My Magnum Opus

"What is that nifty little thing? Did you make it?"
"I did indeed," replied Charlotte in a weak voice. 
"Is it a plaything?" 
"Plaything? I should say not. It is my egg sac, my magnum opus." 
"I don't know what a magnum opus is," said Wilbur. 
"That's Latin," explained Charlotte. "It means 'great work.' This egg sac is my great work- the finest thing I have ever made."
 -- Charlotte's Web, E.B. White


There once was a wise, gentle spider who did great things.  Miraculous things, like spinning pronouns into a web, eventually bringing great notoriety to her barnyard and saving her friend from becoming bacon.  Funny thing is, by the end of this children's classic dedicated to Charlotte's magical feat that no spider has ever done before and will probably never do in the future, she admits she has created a work of art even greater.  Her magnum opus: her children.  


I guess you could say I've spun words into webs myself, given my profession.  Probably no life-saving miracle words like Charlotte, but I suppose not the kind of garbage Templeton rips from a box of soap flakes, either.  And like that sweet spider, the finest things I have ever made are my two daughters.


Art takes many forms -- sculpture, architecture, music, fashion.  Not all great creators will paint on the canvas of parenthood.  And plenty of geniuses (Michelangelo, da Vinci, Picasso) have made masterpieces across multiple disciplines.  It's just, for me, motherhood is my medium of choice. 


Simply, I love being a mom.  In The Success Principles:  How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, inspirational author Jack Canfield guides people to fulfilling their destiny, using the stories of those who have made millions of dollars or landed their dream home or finally bought a yacht or lost double-digit pounds.  As I read it now, all I can think about is how my great dream, where I really want to be, the picture of my ultimate life, my grandest achievement, is standing beside -- no, embracing -- a beautiful, wholesome, smart, happy, unified, strong family.  That's my vision of success.  


After all, in the Passion chapter, Canfield says:  "No doubt you know or have met people who are passionate about life and enthusiastic about their work.  They can't wait to get up in the morning and get started.  They are eager and energetic.  They are filled with purpose and totally committed to their mission.  This kind of passion comes from loving and enjoying your work.  It comes from doing what you were born to do.  It comes from following your heart and trusting joy as a guide.  Enthusiasm and passion come as a result of caring about what you do.  If you love your work, if you enjoy it, you're already a success."


I'm committed to being an elite network news producer.  I aim to be a great friend, a fine designer, an exceptional sister and a decent baker.  By admitting motherhood is my most beautiful work, I'm not suggesting other areas of my life are not important, too.  Motherhood is not a distraction; it is like a highlighter to the pages of my biography, adding color and brightness to all I do.  


Laundry is lame, ear infections are evil, and grocery store tantrums stink. so.  super.  bad.  I have hard days.  I've been exhausted for nearly six years straight.  Still, watching my children master a new skill or demonstrate kindness even when it is difficult or ask to read the same book over and over at bedtime -- those are like beautiful brush strokes to me.


I may not master my craft.  I doubt I'll win a special award at the county fair.  There's no gallery in Manhattan that will hang my work on a blank white wall.  But maybe, hopefully, a few people will see that I have discovered what I love, followed my passion and created something I am proud of.

Resolve 2012

The tradition of celebrating the New Year at the cabin has become pretty tender to us.  We love "escaping" to the quiet simplicity of nature in the wintertime.  As in years past, the girls spent much of their free time being free -- playing out in the snow, building puzzles, watching old Disney flicks, playing kitchen, working on craft projects.  Michael built a fire every day.  I practiced new recipes.

We intended on a brief trip, but discovered a leak that required a full day's work from Michael and a long drive to the nearest town for hardware supplies, so we were stuck an extra day and night and portion of the following day.  We made the most of our trek to town; I made an irreverent obstacle course of construction cones for the girls in Lowe's while Daddy hunted in the plumbing aisle, and we purchased a sled.  On the winding roads back to the cabin, we stopped to snap a real live bald eagle not twenty yards from us.

We made a simple little party of New Year's Eve (note to self:  next year, remember the sparkling cider and party hats/blowers), eating homemade cheese pizza while we each recorded 3 goals and 3 predictions for 2012 and reflected on the goals and predictions of previous years.  This has become a routine we really look forward to.  

