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.

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!

Summering: At Home

We had a glorious vacation. But we've been home for a month now and we are reveling in summer on the plains. It's taken a bit of time to settle into summer-- but we have. Here is a little visual list of what we've been up to!

This little man turned 6. "Mom, take a picture of my eyeball!"
He loves wearing my glasses.

His presents all wrapped and ready for him.

Bike riding in the evenings.

Playing in the sprinklers.

Fourth of July face painting.

Truman watching fireworks.

Visiting the Farmers' Market.

Swimming Lessons

Sparklers! Truman's first time!

Jumping off the dock.

Weeeee!

Riding their bikes to John and Bonnie's House!

Truman took all his cowboy gear with him!

Birthday baseball game.

Eric's birthday.

Growing: May

Isabel:
*Lost a tooth this week! The tooth fairy brought four quarters which she shared with Truman.
*Reads Chicken Soup with Rice, it's her favorite right now.
*Her friend, Lamby goes everywhere.
*Follows Mama around asking to sew something.
*Makes puppet shows with whoever is here to play.

Truman:
*Ate spinach and mushrooms last weekend in his fritta and loved them.
*Reads There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy. And laughed so hard as each animal was swallowed.
*Makes Lucy kiss him good night.
*Follows Mama around asking for something to make. He loves activities and experiments.
*He was so sad it snowed again last week and that they had indoor recess. He would love to be outside and playing catch all the time.

Finding Fall: Sky Color

We recently got a book from the library called, Sky Color.

In this simple story, a little girl is given no blue paint for her classes mural project-- and she must paint the SKY! She ponders the question what color is the sky? And through observation and quietness of heart she finds a beautiful answer.

And I've thought of it daily since we read it.

As I've watched the Midwestern sky-- purple and midnight in the early morning, grey and frosty decorated with dancing yellow leaves on our walk to the bus, pink, orange and majestic on our quick morning drive into the office.

And like in the picture above, this energetic, electric and soft blue. In quiet tension with the orange, golden, yellow leaves.

We could also write a little book called leaf color, I suspect.

What Sky Color have you seen today?