Gifts

Sunday night was the annual pop's concert and fireworks show at Weber State University.

Tens of thousands of people come and literally cover every inch of grass at the university with their blankets. All surrounding parking lots, yards, etc. are also filled with spectators for this event.

As we prepared to attend, I explained to my kids that some people in our community (the Lindquist's) have a lot of money. So, one thing they decided to do with their money is to give everyone a gift -- this awesome fireworks show -- every year.

What a great gift.

A college friend of mine who I only see once per year or so, contacted me to see if we could attend the show together with our families. I was so excited to see her, and then she made me even more happy by calling me to say that her family is good friends with the Ligoris (who own Ligori's Pizza and Pasta) and we were all invited to his restaurant for basically Sunday dinner Ligori family style.

Mr. Ligori (who looks like Danny DeVito) filled the restaurant with guests and treated us all to a nice meal. Afterwards, the kids were invited out to the parking lot for carnival games and some pretty sweet prizes. Then, we set up our lawn chairs right there in the parking lot and had a front row view of the fireworks show.

What a great gift.

My friend took a picture of us right after there was a short downpour of rain while waiting for the fireworks to begin (another advantage of our set-up -- sending unhappy wet children to the van to wait out the storm) and posted it on her blog with the nicest tribute to the many beautiful women who have bestowed their friendship on her life.

Lately, I too have been thinking of the many, many amazing friends I have been blessed to have in my lifetime. Being with my friend Chris reminded me of all the fun we use to have in college. The way her laugh comes so easily. And, the way she makes everyone feel like they are special.

My life is abundantly blessed with amazing, beautiful women right now who help me grow spiritually in ways I never imagined possible. I missed my mom and my exercising buddies and Joy School mom friends and my priceless Neighbor Lady and the lunch group gals more than I can say when my family moved to China. How wonderful it was to come back home and bask in the rays of their friendship.

It is not possible to write this post without talking about the women I taught English in Russia with so many years ago. Just last week, we met up for a reunion. What is it? About 15 years now? (sheesh) I had no idea back when I was a freshly graduated from high school just starting college gal how much these ladies would truly impact my life. What amazing examples they have been in both the past and the present. That experience, and the friends I made while there, definitely shaped my life for the better. It was wonderful to see them again. Though one evening was way too short.

Some people go their entire lives with only one or two good friends. I feel so blessed to have had so many.

What a gift.

2009 Farmer's Market Begins

Yesterday was the first day of the Farmer's Market in Ogden -- a pretty exciting event in my world.

It took me an hour-and-a-half to make it out the door accomplishing the following:

Me: fed, dressed, some make-up
Katie: fed, dressed, clean diaper
Sophie: fed, dressed, hair brushed
Ian: fed, dressed, hair brushed
Isaac: cereal in a baggie, striped P.J.s with a Hawaiian shirt over the top (what he slept in), hair not brushed

Sophie, Ian and Isaac: still donning traces of Hawaiian fruit punch on their faces from a party the night before

An hour-and-a-half just to get out the door I tell ya! You'd think we would have been ready for family portraits instead of only half presentable to the world.

Embrace it.

The Farmer's Market was the most crowded that I have ever seen it. The street with the produce vendors was shoulder to shoulder human traffic. I carried Katie in the Ergo and the other three were surprisingly courteous and mindful about staying near me on their scooters. I felt a little out of sorts in that sea of humanity. It was not so easy to relax and pick through vegetables while trying to keep an eye on all of those kids. Which is, perhaps, why I walked all the way to the end and bought my produce at a lone booth where it wasn't so crowded. I bet that guy was happy. And, Brian made his famous fried potatoes last night and they were amazing. Home grown potatoes are so much tastier.

The good news about the crowds is that Brian is selling his Ogden Book at the Farmer's Market. So, more exposure, right?