With the three goals, I usually choose one New Year's Resolution as my focus.  I keep this resolution simple, with a delicate balance of intense personal stretching and the potential that I might actually do it.  I also want it to become a life habit, not just a year-long affair that gets dumped when Dick Clark's next broadcast comes back around.  Last year's goal to ride in Little Red was completely thwarted because the race sold out in moments, so I'm bummed about that one, but that was out of my human control.

A few months ago, inspired to learn more from the man who married us, Elder Joe J. Christensen, I came upon one of his BYU addresses called Resolutions.  Wow, so good.  I have read it about eight times.  I'm also re-reading The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, and though it has one or two suggestions that don't fit with my personality, nearly every page has some choice ideas for improving myself and my station for the most noble of purposes.

This year, I chose as a New Year's Resolution to adopt an old adage.  Seriously considered "An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away," but finally committed to:

Early to bed and early to rise makes a (wo)man healthy, wealthy and wise.   

By someone's calculations on the almighty Facebook, if I wake up just a half hour earlier each day, I'll have 7 1/2 extra waking days in 2012.  I'm willing to give that a shot.  I figure with better sleep, I'll be more productive, organized and fit.  Happy, too.  Well, not at the moment my new alarm goes off.  After that.

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas 2011!

We are busy preparing for the Martin family to come into town by wrapping gifts and assembling food.  We've got holiday radio humming and a peppermint ice cream recipe to try.  Our Paperwhites are peeking from their bulbs and we spent last Family Evening at a showing of Arthur Christmas.  There are plans to tour the city hunting for light displays.  Yes, it is the most wonderful time of the year!

Tour de NorCal

Home, back home
Where the memories all have gathered up and
Slowly turned to gold
And I carry them along with me wherever
I may go

("Home," Tim McGraw)

My happy place is at a particular bend in the road near the top of Sonora Pass, pictured above.  Luckily, after many years away and probably many more until my return, I was able to go to my happy place for the first time with my girls.

We spent a day in Tuolumne County, joined by my sister and two of my brother's blondies.  First stop: Cover's Apple Ranch, the place famous for Mile High Apple Pies.  

Next:  Columbia State Park, a Gold Rush boomtown turned ghost town turned popular tourist attraction turned sorta ghost town again.  Luckily, though the stagecoach rides and horses are no longer running on weekdays, Nelson's Candy Shoppe was open and stocked with dark chocolate honeycomb.

Oh, yeah!  It was in the parking lot we got the call from Tommy -- he's headed to Mexico City for his mission!  In his honor, we had some fantastic California-style Mexican food on the main drag in downtown Sonora.

The next day, we took a drive I know so well, a maze of country roads and valley freeways connecting my hometown to "the city."  We stopped at the farmer's stand on Jack Tone Road; the girls loved gathering a load of funky gourds and running through varied species of pumpkins.

On to San Francisco, which is so familiar to me because my grandpa grew up there nearly a century ago.  We were thrilled to find out the awesome last minute online deal was right at Fisherman's Wharf.  Like, we woke up to these guys barking every morning... 

The Sea Lions on Pier 39 were, without a doubt, Kiddo's highlight.  We were also just steps from sourdough chowder bowls at Boudin.

Call us brave or crazy, but besides a few trolley jaunts, we used the local metro to get around town. Boy did we stick out, toting our two little singing girls and a sparkly clean orange stroller, particularly since our regular route ran straight through Chinatown and the ride to the stadium covered some varied SF territory.  We got pretty good at it.  And, it was fun.

Speaking of transportation, we rented bikes one day to ride from the Wharf across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito.  A fun way to take it all in.  Michael pulled Millie in a trailer, and I had Soph on a tandem.

 

I gave up on getting a cute, posed shot of the girls and the bridge so I just told them to "jump!"

Then, there was the Utah v. Cal football game at AT&T Park (I insist on calling it Candlestick) right near the bay.  It was a bummer game, but we made the most of it.  That's all.

 

Our Tour de NorCal covered it all!  We were even in an earthquake (4.2!) at dinner on the seventh story of a Union Square skyrise.  I remembered the drills we did in elementary school in which we climbed under our desks for protection.  We did miss visiting a few old friends, but that just means you'll have to come visit us!  

Press Credential

Press credentials are like a reporter's backstage pass, ID cards on a lanyard with a generic photo and network information that prove we belong behind the figurative (and occasionally, literal) curtain.  I've got a whole stack of them in my office, swinging casually from the doorknob, ready to grab when I go out on assignment.  I recently happened upon one I hadn't noticed before.  Apparently, Kiddo wanted credentials of her own.  Must've been hoping it would get her special access at Disney on Ice.

