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Bang Up Job
Guess who cut her own hair? And did a remarkably decent job. (With only a few minor adjustments by our in-house hair stylist Kevin.) This is the same five year old who recently approached her nickname-loving father and respectfully inquired, “Daddy, I don’t care for being called Mo-Town any longer. Will you please only call me Mosely?”
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Dining Out
We don’t eat out all that often. You can imagine why. (It isn’t the behavior of our children, actually, thank you very much.) It’s the cost, you know. There’s really no way around the truth. There is almost nothing, not even the cheapest of fast food meals, that can be purchased at a restaurant that is actually cheaper than something you can make at home. Not to mention healthier. (Don’t get me started. Don’t even get me started.) Part of the beauty of vacation, however, is not preparing meals. So on our recent Tybee Island vacation, we ate out. A lot. You name it – we probably tried it. The…
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Right Now & Forever
So I have had these thoughts mulling around in my brain for a while now. Thoughts about the past. Which cause thoughts about the future. I like to dwell on yesterday. And the yesterdays before that yesterday. Oh so many yesterdays. I just let my mind sit still in last week, last month, last year. And then I think about tomorrow. And the next tomorrow. And the tomorrow that will follow that tomorrow. And all of the next weeks and months and years. Decades even. I just think on and on about the tomorrows I know nothing about. But what’s wrong with all that thinking? I’m pretty sure Paul said…
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A Question
Asked in complete seriousness. “Mom, when I grow up can I be a boy singer and still be a superhero too?”
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Do It Yourself
Look at these cute bags. We made them ourselves. We took the idea from our favorite magazine – FamilyFun – so I cannot claim original creativity here. It was so easy. (And it has to be for an amateur at the sewing machine such as myself.) The kids all picked a favorite too-little t-shirt. I cut the bottom off and turned it inside out before stitching it together. (With purple thread because I have no idea how to change the bobbin thread. I need help with that. Soon. Yes, this is me begging. Don’t teach me. Just do it for me.) I also trimmed down the neck and the sleeves…
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While You Were Sleeping
I was feeding Wilder in his bedroom. I finished. I walked to the kitchen and was greeted by a wild scene. Two small children, one two, the other four, stood before me. Looking sheepish. And guilty. And white. Looking very white. “What?” I started to say. I quickly realized that the white that had settled on their entire beings, from toes to roots of hair to cheeks to the two stuffed animals carried in their arms, was from powder. I could see it everywhere. I could smell it. Wait a minute. While I was feeding Wilder weren’t these two playing in our bedroom? With their father? Or so I thought.…
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The Truth
Who wants to be real today? Really real. You know, my favorite posts are the ones that offer some insight, some truth, however small it is. This isn’t one of those posts. I also sort of like the ones that are just plain funny. Where you see how hilarious kids can be when they just open their mouths. You won’t find that here today. Today is just a regular day. With a regular message. Or no message really. All of these things that I write? These little bits of insight here and there? The God-inspired ones? They only feel true sometimes. Even if they are true all the time. So…
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Manners
“Manners are made up of petty sacrifices.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson It really is the little things. While walking recently with the kids, I found myself just like them – tired, sweaty and sleepy. My arms were already full when Bergen asked me, “Mom, will you please carry my towel?” I took the towel but I didn’t really want to. “Thank you Mommy for carrying my towel,” Bergen said to me. And just like that, the load seemed lighter. I really didn’t mind carrying the extra towel. Because he said “thank you”. Kevin has made it a priority to train our children to be appreciative of the meals I prepare…
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Shuffle
I love the random juxtaposition of the songs that flow from my iPod when it is on the shuffle setting. I’ll be floating along to the sounds of “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley and then suffer whiplash when Amy Ray shouts on about Johnny Rotten. The Cure’s “Pictures of You” takes me back to the old days and then the Carpenters’ “Close to You” comes on to remind me of the even older days. I mean, really – where else but my iPod shuffle world can Dan Tyminski follow the Grateful Dead? I like to imagine all of these musicians lined up in some sort of concert hall, waiting…
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No Longer
No longer will I pass judgement upon you when I hear your kid screaming six aisles over while shopping at Wal-Mart. Perhaps you have just run over your daughter’s hand with the grocery cart and that is the reason for her ear-piercing wails.No longer will I assume you are lazy when I see you leave your shopping cart in the parking lot, far away from the cart return place. Maybe you just left the store without finishing your full purchasing potential because your daughter’s hand was crushed and your infant son needed to eat and your six year old daughter had just informed you that your toddler’s car seat had…
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Birthday Dos
A lot of my pictures recently seem to be of this kid. But she’s just so darn cute. And today there are more shots of Little Willow. Because it’s a big day. She turns two today. Piper, you’re a pretty cool kid. I like how you ask me to sing your special song every night. “Bennnnd Will-whoa”. And I think it’s hilarious how you wander around the house singing, “We will ROCK you!” Your stuffed eagle is still your absolute favorite toy and companion. He’s filthy and you have a particular way in which you hold him – upside down so you can caress his tail feathers all day long.…
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This Body
Some days I survey my own body and I am not exactly pleased with what I see. I begin to play the ultra-damaging Compare Game. Particularly when I find myself on a sandy beach surrounded by bodies. Barely clothed, flesh-in-excess bodies. So I find myself playing The Game. I pick apart body parts, compare my untanned self to the perfectly tanned supermodel splashing near me. I realize I am too short and too flabby. I think I am not toned enough, my hair is the wrong color. Are my ears even aligned correctly? Why can’t I have a little more here and a little less there? When I surrender to…
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Just What We Needed
You know when you reserve a beach house from looking at photos online, you never really know exactly what you will get. After a day in the car, as soon as our gang pulled in the driveway at our new casa for the week, we all stumbled out of our bursting Suburban and looked for the water. It’s what we came all this way for anyway, right? Walking down the picturesque stroll (per the website’s description) we saw ahead of us the shore and the ocean. Hooray! Upon closer inspection we realized the waves were not exactly crashing onto the sand as we had imagined. Oh and there was land…