I found two booths selling flower hair clips and had to buy one from each vendor for Katie. I think I'll have to buy at least one every week from here on out (did you hear that Photoguy?). Sigh. It's so nice to have one daughter who (for now) will let me dress her and fix her up any way that I please.

I adore the Farmer's Market. It's become sort of a mid-summer through early fall tradition for me. It delights me from head to toe. The brightly colored stacks of produce, intoxicating smells of blooming flowers and fresh picked herbs, the luscious flavors -- honey on a stick, dripping slices of peaches, homemade salsas, Beehive Cheddar, old fashioned rootbeer -- not to mention the fabulous culinary adventures to be had at home after the purchases are made.

I love hearing live music from the stage, seeing the arts and crafts by talented tradesmen and youngsters out to peddle their wares (i.e. Sophie bought a 50-cent shrinky dink keychain from someone about her age). I enjoy seeing our community out and about on a Saturday morning, baskets on arms, gathering treasures (though, I wouldn't mind seeing a teensy bit less of our community on Saturdays yet to come . . . or, leave the kids with a sitter). I always see friends and neighbors.

Yesterday, the kids were fascinated with the man selling honey and his glass encasement of bees in the process of making it. Sometimes, there is a 4-H demonstration for them to participate in making something.

In the spring months, I admit, I had a bit of a love affair with strawberries. Homemade jam on everything, and strawberry banana smoothies. Then, watermelon and corn on the cob hit the scene. I've got a whole lotta blueberries in my refrigerator right now. Could anything be finer than fresh blueberries on a bowl of cereal? Cherries -- mmm-mmm. And, now, the whole Farmer's Market has come to town!

In other, unrelated news.

It seems that Katie Jane, who will be two-months-old at the end of the week, decided over the weekend that I'm her favorite. As in, she only wants me to hold her. And, last night when I was rocking her, she swiveled her face upwards so she could look at me and then broke out in a joyful grin.

Another pretty exciting event in my world.

Embracing the Present

"[Motherhood and Homemaking] is surely, in reality, the most important work in the world. What do ships, railways, miners, cars, government etc exist for except that people may be fed, warmed, and safe in their own homes? . . . [The homemaker's] job is the one for which all others exist"

~Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis

I came across this quote today and I liked it. It made me feel like, I don't have to move mountains every day to be a successful mother and homemaker. Keeping my loved ones fed, safe and warm? Now, that I can do.

Sometimes I am way too dramatic in my worries.

For example, recently, we've been more drawn to the T.V. than usual. In fact, a couple of times last week, after a long day of looking after seven, when the evening of my husband working the late shift began, we found ourselves staring at the Discovery channel (we just got cable - so novel) for a few rousing rounds of "Cash Cab" and "How it's Made." It turns out that my kids love these two shows and I don't mind them either.

In my mind, I berated myself. "Too much T.V.!" My inner voice shouted. "You are training your kids to be couch potatoes. When they are teenagers, they will do nothing but sit on the couch and watch T.V. every single night. And, they will be overweight. And, they will never listen to a thing you say. And, they will have no self-esteem and diabetes and no success and never get married and it will be all your fault!" My horrid perpetuater of mommy-guilt warned.

Then, the other day, a new thought occurred to me:

"What if I embraced this season of my life for what it is?"

What if I admitted that I am just a little bit tired and I cut myself some slack? What if we made a standing date for "Cash Cab" and "How it's Made" now and then when I babysit and Brian works late? What if we celebrated this event by eating toast (easy prep + less dishes + kids don't complain) for dinner and popcorn and hot chocolate for dessert? Could it be that maybe, just maybe, we won't still be parked in front of the T.V. most evenings of the week six-months from now? And, that my children will grow up well adjusted with normal lives in spite of these few weeks of brain rotting T.V. indulgence? And, maybe we will even have great memories of relaxing and watching T.V. together while their daddy worked late, later on when they have grown into vibrant successful beautiful teenagers.

