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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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This Week. Feeling ALL the Pressures.
On December 23rd I closed my computer. I set it inside a cabinet and I left it there. That was the best. Five days later, I wish I could never see it again. That’s how I am feeling right now. At the same time, I put up my calendar and my lists and my little notebook where I write down every single thing I need to do or I need to think about. Today I am dragging those things out reluctantly and I am rebelling and raging against these priorities and tasks and roles in my life. I’m having the mental equivalent of a two year old’s tantrum – all…
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five finds friday (mustaches & embroidery)
If I repeat myself over here week to week, I’m going to ask you all to forgive me. Maybe it’s old age, adult ADHD or too many distractions, but my memory is just not too impressive of late. Plus, I’m writing this while also “watching” Home Alone 2 with the kids and occasionally I have to watch the nonsense on the screen. (How terrible are those parents? How skilled is Kevin? How lame are those criminals?) This week we officially started Christmas Break and it seems like, as the homeschool years progress, I’m even more excited to see break than my kids are. (Or at least as equally excited.) funny…
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In Praise of Small Homes
Would I like a six bedroom house? Definitely. Would I have a stellar good time decorating and rearranging those extra bedrooms? Absolutely. Based on what I know thus far in my life and what I suspect will happen in the future, will I be living in a six bedroom house? Probably not. For most of my adult life I have been a renter of homes. (And the lessons I have learned from renting are many.) Three years ago I was able to purchase my first home. It was a little middle age miracle and I’m still not tired of the magic of owning my own place. It’s not perfect –…
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five finds friday (what do you wear with leggings?)
You should know that this post has been powered by the mass consumption of my friend Jo’s homemade caramels. This week has felt about nineteen days long. Let’s try to do this thing ….. funny Both Bergen and Mosely had appointments at the eye doctor this week. (I like ours – he’s a really nice guy.) Standing in the lobby, waiting to check out, I noticed one of the posters by the glasses promoting some particular brand. I had to sneak to take this photo because – well, it looked like a weird thing for me to be doing – but seriously guys. Why is this man apparently only wearing…
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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…
Keep Reading . . .
here we go ….
weekend ramble. (a weekend both peaceful & productive)
The Right Word.
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five finds friday (the one about writing a book and my daughter going to college)
We’ve made it. Cheers and high fives because it’s been a long week. But look – wasn’t the beach beautiful? funny I’ve been working my way through a couple of boxes in the attic that are stuffed to overflowing with keepsakes and memories. And I keep finding gems like this. Behold the glory of ALL of our haircuts. What a family! flavorful Last week I ate dinner with Jo and Jason at a local restaurant – Hare & Field. It was delightful. (And the company was oh-so-fun.) I can never seem to stray from their Fish and Chips, which I love. But I also tried their parmesan gnocchi – my…
Keep Reading . . .
Noonday: Tonight!
according to the schedule, there’s no space for that
these days ….
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The Things That We Keep Doing
It doesn’t matter if I am suffering from writer’s block or insomnia, if the laundry gets finished or the meals are full of protein and vitamin-rich choices. Whether those things happen or those things don’t happen, Life Keeps Marching Along. Last weekend Saylor turned one. We celebrated with cake and streamers and sunshine. We drove to the beach for a day with Hannah because she’s moving to Kentucky next week. (I found my first sand dollar and the waves were the calmest I’ve ever seen.) I convinced Beth to finally get the Marco Polo app so we could keep up more quickly. The beautiful mural in our town is officially…
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motivation. can you locate it?
When the kids were little, they used to love to repeat certain phrases. Usually these would be some combination of words they had heard on a show or in a book, words they had made up and lyrics from a song. Generally the combination ended up being nonsensical to adult ears, but completely understandable in their kid language. One phrase I recall clearly hearing them say over and over never made much sense to me then – and still doesn’t really. They’d look seriously at one another, eyes locked, and say, in a slow, monotone voice that sounded like they were entering a trance, “Motivating. Staring.” Like I said, it…
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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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I’m over here …
Our power went out last week. (Like more than a hundred thousand other folks.) This website went down last week. (I didn’t have the time or ability to address the situation until today.) I spent some time this weekend being sad about a handful of things and life is just like that, right? Today I read this old post about Otto’s first sentence and goodness, I’m glad I wrote that down because I had no actual memory of that moment until I reread it here. It’s November and this entire year has been like the B side of some cassette tape. I’d say it’s been no one’s favorite. I’m trying…
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I just want to do it all.
And also. I want to do nothing. Is this the human condition? Or is this just the working mom condition? Or the pandemic year condition? It’s a painfully beautiful afternoon and I’m sitting on my deck and I have my lists spread out around me and those lists have sublists (but NOT outlines, I hate those suckers) and my kids are spread out across the globe (and by globe I mean our town) and I should be checking off items but I’m writing this. I told you about The Book. And it’s progressing. Slowly. Ruth is a pretty fabulous instructor and a stellar editor. But this writing schtick takes TIME…
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Thinking Putty: A Timberdoodle Review
This is a sponsored post. I received this item from Timberdoodle in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts and words and opinions are, as always on this page and in real and regular life, all completely and totally my own. __________________________________ You’ve probably heard of this before – thinking putty. It’s like a new take on Silly Putty. Except, it’s better. I think we first found some years ago at a little toy store in Hendersonville. The thinking putty is stretchy and forms easily into shapes. It’s actually a great tool to have on hand for kids who are easily distracted. It’s quiet and they can stretch it and…
