These are very old photos but they perfectly portray why I love spring in Alpine. Open spaces, green things growing, kids exploring, beauty and wonder all around.
The End of an Era
I started this post ten days ago…
Today I taught preschool for the last time ever. I have been part of a preschool co-op since Sam (13) was two! For years my friends and I took turns teaching our children. We had lessons about everything from bugs to dinosaurs to the five senses (that was a fun one!). In Virginia a large part of our teaching was field trips to downtown D.C. and other fun places. It was an essential and regular part of our lives because as young mothers we needed each other! Not to mention the benefit to our kids of learning to interact peacefully with other children. I will always cherish the sweet interactions I have had with my friends and their adorable children. Today, on the last day I was telling a story with a puppet and one of the cute boys excitedly said to me, “I LOVE your stories!” I felt so warm and fuzzy remembering that story telling has always been something I enjoy and glad that it has brought pleasure to the children I have taught. I remember even as a teenaged babysitter I often made up long elaborate stories for the children I watched. Also today, one of the children who has been the most aloof of the group, really wanted me to understand something he was trying to tell me so he put his two little hands on my face and looked at me right in the eye and told me the important thing. These are the connections and the experiences that make a rich, full life. These heart connections cannot be replicated in any other way than by taking the time to make them.
I love the memories I have as a preschool mom/teacher. I thought I would be sad at the idea of being done with this phase of life…but I’m not! So far, I am just so excited for the next phase. Anna is so excited for kindergarten! I am excited to be at the school more, to have some time to myself, to spend one day a week at the temple. Recently I was talking about the time I would have once all the kids were in school and I exclaimed, “Think of all the cleaning I could do!” Grant (knowing me well) corrected me by saying, “You mean, think of all the reading you could do?!?”
The following are some photos of the years of teaching. Sadly, there aren’t any of just Lizzie’s group. (Typical of a second child’s experience right?!)
Part of our first group ever. Sam on the far right.
Field trip to the National Mall. Sam in green.
…
Odoriferous Asparagus
Ahh asparagus. I love asparagus. I love that it is in season just as spring is coming on. (Spring is my favorite time of year.) Since I just posted an asparagus recipe, and I am about to post another, I thought I might share an asparagus related memory. Six years ago I was at a cooking class for our church’s women’s organization and brought up the question as to why eating asparagus made urine smell different-as in worse. Some of the ladies there had never smelled the smell before and actually didn’t know what I was talking about. One lady, who truly is a kindred spirit sent me an article explaining this phenomenon.
From webmd:
Q: I’ve noticed that when I eat asparagus, my urine has a funny smell. Is that normal?
A: It’s totally normal. In fact, the effect of asparagus on urine odor has been observed for centuries. French novelist Marcel Proust famously wrote in 1913 that asparagus “transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume.” And one British men’s club is said to have put up a sign reading, “During the asparagus season, members are requested not to relieve themselves in the hat stand.”
Depending on which study you read, between 22% and 50% of the population report having pungent pee after eating asparagus. But that doesn’t mean only some people’s bodies generate that smell. Researchers believe that, during digestion, the vegetable’s sulfurous amino acids break down into smelly chemical components in all people. And because those components are “volatile,” meaning airborne, the odor wafts upward as the urine leaves the body and can be detected as soon as 15 minutes after you eat this spring delicacy.
But only about one-quarter of the population appears to have the special gene that allows them to smell those compounds. So the issue isn’t whether or not your pee is smelly; it’s whether you’re able to smell it. If you smell a funny fragrance in your urine after you eat asparagus, you’re not only normal, you have a good nose.
Trip Planning and Family Vacation Rules
I am starting to plan our next mammoth road trip due to occur in October. We are going to visit the LDS church historical sites in Nauvoo, Illinois, some Lincoln sites in Springfield, Illinois and then up to Wisconsin to visit Grant’s extended family. As I begin the planning stages I decided to take a trip down memory lane and share our family vacation rules:
1. Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude. Talk about your blessings not about your bothers.
