No they did not happen at the same time - none the less it has been a BIG day and a BIG week.  Earlier this week Edie Grace’s two dangling front teeth finally gave up so now it is official - the photographer mom has a snaggle tooth daughter.  The tooth fairy made two visits in one week so Edie Grace experienced a windfall of cash in her piggy bank. 

We have been teaching her to understand the importance of saving and giving.  She keeps three envelopes in her room now and one is her spending envelope, one is her saving envelope and the last is her giving envelope.  I am so amazed that we have to encourage her not to put out all of her money in the giving envelope.  DeWayne says she definitely gets that from me.  I truly enjoy giving more than spending.  I am inspired by Rick Warren’s philosophy of reverse tithing.  Because of the success of his book, “The Purpose Driven Life” he now lives on 10% and gives 90% away.  This is certainly a goal I hope to achieve one day.  How wonderful must that be?  In fact, if I could - I would never charge for my work.  It is such a thrill for me to do what I love so much that I would give it away - just to see your face and know how important my portraits will be to you in the years to come.  But thank goodness I married DeWayne and he keeps me grounded.  He keeps saying something about it being important to eat and have shelter…who knew?

The other reason he feels that she is not concerned with the spending envelope is that we buy whatever she wants - which is not completely true.  OK she is spoiled - but I am working on that also!

Moving on…today Edie Grace asked DeWayne if we could take her bike out to my mom’s and practice riding without training wheels.  She told him that she thought she would learn to ride her bike today.  We both had flashbacks to her first ice skating adventure.  She had watched the Disney movie Ice Princess and was convinced that this was her destiny.  After about five minutes on the ice - she thought that something was terribly wrong.  It is so easy in the movie - what on earth could be creating all these problems with her ice skating abilities?

We loaded up the bike and headed out for our adventure.  We realized that both tires were flat so we had to find my mom’s air pump - which was an adventure in itself.  Now that we had tires full of air - we were ready.  Mom has this perfect circular drive at her house (you know the perfect beautiful HUGE house that your parents build AFTER you move out - definitely another blog) with a gate so no stray cars can come torment the child on the bike.  She told Edie Grace she built the driveway just so she could learn to ride her bike.  I lost count how many times dad and daughter went around that circle - each time Edie Grace gained a little more confidence.  She would fall down - brush herself off and climb back on - determined to ride that bike unassisted all the way around the circle.

SUCCESS occurred as Edie Grace finally made it all the way around.  I was prouder than Eli Mannings mom must be tonight.  I had all the rush of wonderful memories of learning to ride my back with my grandmother Edith (Edie Grace’s namesake) and grandfather Harold.  They had a wonderful house with a long concrete driveway -  also perfect for learning to ride a bike.  I was seven - so again Edie Grace beat her mom.

I remember reading the book in college entitled “All I need to know I learned in kindergarten” or something like that.  If only I would conquer things with the level of determination she displayed today.  If only I learned to hop back up every time I was knocked down and climb back on for another determined ride.  If only I learned to celebrate each small success and appreciate it for what it means.  If only I understood how this small event would become the foundation of so many more wonderful events in life.  If only….  how many times have you said that….today or this week?

Edie Grace, thanks for all the things you teach me daily!  I am so PROUD of you and so blessed by you!

Love,

Mom