HomeLife
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. - Annie Dillard
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practice. (unwelcome though it is)
Of course at the very instant that you choose a word, the worlds are going to collide and the earth is going to tremble and you’re going to get a chance to immediately test out your shiny new resolve. Did you really mean what you said? Were those just pretty words all lined up in a tidy row? Maybe I will start tomorrow. Today is just too hard. Let me have life just toss you a couple of curve balls and a few packaged disappointments and a frustrating situation and a hopeless feeling afternoon and some lunch bag left to spoil in the back of your car and a…
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the single word
For the past four years I’ve been following the lead of my friend Alece over at Grit & Glory as she started her One Word 365 community. The idea and the challenge is to pick one word – just one single word – to shape and define and strive toward for your year. That somehow always feels more manageable than a list of resolutions that I know I’ll never keep anyway. I hadn’t chosen my word last year when the bottom dropped out. It seemed as if all the words were being chosen for me in 2015. And I didn’t like any of them. I suppose in a lot…
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….. and coming up
Last night I was lying in bed with Piper, listening to her read a story about Sally and a dog. Next thing you know, I was waking up and the morning had arrived and I had no idea what happened to Sally and her dog or where the night had gone. I guess that happens from time to time, right? It’s the last day of 2015 and I don’t feel like doing one of those reflective blog posts about the past or the year’s highlights or any of that. Maybe on another day. Maybe never. As for the future – well – I don’t know how much I feel about…
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recalling the midnight hour last week
When they are finally all asleep I sort the gifts and stuff the stockings. I wander to the fridge and snag a leftover deviled egg. I sit by the tree and look at its lights. I love its pretty sparkliness. And I’ll love getting it out of the living room as soon as the Christmas bells stop ringing. I place the wrapped books gently at the foot of each sleeping child. I kiss that special spot on the bridge of their noses that I’ve been kissing since birth. Touch their chins and their cheeks. Especially my big kiddos. Because I can’t caress them as much when they are awake these…
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on the eve of it all.
Last weekend our favorite baby was making his debut stage appearance as the newborn baby Jesus in a children’s Christmas play. Of course we wanted to sit in the audience for that spectacular show. Also, some sweet friends were performing as well so we loaded up our chariot and drove forth across town. The play was everything right about a children’s Christmas performance and the fact that I was expecting something completely different made the evening so much the sweeter and more adorable. Otto sat in my lap and Piper was to my left and I had no young children in the show myself and I wasn’t directing a single…
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the traditions and the heavy lifting of holidays and the sliver of light I hope you find
This is a season of tradition. And tradition matters in the culture of a family. It’s the fabric and the face of a family. It’s what we do. It’s the stuff we do that makes us who we are. It’s the story we tell. “Every year we make monster cookies.” “Every year we see the lights and eat donuts.” And it’s what makes us feel like family. It’s the stuff that says Keigley or Johnson or insert-your-own-name. It’s the ties that bind. And it’s okay when circumstances shift or a family decides to begin a new tradition or to let an old one fade. But it’s hard too.…
Keep Reading . . .
The newest little human.
Five Finds Friday (Lost Valley Ranch Version)
Snap.Shot.
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The Bag System: Packing For a Road Trip With Many Children
We are mostly staying put for the holiday season this year, but that’s not true for everyone. I’ve shared a post before about all of my ideas for taking The Kid Carnival on the road. This is a post about how to pack for that special kind of chaos that is traveling with children that requires packing everything you need and everything you think you might need while still being able to see out the rearview mirror. Gretchen told me I should write a post about packing and I wasn’t kidding when I asked you guys the other day for ideas for future blog posts so here we go.…
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Five Finds Friday (seven)
One thing this Five Fridays is doing for me is reminding me that Friday comes fast. Really fast. Kind of. FUNNY How about we talk about what’s not funny instead? (You see my redirection there? It’s a parenting staple, is it not?) Ryder came in from his bathroom break tonight with a sloppy grin and something weird hanging out of his mouth. And then he ran to my bed and dropped the something weird that was formerly hanging out of his mouth. I don’t remember much after that but I’m pretty certain it involved tears and screams and cries for help and a changing of the…
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The Dollar Store Gift Idea That I Am Borrowing (and think you should borrow it too)
Hannah sent me a text. (How many decisions in my life do I make based on texts that I receive? I don’t want to know.) She had this link and said, “You should do this.” The website she sent me to was written by a mom of many who explained how her family created a tradition years earlier when her children were much younger. She and her husband wanted to teach their children to think about what their siblings and family members would like for gifts, to foster their relationships, to know the preferences of their family members and to provide an opportunity for all of the kids to purchase…
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monday mayhem. or – life.
I decided today I didn’t have time to think of a blog post with a beginning, a middle and an end. And sometimes I think about skipping writing on days like this. (And sometimes I do.) But then I remembered that I’m the writer of this blog and I make the rules on this tiny square footage of blogosphere. (I also make up words too. If I feel like it.) So I think I’ll just write about whatever I feel like because I like that. And because some days there is no tidy beginning, middle and end. Just life. Messy and hard and true and good and stinky and rainy…
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Five Finds Friday (six)
I finally finished that article. Take that, procrastination. Piper keeps announcing how many days are left until Christmas and that’s making me feel a little antsy or unprepared or something because, maybe it’s the weather, but it doesn’t feel all that Christmas-y to me yet. Although we did tour some Christmas trees downtown this week and that helped us all to get in the festive mood I think. It’s Friday though now, friends – and that means ….. FUNNY It’s a great age when your kids are genuinely funny people. Not potty humor funny or toddler mispronounced words funny or teenager kind of ridiculous funny but just straight up seriously…
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How To Make Your Children Love You More With One Easy Meal
I thought I left procrastination behind in college. But I was wrong. I have an article for another website due on a deadline and I just can’t seem to make myself put my brain in gear and get it done. I’ve checked Facebook and e-mail and Instagram. I’m sharing this picture of Bergen thinking math thoughts. The kitchen is clean. I paid a bill and I read a friend’s blog post. I took the dog outside and helped the kids work on a puzzle. You guys – I even finished the laundry. And now look at me. Just sitting here typing a post about how you can be the…
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one big old list of everything.
Today I am giving you a list. A holiday list so you can find all the goods from this blog in one handy dandy place. I’m so convenient like that. (And a few cute pictures tossed in as a bonus.) Games You May Want To Buy For Christmas Yam Slam Apples to Apples Timeline Perplexus Books You May Want To Give To Your Friends For Christmas Hannah Coulter The Help Folks, This Ain’t Normal Wild in the Hollow Above the Waterfall Books You May Want to Give Your Kids For Christmas Elijah of Buxton Homesick: My Own Journey The Burgess Animal Book Recipes You Might Want To Make For Christmas…
