Be a JOYfilled Mom!

This summer, I decided… my word would be participation. I would no longer be the mom on the sidelines.

There is so much JOY in participating! Pave your life in stones of DOING!

Throw being ‘cool’ or ‘refined’ out of your vocabulary.

Jump in pools with your kids.
Wear an Ironman mask and play light sabers in the front yard.
Throw water balloons and get really wet!
Go on a walk to pick up discarded sticks, bark and recycling for a fairy house.
Skip.
Jump.
Love.
Dance in the kitchen.
Stay up late and watch movies on the couch with your kids.

And go kiss your husband. IN PUBLIC!

I promise you.

Your life will feel a bit lighter, a bit brighter and you’ll be JOYful too!

A Wintery Evening

On Thursday the 2nd the kids got home from their first day back at school after the holidays and we were all a bit antsy. I was so glad that I had prepped dinner the night before: quinoa cooked in chicken broth and pan drippings after we baked a chicken.

After work and school, we came home and popped dinner into the oven, rushed into our snow gear and headed out for our favorite trail.

We caught the last few minutes of sunshine, watched the sunset and then fade into a deep winter blue.







Izzo meditatively drew circles like an organic labyrinth into the crunchy snow. As we walked along she asked if we could have our own time on the trail. So the "ladies" are going to take a winter picnic out to the trail sometime this weekend. Even if it just is a thermos of hot chocolate and a quiet walk for the two of us.



We arrived home to the most delicious smell our simple dinner was welcoming to our freezing hands--quinoa with chicken, mushrooms and peas. And we finished our night with a sweet treat, gluten free oven s'mores. A gooey ending to a perfect evening.

This Moment: On the Street Where You Live

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Joining Soulemama

The Great American Road Trip

Hello Dears,
We are back from our Great American Road Trip. We took two weeks off of work, rented a little SUV and drove in it for 91 hours total! Our main destination was to California for a family camping trip, but we took the opportunity to introduce our kids to some of the most beautiful sites in the country. We opted for back roads and smaller highways, we used a paper atlas instead of a GPS and we found little greasy spoon diners for our road food.

We drove through 9 states, visited 7 National Parks, read 7 chapter books, ate ice cream and went swimming 10 times and we came home full of love and happiness.

Look out for a few more photos over the next week-- I'll be reliving every moment as I upload and edit them!

Weekending: Always Winter?

Well, it's still winter here, it feels like it will never end.

We finally finished reading, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I think I know what all those characters felt like always winter.

I know we've loved these months... but today, right now it feels like spring is a far off dream that is just out of grasp. We've even loved the snow-- the quiet it brings to our home and the way that it makes the days seem a bit slower, the sounds of the world dampened by a thick blanket. But right now, we are itching for green gardens, dark deep earth and the unmistakeable sweet smell of growth.

I resolve to be patient, I will practice my resolve... It will be here soon.

This weekend, we had a beautiful mix of old friends and new. Dinners, birthday parties, pre-snow trail jaunts (hand knits, capes, sunglasses, neon), gymnastics, church... slowly one thing fades into the other and we magically arrive at Sunday evening. Where we sit comfortably book and journal in hand, Harry Potter 4 in the DVD player and with a cup of coffee (which I will regret while wide eyed at 2 am, I’m sure).

But, if I can just wonder in amazement at these two faces for a moment. They were babes just yesterday, weren't they? They were all limbs, coos and cries, milk faced and sleepy? And now. Now, they are intensely their own.

From Our Family to Yours

weekending: Camping Calm

I am sitting in the woods and it is hot! Roaring fire is before me and our tent is behind-- I'm listening to our little people talk to each other in hushed tones, they think we can't hear them whisper! My feet are dirty and I'm sweating but my heart is calm.

For me the smell of campfire, pine trees and the sound of a singing whippoorwill send me straight to my happy place. Cicadas singing in the trees and drops of rain on tent nylon in the cool night air are the sweetest lullabies.