For now, you may find me rocking my baby with my little ones cuddled around me. And, we might be learning "How it's Made," or seeing who is the next big winner in the "Cash Cab." Fed, safe and warm.

I'll save moving mountains for another day.

Rebroadcast

The radio spot went really well this morning and turned out to be a very positive segment on Ogden. Katie and I got to watch the live broadcast through a glass window, which was pretty cool since I've never done anything like that before. I got to meet Bill Allred (from X96) again, for the second time. He strikes me as very friendly in person. The hour-long piece will be rebroadcast tonight at 7 p.m. on 90.1.

Radio Spot

Brian will be the featured guest on 90.1 tomorrow (Monday) at 11 a.m. He will talk about his book for 15-minutes and then other guests will discuss Ogden until noon.

Dog Days of Summer

Have I mentioned that most days there are six scooters strewn across my front lawn or back patio? I love seeing this pack of kids wheeling up and down the sidewalk.

Summer is officially here. The other day, Isaac scurried onto the top of the van (a habit of his that we are trying to break) and started to shriek because the metal was scorching hot. Lesson learned?

My kids have been singing "Puff the Magic Dragon" and, "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane," after a recent attempt to clean up the garage uncovered a Peter, Paul and Mary soundtrack. It's funny to hear them singing the same songs I grew up listening to -- on my parents' 8-track. I think Peter, Paul and Mary were the oldies when I was their age.

Speaking of being old, Sophie was asking me, "Why does she have to leave on a jet plane?" We were discussing the many possibilities and then I said, "Oh, I know, maybe it was like when I left on a jet plane to go work in Washington D.C. when your dad and I were dating." That led to a discussion about what I was doing in Washington D.C., and, just to make my daughter think I was cool, I started bragging about working at the Capitol, and she said, "Wow mom! Did you meet the president!?" She was thinking I was pretty cool and I was feeling so proud of myself and the next words out of her mouth were, "Was it when Kennedy was president?" Well, that kind of took the wind out of my sails. "Ummm . . . no, he was the president when your grandparents were your age sweetie."

Yesterday we made this perfect play doh:

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon alum
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cups water

Combine in a pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Knead when thickened.

Then, let the kids pick their own colors and work the food coloring in. It's magic. And, if you have a plastic spider and a three-year-old (or, two), pressing the spider into the dough and screaming "Look a spider!" Followed by everyone screaming, "Ahhh! A spider!" can provide at least an hour of entertainment (for the three-year-old(s) -- you may not be quite as entertained).

We had an afternoon backyard run through the sprinklers. In the end, Izzy and Isaac used the hose to turn the beach (sandbox) into the ocean (filled it with water and splashed around). Yes my friends, the dog days of summer are finally here.

Smiles

This is Katie in her blessing gown two weeks ago (she was two weeks old).

We had a few friends and all of our family over for a BBQ afterwards. It rained. So, the meal was moved indoors at the last minute. It was pretty amazing to see 50 people squeeze into our tiny house!

The kids were resourceful and took their plates of food and sat under our extra tall table. Pretty funny sight to see them all camped under there.

Brian was a trooper to cook all of the meat on the grill in the pouring rain.

My friend brought a bundt cake from "Nothing Bundt Cakes." So yummy. Here is their ode to a bundt cake:

You're so round
Your taste profound
Yet sadly, sadly
You never stick around.

That about sums up that lovely and quickly devoured cake.

Brian is just finishing up the Ragnar Relay as I type. This is his 5th year in a row participating in this crazy race that starts near Logan and ends in Park City and takes (on average) more than 24-hours to complete. There are 12 runners, and each runner runs three legs of the race.

The kids had a "late-over" which turned into a sleepover with their friends last night. We had a lot of fun playing games at the park with cousins followed by a movie, popcorn, cookies and staying up l-a-t-e. It's been a good weekend. We cleaned up the house to surprise Brian when he gets home.

Just when I thought life couldn't get any better, the angel pictured in this post flashed me a crooked grin. Her first
S
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