Bergen Hawkeye
Anyone can slay a dragon . . . but try waking up every morning and loving the world all over again. That's what it takes to be a real hero.
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… typing therapy …
I haven’t picked up a pen or logged into a post in over a month. Which, incidentally, means I have not really processed or worked through a solid feeling in about that long either. Who could? Who can? I have never understood people who say, “I have no regrets.” I HAVE A MILLION REGRETS. I regret wasted time and wasted worry. I think about YEARS I spent selling myself short and thinking endurance and keeping the peace was more important than healthy relationships and setting important boundaries. I regret not finishing book ideas earlier and I regret being distracted when my babies were toddlers. Shoot, I probably regret what I…
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you can’t call it a mid-life crisis.
I doubt I’m living until I’m 100. (And I’m mostly okay with that.) So I can’t fairly call All The Current Feelings mid-life related. In fact, it is possibly precisely because I recognize that I am no longer mid-life that I am feeling whatever it is I am feeling. Were those sentences helpful? Doubtful. Flannery O’Connor said, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” Same, Flannery. Same. I’ve been waking up in mid-night with these thoughts. I’ve been missing sleep with these thoughts. I’ve been preoccupied with these thoughts. I have a senior again this year. Third row straight. And I’ve been…
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Five Finds Friday (Lost Valley Ranch Version)
We’re home. So many car hours under out belt. I rented a Suburban for this trip (because I didn’t trust my own to make the many thousand mile haul) and therefore I was Solo Driver despite having three teens who have the ability to shoulder the load. (Maybe next year I’ll risk our old Yukon just for the back up drivers.) Anyway, we’re back from the ranch and I’m going to try to share a Lost Valley version of the Five Finds Friday. I’ve thought of that idea for two whole seconds and here I am typing as I think and we’ll all see how it plays out. funny Laughing…
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five finds friday (berg keeps being funny, trip highlights and delicious drinks)
Without school to guide me, I just don’t know what day of the week it is. Also – side note: I can see that my Mailchimp subscribing idea is not working correctly. I see that it sends you an email but the mail contains nothing. No link. No post. Just annoyance. I’m angry at Mailchimp. And I want another idea or option so I’m going to start working on that. After the ranch. Or something. In the meantime, if any of you know a better mass mailing/subscribing option, I’m all ears. Better yet – if any of you want to magically make that happen, I’ll pay you – in London…
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Bergen Hawkeye, HomeLife, Keiglets, London Eli Scout, Mosely Ella Claiborne, Otto Fox Wilder, Piper Finn Willow
teens. parenting them.
I feel like I haven’t talked about too many hard things over here lately. I think it’s because – they’re all hard things. This year has been full of hard things. And yet. We’re all okay. At my house. In this moment. We’re okay. Nothing is currently on fire. You know what I mean? Everything feels hard. And nothing is really that hard. That’s how cliche extreme my brain feels lately. The teen years are vastly different than the toddler years. (I mean, sort of. They’re both years where some kid is always hungry. And where some kid always needs you. But just – differently, you know. Teens are messy…
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Five Finds Friday (a whole lot of photos)
Remember these? It seems that Friday is here – and so am I. And I’ve got a bunch of cute photos so I might overstuff this post with them. You’ve been warned. funny There was a lot of funny to choose from this week. Halloween brought some clever costumes. But no costume anywhere beats the one that my friend Katie wore when she came over last Saturday night. With the help of one of my daughters, she snagged my Colorado hat and came dressed as ………….. me. fashionable I’m going to stick with the Halloween theme here. I think we’d all agree at my house that the most fashionable Halloween…
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camping with the boys: lake jocassee is a wonder, but what happened to the hammocks?
Some birthday gifts take a while to bring to fruition. That’s kind of true always, but it’s especially true during this season. Otto tuned 11 back in May. Last week he and I and Bergen headed to the always breath taking Lake Jocassee for an overnight camping trip. Really, it was always more about the fishing than the camping. It always is for that fella. We unloaded our meager little supply at the tent site and the boys tossed their lines in immediately. I love low key camping. And the boys are satisfied with that too. Being with these two is just plain old easy. And that’s not a feature…
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Parenting Teens: Say Yes
I’m not an expert, but I do have some experience. One of my teens is a grown up. Three are currently residing under my roof. And one more joins the trifecta this month. (I need a hug. Or a wad of cash for car insurance. Both. I need both.) Here’s one little tiny slice of advice. Say yes. To everything you possibly can say yes to. There are SO many nos in the lives of your teens. Sometimes their lives feel like one gigantic NO. And there are loads and plenty of things you must say NO to for your kids. Hitch hiking. Tik Tok. Diving headfirst into unknown waters.…
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five finds friday (otto’s birthday, boots I can’t wear & chili)
Today my youngest son turns ELEVEN. I’m almost entirely out of the “kids eat free” stage of parenting. In fact, I’d say I’m pretty heavily into the “kids eat expensively” stage of parenting. (Maybe that’s EVERY stage of parenting.) Anyway, he’s an easy fella to celebrate and I’m looking forward to celebrating his Harry Potter birthday. (That’s what the kids are calling it, since that fictional fellow’s 11th birthday is when all of his adventures began.) Let’s hope Otto doesn’t attend a secret wizarding school and run into a lot of problems that keep his life almost constantly at risk. funny The other day I walked into the living room.…
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five finds friday (superstore, fly fishing, sloppy joes)
I’m going to take your word for it that it’s actually Friday. Alright? I can’t seem to get the kinks worked out of this blog lately. Some updates need to happen, I thought I handled them – I don’t know. I just know that when I share these posts on Facebook the photos are not appearing as they should. Right now though, I’m just shrugging my shoulders and wishing it would all get square on its own accord. funny When I like something I tell everyone I know about it. Is that an enneagram type? Often I am guilty of telling you about it at least four times. It’s a…
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Lake Jocassee with the Boys
For birthdays, I love to give experience gifts. And for some time now, it’s been a bit of a tradition for the birthday boy or girl to receive an envelope and inside that envelope they will find instructions or tickets or an invitation to a future date with me. This past spring, the boys each received their birthday dates. One for a guided boat tour of Lake Jocassee. (I had found a great buy one, get one free deal.) One for a day spent out of doors together hiking or fishing. Unfortunately, the boat tour company called and canceled their tour. And through shared conversation, the two boys decided they…
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from the cabin: Bergen Hawkeye at Lost Valley
He doesn’t know I am watching him. My fourteen year old son. I’m on the porch, settled on the porch swing. Basha blanket from home wrapped around me because of the surprisingly low temperatures. Hot tea in a Lost Valley mug by my side. Pen. Notebook. It’s all good. He’s well below the cabin. Waiting for his friend to exit his cabin and to join him in some wild outdoor adventure of their own design. He’s got some pole with a red rope attached to the end. He’s whipping it around. Occasionally hitting himself. Grinning. Content and absolutely present in his own life. Bergen is a master at creativity. Simple…
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books that work their own magic.
This post is about a book. But it’s also about parenting and homeschooling and personality differences and what we can never fully understand and about getting out of the way of ourselves as often as we are able and letting beauty and truth and ideas educate whenever we remember to step back and shut up already. I’m a talker. An explainer. I give too many details. To my kids.To you readers.To the lady behind me in the grocery aisle. And I often am dangerously close to doing the same to good literature. Superimposing MY words on top of already beautifully crafted other words. (This is an especially difficult habit to…
