Bergen Hawkeye
Anyone can slay a dragon . . . but try waking up every morning and loving the world all over again. That's what it takes to be a real hero.
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Kids in the Kitchen: A Regular Plan
After London spent a day planning and creating all three meals for our family recently the other kids wanted to take a more active role in food preparation too. So I made a plan. I do love a plan. For now it’s primarily a plan for London, Mosely and Bergen since they can work more independently, but we’ll add in Piper and Otto as time allows. When I’m doing my weekly meal planning, usually Saturday sometime, I have the kids each choose a meal and a menu for one day the following week. To inspire them (and me) I check out cookbooks from the library and also use our own…
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say what you think, son.
Dinner table. He’s down to the last few bites of salad left in his bowl. Bergen turns to me. “Momma, do I have to eat the last two leaves in my bowl?” he asks, pointing to the arugula. “No,” I tell him. “You’ve eaten all the rest. You can be finished.” He smiles. “Good. To me this tastes like melted PVC pipes.”
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Hawkeye’s Ode.
Hawkeye. Every time you laugh, I know you mean it. Your eyes are searching and your hand resting on my shoulder is a blessing to my core. Being your momma is a treasure and an honor and as often as you jump and hop and flit and wander off is as often as I think about how blessed and full you have made my life. Like sunshine, you are to me. Like warm tea on a cool evening. Like a good gift. Like a rainy morning when you get to sleep late and lounge all day. Like light. Like flowers on a mountainside. You are all joy.
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parenting blues
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real life conversations overheard.
Mosely and Bergen were chatting on the front porch. “Hey Bergen,” she says. “We have matching pants – both jeans.” “Yeah,” Bergen acknowledges. “Well, kind of, I guess,” Mosely changes her tone. “Your jeans are not really blue. They’re more like green and brown with dirt all over them.” To which Bergen Hawkeye responds, with a shrug of his eight-year-old boy shoulders, “I lead a rugged life.”
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cover blown.
Bergen is a night owl. I guess he inherited it straight from both of his parents. And occasionally a part of his solitary evening involves him lying in bed and working out plans to quietly enter our bedroom after we have fallen asleep and cuddling up under the covers with us for the remainder of the night. Now – I’ve always known this was true. I mean, a boy in your bed the next morning is a pretty easy give away. Recently, however, Bergen’s slip of the tongue gave him away twice. First time: “I don’t care for that one squeaky area at the bottom of the steps,” Bergen confided.…
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little man words.
One thing I love about kids in the mid-elementary school years …. their evolving, thinking brains. They’re just so clever and interesting. And they find the world around them new and intriguing. It’s all so glorious somehow. My nature-loving, full force, energetic eight-year-old boy came to me with a tiny piece of paper last week. He placed it in my hand. It was another poem. (This kid’s getting prolific.) And I think it’s really observant and lovely and inspiring and true. It reads … “Though the trees only wither in winter, joy comes again in the shape of the first bud.” If I was going to title this poem, I…
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Hawkeye.
This boy. Oh. He just has my heart. He starts third grade next week and that just is too old to be true. Too fast. He still wants me to cuddle in bed at night. He creates games with his little brother and isn’t embarrassed to hold Otto’s hand and tell me how cute Otto looks. Inspired by his big sister, he made his first attempt at a Lord of the Rings inspired dish. Lembas bread. It was really good. And this week he asked me if it would be okay if he painted something. I said yes. He asked me to not watch what he was painting. He said…
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I can’t believe we said yes: what love will make you do.
Last week we celebrated Bergen Hawkeye’s birthday. Up until now, the guest list for most Keigley kid birthday events has been almost exclusively grown ups. Usually summer staffers. But this year we invited a few of Bergen’s buddies, drew out a couple treasure maps and created challenges for each of the kids. Turned out to be a perfectly sweet evening with fun and games and kind friends and chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. (Bergen didn’t want any food dye in his icing.) A few days before the party, my friend sent me this text. “Can we get Bergen two parakeets for his birthday?” I responded, “Um, are you kidding?”…
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my boy turns eight.
Today we are celebrating Bergen Hawkeye Norton. A boy whose life has changed ours. A boy who has introduced our entire family to bird watching and helped encourage us to continue our good food journey. A passionate little man whose feelings are more sensitive than his knees. A fellow with a tendency to follow. A cuddler and a grinner. I love him. Every baby changes the face of a family. But when I met Bergen Hawkeye, a baby whose name was chosen before we had even officially decided we wanted to have children, I knew immediately my heart was tied to his in a way I couldn’t explain. I felt…
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your vote counts. or other such political rhetoric.
Kevin likes coffee. We both like local businesses. Our town has a great little coffee shop in the emerging downtown area. And that great little coffee house held a contest recently. People were invited to submit ideas and the winner’s artwork would become a t-shirt. Well, Kevin likes coffee and our children like art. Piper Finn, London and Bergen all decided to enter the contest. They sent off their masterpieces. And time passed. Then, the top five entries were chosen by The Forest staff. And one of those possible winning entries was created by our little man -Bergen Hawkeye. All five entries are featured on The Forest Facebook page. The…
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This Age.
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my boy . . . .
He laughs at Shel Silverstein. Laughs loudly and deeply. Tugs on my arm and says, “Listen to this one.” Reads the funniest poems out loud and waits for my response, blue eyes staring expectantly. Playing a geography game he announces, “Mom – we should visit Iowa. They’re for me – they’re the Hawkeyes.” And then this ….. “Mom – want to draw with me?” My favorite request. Not because my sketch pad looks awesome, but because I love this seven-year-old and it seems with each passing day that he lingers by my side less and less. “Yes, I want to sit on the front porch and draw with you.”
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Educate Bergen and Myself. Please.
I’ve mentioned it casually on my Facebook page, but I’ve decided that now it’s time to bring it to the blog. My boy Bergen is concerned about our health. He’s a label reader. Well – he’s just a reader reader. He can’t help himself apparently. And he is a Question Asker. I’m glad he’s both. I’m glad he reads. And I’m glad he questions. Lately his questions are thus ….. What’s soy lecithin? Why does this cereal have BHT? Should we be eating high fructose corn syrup? I’ve explained when I’ve known the answer. And I’ve googled letters and abbreviations and symbols. I’ve allowed him to read news articles discussing…
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Bergen Hawkeye, HomeLife, Keiglets, London Eli Scout, Mosely Ella Claiborne, Otto Fox Wilder, Piper Finn Willow, Riley Amber
What They’ve Been Up To Lately
Scrambling eggs. Becoming increasingly obsessed with The Lord of the Rings. (Despite the fact that none of our children have ever watched even one of the films.) Saying “happy new year” after every sentence, regardless of appropriateness to the conversation. Speed reading through The Hobbit. Taking her first college level science class, complete with weekly three hour lab. Painting drumsticks red without anyone’s permission. Wearing a Snow White costume on top of her normal clothes. Reading food labels and researching soy lecithin. Attempting to stop sucking her thumb every morning and forgetting about the challenge every evening. Baking Aunt E’s Famous Pizza Dough recipe solo. Creating miniature paper cutouts of…
