Full of love

{Sling Diaries: LOVE}





























April is a busy month around here, as we celebrate 3 birthdays that are each one week apart. Anya's birthday fell on Easter this year. We decided to celebrate it by doing the things we love to do, enjoying each other's company (small fights don't count), visiting Mark's parents, savoring our time outside and eating the cake I spent all night baking. It made me happy to see the girls opening their presents with so much excitement (yes, all the girls got their present from grandparents on the same day, to cut down on traveling back and forth). And it made me even happier to see all the kids appreciate and enjoy our late evening walk around the farm. I could tell they were trying to soak in the freedom they all of the sudden had, running wildly (since their mom didn't have to freak out about them getting too close to the street :), exploring gopher holes and just being out in the open, with the view so much different than the city where they live in. Oh, how much I love those walks and hikes outside, away from the busy traffic and dirty air.

We always bring a carrier or two when we take kids on hikes, so grabbing a sling on the way out was more of a habit for me. Ivy, being her busy almost-2-year-old-and-want-to-run-everywhere self preferred to take a few nose dives and face plants into the dirt, rather than ride in the sling. Anya ended up being the one who wanted a ride, feeling perfectly content with me carrying her all the way back (lucky me I grabbed a very toddler friendly sling). I didn't mind, she's 4 now and there may not be many more of such moments of closeness brought by babywearing left for us. I'm going to enjoy them whenever I can, as long as I can...



P.S. speaking of her birthday, I watched her birth video again (link on the left). Can't help it, still cry when I see her amazing entrance into the world. She did such a great job of cooperating with me on that day :)

Something to give

This is exactly what we got for $26 at Farmer's Market on Saturday, minus the spinach bunch, which Maya bought with her own $2. She had $3 burning a whole in her pocket, so she get herself some spinach and gave her last dollar to a little boy playing violin at the market. Remember the piano playing at the market? We got a CD with those 2 guys playing the music. Six tracks, beautifully played on a coolest piano I've ever seen, how could we resist.

On our way home we were waiting at the traffic light to cross the street. Mark started talking to a man with a sign that said something like 'anything helps'. Having just spent every dollar and coin at the Farmer's market, all we could offer was some carrots and a bag of peas (they could be eaten right away), and both were gladly accepted. Mark kept chatting, I was watching kids making sure they wouldn't take off at a busy intersection (they have a history of doing just that). The green light came on and then off, but we were in no rush, enjoying this opportunity to talk to the homeless man (Mark probably asked for his name, but I wouldn't remember anyway, I'm really bad with names).

I wondered how many people went past him that morning, without noticing or trying not to notice. And what would it feel like to stand there and see people looking away in the opposite direction time and time again. I know we've done that in the past too. Not because we had anything against homeless people, but because we simply didn't put much thought and effort into noticing them, acknowledging their presence with either smile and a quick 'hello' or a brief conversation. Somehow, in this past year it started happening, we keep coming across articles, thought-provoking video clips, and just getting all these messages from unexpected places and experiences, telling us that it is not enough to simply *not* be mean or judgmental towards homeless people, that we can do more, we can do better, even if it's something as simple as showing kindness through words or smile.


I never got around to posting about one of my outings with Anya back in May. It was her turn to have one-on-one 'date' with me, so she picked going to the park and feeding the ducks as our activity. I was happily taking photos of Anya throwing corn at the ducks, when we got approached by an older gentleman. You could tell from his weathered skin, infected eye, and worn out clothes, that he's been living on the streets for quite some time. He smiled with a wide toothless smile, and offered Anya some crackers (sealed in a package and unexpired). We started talking but didn't get too far because Anya wanted to go around the pond.










We spent some time walking around, feeding the ducks and taking photos, until we completed the circle and came back to the point where we started, with our new friend sitting on the bench next to all his belongings, sharing his cereal with ducks and pigeons. So we started talking again. I found out a little about his life, where he was from, and also that he used to enjoy old-school photography back in the days. It was fun to discover that we had something in common and he did his best to remember and write down the names of his favorite cameras (spelling Mamiya and Hasselblad was not easy for him), which he probably didn't talk about to anyone in years...

When the time to say our good-byes came, I got brave and asked if I could take a photo of him, to which he graciously agreed and even asked if I was going to put it 'on the internet' (he didn't mind). Then he asked me if he could take a photo of Anya and I (yes, f course!), and I could tell by the expression on his face how excited he was to hold a camera in his old shaky hands again.


