When I began this blog, I said that I wouldn’t do tutorials. Then, I made birdseed ornaments with my kids and I thought I would share them with you. Here’s why I want to share these: I tried to make them last year. They were cute but crumbly. I don’t remember what kind of fat I used, but it may have been coconut oil. Whatever I used didn’t keep the ornaments together. Then, a couple months ago, I saw a picture of birdseed ornaments that…
The leaves are slowly falling, slowly changing, and I’m realizing that this autumn season makes me think that other things will change, that autumn is the best metaphor and I want to see all the pretty colors cover my world like a postcard. But life is not a postcard. –this is profound, I know. … Can the changing not be left to leaves and temperature, but used for life itself? –Life doesn’t follow nature’s seasons. Still, if I’m thinking about my life…
I know this is just a piece of torn notebook paper. I know the tape is rough and the leaves will turn. But my boy made this. After breakfast, I had -lovingly- shoved my noisy kids outside. They were too harsh for the walls of our home so I sent them where there are no walls.– Where they can run and jump and raise their voices. Where birds chirp quietly and bugs crawl under our feet. Where wild things live unseen….
Because it’s therapeutic just to journal about the day. Because in the thinking back, we can let go and find the beauty in our mundane. Because, in an effort to find significance where I am right now. It’s that place where kids are small and messes are big and none of us know what we’re doing. This morning, I woke up to a seven-year-old who had to go the bathroom and was eager to read The Boxcar Children. He said…
“What about Susan Joan?” he suggested. My face crumpled. “I don’t love either of those names.” “Susan means graceful lily,” he said. “Joan means God is gracious.” The names have further significance. Both of them are aunts that have played vital roles in my husband’s life, people who continuously shower others with bursting love and creativity. They brighten everything around them. Still, to me, the name sounded harsh. Susan Joan. Not like the beautiful names that sat on my own…
I had forgotten I drafted this post. Maybe it’s been a month. Then I wrote another because this thought lingers. So, though similar to my very last post, here is another attempt, a continuing exploration. … I’m still having trouble saying the word. I say it slowly, syllable by syllable. So-do-ku. It’s been years since the puzzles entered my life. Though I’ve never been an avid player, I’ve completed enough to know what they are. I should know how to…
Homeschooling is so strange. And as I write that sentence, I am caught with what may look like simple self-doubt. Surely, there is plenty of that in life without taking on the task of homeschool, and homeschool adds its own level of questioning. Because I homeschool, I am not only mother but teacher. Thankfully, my children are mostly willing and my husband is always helpful and encouraging. My children are learning to not only choose obedience but to love the learning…
I am in the middle of writing a novel. I’ve been writing this novel for years. It began as a family story. It turned into a short story for a college writing class. Now, I have 30,000 words and I tell people that I’m writing a novel. It’s true. I am writing a novel, but I’m also mothering three children. I’m teaching them to read and write and count and make breakfast for themselves. I’m teaching them to clean their…
I went to Costco today. Yes, I know. It’s four days before Christmas, so I might be insane. I almost turned around after it took me ten minutes to get into the parking lot, but we needed groceries and we needed supplies for the Christmas weekend and today was just the day our life fit with errands. Costco wasn’t actually as packed as the parking lot had led me to believe. There is a 5 Below, a TJ Maxx, a PetCo, and a…
Every year, Christmas comes no matter what. Every year, with joy and lights and wonder. And now that we’re adults, Christmas comes with oh so much more. It’s still exciting and wonderful, but there’s also much to do. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way… Every year, a list forms in my mind: make ornaments, buy presents and wrap them up pretty, practice random acts of kindness, sing Christmas carols, watch all the Christmas movies, do a…