This Life is Beautiful

Do you remember the movie, Life Is Beautiful?

It is one of my favorites.

There was some criticism of the movie when it came out.

Some people thought it was trivializing an extraordinarily tragic event.

I disagree.

Instead, I thought it showed the amazing opportunity each one of us has as we walk through this life.

We have the opportunity to make life beautiful.

Even in the midst of unspeakable horror, beauty can be found, and beauty can be made.

I think it shows, and takes, tremendous courage to be that kind of person.

Could you do it?

Could I?

The challenges I face have no comparison to life in a concentration camp.
In fact, I can't really call them challenges at all.
Annoyances, perhaps.
At times, irritations.
But not really challenges.
It's easy to go down that road, though.
I know I'm not the only one who has said, "why is my life so hard?", when it really isn't hard at all.

Instead, I'd like to be the kind of person who says, "my life is beautiful," and then really live it that way.

............................................................................................................................

Aaron was terribly sick this past week.

He had a 102-103 fever for 2 days, and when he woke up Friday morning his tonsils were so swollen he could not speak.

I had been checking on him through the night for fear he couldn't breathe.

(it's happened before with James, so I'm wise to this stuff now)

I had also been up with David a lot.

And Lilly.

Both of them, of course, had a bad nights that night.

Isn't that always the way?

I was back up at 5am to head to my workout, but didn't go because it didn't feel safe leaving the kids when Aaron was semi delirious and couldn't even get out of bed.

I could feel the beginnings of a pity party stirring in my soul.

I admit, I even felt a little jealous that Aaron got to stay in bed and sleep for 2 whole days.

How sad am I?

Then I saw this.

(from here)

It was the nicest kind of slap in the face.

It was just what I needed that morning.

I am lucky enough to live a way of life that I love.

But sometimes I forget.

Sometimes I allow myself to get bogged down in the mundane and I don't really live.

"Not today", I thought.

The 5 of us took Aaron to the doctor later that morning.

And since we had an hour or so on our hands, we did one of my favorite things: 

we walked through a little bit of life together.

It was nothing fancy.

A stop at the library, a peek in the cheese shop, stopping to take silly pictures, checking out bikes, admiring old signs, and sampling some cookies.

And as we walked down the street together, I relished it.

I love to be with them.

How fortunate I am to spend every day with my kids.

We have fun.

We laugh.

We learn together.

We explore.

We dream.

We observe.

We adventure.

We talk.

We talk a lot.

This is the life I always wanted.

Really what I want, is to make the most of these moments that I have been given.

This sums it up quite nicely, I think.

And if you are thinking, "I can't possibly do this," fear not.

You don't have to do it alone.

"For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret to being content in any circumstance, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4: 11-13

It's a new week, how will you live it beautifully?

Here are some beautiful things to try: go outside, lay on a blanket, and read aloud, have afternoon tea with someone, take a walk and collect things, make cupcakes together and give some away, write a note to someone and tell them 5 things you love and admire about them, buy coffee for a stranger, smile more, put away your distractions for a while and give your full attention to the people you love.

What else could you do?

Love from,

Greta

PS. If you'd like more inspiration from ordinary people living extraordinarily beautiful lives, while in the middle of utter darkness, you should read 2 of my favorite books:

The Hiding Place and Evidence Not Seen.

Both books are incredibly sad.

Yet they leave me feeling hopeful and inspired because they are the stories of real people who managed to find and make beauty, while enduring hardship the likes of which I have never known. If you need to have your world rocked a bit, I suggest you give them a try.

Dreaming of Robin Hood

It was a beautiful day under a big, blue sky.

We headed to El Dorado Park for archery class.

They are completely smitten with archery.

It took 1 class.

And now they are dreaming of the days of the knights and of Robin Hood.

They put on their quivers, arm guards and finger tabs.

They found their bows and waited for the whistle.

Then they straddled the line,

placed their arrows in the nock,

drew their bows,

and let their arrows fly.

Archery is a quiet sport.

It's meditative.

It requires a lot of hand-eye coordination--a lot of things are happening at once.

There was a lot to learn at their first class, and it was a bit of a slow start.

But they were anxious to come back.

And this time they knew just what to do.

William is the youngest in the class.

Usually the instructor requires kids to be 8, but she let William try it out.

