Write down who you are...

This may just look like our cozy little coffee station. A home for our electric Hario pot, cone coffee dripper, hand thrown mugs and Old Factory Coffee Beans. And it is, it does a fine job, but if you look closer, you'll see something that is much more important.

The chalkboard above tells more of our story than this little nook of heaven ever could. When we started our Family Meetings last year, it was out of near desperation to draw the four of us back together. We put out a big piece of poster board and we wrote down things we needed to remember on a daily basis-- we wrote down our rituals for living.

We chose things we wanted to be about. We chose guiding themes for what was important. We talked about or values. Then we wrote them down and put them up so we would be held accountable, by each other and by every person who steps foot in our house.

I encourage you to take time to find out who your family is and write down your values. It guides us toward who we should be every day.

Quiet Things: Filled with Light

I have really enjoyed daylight savings. I got up early and took time to knit and read. This song came floating in on my Pandora station. It sounds like waking up to me, like rebirth. And falling back, the gift of an extra hour feels like rebirth too. Like, resetting the clock.

It was brisk, clear and sunny today by 7:15. Oh joy for autumn light, shining through the window as I filled thermoses with warm soup and I cut up oranges for lunch. I said a little prayer of gratitude as the kids ate breakfast and waited for the bus. That fall sunlight never ceases to amaze me.

And now, the house is really quiet. Our black lab's deep breathing is the only sound I'm hearing. And I am really grateful for this time in life, time to take a step back and enjoy the things that Christ has for us: love and family, good food, beautiful friends, amazing coffee... we are filled with light.

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!

In Defense of Solitude

I sat in the grass, under the shade of a tree and breathed in and out. I tried to drop my stubborn shoulders, they have hovered near my earlobes for quite a while.

And I contemplated how I had ended up in this grass. On a beautiful day. With about 20 people I did not really know.

My spiritual director administrated a retreat for those who needed a day of solitude, prayer and direction. And I paid a small fee, hopped in a minivan with two friends from church and traveled one town over for the day. And I have a really hard time taking time to myself these days. But, divinely, I took the plunge and made time for the retreat.

In the morning, we had prayer time, a guided reading and then we were set loose on the retreat grounds to find a quiet spot for a few hours.


I was a bit apprehensive, I had no idea if I could sit in silence for 2 plus hours at a time, but here I was.

After a bit of silence, I felt myself drift away to this quiet, spellbound place--  as if the solitude itself was feeding my soul. Gently handing bits of bread and sips of wine.  It reminded me of the line in a Eucharistic prayer, "Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal."

The quiet was as satisfying as a cool drink after a hot day. A part of me that was bound up-- tied in knots slowly faded away as my pen struck the paper of my journal. And it was not all comfortable, but it was stretching and growing.

After a few sessions of solitude that day, I felt refreshed, whole and hungry for more time, more bits of bread, wine.

I am wondering how to get this type of solitude in my life without a formal retreat, without an entry fee and without driving to a venue a town or tow over for a lake view. How can I take this time in daily life?

So I started bit by bit. When I walk at night, I turn off my ipod and run towards the sunset.
I find a quiet spot with my journal on the front steps of my home. Even if it is just for a few minutes.

"Glaciers move in tides. So do mountains. So do all things." John Muir

Do you take time for solitude? Do you set aside time to be alone? What feeds your soul?

Love After Love
Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

All because of Origami: Adversity Breeds Hope

Isabel couldn't fold an origami crane last night and she got frustrated. Tears, big tears. Then she looked up a video on youtube and she couldn't hear what they were saying. More tears. And anger.

"Why don't you just do this for me?" She asked, choking on frustration.

"I don't want to take all the hard things from you, my job is to help you deal with the frustration as you figure out your own problems."

Last weekend, we were learning how to fish and the same type of issue. She is used to things coming easy for her, she's naturally coordinated-- in most things. It took her a long time to understand how to coordinate her hands to cast.

Folding an origami crane or casting out a fishing line are not true hardships like poverty, addiction or any of the world’s problems. But, making small steps in our own personal lives help us learn how to deal with larger issues.  Resolve to finish something you started is important. Knowing the depth of your intellect and the depth of your capabilities is important.

I want my kids to know that they are capable. That they can take care of themselves. And that they can finish a project, even if it is an origami crane.

"If one of my kids is struggling, it feels excruciating to let them go to school and figure it out for themselves. Hope is a function of struggle. People with the highest hopefulness have the knowledge that they can move through adversity. When we take adversity from our children, we diminish their capacity for hope." Brene Brown

Multicultural Children's Book Day: Josephine!

Isabel has been wearing an old hat of mine lately and offering to be my personal detective. She wrote her name on a piece of scratch paper in red crayon. It says, "Isabel- Detective" and every time I turn the corner, she asks me if I have a case for her to solve.

When the box came from Chronicle Books for Multicultural Children's Book Day, I asked her to open it. She promptly took the book, Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker, out of the packaging and set out to read it, instead of eating her gluten free ramen.

The book set her on an investigation of her own. Asking questions like, "What is Segregation?" This book set us on an afternoon of talking about what life was like for Josephine and how it was different from Isabel's life. Josephine didn't have proper clothes to keep her warm, so she danced instead. She didn't have her own bed, she slept in one bed with her whole family. This conversation was priceless.

We love the illustrations by Christian Robinson, each page is a joy.  The whole book is written in a dance of it's own -- it holds a cadence from beginning to end.  Patricia Hruby Powell's retelling of Josephine's life captures a beautiful story of hardship to triumph, struggle, desire and hard work. Josephine reminds you do do what you love with your whole soul.

Thank you to Chronicle Books for sending us this lovely book, we will be donating it to our library so if you are local, you'll be able to read it too!


Do you want to see more Multicultural Children's Book Day reviews? Visit these lovely folks:

2GirlsLostInaBook · 365 Days of Motherhood · A Bilingual Baby · A Simple Life, Really? · Africa to America · After School Smarty Pants · All Done Monkey · Andi’s Kids Books · Anita Brown Bag · Austin Gilkeson · Barbara Ann Mojica · Books My Kids Read · Bottom Shelf Books · Cats Eat Dogs · Chasing The Donkey · Children's Book-a-Day Almanac · Children's Books Heal · Church o Books · CitizenBeta · Crafty Moms Share · Discovering The World Through My Son's Eyes · Early Words · Flowering Minds · Franticmommy · Gathering Books · GEO Librarian · Gladys Barbieri · Going in Circles · Growing Book by Book · iGame Mom · I’m Not The Nanny · InCulture Parent · Itsy Bitsy Mom ·Just Children’s Books- Kid World Citizen · Kristi’s Book Nook · Mama Lady Books · Mama Smiles · Mission Read · Mother Daughter Book Reviews · Mrs AOk · MrsTeeLoveLifeLaughter · Ms. Yingling Reads · Multicultural Kids Blog · One Sweet World · Open Wide The World · P is for Preschooler · Rapenzel Dreams · School4Boys · Sharon the Librarian · Spanish Playground · Sprout's Bookshelf · Squishable Baby · Stanley and Katrina · Teach Mama · The Art of Home Education · The Brain Lair · The Educators' Spin On It · The Family-Ship Experience · The Yellow Door Paperie · This Kid Reviews Books · Trishap’s Books · Unconventional Librarian · Vicki Arnold · We3Three · World for Learning · Wrapped in Foil

Help us celebrate the joy and diversity of multicultural children’s books. Join us for a special day of reading and fun {January 27th} by clicking here!