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my date with mosely, good things are coming
Hi friends. This weekend the weather has been my favorite. A pleasant sort of warmth. A breezy sort of breeze. Pollen low and skies clear. Mosely and I sauntered off to enjoy her Christmas gift date – tickets to see The Sound of Music. (Best Christmas gift idea ever – by the way. I’ve enjoyed four incredible dates to events I’ve really wanted to see too – with people I really like seeing them with. Only one date left to go!) Mosely had gotten a snazzy new short haircut the day before (we have the best hairdresser!) and she looked so cute. Our seats were pretty much as far back…
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sunshine and a trail
Today was full of sunshine. Aren’t days like that just a gift? My buddy Carl Sandburg’s gloriously beautiful home site partnered with breezy sunshine and companionable hiking friends. Today was about slow conversations and walking through the woods. Eating lunch on a giant rock with a stellar view that made cold leftover ham taste delicious. Listening to the kids chat about novels they enjoy and favorite films and book titles they should read next and “have you ever read Agatha Christie?” I loved watching Bergen lead and chat with two younger little buddies as they held his hand and walked a mile or…
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what a Saturday night looks like …. sometimes
Once upon a time I told the kids we were watching Maleficent at our next Family Movie Night. It seemed like a pretty easy promise to make and to keep. (What is not easy, on the other hand, is pronouncing the movie Maleficent. Why is it so hard?) Movie Night rolls in. I have Mosely check Netflix. Maleficnnt is not available. Fine. We check iTunes. Malefichtyy is available. For purchasing. For $19.99. No thanks. I text Amanda. “Where did you guys get your copy of Maelficnntyihk? Do you own it?” “The library,” she responds. Like a true planner. A person prepared. Fine. “Guys – let’s just go to a Redbox…
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pockets of beauty & grace
“I hope you are finding pockets of beauty and grace.” That’s what the text message from a friend said this week. There are days and moments that weigh heavy on my heart. News that breaks and bends. Realities that burden and ache. And. There of moments of shared laughter and genuine joy. Hope that soars and restores. Pockets of beauty and grace. Yesterday my oldest son and I had a date. (We are still working our way through their Christmas gifts – a one on one date with Mom to some fun event.) He was DJ in the car so it was all Okee Dokee Brothers and The Hunts for…
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the maple weekend: a comedy of errors
Oh goodness, our weekend was plum full of good intentions. (I’m a feelin’ like story telling’, so settle in friends) What We Planned: Drive to Virginia. (The Motherland. The Oasis.) Meet my brother. (That wiley New Zealand one.) Visit the Maple Festival together in Highland County. What Actually Happened: We got to Virginia. That part worked out pretty much just as planned. Check. On Saturday morning the kids and I loaded up and prepared for the two hour drive up the mountain, anxiously anticipating All Things Maple. Maple donuts. Maple cotton candy. Maple syrup. Maple pancakes. Maple BBQ. Maple candy. Maple sugar. Maple cream. Maple skies. Maple roads. Maple friendships.…
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Hiking With Kids: John Rock Trail
Last week there was a funk permeating our home. The reasons were multiple and included but were not limited to strep throat for one, an infection for another, a handful of extra editing deadlines for me and a schedule with a bit too much Go and not enough Stay. Midweek we had a little Family Meeting (complete with The Rolling Pin That Allows The Holder To Speak) and we refocused our efforts, made a list of what we could Say No to, added in a Family Night of movies and pillows and pasta fagiole and we all left the table feeling a bit more hopeful with the promise of a restful…
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snow matters.
All I’ve got today is this …. Snow is my favorite. Not my favorite as in I-Want-To-Live-In-A-State-Where-Winter-Means-A-Weekly-Snow-Storm-And-My-Face-Always-Feels-Frozen. More like my favorite as in Once-Or-Thrice-A-Winter-A-Good-Snow-Storm-That-Shuts-Life-Down. I love that kind of snow. I love the finality and the theatrics with which the south treats snow flakes. Lock down and stay home and eat soup and drink hot chocolate and serve up seven heaping bowls of snow cream in two days. Play games and build snow men (and snow families complete with kitty cats and snow babies) and build forts and sled down hills and don’t go to work and don’t do school and just be alive with the people you love. That’s…
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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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i’ve got you covered.
Travel weary and ready for lunch, my straggly gang and I waited in the line at Chick-fil-A. Four hours of driving behind us. Three hours of driving in front of us. An irritated older gentleman pushed right around us to reach the cashier asking who was next. His exagerated sighs told me he was probably a lot more concerned about his chicken sandwich with Polynesian sauce than I was so I ignored his line cutting. Turns out our cashier was a little less than speedy and that was alright, because we order a little less than speedy too. Another customer was to our left following Irritated Older Gentleman before all…
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Flying With Kids: Why You Can And Should Do It
Flying with kids. Does that fragment of a sentence send shivers down your spine? Do you get all panicky at the prospect of boarding a giant metal flying machine and flitting across time and space with your squirmy children all cooped up and contained in one small gray square of a space for hours on end? No? Good. Great. Flying with kids does not have be scary. Flying with kids means one really cool thing – NOT driving with kids. Flying means faster to the destination. Flying means no traffic stops and bathroom breaks and fast food binges. You should fly with your kids. For real. And – flying with…
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Field Trip: School on the Trail
Last week I studied the weather forecast. I saw the glorious autumn days we would potentially be allowed to enjoy and the threat of the cold and the rain-filled days just on the edge of the horizon. I knew I had to get to the sunshine while there was sunshine to get to. Whilst the children were sleeping snug in their beds (or my bed, you know, whichever, it’s all the same any more) I wrote out a little invitation for them each. “You are invited on an adventure,” the note read. “Pack your water bottle, your notebook, a novel, your Life of Fred math book, colored pencils and grab…
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Spend a Day in Flat Rock, North Carolina
(This post originally appeared on Kidding Around Greenville’s website.) I love the town of Flat Rock every time of year, but Flat Rock in the fall is just about the best. If you have a day to spend during this autumn season, you should choose to spend it in the mountains of North Carolina. _____________________ Flat Rock, North Carolina. It’s smaller than an amusement park, but it’s loads more fun. Just over the mountain, a short drive north of Travelers Rest, it’s an easy, beautiful drive. It’s a perfect place to spend a day – especially in the fall. First Stop: Flat Rock Village Bakery Opens at 7 a.m. Buy a scone, a muffin or…
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Field Trip: Eliada Corn Maze
The best part about writing for the local website Kidding Around Greenville has been embracing the opportunity to explore our own adventures right here where we live. Looking for article ideas for them has given me fresh eyes for discovering cool spots across the mountains in North Carolina and right here in our town too. Last week the kids and I made our favorite over-the-hill drive (I just can never get enough of those mountains, no matter the season) to Asheville to a well known annual corn maze that I had only heard about but had never visited. Eliada is an organization in Asheville that is doing really fabulous things for…