It definitely takes him longer to get his arrows on his bow, to get the right hold with his fingers, and even to pull back on his bow, than anyone else in the class.

But he just stays right up there, alone on the line, and takes his time.

Because he takes his time, he's actually got much better form than James.

But don't tell James I said so.

James just wants to let his arrows fly.
After all, what little boy doesn't want to shoot real arrows, with a real bow, at a real target?
As far as they're concerned, it's amazing!

And what's even more fun than shooting targets?
Shooting balloons!

At the end of class they blew up balloons, pinned them to the targets, and cheered each other on as each one was popped.
It was a lot of fun.

So what do the littles do while the big brothers are busy with their bows and arrows?

Ideally they stay on the blanket and play with toys.
Lilly does a great job.
4 is a pretty awesome age.

Davy, however, is another story all together.
Yes, this picture looks like I'm enjoying a nice cuddle with my sweet boy.
But in reality I am just trying to keep my very busy, very adventurous, very determined little 1 year old from getting hit by an arrow.
1 is not my favorite age.

It's a long class.
Even Lilly gets a little restless.
She went exploring with my camera.

The boys tried for the last balloons.

After class, they put away their gear, helped take down the targets, and roll the line.
As soon as we got in the car, William asked how many days it was until our next archery class.
It's so much fun to try new things.
I love making their world a little bit bigger.
It's also going to make reading Robin Hood for school this year that much more fun!
Love from,
Greta

Lately

I often wish I had more time to write.

I long for it.

Sometimes it even feels like an ache.

I wonder if I'll ever be able to resolve this need to create with the lack of time in which to do it?

Until I do, I'll have to make do with the pockets of time I find here and there.

Knowing that sometimes there will be more time and sometimes less.

This is one of those less times.

As I mentioned over here, life has been extra busy for the past 2 or 3 weeks.

The kids and I spent a week in Fallbrook for VBS at my Dad's church.

It was a blast.

This was the last day, water day.

My kids played on this water slide for over 3 hours.

Unfortunately, while we were in Fallbrook, James and Lilly got the flu.

Then I did.

Then my mom did.

Then my dad.

And a whole bunch of other people too.

So there was a lot of this going on.

Thank goodness my parents have cable, because Disney Jr. was my saving grace in the middle of the night with barfing children.

I also celebrated my 36th birthday.

It was one of my best birthdays ever.

Aaron outdid himself.

He's setting the bar pretty high.

I can't wait to see what next year will bring.

My birthday wish was a night away in Palm Springs.
We got all 4 kids taken care of by all 4 grandparents, and then we spent 2 days and 1 night in glorious Palm Springs.
We stayed at a friend's house so it was like being at our own private resort.
HEAVEN.

We returned from PS, to blazing hot temperatures, and I've been trying to catch up after being gone from home for nearly 2 weeks.
But when it's 90 degrees inside the house, I can't really get much housework done.
Instead, we went to the beach.
James tried stand up paddle boarding for the first time.
Soon he was paddling himself + the 3 passengers on the board, and towing about 4 more on boogie boards.
He was great on that board and had a lot of fun.

Last night we went to the Orange County Fair.
It's a summer time tradition.
I can't imagine not going.
I think the kids would mutiny if we tried to skip it.
Besides, we couldn't miss the family photo booth picture!
This year we even managed to get a whole strip of the 6 of us with everyone's face in the picture.
It's a pretty amazing feat, let me tell you.
I've got to scan it so I can post it here.

And now, I am busily preparing for my book club's meeting at my house this weekend.
Some of the details are over here.
I think it's going to be and amazingly fun time.
I can't wait!

I also can't wait to share the rest of my PS pictures, too.
And to catch you up on the millions of other things that have been going on.
This is just a taste.
Look for me after the weekend, when I have time to breathe again.
Love from,
Greta

A Kid Book Club

The other day, I overheard James talking to one of his friends.

"Hey, did you know I'm in a Kid Book Club?  We read a different book every month and then we talk about it.  It's pretty fun.  And we get snacks, too."

In some circles, this kind of statement would have been met with blank stares.

Like when James told his baseball teammates that his favorite movie was Treasure Island--the old one.

But this time the response was different.

His buddy wanted in.

"I bet you can be in it, too,"James told him.  "I mean, it is pretty fun to talk about books, right?"

