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Things to Say to a Dead Man: A Book Review
It probably wasn’t the best book to pick up post midnight when the sleeplessness was taking over. The name of the author had drawn me in when I saw the little collection of poems. Jane Yolen has been a favorite children’s author in our family for years. She’s written young adult historical fiction we have enjoyed – a book about the holocaust whose name is currently slipping my mind. She’s written dozens of children’s books we check out over and over again at the library. All of those great dinosaur books about manners, books about birds and so many more. I don’t think I was even aware…
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this in-between week
How about a rambling little post today to follow the onslaught of a long weekend spent mostly at home and the chaos that follows Christmas with a large family? I hope you all are cool with that, because it’s about all I’ve got in me. Christmas was lovely and sweet. We read The Hobbit before bed tonight and this quote felt true of our Christmas actually. Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a…
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Five Finds Friday (surprise! & the warmest socks & the silliest picture)
We all know why this week sped right past all of us. Yes – it’s already Friday you guys. Here we go …… FUNNY Humor plays a vital role in my life. If it’s not outright sustaining, it absolutely is what makes certain days feel endurable. (Is endurable a word?) Our friend Abby has endeared herself to my children through several methods. One – she sends stellar care packages that have rather specific instructions on the outside. Instructions such as “For Kids Eyes Only” and “Whatever You Do – Don’t Let Your Mom Open This Box”. Two – she shows up in surprise ways and says yes…
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Happy Birthday Mosely Elliot!
Today our home changes. Today, for the first time in the history of our family, there are TWO teenagers living under our roof. Two teenage girls. They are both taller than me. They are both better artists and better cooks than I am. They both wear my clothes and they both have captured my whole heart. Happy thirteenth birthday Mosely! Your brown eyes are expressive and lovely and you have been blessed with simply the most obedient hair on the planet. You love Ryder with a deep and abiding affection and care daily for his needs. I love your new style of Manga drawing that…
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Brown Girl Dreaming: A Book Review
For the longest time I’ve noticed a poster hanging on the end of the shelves at our local library. It featured the novel Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. While the kids search for their allowed number of books on our library visits, I sometimes peruse the cookbook shelves or the poetry shelves. I scan the non fiction children’s section looking for a title that might fit what we are already studying. I grab a few books from the easy readers section for Otto and Piper. As I was walking around and adding interesting choices to my bag, my eyes fell on Brown Girl Dreaming on the shelf,…
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a heart that holds on
“Good News and Great Joy”. That’s been the title for December’s sermon series at our church. Through a series of unfortunate events our family missed last week’s church service. The focus, I was told, was tilted toward the joy aspect. This week we did not miss church and when the pastor said something about this week’s message honing in on when joy and suffering meet, he mentioned how last week’s sermon was heavier on the joy and this week’s sermon was heavier on the suffering. A statement that caused me to lean over to Hilary, seated to my left, and whisper in her ear, “Well good. I’m much more…
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a saturday night story
Sometimes I don’t even have to think about what I should write. The stuff of life just hands it to me. This weekend was kind of like that. And when it all went down, my friend hannaH laughed. “This is perfect. If this is going to happen in anyone’s life in this particular way, it’s going to happen to you.” That wasn’t exactly encouraging. But it wasn’t really insulting either. More like a commentary. A commentary on what feels to be an accurate description of the way things go for Team Keigley. It all started out so well. Which also might serve as some commentary on how things progress…
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Five Finds Friday (a watch & a recipe your kids won’t like)
The other night I was at a Christmas party with some friends. I cannot recall the conversation that led to this sentence. (This would probably be a better story if I could.) But, at some point, one of my friends, who happens to be a dude, said something like, “Yeah, you could put this on your Five Finds Friday.” I started laughing. One, because it was funny. Two, because it was odd to hear this particular guy (or any guy really I guess) use the words “Five Finds Friday” in a sentence. It was also strangely gratifying. As in, “Hooray – someone is reading these posts!” So this week’s…
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Top That, U-Turn & Pinpoint: Blue Orange Game Reviews
Yesterday the internet was dead. Not across the world or anything. Just, you know, in my own house. It wouldn’t work and it was late and I couldn’t figure out the problem through my many varied methods of trouble shooting. (And by many varied methods I mean call a friend and unplugging it and plugging it back in again.) Anyway. I couldn’t get my connection to work and therefore I could not complete a blog post. So instead, I finished a novel (Brown Girl Dreaming – so very good) and added a few pieces to the puzzle on our kitchen table, ate four clementine oranges while standing alone in…
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Marie’s Words: A Timberdoodle Review
This game is certainly an educational game and it’s not really disguised as anything else. But it’s not a drudgery or a bore, by any means. Marie’s Words is a vocabulary building game that can be played in several different ways. It can be used alone or it can be played as a game with several variations. I’m literally just now seeing that the website suggests this as a part of their fourth grade curriculum set. Maybe your fourth graders would be ready for these words, but I know my fourth graders would not have been. Honestly, the majority of the words listed on the cards are…
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a weekend in review: or in fast forward
If life had a fast forward button, then this weekend was probably tuned to that setting. So. Much. Happened. It was a weekend threaded with tradition and new. Maddox spent the weekend with us. He was such a sweet little companion – toted back and forth and here and there – with a startlingly great attitude for a toddler completely thrown off his routine. He likes us all pretty much. But he’s downright obsessed with Aunt London. Maddox stayed with us because his family was gaining a new member. Greyson Porter arrived safe and healthy this weekend too. A full cheeked little fella with dark eyes and…
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Five Finds Friday (why I can’t share all the funny things & merino wool)
It’s Friday. It’s also feeling like winter here. And by here, I mean inside my own house. The kids and I keep wondering, “Will our next home be warm?” And who knows? It might. FUNNY It’s about that time. My kids are about at that age. That age where what they say is inordinately hilarious. Where I laugh without reserve frequently at our conversations. But also at that age. That age where I can no longer share every hysterically funny comment they make. They’re getting older. Their access to the internet is still incredibly limited so they’re not necessarily ever reading my blog. But the tween…
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those things you can lose . . .
Do you know that bargaining? The kind you do with God? The kind you don’t really talk about during the daylight? The kind that happens after hours, in the dark, when the stuff is hitting the fan? The middle of the night, crisis burning, repeated requests kind of petitioning? The “not that one thing. Just not that one thing.” (That one thing being your health or your marriage or your children or your job or your parents or your home or your ability or your talent. That one thing. Whatever your one thing might be right at the moment.) And then that one thing happens. That one thing that…
