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On the Discussion Board Today: Car Rentals
You guys have helped our family wade through all kinds of random matters over the past who-knows-how-many years I’ve been blogging away early mornings and late nights. We’ve talked about grocery budgets and the ever-popular topic of mascara. (Which, by the way – I am working through your suggestions and although I really want to try those $30 a tube types, I’m working my way down the list in order (I told you I don’t wear it often) and have had pretty good success with the first suggestion – the cheap green Cover girl non-waterproof kind. No weird two days later smudges yet!) One year when I was desperate at…
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Game Kit: A Great Little Product and a Lot of Fun
I cannot remember how long this sat on our shelf. At least a year. Likely more. I actually won a little box of treasures once on a blog giveaway so long ago that I cannot even remember what blog it was. It was a literal treasure box of items though. Bare books (our first introduction and now a staple to our homeschool supplies), wax crayons, a blank puzzle. And this. A blank do-it-yourself board game kit. A game kit complete with a blank board, a spinning wheel, blank cards, play money, dice – you name it. Upon a school room rearrange I unearthed the game kit hiding away and decided I…
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My Last Five Year Old.
I love five. Otto Fox carries it so well. From the proud wearing of his mismatched shoes to his true affection for all bugs and tiny crawling creatures. From his crusty band-aid residue-stained knee caps to his bright blue eyes. I love the way he walks into a room and says, “Hi Mom. I love you more than a hundred million thousand piles of dirt.” I love the way he cheers for life and embraces the ordinary moments. “Mom – can I have a peanut jelly sandwich?” And when I say “yes” he fist pumps the air and shouts for happiness. And he means it. I love the way he…
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Prairie Journey – Guess What’s Waiting For Us in DeSmet?
Prairie days are getting closer on the calendar. Last year this adventure seemed so far away as I was hatching it and hoping it would work out. Actually, this trip has been nearly a decade in the making. Yeah – life is moving quickly like that. As we were taking this same basic journey with a bonnet-clad fifth-grader Riley, I knew then we’d do this journey again some day if time and circumstance were on our side. And, so far, it seems they both are. The order of travel is The Big Woods, Walnut Grove, Plum Creek and then Silver Lake in DeSmet, South Dakota. For a large portion of…
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why I cry now at weddings.
Last weekend we attended a wedding. Both Bearer of the Ring and Tosser of the Flowers bore the Keigley namesake. It’s funny how age changes everything. (I do mean everything. Shape. Proportions. Patience. Tolerance. Ability to run fast.) But age does change other things too – like perspective. And perspective shifts and morphs and shapes you. I used to spend the wedding time watching the bride and the groom. Now I find myself looking to the mothers. Mother of the bride. Mother of the groom. I cannot help myself. It’s whom I am identifying with these days. I watch the sibling snapshots. I see the tears build up in the…
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In the Heart of the Country
You know how much I love Virginia. We had this idea to share the love a little. And so we invited some friends to trek it up a few states and experience Virginia with us. Sadly, really truly sadly, not all of our buddies could make the journey up this time for a host of reasons. But one family was able to drive down that gloriously long driveway with us and bask in the beauty that is The Farm. I don’t want to gush too profusely – I love my friends who couldn’t make the journey with us too much for that. But I will say this – it was…
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Celebrating a Year of School
Yes, whilst looking at Instagram pictures recently I came to the realization that Wildwood Halls of Ivy had no End of School Year tradition. (Kind of like I needed a kick to get to a Field Day.) No tradition to celebrate conquering the arbitrarily assigned magic number of 180 days? That would never do. I like traditions. I like celebrating. I gathered the kids. Passed out blank sheets of paper. Tossed pencils at them. “Every one write down one food and one activity that you think sounds awesome.” And so they did. It was like an audition for traditions. A try out. We compared notes – if more than one…
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Field Day. Year Two.
I try not to spend a lot of my homeschooling days trying to match Wildwood Halls of Ivy to the local elementary school. Worksheets aren’t our mainstay and bells don’t ring on schedule. Bergen doesn’t have to raise his hand and Mosely can excuse herself to visit the restroom without asking permission. But last year a very typical traditional school activity became a part of our home educating experience. Field Day. Probably not an idea generated by me. (I don’t naturally think of sports-related days of competition. I’m not against it – I just don’t think about it at all. ) But the idea came up in our co-op. And…
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you know, he’s right.
We were driving through a neighborhood. Intrigued by what we saw ahead, we slowed down and all of us gazed out the window. “Free” a sign read. It was propped against a table filled with a random assortment of this and that. Everything looked like what it was – junk. The kids were bursting at their seat belts. “Dad, can we stop?” they begged the man behind the wheel. “Guys – let me tell you about restraint.” Kevin began, an experienced father of many. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should.” “Hmmmm,” came a little nine-year-old voice from the back seat. “Restraint,” Bergen commented. “That’s something I don’t…
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the dinner table.
Sometimes when we eat dinner together we do it a crowded dining room table. A table no one has seen fit to clean before our meal. A table that looks more like the beginnings of a yard sale than the location of a pleasant group dining experience. Have you ever eaten at a table like this? You find yourself pushing aside a roll of toilet paper and a stack of library books and two glow sticks, a matchbox car and a bill that you thought you’d misplaced. That’s what dinner looks likes sometimes at our house. And by dinner I mean – a bowl of cereal for one kid, a…
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My Pinterest Test Kitchen. Still going strong.
It’s not that I haven’t been perusing Pinterest lately. It’s not that I have been ignoring its many virtues. In fact, I still loves me some Pinterest and I still treat it as my personal cookbook primarily. I haven’t forgotten about my Pinterest Test Kitchen. I forgive you if you have. It’s actually a little more like this – I’ve made a concentrated effort to carry my phone less. Which means I am less likely to take a picture of the food attempts I am creating. So let this post suffice – with or without accompanying photographs. Here is a recipe on which you should not waste your time –…
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B. I. N. G. O. – Laura Ingalls Edition.
It’s been a while really. But when Papaw and Grandma made their pilgrimage from the great north to the even greater south, they brought along a little game with them. It was a fishing version of bingo. The kids got kind of obsessed. Otto is a huge fan of all things fishing. (“Hissing” he still pronounces it.) And all the kids love to play games. They played this bingo game about eight times every afternoon. And then again after dinner for another half dozen rounds. Insatiable. Their appetite for bingo was insatiable. Of course I needed to tap into that insatiability. And so. We created our own Laura Ingalls bingo…
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Dear Chacos.
Dear Chacos, I saw you once. Years ago. I was younger. You were too. You looked … rope-y. You left the toes all bare and open to roots and rocks. I was wearing Keens. They were close-toed and I was close-minded. Arrogant, even. (I’ve been known to have opinions. Strong ones. And verbal ones. Written ones too.) I climbed aboard the Keen train and we’ve been chugging along together. Me and my husband and our six children. And the many friends we’ve dragged along for the ride. Yes. I’ve written letters to Keen. Blog posts. Love songs. And King Keen has never acknowledged my voice. I’m not bitter. I’m a…
