Keiglets
The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs.
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The Adventure Center of Asheville
Last week the kids and I took the kind of adventure you just want to share with everyone you know. (You guys – it is just so fun to have big kids!) This adventure involved helmets and heights and wires and harnesses and conquering fears and pulling together as a team. And it was pretty close to home too. The Adventure Center of Asheville is just a couple of minutes from downtown Asheville, NC. As soon as I heard about their brand new KidZip, the first zip line in the country to be built especially for kids ages 4 to 10, I wanted to try it with my kiddos. (Our family…
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the forty-secondth one.
Last week (maybe the week before – who is keeping track of the days anyway?) was my birthday. I decided if there was ever a year for me to take matters into my own hands for my birthday celebrating, this was the year. When the kids asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday my answer was immediate. “I want to go find that Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and see some giant trees. And. I want all of your guys to go with me and be happy about it.” And so we did. And so they were. Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is a spot I have held in my imagination…
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soon, but not right now.
There’s a lot on my brain right now. And kind of nothing there at all. Do you know what I mean? I have so many posts jotted on backs of pages and wadded up in one of the three bags I routinely use. (My three bags range in size – small, medium, large. That’s all the options I need.) I miss the act of writing when a day is too full or the internet is too unavailable for me to accomplish the practice of words put to “page”. I’m still longing for the time when these words here make some sort of tangible income – be it through a book…
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my people
Every night we gather in our living room. Bodies piled on every surface in that small space. Arms linked. Feet resting on someone else’s legs. Heads on a sibling’s shoulder. We take up each other’s space. Animal sighting and outdoor adventures are jotted down in our Nature Notes for that day. We record happy bits of our lives in our Happiness Project book. And then we pray. Although the requests and the praises change from day to day, there are several phrases and burdens that are echoed night after night, a seemingly never answered outpouring of their precious young hearts. When it’s my turn to petition and approach the maker…
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The Texas Tally
Sometimes when we get together we end up counting things that happen – and we can barely keep up. $20.26 spent on candy at Mom and Pop’s Candy Store. 4,321 times that 8 children asked, “Can we have another piece of candy?” 13,241 steps Emma took today according to her FitBit. 6 times Emma told the kids, “Just one more picture.” 1 batch of delicious cake-like brownies Mosely made from scratch. 4 nights in a row that Jurassic Park has been on television. 18 times that Miller said, “No – you may not kiss me.” 13 door bell rings from neighbors wanting to play. 9 meatballs consumed by Bergen at…
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Texas ya’ll.
Texas is hot. It’s also in a different time zone. (But of course everyone knows that – right?) And it’s home to one of my favorite families and my favorite Emma. We have eight kids all together here and we are enjoying the high volume chattering and the endless snack consumption and the book reading and good times. We’ve been using incentives to encourage them to clean up – like offering them tokens that they can later exchange to buy popcorn with toppings for movie night. The boys ended their baseball seasons this weekend and we were able to watch a couple of games and see Colton wear his official…
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a big day. a little post.
Today the kids and I flew to Texas. We flew to Texas, you guys. The kids were incredible. I am so very tired. All I’ve got for you tonight are some photos. I hope that’s enough.
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overheard truth
And the sister said, “Do you know what we have during this sad time?” The other one asked, “What? What do we have?” “One another.”
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hello. kitty.
Mornings are still slow. The chalkboard wall that declares chores done and breakfast served by 8:30 every a.m. is a chalky liar lately. The culprits are obvious. Sleepless nights. Crowded beds. The other morning was an anomaly tough. A breakthrough. “Rise and shine,” I’m whispering to the sleepers beside me – of which there are only two. A small number, by comparison. I hear sounds that prove more than the usual morning chore activity is taking place. Some strong amounts of giggling. A too-loud-for-pre-breakfast voice announcing, “Genius Professor Kitty approaching.” Yes. I admit. I was mildly curious, but frankly, given our children’s propensity to dress up animals, I wasn’t overly…
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The Story of The Hike.
Remember our family camping campaign? Well, ever since we had the idea to camp monthly and to specifically visit South Carolina state parks, Edisto Beach State Park has been high on our list of must-visits. Somehow, though, it never happened. Mainly because it’s a super popular campground, apparently. It is frequently booked and reserving a campsite has been a challenge. Which is why we were extra excited to check Edisto off our list this past weekend. One of the many reasons we had been drawn to Edisto was the description on the state park’s website about the abundance of shells and fossils on the island, as well as one particular…
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just reminding myself
What My Life Is Not: a burden something I must endure days to get through rejected about me as the central figure a picture perfect plan in my control What My Life Is: a gift an opportunity a work of art poetry accepted rescued in God’s hands What My Children Are Not: my salvation a liability in my complete control victims hopeless What My Children Are: hopeful worth the sacrifice beautiful gifts incredible potential Jesus followers loved protected rescued
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Don’t Homeschool at Home Only
You know what’s cool about homeschool? (Eating breakfast at 10 a.m. Not packing lunches. Reading a funny novel out loud together with your kids. Watching your daughter develop good writing habits. Wearing your pajamas to math class. Allowing your fourth grader to have the opportunity to give art lessons to his younger siblings.) Wait. That wasn’t where this post was supposed to go. I’m going to start again. You know what’s great about homeschool? You don’t have to always do school at home! The staff here at Wildwood loves irony like that. Sure, we are home probably more than we are not. But it’s fun to take school on the…
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And The Middle Shall Be First
Twas the month of December and the tree was chopped down. No one can find the nativity scene but the tree stand magically reappeared after a two year hiatus. Christmas music blared and we all scrambled through the tissue paper and completely untidy array of ornaments treasured and tarnished and piled high in a less than glamorous Rubbermaid bin. We name every tree we get. I can’t pretend to recall the names of all of those trees but I do remember the first tree I ever decorated the first year I ever spent the holiday as a wife. Herbert. Herbert was a ratty old scrub cedar plucked from his life on a hillside…