Do you have a place where no matter what goes on year heart calms instantly?

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Blogging by hand: I'm trying something new, I'm writing my new blog posts in my journal first and then posting them here at a bit later time. I feel like I can collect my thoughts better. You should try it!

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Joining Amanda.

Community Garden

We have a little allotment, a piece of land in our town's community garden. And it has been such an enriching experience.

I think the kids are more apt to help in this garden than at our home. As soon as we get to our garden plot they take their shoes off and stick their toes in the mud. Because what's the point of gardening if not barefoot?

They rake and hoe, they shovel and run around like crazy.

Truman likes to water plants and people (mostly his sister who HATES getting wet unexpectedly). Then runs off with my camera to say to our other gardening neighbors, "Hi! I'm a news man, I've come to take your picture" Snap a photo then run away (:

One of our 'neighbors' lives just beyond the garden, so she told the kids she had bugs for them and she would be right back. She came back with a handful gummy worms and gummy butterflies. The kids laughed so hard! Truman kept saying, "WOW. Mrs. Korver, I thought you were bringing us real bugs!" And Isabel chimed in with, "These taste much better than REAL bugs!"

Eric spends the most time here, I think it's soothing his soul. He has a natural grace for gardening.

Thanks for taking a peek in our second gardening home.

Have a lovely weekend!

Starting Summer: All Perfect and Imperfect

It feels like summer has begun. We wrote our Summer List we've made strawberry lemonade. We visited the local Farmers' Market and we've taken our time with our weekends.

On Friday night, in a bit of a rush we packed a picnic, grabbed some folding chairs and a few towels and headed out to our family's favorite summer haunt. And it was beautiful.

The landscape was beautiful, with the sun setting on the water. It was warm, really warm so cooling down in the water felt perfect. And I brought along a basket of goodies to keep me occupied on the beach.

But, the trip was imperfect as some outings are. I'm not here to sugar coat life. Truman got out to far-- I jumped in and swam out to him in my sundress. Isabel's bathing suit got lost before we left. We found it under the couch when we got home. (Whaaa?). And we were all tired from a long, long week.

But in the car ride home, when we all took a deep breath, I think this outing on a Friday set us up for a good weekend. A release valve. A way to let off some steam and to settle into our weekend routine.

How was your weekend?

Exploring Winter

This winter has been different than any I've experienced in my life in Iowa. And I've been here for 10 years now (oh good lord, TEN YEARS). My first winter, I thought I'd never be warm again. I slept with an eletric blanket, I coundn't fathom eating ice cream in the winter. And I know I wore flannel pants under my jeans more than once.

But this year. We've been out in January and February in sweatshirts and fleeces on some of our walks. Hello?!? Winter, are you there???

Not to say that the Californian in me thinks this is AWESOME!

But the Iowan in me thinks it's just a bit strange. And I miss late night walks down alleys in my snow boots. Plus, really, this is the winter the year I finally get snow shoes?

Well last weekend we took off to our favorite trail to collect things for our nature table. And we came back with lots of pictures, specimens and thoughts about what makes winter. That will be in an up coming post.

But here are a few photos of us exploring this winter. Since it is so different from what we've dealt with before.

Always with caution, but an adventurer none the less!

Isabel collecting thoughts via drawings in her journal.

Truman loves to beg, 'let's run!' Of course!

Off the beaten path exploring the depth of snow with her walking stick.

Outside My Front Door

After I dropped off the kids this morning at school and kid-sitting I ran back home to grab my purse. And when I walked back through the front door out to my car. This was waiting for me.

A small reminder to look at the beauty around me. That with my head down, I would have missed. It reminds me that I need to look for the beauty around me.

Have you seen beauty this week? Did it sneak up on you?

Christmas Eve will Find Me

This is probably one of the quietest Christmas eve's we've ever had. It was the most relaxing day-- we ate breakfast and played with some wonderful friends, watched movies for quiet time and then we took a little walk in down the puddle jumper trail.

