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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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happy birthday mosely. today you turn twelve.
Mosely Elliot Claiborne. She’s turning twelve and we all know that sounds like a big age when your previous decade has been full of littles and single digits and learning how to ride bikes and read books and bake cookies. Twelve is a big deal. She gets to sit up front (and now London has competition for that privilege) and she is basically the same height that I am and practically the same shoe size and her brown eyes twinkle when she laughs and she wears her frustrations on her sleeve and across her expressive face and I am pleased and humbled and proud to call her my girl. She…
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The Bag System: Packing For a Road Trip With Many Children
We are mostly staying put for the holiday season this year, but that’s not true for everyone. I’ve shared a post before about all of my ideas for taking The Kid Carnival on the road. This is a post about how to pack for that special kind of chaos that is traveling with children that requires packing everything you need and everything you think you might need while still being able to see out the rearview mirror. Gretchen told me I should write a post about packing and I wasn’t kidding when I asked you guys the other day for ideas for future blog posts so here we go.…
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Five Finds Friday (seven)
One thing this Five Fridays is doing for me is reminding me that Friday comes fast. Really fast. Kind of. FUNNY How about we talk about what’s not funny instead? (You see my redirection there? It’s a parenting staple, is it not?) Ryder came in from his bathroom break tonight with a sloppy grin and something weird hanging out of his mouth. And then he ran to my bed and dropped the something weird that was formerly hanging out of his mouth. I don’t remember much after that but I’m pretty certain it involved tears and screams and cries for help and a changing of the…
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the long and tired list (waiting for the rejoicing)
The list and the stack is high today. The list and the stack of need and sad truths and hard decisions. Today alone I received three texts from three different friends in three wildly different phases of life with Gigantic Broken on their plates. That’s three friends today. The medical diagnosis. The seemingly never-changing situation with internal brokenness of loved ones. Severed relationships. Court fiascos. Job loss. Health issues. The weary of motherhood and holiday stress and week-by-week-getting-it-all-done. Life is hard. This is on repeat in our hearts even if we keep it from being on repeat on our lips. I look around and my eyes see so much hard.…
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The Dollar Store Gift Idea That I Am Borrowing (and think you should borrow it too)
Hannah sent me a text. (How many decisions in my life do I make based on texts that I receive? I don’t want to know.) She had this link and said, “You should do this.” The website she sent me to was written by a mom of many who explained how her family created a tradition years earlier when her children were much younger. She and her husband wanted to teach their children to think about what their siblings and family members would like for gifts, to foster their relationships, to know the preferences of their family members and to provide an opportunity for all of the kids to purchase…
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monday mayhem. or – life.
I decided today I didn’t have time to think of a blog post with a beginning, a middle and an end. And sometimes I think about skipping writing on days like this. (And sometimes I do.) But then I remembered that I’m the writer of this blog and I make the rules on this tiny square footage of blogosphere. (I also make up words too. If I feel like it.) So I think I’ll just write about whatever I feel like because I like that. And because some days there is no tidy beginning, middle and end. Just life. Messy and hard and true and good and stinky and rainy…
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i think you’d like sara groves too.
Jo told me to listen to Sara Groves. “I think you’ll like her,” she told me. She was right. I do like her. And now I’ve been texting her lyrics to friends because I think they are so good – so solid and so true. How many hours have I spent Watching this shining TV? Living adventure in proxy In another person’s dream? How many miles have I traveled Looking at far away lights? Listening for trains in the distance In some brilliant other life? This cup, this cup. I wanna drink it up, To be right here in the middle of it. Right here, right here. This challenging reality…
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Five Finds Friday (six)
I finally finished that article. Take that, procrastination. Piper keeps announcing how many days are left until Christmas and that’s making me feel a little antsy or unprepared or something because, maybe it’s the weather, but it doesn’t feel all that Christmas-y to me yet. Although we did tour some Christmas trees downtown this week and that helped us all to get in the festive mood I think. It’s Friday though now, friends – and that means ….. FUNNY It’s a great age when your kids are genuinely funny people. Not potty humor funny or toddler mispronounced words funny or teenager kind of ridiculous funny but just straight up seriously…
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How To Make Your Children Love You More With One Easy Meal
I thought I left procrastination behind in college. But I was wrong. I have an article for another website due on a deadline and I just can’t seem to make myself put my brain in gear and get it done. I’ve checked Facebook and e-mail and Instagram. I’m sharing this picture of Bergen thinking math thoughts. The kitchen is clean. I paid a bill and I read a friend’s blog post. I took the dog outside and helped the kids work on a puzzle. You guys – I even finished the laundry. And now look at me. Just sitting here typing a post about how you can be the…
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one big old list of everything.
Today I am giving you a list. A holiday list so you can find all the goods from this blog in one handy dandy place. I’m so convenient like that. (And a few cute pictures tossed in as a bonus.) Games You May Want To Buy For Christmas Yam Slam Apples to Apples Timeline Perplexus Books You May Want To Give To Your Friends For Christmas Hannah Coulter The Help Folks, This Ain’t Normal Wild in the Hollow Above the Waterfall Books You May Want to Give Your Kids For Christmas Elijah of Buxton Homesick: My Own Journey The Burgess Animal Book Recipes You Might Want To Make For Christmas…
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why I smile for pictures now. (and why you should too.)
When I look back over pictures of our family life, I find that my face does not show up in photographs nearly as often as the kids. And while that’s okay at some level, it’s not okay on another level. Obviously there will be more pictures of kids growing up than of mom growing old. But I should appear in some of our family life – shouldn’t I? See. I have an incredibly difficult time finding actual photographic evidence of my own mother’s existence. Like – there’s Christmas photos of messy-haired Lacey and goofy-grinning brothers around the Christmas tree. Photos of Douglas riding a horse sporting his giant mini…
