HomeLife
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. - Annie Dillard
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five finds friday (the best popcorn, a great sermon, ear cuffs and we need a new funny show)
The entire family knew, going into the summer, that this week would be a wild one. Art camp for one. Math classes all week for two. Birthday party. School planning session. And all the regular stuff. Jobs. Meals. And my dad visiting us too. It’s been a good week but I’m thankful to see the weekend around the corner. funny Lately I’ve been obsessed with Jimmy Fallon’s hashtags. #WhyILostMyJob #MyPetIsWeird #WhyI’mSingle and so on. They are hilarious and ludicrous. The length of the videos is just the right time – short and sweet. But if you’ve got more than a minute – it’s okay to watch six of them. Also.…
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swipe left.
Every once in a blue moon, I let myself get a little distracted and I wander down the virtual aisles of Bumble. Okay – twice. I have done this twice. If you don’t know what Bumble is – you’re pretty lucky. It’s a free dating app where people create a brief profile to find other people interested in dating. In this particular app, you see a photo and then you swipe on that photo. Left means “no thank you” and a right swipe means “let’s talk”. Or something like that. I am no expert here. In fact, mostly I am a disinterested person, but occasionally, with friends or on a…
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fast forward: pause: resume
I have not spent much time over here in weeks. (I miss it.) The summer has been F U L L . I was lamenting to a friend with children of similar age recently: Remember when we decided some activity for our family and everyone got in the car and did that activity together because there was no such thing as choice? Remember when a busy week meant we took the toddlers to the zoo one day AND to the museum on a different day? Phew – what a full week. Missed two naps in one week??? We were so wild and crazy. Remember when every child was sound asleep…
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Six Steps to Hiking & Adventuring With Kids
I like traveling with my kids. I like taking adventures with my children. I like hikes and being outside and going places with them. (This is beginning to sound like some sort of confessional. Are you waiting for the “however” or the “but”?) Exploring with my family has always been on the top of my list of favorite activities. This summer the kids and I drove 5,000 miles and hiked a handful of trails. We rode horses. We toured through four National parks in Utah and we went glamping for the first time. We saw the Grand Canyon and we drove across this gorgeous bridge in some state (I cannot…
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five finds friday (except it’s four because I ran out of time)
Every stage of parenting has its perks – and its disadvantages. With a newborn, you’re sleep deprived. But – when you place the baby on your bed, she cannot go anywhere else. With a toddler, diaper changes are disgusting – but the phrases and words they say are hysterically funny and worth daily recording. With teenagers – they’re good at conversations and adventures. But – when they can’t drive yet, they depend on you to take them to ALL the places ALL the time. All I do is drive, drive, drive. Short trips. Repeated trips. Back and forth trips. It’s the summer of going here and there – a…
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going dark . . .
It’s funny that we have a phrase for this. That “going dark” can be seen in so many different lights. (I make puns as if it were my job. Even when it’s not my job.) When I was planning for our trip to Colorado and Utah, I was talking with my Travelers Rest Here Intern/IG Diva/Really Gigantic Helper about what she would be doing while I was gone. I told her I would be completely off the grid for a while. She suggested I write a post when I returned called “going dark”. I’m taking her advice. Going Dark. For some it sounds like a dream. Shutting it all down…
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five finds friday (the right ice, a great kid, gorgeous views)
I’m not sure how quality this Five Finds can be this week. I never enjoy the return to the work week after a fantastic vacation – but this week has been extra The Worst. Talk about Slow Motion. That’s my speed currently. Or backwards. That speed too. Can’t seem to kick the sickies and don’t love dwelling on it. So I’ll give it a go over here – typing as slow as I’ve been moving all week long. funny On the road (with nearly 5,000 miles under our belt) we listened to a variety of different podcasts. One of the funniest was one recommended to us called Everything is Alive.…
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still here …..
After leaving the ranch we spent a pretty glorious and adventure filled couple of days trekking it together through Utah. Over the Rocky Mountains, to a handful of Utah’s famous National Parks. We spent a day each at Arches, Bryce and Zion and a short spell at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We saw landscape – in the same state – so varied and distinct and beautiful and stunning that I had a hard time taking it all in. My phone photo storage is at max capacity. (So is my iCloud storage too – is that normal?) I really want to unpack all we saw and all we…
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here we go ….
School is out. We’re packing these boots up and heading to the ranch. It’s a mess up in here trying to gather all we need for a (very) long drive across this beautiful U.S. Kids requested “mommy meals” based on a story in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. And I don’t know when you’ll hear from me again on a blog – maybe soon, maybe not. It’s hard to type while driving. (Kidding. Kidding.) But you can follow along on Instagram if you’re into that sort of thing. I love pretty much every part of this adventure. Even the long hours in the car with no DVD player…
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five finds friday (ankle boots, shaved ice, another great book)
We’re all doing the “school is almost over” happy dance this week at my house. Isn’t it always surprising how many other tasks can get accomplished when you remove one large every day item from your schedule? It’s been a happy week of slow mornings and wrapping up history lessons. Of finishing our geography studies and tapering off any novels and other books we are reading. The weather has been most cooperative and the mornings have felt like a true spring and a cup of tea on the deck in the cool of the morning is divine. funny I’ve probably already written about this show. You guys, I can hardly…
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the burrow: a dining room tour
In progress. That’s my kitchen and dining room. But – mostly done. Of course, if you know me and my affinity for rearranging furniture and wall spaces and everything in between, then you know any home I live in will always, in part, be a work in progress. Despite the unstained shelves and the barn door that eventually needs stain or paint, I’m going to give you all a little tour. The best place to start is always the beginning. This is my house. (Pre new roof and pre new kitchen.) The plan was to enclose the carport and turn it into a dining room. My dear friend from Virginia…
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epiphany: the order of things
For the last four and a half years there has been a lot on my plate. What other cliches could I use? My hands are fullPlates have been spinning.I’m constantly putting out fires. For months now (possibly longer) I’ve been going to bed and I’ve been waking up with the same question. How can I keep doing all this? For months I’ve been having random, short conversations with friends and lengthy long internal conversations with myself. What can I drop? How can I manage my time better? There have been no real answers. When you homeschool in the state of South Carolina (or maybe every state – I don’t know)…
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rocks & roots
For YEARS we’ve been collecting rocks at random places. It’s the easiest souvenoir idea when you have lots of little kids. “You know what kids? Instead of a t-shirt or a toy that will break before we cross the state line, you can each have your very own souvenoir – that’s right. A rock!” Over the years some have been lost. Some have been left behind at other homes. Some have disappeared. But we still have a handful of them. Some with actual names and dates in Sharpie. On some the Sharpie has worn off. Some are so unique we actually remember the river from whence it originated. After our…