I can mark their height by these trees and by how far they are able to run and jump down the trail. This was a really good way to get our energy out before Christmas Eve service too.


This looks like the middle of October not the end of December. What a warm winter we've been having-- no white Christmas for us!

I think...

(shhhhh... don't say this tooo loud) I think we're healthy. And I know that we are in need of a holiday.
I'm so glad that one is on the horizon. And since we won't be traveling this year (sad but true), we're going to do a few things together.

The kids want to make cookies, build a snow man (will we have snow?!?) and I want to go on a hike. Truman always puts on his very best for walks and hikes. I should find myself a walking cape and some hiking goggles. Or a tutu (see below).

What will you be up to for the holidays? More importantly, do you have a walking/hiking costume?

The Sunrise

As I got up in the dark of Saturday morning, I tip-toed around the house as to not wake the sleeping ones.

Once washed, dressed and bundled. I headed out on the road.

These scenes were the gifts that awaited my early journey.

Head in the Clouds

It's the time of year that I just want to injest the light, swallow up spoonful after spoonful of the clouds.

And when I've had my fill of clouds I will lay on my back, curled up in a old love-worn quilt and watch the clouds go by--imagining unicorns, apple trees and faces into their puffy-whiteness.

Can you see the froggy face in this photo that we saw?

Finding Fall, Chasing Wonder

A few years ago my father-in-law bought us the movie, Bridge to Terabithia. I remembered being in fourth grade, reading that book. And I loved it. But honestly, I haven't thought much of it since.

Isabel found the DVD and wanted to watch it. So I let her. And she's been living in the magical land of Terabithia ever since, she writes stories about it, she fills her sketchbook with pictures about it and she dresses up as the Queen of Terabithia. And lately, she's even take her brother on her adventures.

On Sunday, we took a drive to enjoy the fall colors and we ended up at a little pond a few minutes from our house. The leaves were breath taking.

When she exited the car and got down towards the water, I heard her breathlessly exclaim full of wonder, "Truman, I think we're actually in Terabithia."

Mud Baths

Saturday, while Eric was at the grocery store and I was finishing the last of the vacuuming. I got a knock on the back door. And I was greeted by this.

Muddy-muddy children.

Laughing with delight at their filthiness! They were 'playing in the sprinklers' with their beloved next-door neighbor friends and after an hour or so, this is what it evolved into.

And instead of get angry at their mess, I grabbed my camera and a towel for their track-making feet!

And we laughed together while they regaled me about their mud-slinging adventures.

First they got to rinse off all the grass and mud. Then we washed the tub. And then they took a real bath.

And I got the mud out of their swim suits. Hooray for me! And they are still talking about how dirty they got. Hooray for them!


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Just a reminder about Revisiting Sanctuaries, spots are filling up. So join today!

Weekending

Friday night dinner with around our kitchen table with friends.

Saturday morning park date and donutless-bakery date. Heat-induced-mild-crabbiness from 5 kids.
Lazy, quiet time afternoon. Cool sheets, special snacks and a oasis from the heat afternoon movie.
A mud bath with the beloved neighbor kids.
Mama cleaning the house. 
A rinse off bath then a bubble bath post mud bath.
A late night visit from two of my favorite women-- while our Men were out together.
Sangria and coffee plus waaay-past-bedtime-children-wrangling. 

Sunday morning quiet with a visit to church.
Pork ribs, cheesy-rice and fruit salad for lunch. Simple. 
Another lazy quiet time-- a stack of books with my boy. 
A visit to our favorite pond, meeting some favorite friends by happy accident.
Hours wading in the water-- splashing, laughing.
A quick picnic.
A sunset drive home.
Time for bed.
Laundry to wash, dishes to be done.
Reading out loud, knitting away.
Waking up to a thunderstorm-- snuggle down into safe warm bed for sleep.


How was your weekend?


Joining Amanda.