2. We use rest stops to buy gas, use the bathroom and stretch our legs. NOT to buy anything.
3. Fill it and spill it. When mom and dad fill up the tank, you empty yours. If you don’t have to go to the bathroom at least try.
4. When it is bedtime we go to sleep and stay in our beds. No arguing. A sleepless vacation = a bad vacation.
5. No screen time in national or state parks. Period.
6. Pick up your trash in the car, in campsites, and hotel rooms.
7. We start each day with a devotional. Please help us do this.
8. Follow all posted rules everywhere we go. Including “Stay on Trail”
9. We do not ask other people to stop singing or whistling.
10. We do not sing or whistle to bug other people.
11. Car seats and/or seat belts must be used at all times.
12. Remember that any fun we have each day is a bonus. Please don’t expect it.
13. Follow the Golden Rule. Treat others as you want to be treated.
14. You are responsible for keeping track of your own things.
15. Be willing to try new foods.
16. Be kind or be quiet.
17. NEVER turn your back on the water when we are on the beach. Sneaker waves are common and deadly.
18. Always use the buddy system. Do not go anywhere alone.
19. When we set up or break down camp help THE WHOLE TIME until we are done.
20. No complaining about having your picture taken. (That means you too dad.)
The Joy of Practicing
News Flash: Sam officially figured out vibrato on his Viola! He just said, “Holy Cow! I love my vibrato! It almost makes practicing fun!”
(Thanks to my sister Al, for helping me with the title of this post…)
Resisting the Desire to Acquire
I just read a good article on materialism and how to fight it. I recognized that I get the urge to spend money or buy things. I love the process of hunting for a good buy or researching products (especially camping supplies). I love reading reviews on products! This is a part of myself I don’t like much and wish I could get rid of and so this is why I like this article so much. Perhaps all of the points in the article are no-brainers for other people but for me they seem so helpful. I can’t wait to try them!
Hello Again
It’s amazing how easy it is to loose a habit. There have been times in the past where I have blogged regularly, in fact I’ve felt HUNGRY to write and share. Times when I have even posted twice in one day because I had so much to write. Then, life gets busy. Our routine gets disturbed and my good habits fade away. Well, I’m back. All I have this week to do is pay some bills, plan our summer girls camp, laundry and some housecleaning. I think I might just find the time to keep going with some more recipes. Now if I could only work in my old exercise habit…
One last thought…why is it that good habits so easily get lost but the bad habits, like weeds, seem to thrive without constant care? It is good that we understand that this life is to learn how to navigate through those weeds, to push aside those bad habits, over and over again. Admittedly, I wouldn’t mind a glimpse into that gorgeous garden where our first parents lived free of weeds and mistakes!
More Bacon
Sam and William have an excellent new violin/viola teacher. Monday at lessons she asked Sam to go home and immediately practice what they had covered in the lesson to solidify the technique. On our way home I asked Sam if he was planning on practicing like she suggested. He was not very excited to do it since he had just had a long lesson and an hour of practicing before his lesson (cramming). He told me he would if I supplied him with a month’s worth of endless bacon. We negotiated for a few moments then he stated, “Bacon is my currency.” It is nice to know what motivates the boy. Better bacon than the two things William (as a kindergartner) told me he loved most in the world: guns and money.
I Have the Best Car Guy
The following conversation took place between my awesome car guy and me. Not only is he an honest guy that does a great job on my car, but he is funny too! Humor makes my day. Especially when it turns a potentially crazy making situation into something cheery. I’m pretty sure he figured out a long time ago that if he makes his clients laugh they will be more willing to pay a thousand bucks to get their car fixed! 
Bacon
Sam is in charge of cooking two dinners this week because of one too many complaints about my cooking. Tonight he made grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup and… bacon. How did this vegetarian mother get a son who is so obsessed with meat? Especially bacon? I bought two pounds of bacon today and he decided to only cook 1/4 of it because he is “rationing”.
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