When a friend with a daughter James' age mentioned she wanted to start a book club for her daughter and some friends, and would James be interested, I nearly squealed.
A book club for my kid to be in?
Heck yeah he'd be interested!
But I was a thoughtful mom, and actually asked him if he'd want to go before I signed him up.
He had some questions: who'd be there, who'd chose the books, and would there be snacks?
The snacks sealed the deal.


Then we started reading the book, and snacks became of secondary importance.
Our first book was The Secret Garden.
I read it several times as a kid, and before that, my mom read it aloud to my brother and I.
It was a book I loved as a kid.
I love it even more as an adult.
My kids love it, too.
All 3 of them.


I read aloud to the 3 of them--Lilly and William drew while I read, but James just sat and listened, with a huge grin on his face as he soaked in the story.
They loved the mystery of the story.
And the way Mary, the main character, is "quite contrary" when the story begins.
They love that Colin, another main character, is also quite contrary--in fact, he's even more bratty than Mary.
Their words and actions are kind of shocking--and I can tell that the kids can't believe Colin and Mary could actually act like that, and get away with it.
And they love how the two of them are changed, by Martha, Dickon and the garden.
It's really a beautiful tale of transformation.
Ultimately, it's a wonderful example of how the world becomes so much more beautiful when we take our eyes off ourself.


The story so permeated our minds, that one day as we drove down the freeway, James looked out the window at a patch of empty, rolling hills and he asked, "Mommy, are those like the moors?"
The kids each tried out their Yorkshire accent, and using Yorkshire words.
If I slipped up and didn't use the right accent for the character, or worse yet, just read in plain ol' American, they responded with hue and cry.
I'd hear them say things like, "that's what Mary would do when Colin was being selfish."
That's what good stories do, they get inside you.


And when a good story gets inside us, we want to talk about it.
We want to share with other people the way the characters in the book are touching us, changing us, and making us excited.
We want to say things like, "can you believe he did that?" and, "remember that part when she said that?"
We want to share the amazing journey that a good story takes us on.


I tried to start a book club when I was a kid.
I think I was 11.
I picked a book.
I sent invitations to my friends.
I made snacks.
We sat in my little bedroom, on my big bed with the yellow quilt my great grandma made for me, and I tried to get everyone to talk about the book.
Not everyone had read the book.
And those who had didn't know how to talk about it.
It was awkward, and boring.
And for me, the 11 year old wanna-be book club leader, very frustrating.


Fast forward 10 years, and there I am standing in front of a classroom full of high school kids reliving the exact same scenario.
Most of my students hadn't read the book--all year long.
And if they did, most of them wouldn't want to talk about it.
How embarrassing it would be to like books.
Still,I tried to share my deep and abiding love of good stories with my students, and sometimes it worked.
But to the vast majority of them, I was just their weird English teacher and they didn't get me.
They'd much rather be watching tv than reading a book.
For the 26 year old lover of books, it was very frustrating.


And here I am now.
It's a Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting at a table in my backyard with four eight year olds, one six year old, plates of strawberry scones, cups of tea, and we're talking books.
We're talking about The Secret Garden.
They're telling each other about their favorite character, or the kinds of the things the author wanted her readers to think about when they read The Secret Garden.
There was plenty of laughter and giggling, and the conversation often derailed, and headed off into directions it wasn't supposed to go.
But there was also genuine excitement about the book, about the characters and favorite moments in the story.
There was thoughtful discussion.
It was in many ways, on par with book discussions I had with my high school students--the 9th and the 12th graders.
It was a real life book club for kids.
And for this 35 year old who loves good books even more now than she ever has before, it was a little slice of literary heaven.


My kids are very lucky.
They are surrounded by people who love books.
Not just their daddy and I, but most of their friends, too.
Any time our kids are with their friends, books come into the conversation.
While climbing on the monkey bars at the park, "hey Luke, we're reading The Hobbit now.  It's so awesome!"
When they're collecting seed pods from a tree, "you guys!  Doesn't this look like the boat from Paddle to the Sea?  We could make our own boats just like in the book."
While playing Legos, "have you read Joan of Arc yet?"
While sitting and drawing with a friend, "what part are you on in A Tree in the Trail?"
These stories are such an important part of their life that they long to talk about them with one another.
In the same way you might say to a friend, "did you see The Office last night?" they're saying to each other, "didn't you get so hungry when you were reading Farmer Boy?"
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it.


