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The Tale of Two Siblings
These two Keiglets have a special little bond. Many is the morning that I find them reclining on the sofa together, London reading books out loud to her little brother. London keeps a list of daily activities and ideas on a dry erase board she has in her bedroom. (She’s a natural-born planner, apparently those genes are strong.) One day I noticed her list went something like this: Play Legos. Water my garden. Bake scones. Bathe Otto. When I asked her why she felt the need to add a cleansing routine for her young brother to her list, she responded, “When we were cuddling last night – I noticed he smells bad.”…
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Tuesday.
I’ve been quiet for a few days. Well. That’s not at all true. I’ve been quiet here online for a few days. In real life, the one I’m living and breathing, I haven’t actually been quiet at all. Quiet is not really my strength. But I have been busy. You know, with the stuff of life. The raising of many wonderful humans. The addition of a half dozen new chickens to partially replace the fowl lost in the spring massacre. The embracing of sunshine. The shopping for groceries. The sitting on the porch. The good stuff. We are wrapping up school at our house. Struggling to ever head to bed…
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How To Start Your Own Book Club
Two years ago I had an idea. I wanted my girls to look forward to talking about books. I wanted my daughters to discover that discussing ideas found in great books is actually fun. I wanted my daughters to see their friends, and their friends’ mothers, talking together about books and ideas instead of about boys and people’s clothes. I wanted to use inspiring literature to help me understand my girls better. I wanted inspiring literature to help my daughters understand themselves better. I wanted to spend time with my daughters. I was loaned this book – 100 Books for Girls to Grow On by Shireen Dodson. (Yes, I’ve already confessed that…
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Simple and Sweet – Today’s Winner Is …..
I’m keeping it simple and sweet today. I’m just going to tell you who won. (Mainly because it’s waaaay past a Keigley kid’s bed time when I am typing this and I’m not going to wake them up for a sleepy photograph.) I just received a few of Sweet Blue’s too cute little bow ties and hair ribbons myself – so I can guarantee you’re going to find them irresistible. So. Yes. Ahem. The winner is ………………………… JULIE! (There’s only one Julie so I don’t have to use your last name!) YOU are the winner! It’s so fun to know that you have both a little gent or two (or…
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Why I Am Not Writing A Post About My Mother on Mother’s Day
Sunday will be Mother’s Day. I have nothing against the holiday. I like my breakfast in bed as much as the next mom. Actually, I may like mine even a little more than the next mom as my children have grown increasingly skilled in the art of cooking. I no longer have to endure sticky, smothered open-faced peanut butter toast served with a side of dripping-down-the-glass orange juice and an apple that has fallen off the plate twice before it made its way to my breakfast in bed tray. I might actually get an omelet made to order with gouda cheese and chives and kiwi cut in a delicate pattern…
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Walnut Grove. Plum Creek. Oh, the Places We’ll See.
Every time we’ve finished another one of the nine Little House books this year I’ve wanted to weep a bit. (Now that I’ve confessed that I’m a crier, why try to disguise it anymore?) For, you know, a myriad of reasons. I. Love. These. Books. I love them for what they are – a treasure of memories from a girl whose life might not have seemed to matter at the time she was living it but whose life, when viewed collectively, is a history and a recollection of an era and a family and a lifestyle fading into our country’s past. I love them for what they have brought to our…
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Sweet Blue: A Giveaway!
Hey guys – remember how just last week (or the week before – I blame my unreliable memory on age – or my plethora of children – or the air – or whatever) I had this really great little giveaway? So many of you responded and sadly, only one of you could win. (Meaghan placed an order already – I was thrilled to hear that! And she already has her shea soaps and whatnot is enjoying them!) Anyway – the giveaway was all so much fun that I figured – if the first giveaway is a good time – then surely a second giveaway will be a good time too!…
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Small space. Big changes.
A while back I had a black sharpie in my hand, a bathroom decor I didn’t really love and a couple of random ideas from Pinterest. The current curtains were brown and leftover from another room in another house. They just looked tossed together. Because they were. I had this little stack of cute ruffled curtains I had in the kitchen but had taken down to wash and had never returned them to their respective kitchen homes. Turns out being lazy about returning kitchen curtains works out well for improving the bathroom. Then the real fun started. In a throwback to my childhood days (goodness, my mother was gracious to…
Keep Reading . . .
In Praise of Small Homes
a thank you, thirty years later.
an apology/not an apology
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Spring.
Every house has a season, right? You know – a season that shows off that particular home’s best features? Like people have a good side, I think houses do too. Or, I don’t know, maybe every house has the same best season. Anyway. This house for sure has a best season. It’s spring. For certain. Spring. When the heat is turned off so you aren’t cursing your cold fingers and wearing sixteen layers and seeing your breath in the laundry room and still paying four hundred plus dollars to the power man. Spring. When the window are open and the breeze is blowing and the green green green outside is…
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a video: off the charts cute
Your browser does not support the video tag Otto Fox is a boy who gets attached to certain songs. Currently – it’s “Switzerland” by The Last Bison. I can’t get enough of the expressions and enunciation when he sings this song. All eighty times each day.
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Here We Go: The Winner Announced
I’ve got my act together. The possum was returned to the woods. I wrote down a number for every entry (and yes – if you liked Elly’s Facebook page you were given two numbers) and I put all those numbers inside a coffee mug I found placed on the school room table. (I’m not sure it was clean, but noone’s drinking these slips of paper anyway.) I am so excited to have so many entries – thank you guys for visiting Bethany’s website and for liking her page. I’d truly love to hear about any orders you place with her and what your thoughts are about her products after you’ve…
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the best laid plans ….
I know. You’re on the edge of your seat. You’ve been rechecking this website every six and half minutes. I can’t wait to tell you who won this giveaway. I can’t wait. But I’m going to. Wait, that is. I’m going to wait for just one more day. Not to drag out some long suspense or build tension with dramatic music playing in the background. Nothing profound or incredible. I’m just out of hours in a day and I’m a little sleepy. There was school this morning – like most every morning. But math was interrupted by Kevin returning from a meeting and making a simple announcement, “There’s a baby…
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it’s the waiting.
Sometimes I fall upon previous posts I’ve written at just the right time to be able to preach to myself a little. It’s funny how life works out like that. (Sort of like my iPod shuffle -eh?) We have a little touch of the limbo happening at our house – a little waiting for some details to work out for Riley for college in the fall, a little waiting for some ebb and flow to work out with Noble Fox, a little waiting for some decisions to make as a family. I wrote this when my now nine-year-old gift-giving son was just a short-haired four-ish year old. And it was…
