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these days ….
Every single day someone at our house says something about how none of us can believe that it is December. The year that crawled by also flew by. I can never explain it. Amid ALL THE THINGS, I am finding it nearly impossible to write over here. I’m also not making any more progress on my book. I was afraid of losing momentum when my class finished. And my fears were accurate. It’s time to put it on a calendar and set aside time. But I’m always so tired. And so busy. And so full of excuses. I saw a sweet friend post the other day about being exhausted after…
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hi.
Hi. Remember me? This is the season where I’m up late and I’m up early. Where my body will likely pay the price for my actions and my lack of sleep. Where the kids and I are hustling and bustling between This and That and The Other. Where I think about my mom and this little black notebook that she carried in her purse to record what gifts she bought for which kid and it seemed sort of silly to me back then but now I know why she needed a book. Because it’s Too Much Information. Overload. Do I have the items to stuff each stocking equally? Have I…
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Chasing the Christmas Chain
I don’t know how long it’s been. Probably since kids were tiny. Those little countdown calendars of some sort, you know. Nine years ago the format shifted from adorable and quirky to a low budget paper chain. And paper chain it has stayed nearly a decade later. Like EVERYTHING currently, it is more and more difficult to find daily time to chase the tradition. But if you know me, traditions matter A LOT, so chase it we must. The kids still all look forward to it, even those teenagers, so I’m willing to make it fit and work it out and do what we can to keep the chain going.…
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weekend ramble (Christmas edition)
Our house is a hodge podge of Christmas lights and furniture shoved in the wrong corners to accommodate an outdoor tree in our indoor space but it’s our first Christmas at The Burrow and we are not complaining. The interior temperature is appropriate and comfortable (even though my dad says he still thinks it’s cold) and we all have had such fun embracing the holiday in our new home and even Otto is known to walk through the house with a happy sigh and to announce to anyone within earshot, “I love our new house.” The tiny dog is balanced on top of a stack…
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the week(end) ramble — holidays are hard and they’re beautiful
There were no published words last week. So you might imagine I have a lot of stored up words for right now. And that’s kind of true. I used good old pen and paper and hand wrote quite a bit the last week. It was satisfying. Maybe those ramblings will find the light of day. And maybe they won’t. Holidays make me feel all sorts of things and some of that stuff I like to share and some of that stuff it’s better if I don’t. Being divorced has not stopped being hard. That brokenness is never more evident that when a season demands and promotes traditions…
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Don’t decorate early – but do buy these early.
I’m officially Team Wait Until After Thanksgiving to Decorate. (It’s fine if we aren’t cheering for the same squad. I still like you.) But I am also officially Team Plan Ahead Shop Ahead Buy Early because – well, mainly because I’m also a charter member of Team I Have A Lot Of Children And A Small Budget paired with my membership to Team I Like To Make Lists and Get Things Done. Which means, if you’re keeping up, that although I never (and I do mean NEVER) decorate before Thanksgiving, I absolutely do plan Christmas before the turkey day trots along. I buy presents when I find sweet deals…
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A Christmas Catch Up (Because I needed one more than you did, I’m sure.)
You know what I need? More hours in the day? Better time management? Someone to sweep my floor continually? (How much are those robot vacuum cleaner things? No – for real. How much are they?) Maybe I do need those things. I don’t know. Maybe I need less distractions. Or fewer tasks. Or something. I don’t know. It hardly even matters because I don’t have those things. You don’t have those things. We’re just living the one life we’ve got and some days that’s not enough and some days that’s too much and at the end of the day we have the same number of hours as the next…
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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.…
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Christmas In The Raw.
Does it feel like Christmas to you yet? And what in the world does feeling like Christmas even mean? Does it mean snow or presents wrapped and ready or baking in the kitchen? I don’t know. Here’s what I know – I’m in a bit of a holiday slump. For years I watched my father kind of ebb and flow during the holidays. He was never the primary shopper or planner of gifts – but that seemed pretty normal to me. He isn’t a Christmas-carol-singing kind of man. On a dairy farm days ran to a consistent routine and cows had to be milked Christmas Eve and Christmas morning…
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Ye Olde Christmas Chain. Again.
I am often guilty of working too hard in creating moments when the best moments are usually spontaneous. I am frequently guilty of contriving glorious traditions when my family is pleased with simple favorites. This is revealed to me every year when I think about our basic Paper Chain. The one made of strips of red and green construction paper. The typical little decoration that my children cherish. We were ready December 1 and we’ve been guns blazing ever since. (Well. No guns blazing. I’m probably not a person qualified to even use that phrase. I have, however, watched the movies Tombstone and Young Guns a plethora of times, so maybe…
Keep Reading . . .
Five Finds Friday (Cadbury eggs & impulsive purchases)
here we go …
five finds friday
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The Book on the Bed Christmas Tradition
I don’t think there’s a Keigley gene for Early Rising. Sure, as very newborn humans the kids woke up early – but 3 a.m. isn’t actually early. It’s more like – late. Or middle of the night. My dad was an extremely early riser. Despite his hopes and his best efforts, the habit has never actually rubbed off on me. And not on my children either. I have friends whose non-baby children routinely awake at o’dark thirty, full of energy and go-get-em. I pity those parents. (Just kidding. They all seem happy about sunrises. Good for them.) The kids in my house are mostly late sleepers and quiet awakers. Hooray for…
