Chaos
Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure. - Rumi
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Remember When?
This is a recent photo of the Little Willow. The “bigger” kids dressed her up one day. For no reason. And yesterday was Halloween. Which, at the Keigley house, did not imply anything out of the ordinary this year. Kevin and Riley ran a race. The rest of the kids and I had a less-than-financially successful yard sale. We relaxed in the afternoon, went to the store, had tacos for dinner and watched a movie with friends. You know – the regular. But this Halloween made me think of last Halloween. And that made me laugh. And since yesterday was so . . . . normal, I thought I might…
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No Longer
No longer will I look scornfully upon you when I notice your child walking down the street wearing only one flip flop. Maybe your daughter just tripped on her left flip flop, took it off and used her teeth to try to “fix” the problem, thus creating a new problem – a completely unwearable piece of footwear. And maybe you were only a block or so away from your car anyway so it just made more sense to walk back to the car with her one shoe-less than to really address the problem on the street with four other children in addition to the one-shoe-wonder walking down the street.No longer…
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Operation Potty Traing: A Family Affair
I don’t enjoy potty training. It’s one of my least favorite parenting tasks. I don’t enjoy changing diapers either really, but somehow, for me, potty training is worse than a gross, but speedy and predictable diaper change. So Piper is two and has been talking about the potty for some time. Lately, she’s even begun to request a new diaper post-poo. I guess those are the generally accepted signs that she’s more ready than I am to start this messy, time-consuming journey. I decided to adopt my husband’s well known philosophy of not playing around. I immediately began employing a system that involves bribery and back up. I explained the…
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What Is She Wearing?
My friend Mandy and I were on our way to our weekly Bible study. The kids were all buckled into their seats, quietly enjoying our little ride. “Mommy. I think Piper just threw up,” Bergen said. “No, I don’t think so Berg.” “Yeah. I think she did,” he said. “I throw up,” Piper announced. Mandy turned around to verify the facts. “Uh. Yes. She did throw up.” We were almost at church so we kept heading in that direction so we could clean her up there. Not to get too graphic, but it was pretty much a pure strawberry yogurt type of throw up. More than likely brought on by…
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Try This
I think I have just discovered a breakthrough diet plan. Maybe even revolutionary. It’s low cost, convenient and it really works. (I can prove its effectiveness. I am not a paid actor. This is a true story.) First, you need a cup of something ridiculously hot. Steaming, in fact. Boiling couldn’t even hurt. (Something like, say, your own invention of a vanilla steamer made in your microwave.) The next step is the most important step. Place the cup in your hand. Do not blow on the cup’s contents. Do not! Raise the cup to your mouth And drink a full sip. (The bigger the gulp, the better.) There. Now you…
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Wasting Time
So I’m pretty sure God doesn’t like facebook, my blog or even the internet in general. Okay. I really don’t believe that. But it might be true that God is not okay with the amount of time I waste on facebook in comparison to the amount of time I spend studying Him. And I kind of doubt He appreciates the number of times I check my blog as compared to the number of times I seek His face. Or the amount of time I spend sitting at the computer compared to the number of times I get away from the computer and actually do the good deeds I am supposed…
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Ice, Ice . . . (I can’t bring myself to finish this song lyric)
Maybe you can judge the state of my emotional health and well-being by the status of my ice box. I like ice. When we moved to our new home we purchased a lovely Samsung refrigeration unit that featured an ice maker. Because I like ice. But alas. Our home did not come equipped with a water connection to said ice maker. I was sad. Because I like ice. I do not like ice cube trays. I don’t like how they appear stackable but are in fact only stackable if the water is already frozen inside of them. That doesn’t make any sense. I was forced to reach a compromise, however.…
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At Our House
This morning I opened the refrigerator. I found these. Perfectly logical – right?
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The Truth
Who wants to be real today? Really real. You know, my favorite posts are the ones that offer some insight, some truth, however small it is. This isn’t one of those posts. I also sort of like the ones that are just plain funny. Where you see how hilarious kids can be when they just open their mouths. You won’t find that here today. Today is just a regular day. With a regular message. Or no message really. All of these things that I write? These little bits of insight here and there? The God-inspired ones? They only feel true sometimes. Even if they are true all the time. So…
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No Longer
No longer will I pass judgement upon you when I hear your kid screaming six aisles over while shopping at Wal-Mart. Perhaps you have just run over your daughter’s hand with the grocery cart and that is the reason for her ear-piercing wails.No longer will I assume you are lazy when I see you leave your shopping cart in the parking lot, far away from the cart return place. Maybe you just left the store without finishing your full purchasing potential because your daughter’s hand was crushed and your infant son needed to eat and your six year old daughter had just informed you that your toddler’s car seat had…
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Multi-Task Madness
Women are Queen Multi-Taskers. And we have this whole network of women out there who are doing simple things better and faster. So we should collaborate a little more often – quit reinventing the wheel all the time – right? What I am saying is – what do you do that cuts down a few of your chores every day? How do you save time or money or energy or effort in some way that you think maybe everyone else is doing, but we really aren’t? I’ll go first. It’s a little one. And you may already do this. Or do this better. That’s good. But here it is anyway.…
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Normal
Yesterday was just a normal day at the Keigley household. If you consider this normal: 7 something a.m. – In the shower. Riley enters the bathroom. I don’t recall any sound of someone knocking. She’s on the phone with her tutor and wants to know if we can change that morning’s tutoring session to an hour later. I think an hour later is a great idea. 7 something a.m. – I am exiting the shower. Towel wrapped around my body. London sheepishly enters the room holding a used diaper. I smell poop. Naturally, I am suspicious. Apparently London tried to “help” the family cause and attempted to change Finn’s diaper…
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Not Yet Two
That second year of every child’s life is supposed to be the killer one, right? I mean, the year has gotten so bad historically that someone gave the entire 365 days a special name – The Terrible Two’s. I don’t have any two-year-olds living in my house right now. But I have this one kid, who is NOT two, mind you, who spent her day trying to live like a legendary Terrible Two. After breakfast I stepped into the bathroom. (Uh-oh. I should know better than to do that, right?) When I emerged, mere mili-seconds later, I heard Piper making interesting sounds in the other part of our house. I…
