys over to Simca’s (her friend who had died who owned the property on which they built the house) relatives and walked away. Or so she said.
But what really happened was that Julia let her niece Phila Cousins deal with handing-over the keys. On the last day there, Phila cried at giving up the beloved Pitchoune. Julia, meanwhile, cooked a Daube and then blithely went off to play golf.
When I heard this second version of the story, I didn’t know what to make of it: did Julia really not care about La Pitchoune, one of her favorite places on earth? Or, was giving up the house, in fact, too emotional, too much for her to face, so that she avoided that moment of truth?
When I asked her about this directly, Julia said that once Paul and Simca were no longer with her, La Pitchoune had lost its raison d’etre.
And then I understood: while Julia loved certain things, like her pans and knives, or places, like her wonderful houses, what she cared most about was the people around her. Julia taught us is to take the time to appreciate the people we are with, and to really communicate with them — no matter which kitchen we happen to be in.”