Do you want to start a Kid Book Club?
Here are my suggestions.
1.  8 is a good age to start.  6 is a bit young.  He did pretty well and contributed a fair bit to the conversation.  But he was also the first to get distracted.
2.  Keep it small.  4-6 is a good number.  Any more and there will be too many voices to listen to at the same time.
3.  Make sure the kids will read the book.  So really, make sure the kids have parents who will make sure they read the book. This will be tough because it means some people just won't be part of the group.
4.  Have some discussion questions planned for the meeting.  The questions can be pretty simple, "who was your favorite character and why?  Describe a favorite part of the book."  It helps give them a place to start the conversation.
5.  Use the conversation time to teach them the finer points of having a discussion.  Don't interrupt, listen to what people are saying so you can respond to it, and take turns.  Also, teach them the language of discussion: I agree with you because..., that's a good point, but....
6.  Have good snacks.  If you can tie the snacks in with the book, all the better. The Secret Garden cried out for fresh scones, clotted cream, jam, and tea.

Don't think of your Kid Book Club as something you can sign your kid up for and not be a part of.
Read the book with him, aloud with him, or along side him, so you can talk about it together.
Talking about the book together is the best way for him to get comfortable with talking about stories.
Be a part of the book club day-- be involved in meeting.
Be excited with him about the books you are reading and add to the experience.
We're reading Heidi next--we'll be looking at pictures of the Alps, and finding her route from Switzerland to Germany.
Your excitement about good books will transfer to your child.
Just as your indifference will.




Lastly, if you love that beautiful, cloth bound edition of The Secret Garden, you'll be delighted to know there are several more in the series.
They can be a bit tricky to find, but you can see a few here.
The Robin Hood and Anne of Green Gables are my favorites.
I plan on getting each one of them as we read them.
Oh how I love good books!
Happy summer reading, friends.
Love from,
Greta
PS. If you want that strawberry scone recipe, head over to Picnics in the Park and get all the details.

Weekend Treats

I can't recall a time when I've been so happy for a rainy day.

Probably it was before kids.

Back in those days when a rainy day meant I could curl up on the couch with hot tea and a book.

And I could stay there, uninterrupted, for as long as I wanted.

Don't get me wrong, I love my babies.

But sometimes I ache for those days.

I can't figure out what I did with all my free time.

Because I had heaps and heaps and heaps of it.

I could have done so much.

Was I really just laying around on the couch all the time reading books?

Lucky.

I guess it's true; you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

But this weekend I got to go back and visit the old days for a bit.

We woke up to rain.

And 2 emails saying baseball games were cancelled.

I secretly rejoiced.

Because, although this baseball season is growing on me, I was so happy to have a day at home.

We all stayed in our pajamas.

I cooked bacon for breakfast.

The kids watched cartoons.

And when Aaron and Lilly went out to get the car's oil changed, I laid Davy down for a nap, told the boys they could watch another episode of Busy Town, and wondered what I'd do with myself and this unexpected treat of free time.

I decided to go ahead and make the most of it.

This, my friends, has been one of my favorite treats since girlhood.

A big bowl of stove-popped popcorn and a stack of new library books.

I can still recall, exactly, the green pot I used for popcorn and the deep blue bowl I poured it in.

I'd lay in my bed, (my mom let me eat popcorn in bed! best mom award!) bowl beside me and read away an afternoon.

It was bliss.

It still is.

Probably even more blissful for the rarity of the treat.

After a while on the couch, my eyelids couldn't stay open, so I set my book down and took a nap.

Imagine that.

Rain outside, a quiet house, an empty couch, books to read, popcorn for noshing, and a nap in my pajamas.

I cannot remember the last time I was gifted such luxuries.

Oh wait.  Yes I can.

It was when Davy was about 5 days old and Aaron took the kids for a hike so I could have a morning to sleep.

Yes , it's been a while.

I can't say how much blogging I'll get to this week.

Nights are full right now.

But you can catch a glimpse of our days over at my Photo a Day posts on Picnics in the Park.

Look here and here.

Hope your weekend had some treats in it, too.

Love from,

Greta