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when they asked . . .
It was a simple request. “Come dance with us.” But we were so comfortable. The grown ups all lounging on the patio, fire crackling far more for ambience and effigy burning than for warmth or need, relaxing from the overdose of tacos and chocolate cake. And what none of us wanted to do was to get up, to dance. Sitting was what we wanted. However. One of us caved and the rest of us were forced to follow along lest we appear as the selfish parents we were becoming. It was the Virginia Reel and every bare-footed, sweaty-headed child was clapping and swinging and dosey-do-ing, from the the three-year-old to…
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Ice Pop Makers: A Review & A Giveaway
Ah summer. I know we think of summer as ending when the yellow buses start driving the roads and altering our schedules. But the calendar says summer isn’t over until mid September and the day time temperatures haven’t dipped into the 70’s yet so I think we can still treat these days like summer days in a couple of ways. Sure, the kids are back in school and the late nights have abruptly halted and the free flowing, free living, free thinking attitudes have been put to slumber and schedules and routines are rising back to the top of the pecking order. But – you guys – there are still…
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Jane Tells Our Story of Family
You guys know my friend Jane – right? She is the photographer who had our children all spray one another – and us – with colored dye from squirt guns. We walked around for weeks with pink or green hair. She snapped this sweet shot last summer of me and my girls. Well, Jane is still snapping photos and she’s working on a new kind of photography. Storytelling Sessions. It’s a pretty beautiful idea. And like lots of pretty beautiful ideas, it’s a simple one. Jane visits your home. She blends into the background and you and your family live your life. The life you live at home. Your real one.…
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not as you’d think
It seems there should be a time when sorrow ends. When a door can close and an official Time of Death can be stamped. Mirrors hung with black fabric and all the clocks stopped. The End. All announced and definitive. Relationships don’t end that way though, do they? All trimmed up and tidy. Containable and compartmentalized. I’ve never been witness to such a happening. Instead it’s a feet-dragging-coming-in-through-the-back-door-I-thought-I-already-grieved-this-new-every-season kind of endless goodbye.
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A Book List: Grades 5 to 8
My friend Greta was asking me the other day which books I thought she should be certain her daughters read. I started making a list right there in my head for her. At first it was a girls only kind of list, since we were at our Girls Book Club and all. And I guess you can still call this A Book List For Girls if you want. But I think most books that are great for girls to read around middle school can often be great for boys to read around that same age. And I think lots of novels that I want my middle school sons to…
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in defense of female friendships . . .
So there’s this part of me that’s afraid of friendships with women. You guys, I have been so burned before. Stack one time on top of another, on top of that, and I’m telling you – I know what the pain of betrayal and broken relationship feels like. Oh – it’s the bitterest of pills to swallow. It stings. It scars. It stays. And I have certainly spent my fair share of time avoiding close community with females. If I am wary, trust me when I say I have my reasons. Yes, I am forty-two years old and I’ve got mounds left to learn, but I’ve also learned a little…
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On the Road: George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Back in July we had the privilege of scooting up to Washington DC after our annual July Fourth pilgrimage. Mainly we wanted to visit my brother and his family. One day there, however, we grabbed my sister-in-law and we all hopped right off to Mount Vernon, home place of the first president. (And conveniently close to my brother’s home.) I had the privilege of reviewing the visit for Kidding Around Greenville and they recently shared the post on their website. I thought about just linking up that post only, but frankly, I wanted to share lots more pictures than they had space for so I am going to include the…
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use our school plans. seriously.
I’ve decided to try the whole “balanced schedule” “year round school” adventure this go round. We started a few weeks ago, actually. (The kids and I called the first days our soft launch. Just a little testing of the waters.) As I was prepping for the year I kept running into the same problem I have run into in previous years. I could not find a planner that truly suited me. I used this one two years ago. It was pretty encouraging but I wasted two pages every single week because of the extra items they put in that I never used or found helpful. I couldn’t stand to waste…
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Sound Block: A Review
First Jo had one. Then Hilary. And, like a follower, I knew I wanted one too. Cool little wireless speakers. Just turn on the music on your phone and then, like a special kind of air magic, that same song would suddenly be playing at a louder volume through your little speaker. A speaker that you can carry anywhere. The kitchen. The front porch. The table. Wherever. I searched the Amazon and saw this little creation. I was drawn in by its lower price tag. I was also drawn in by its endless color options. (Naturally I chose red.) I was skeptical because I did not recognize the brand and…
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the night watch
It is two something in the a.m. There is nothing sleepy about me. I make a quick walk through the house to find two boys asleep in the living room. How do they sneak down the steps so stealthily? I check all the others – the drifters and the non-drifters. And these slumbering heads and hearts are full and innocent and heavy and beautiful and I would sever my own arm to create a world while they slept that is infinitely better and less painful and they could wake up and smile and imagine the last year as a terrible nightmare that a little eye rubbing and back patting could…
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songs and sundays
Sunday we sang lyrics that found tears streaking down my face. (Which isn’t entirely unusual, of course.) You’re my one defense, my righteousness. O Lord – how I need you. And I was reminded as the pastor prayed – Jesus IS the plan. Like – he’s not the back up plan. In fact, I guess I don’t have a back up plan. Which is saying a lot from a girl who always had a Master Plan and a Short List and a Long List. And a Daily List and a Notebook To Keep All The Lists. So. Many. Plans. And now. Now, I do not. I do not have plans.…
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The Adventure Center of Asheville
Last week the kids and I took the kind of adventure you just want to share with everyone you know. (You guys – it is just so fun to have big kids!) This adventure involved helmets and heights and wires and harnesses and conquering fears and pulling together as a team. And it was pretty close to home too. The Adventure Center of Asheville is just a couple of minutes from downtown Asheville, NC. As soon as I heard about their brand new KidZip, the first zip line in the country to be built especially for kids ages 4 to 10, I wanted to try it with my kiddos. (Our family…
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that peach crepes recipe
I told you I would share our family’s peach crepes recipe. And being as it is peach season all over the south, I think now is a good time. When Riley was in elementary school, she attended a cooking class. (The instructor held the class at her home and I honestly thought it was a model home that no one lived in – it was that unbearably tidy and sterile.) The cooking class was a success though and the recipe for peach crepes was born from that class. It was an instant favorite for me and I have been routinely requesting it for my birthday breakfast for years upon years.…