All She Wants

For those on Reader, there is a video attached.

Our Kiddo had two teeth pulled this morning -- her first babies to kick the bucket.  She had an adult tooth growing in behind, so her Uncle/Doctor Scott advised us that it was time to say goodbye.  We prepped by checking out The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss at the library.  She was outwardly brave, but quietly admitted some fear, about the whole ordeal.  She brought her blankie, and laid it close to her heart for emotional support.  Afterwards, all she said was "Owie."  She showed her new gap all over the Kindergarten playground this afternoon, and quickly became the class celebrity.

Thinking the circus looked like fun, Millie wanted "her turn" and independently hopped right into the chair while Sister was digging through the treasure box.  An unplanned first trip to the dentist, she willingly opened up and had her teeth counted.

So once I'm done with all this silly typing, I'm going to play Tooth Fairy (shhh).  When my little one wakes up, she'll find a trail of glitter "fairy dust" from her windowsill across her bed to her pillow, where she'll unearth a couple of bucks and two itty bitty sprinkled cake bites from Sweet Tooth Fairy.  Oh, the magic!

Halloween

I talk about Halloween all year, dreaming up costume ensembles for four and how I might pull it all together.  This year was a little different; Sophie decided early on she wanted to be Supergirl and Millie kept saying "Princess Pony."  I could have fought the mutiny, but I decided to let go and let my girls be what they wanted to be.  We even bought their costumes at Target, but I added a few embellishments (pride).

The school costume parade

Visiting the great grandmas

We also went to Tom and Jenni's for their scone party, and trick or treated in their neighborhood with Allie but no pics.  Too caught up in the fun, I think.  So, on to dreaming about next year...

Catch and Release

Because finally, I had a good fishing season on the Green.*

* Of course, I didn't do any of the rowing.  

Annual Photos

I am about to be that girl -- if I wasn't already -- that shamelessly shares an entire load of photographs of her ridiculously gorgeous (she thinks) children from their annual birthday photo sitting.  Emphasis on:  shameless.  I simply cannot apologize for showing off that which I am most proud, my kids.  I am happy to be their mom, and grateful to my BFF and talented photographer Jenni who so beautifully captures the best part of my life.  So, *eh*.

We picked an afternoon this summer to meet in a neighbor's peach orchard and brought a few symbolic props.  The chair is from our kitchen set, handed down from Michael's grandmother, and I wanted some photographs of them before they are refinished.  Also, I wanted to capture Sophie's entrance into academia (Kindergarten), so I bought the vintage blue desk on KSL and brought the Penguin cloth-bound books, pencils, etc from home.

THING TWO

 

  

THING ONE

 

Sophie Names Her Children

Sophie wants to be a mom when she grows up.  This has been a consistent and unprompted response to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" since she was itty bitty.  Yesterday, as we walked home from church after her primary program, she made her plans more specific.

"I want to be a mom with four girls and four boys," she said, as she showed me with two hands.  I wanted to tell her how crazy and exhausting that sounded, but I bit my tongue, so as not to crush her dreams.  "And I know what I want to name them, too."

Here's how it breaks down...

GIRLS:  Shylit, Noggins, Allison and Millie
BOYS:  Thomas, Roberto, Michael and FoulGroan

Movies I Want My Girls to See

"My father used to say that if we ever had the money you have, 
we would eat steak and ice cream three times everyday!" 

We invited a couple little buddies over this afternoon to watch the Hayley Mills classic, "Pollyanna."  This is part of my new effort to expose my daughters to films (mostly old musicals) I checked out regularly from our local library and inhaled as a kid.  I don't want to leave any out, so here's a start for my "to check out (or maybe even own)" collection.  Suggestions?  

• Pollyanna (Mills)
• Newsies
• Annie
• Parent Trap (Mills)
• Swiss Family Robinson
• Music Man
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (I had forgotten the main character is Milly!)
• Little Women (Hepburn and Danes/Ryder versions)
• Oklahoma!
• Wizard of Oz
• Mary Poppins
• Thoroughly Modern Millie
• Sound of Music
• Funny Girl
• Fiddler on the Roof
• The King and I
• Singing in the Rain
• My Fair Lady
• South Pacific
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown
• Hello, Dolly!
• Summer Magic
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks
• Absent-Minded Professor

Kindergarten!

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

OH!  

THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers

who soar to high heights.

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!

There are points to be scored.  There are games to be won.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...

be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!