I Love My Life

There is a man that lives down the street. He is old and slow. The houses around him look a bit neglected. He usally wears a white tank top and he seems a bit rough and worn. Every morning and afternoon, I find him outside tending his flowers--weeding, watering, trimming, watching. A perfectly ordinary man creating beauty and goodness in his life. I have only noticed him recently because Miriam has requested we walk/ride bikes to school lately. Her requested pace has allowed me to see something great.

I have such a small, ordinary life. I vacuum my floors, I cook dinner, I drive here and there on various errands, and I care for children. Such ordinary things that I could fill with beauty and goodness if I choose. I can be like the gardener's neighbor and let weeds take over and leave litter around, or I can tend to my garden. And when I do take the time and care, such beautiful things grow in my life. Miriam expands my sight, Sam enlivens my imagination, Ben opens my listening, and Spencer shows me how to love.

Thank you Sarah Starr for asking me to "love my life."

New Year

You know, the start of school seems to be more of a new year than New Year's Day. It's a time of change and newness, whereas the New Year happens in the middle of a winter. Nothing is really changing.

As I walk Miriam to school in the morning, there is the whisper of the coming fall-a crispness to the air, a change in the type of flowers blooming. She has started first grade. I need to stop being so amazed that she's growing, but first grade? She isn't really going to be gone from 8:45am-3:25pm every day, is she? Oh dear. She seems to like her teacher ("her hair is just like Aurora"), her new classmates, and most of all, the newness of her schedule. On the way home from her first day she said, "Mom, I didn't miss Sam. I didn't miss anyone." It doesn't seem like I would be happy to hear this, but she had been worried that she would miss us too much while at school.

With the start of the school year, I find myself feeling more motivated to create a new and better schedule for my life. So....here are my new year hopes:

~Dinner at the same time everyday

~Consistant bedtime for all (meaning me too, which is what I struggle with the most)

~On that note, a consistant waking time for all (again, more for me. Ben's like an alarm clock constantly stuck on 6:45am).

~Consistant housework (like cleaning the shower in my bathroom on a regular basis and not just when it desparately needs it)

~And, lastly (for now), treat myself with more kindness.

Wish Miriam and I luck in our new endeavors.

Uncle Baby

Nice facial hair, eh?

Balloons at Sunrise

Our day started at 5:30am today. We packed a breakfast, loaded the kids in the van and headed up to Eden for the Ogden Valley Balloon Festival.

The balloons were beautiful. We sat down on our blanket and watched as the pilots set up their balloons, slowly filling them with air. As more and more balloons started filling up, we hopped up and wandered all over the field. We got close enough to the balloons that we could feel the heat of the flames.

Sam and Miriam thought it was great to wake up while the stars were still out. We watched the sky get lighter and lighter. At one point, amidst all the filling of and taking off of hot air balloons Sam said in excitement, "Mom, look, the sun came out!" I was delighted that the sunrise brought just as much wonder to Sam as the balloons.

In No Particular Order

Ben had his first birthday in July and is now officially a toddler.

Miriam had her sixth birthday this month. It was full of princesses, tea parties, treats, and presents. As it should be. Two days before her birthday she said, "I wonder how I will look when I am six?"

Spencer finished and sold his first project for his business, S.C. Edwards Fine Woodworking. It is a captain's bed for his cousin's handicapped son (the reason for the crib-like sides). I am so amazed at his courage and hard work as he starts this business. He's a good, good man.

It seems that I always have so much to report about everyone in the family but me. Hmmm... I need be a bit more interesting. I'm just doing the usuall mom stuff. It's been a bit crappy lately as all the kids have a stomach bug. Lucky me.

Oh, I do have something new. I've joined a choir that meets on Sundays in SLC. Right now we are enjoying such greats as Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. I feel my mind and heart enlightened each week. Music has always been so important to me throughout my life. I have to say that I enjoy the private practicing much better than the performances. I like the space of it.