-
Bloxels: A Timberdoodle Review
Perhaps this review should begin with a confession. I have hardly looked at Bloxels. I read the description of it on the website when Timberdoodle offered it for a review. (You can order it by itself of course, or it comes as part of the second grade curriculum kit.) I thought, “I bet my kids would like that.” Bloxels is a create-your-own-video-game. And my kids – like most human children – are attracted to screens and games. I figured an educational video game could be better than your average video game. When the box arrived the kids were very excited to try it. I wasn’t ready to look…
-
I don’t have a pocket to place this bit.
How are we all supposed to live with the stuff we said? The things we promised but didn’t follow through? The bits like this, said in my own voice at my own wedding —- For better or for worse. Until death do us part. Where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people. May the Lord deal with me be it ever so severely if anything but death separates you and I. _________________________
-
The Post Where I Review LuLaRoe and Succumb to Posting Photos of Myself
Alright you guys. In some ways this post is kind of like other posts I have written before. I’ve had a fun opportunity to receive some clothing in exchange for writing a review about said clothing. (In all honesty – here’s how it worked: I purchased a few of these clothes myself. I was given a few of these clothes to try. So. Both. You know. I like to be straightforward so hopefully you can trust my opinion. Which is, just, you know, an opinion, after all. But here it is nonetheless.) So – the “writing my opinions about stuff” post is routine enough for me – right? But…
-
Five Finds Friday (the coolest ride & how much are boots worth?)
Hello Friday. How have you been? FUNNY Bergen is obsessed with jeeps. I can’t explain it. He just loves them. States their existence every time we drive by one. “Jeep,” the announcement from the backseat on every car ride. This week our friends have a loaner Jeep from their brother and they were so generous as to offer my boys a ride. (Seriously – I really do have wonderful friends.) Bergen was ecstatic. Over the top. When he returned from his excursion he entered the door grandly. And as if waiting to deliver his line, he dramatically announced, “I feel sorry for every person…
-
wonder.
“Mom,” she calls my name. Bedtime closing in. “Would you like to sit outside with me and Otto and look at the stars? We can wrap up in blankets.” (Because the temperature was nearly 60 degrees after all.) I would like to do that. I can think of nothing better to do right now, as a matter of fact. And I tell her so. We turn out the porch lights. Quietly walk to the steps. Take our places in silence and then we look up. We look at the stars. At Orion’s Belt and twinkling planes. I love any piece and part of nature that reminds me that I am small…
-
Famous Figures of the American Revolution: A Timberdoodle Review
Instant curb appeal. If you can claim that an educational tool has curb appeal – this one does! Famous Figures of the American Revolution – sold by Timberdoodle individually or included in their third grade curriculum kit. I was excited to receive these cut outs in exchange for writing this review. “Mom, can we please open those little guys?” the kids would beg. Before I ever even gave permission to open the book and begin the cutting and pinning they had divided up who would get which historical character – Berg had his eye on Davy Crockett. (Or was it Daniel Boone?) I chose to…
-
sunshine & apples
And some days are just so full of sunshine. Isn’t that the way it is – the rise and the fall and all the in between? Yesterday my dad breezed in the way my dad does. And – in a more planned but no less exciting manner – a sweet family friend joined us last night for a few days of good times and regular times. Today some really fun things happened: The weather was on point perfect. Some of the kids wore light and unnecessary long sleeved shirts. I wore both leggings AND a sleeveless shirt. (I heart the mild October ways here in the south. My…
-
Messy Middles
The Messy Middles. It’s a phrase a couple of sweet friends and I use in our daily/weekly/whenever text thread we have going on. It’s an idea. A feeling. A verbal picture of where we think we find ourselves right now. Or always. The Messy Middle. The life we lived before this very day, this very instant, is all pretty clearly defined. The Past. It already happened. All the cliches are accurate – You can’t go back. There’s no fixing the past. What’s done is done. Yesterday is yesterday. And so on …. So there you have it. (Actually, I take issue with the concept that “you can’t fix the…
-
Five Finds Friday (chicken pot pie with the best crust & chivalry is still alive)
Blink. Blink. Actually – compared to last week – the one filled with sickness and such – this week was dreamy. Lots of really good school days (good by MY standards, not the kids’ standards, because we got so much accomplished) and lovely fall weather. I give this week a hearty thumbs up. But good week or bad week, it’s pretty much over already and it’s Friday time again. FUNNY Scrolling through my photos I came across this picture, which London had altered for me without my knowledge. It really made me laugh. Say what you want about middle schoolers – an awful…
-
A Poem by Another Writer
I’ve read this poem over and over and finally decided that it is just too good not to share. (I think you appreciate it more with each read – so try it a few times.) __________________ Ode on the Whole Duty of Parents by Frances Cornford The spirits of children are remote and wise, They must go free Like fishes in the sea Or starlings in the skies, Whilst you remain The shore where casually they come again. But when there falls the stalking shade of fear, You must be suddenly near, You, the unstable, must become a tree In whose unending heights of flowering green Hangs every fruit…
-
this weekend. in the store. when I embarrassed my own children. almost.
A seismic shift occurred in my parenting world recently. Sometimes you sit in a mode of parenting for so long that you are convinced it will last forever. I still sometimes struggle to believe that my diaper days are over. It was like an entire DECADE you guys, for the love. There are no longer meltdowns if my bag contains zero snacks. Sippy cups with their cartoon faces are not floating around the floorboards of my car. I’ve got moodiness and razors and wrestling battles and room turf wars now. It is, indeed, a different world. This weekend though I received a new little glimpse into exactly…
Keep Reading . . .
you’re worth it.
The July Grove Collaborative Giveaway
Lake Jocassee with the Boys
-
the next new normal
Night has become All Tricky again. (It’s ever-shifting, this Grieving. The Transitioning. The One Day You Are Surprised By What You Thought Was Already Conquered.) In most ways, it’s helpful that it’s been a gradual process, with This and That appearing Here and There. I couldn’t have carried all the weight at one time. Piece by piece was suffocating enough. The quiet after midnight. The knowing I should be asleep but the unable to will it to happen. I’m always just wanting to find something to do until I am so tired that I just crash into bed. The Lying Still Alone In The Dark is not my favorite…
-
good morning mistakes.
Have you ever awakened and stretched and planned to love the day only to look over at the clock and see that it is actually an hour and half past when you thought you had set your alarm? That’s today. So my first short list of to-do (write blog post, spend time quietly alone this morning on the porch, shower) is going to be cut short. My current goal now? Don’t let my late start negatively influence the rest of my day. Wish me luck. ______________________________