It was a memorable outing for both Anya and I (and for this kind old man too, I hope). I pray that as she and all our children keep growing, the message of being kind to people will stay imprinted in their hearts and memories.

yes, he blew us a kiss at the end :)

And lastly, hope you can find a couple of minutes to watch this short clip...

P.S. Speaking of kindness, Nicole just made me cry with her post today. Got another few minutes to spare? Go here and read it, and maybe you will be inspired to 'commit' a random act of kindness too :)

Another week.

It's been a busy week. Wish I could say we've been up to all kinds of fun. But in reality, our busy-ness can mostly be blamed on sickness in our family. Ivy got sick first, then Anya followed her germ trail. Maya and Elijah picked up the crumbs just a few days ago. Unfortunately, those two don't slow down when they are sick (unlike Ivy, who for a couple of days just wanted to sleep and snuggle). If the peak of their sickness can be pinpointed by the amount of lacking judgment and rationality, then I'd say those two reached it on Monday. Good thing there was no cliff within walking distance to jump off. Luckily, Mark answered my distress call and came home early. So here I am, diligently documenting our happenings instead of catching up on sleep...

To sum it up in photos, our weeks consisted of:

the sick (and very cuddly) baby. I could use some of that cuddliness on regular days, without Ivy getting sick. Hear that, baby?


the yummy (gluten-free) food. still loving "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" by Annalise G. Roberts.





(just a quick mix of leftover polenta with sundried tomatoes and garlic, pan fired, served over spinach, with some feta cheese on top)

the latest favorite 'toy' (which they consider to be anything within their reach)








the artists. Anya's been perfecting her coloring skills by drawing sophisticated shapes and filling them in carefully.
















the bottomless pit of knitting projects. Including first practice pair of socks and now completed Shalom cardigan.






the I-slept-with-humidifier-in-my-room hair


the meaning of motherhood.
{picture a pile of my clothes used for wiping noses. against my will, I must add}

Perfect date

In spite of the lack of a lengthy and ambitious list of New Year's goals (I know, what a mouthful of "of's"), we do have a new 'thing' that Mark and I have been trying to stick to this year - having more one-on-one time with our children. We decided to take turns and go out on a 'date' with one of the 3 older kids (Ivy's getting plenty of attention by default), letting them take turns each week as well. This week it was Anya's and mine turns to go out. After hearing all about Elijah's fun time at the Church History Museum last week, we decided Anya would enjoy it too. We finally figured that Saturday would be the best day to go, and boy, did it we get that right...

The weather was perfect. In fact a bit too perfect for this time of year, but I won't complain. In addition, Katrina and her little ones joined us at the museum, which made our outing even more perfect for 2 reasons - I got to socialize with a real grown up (not just pretend ones, who get 'married' in our house every day), and I spared myself of a whole lot of 'butt kicking' that often comes as a result of not bringing your camera... or worse yet, bringing one, only to have the battery die after a few shots, which is exactly what happened. Luckily, Katrina and I have a lot in common, photography and Nikon cameras being two of those things (also, a slight addiction to 60% cocoa chocolate chips, out of all things). So I managed to end up with plenty of shots to overload this post, in spite of the fact that we kept swapping the battery between the two cameras.

Anya had heaps of fun at the museum, with the ship being her favorite, judging by how many times she went back there to lick the germs off the the plastic windows. It was such a joy to just watch her being *her*, without any influence from her siblings. She's pretty much a different child when no one steals her toys, pulls on her hair, or calls her 'Cinderella' instead of 'Buttercup'. Watching her fluttering around and enjoying the freedom that comes with me supervising only one child was priceless.

We ended up spending some time outside at the Temple Square, mostly sitting by the fountain or doing laps around it, letting Anya crawl or walk on the ledge (again, this is a one-child luxury). I remembered that last time Mark and I were at the Temple Square with one child was back when Maya was 2 months away from her second birthday and I was 2 months away from giving birth to Elijah. So yes, it's been a while.

I almost didn't want to show up at our rendezvous point where Mark was supposed to pick me and Anya up. I was secretly hoping that Anya would step out of her character and throw a tantrum when I told her it was time to go. But instead, she cheerfully took my hand and with her usual happy voice said "Let's go fast, mama!".

p.s. couldn't resist adding some of the photos that Katrina took, she captured Anya's spirit so beautifully...