Favorite photos of 2014

I am planning on going through all of my photos this year and getting some printed and turned into books. With all of the photos that I've taken, I have almost none up at my house. And there are so many that I love, I should have started this years ago. But, there is no time like the present-- I guess this is my traditional new years resolution. Print more photos. So here are a few of them that made me laugh or gave me warm fuzzies while I was going through them!

Lamby has shown up in almost all of our photos!

These two have grown up since the first time we were all toghether. 

And these two who have such a sweet friendship!

These cub scouts and their crazy antics!

A frozen lake with our beloved Bon-bon.

Exploring creativity from new angles.

Winter hikes on warmer days!

Summer road trips!

Lamby in a Yoda costume!

The weekend before we opened the coffee shop. 

Quiet mornings. 

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.

Welcome Home

She grabbed my face between her soft hands and said, almost sternly, "Welcome Home."

Her exclamation summed up everything my heart felt. It had been so long since we had gone out to fly kites. It'd been forever since we laid with our backs on dewy evening grass and looked at the clouds pass. And here she was, laying stomach to stomach, face to face, pronouncing her little greeting, blessing and benediction.

Welcome Home.

In the last month, I've completely changed my daily life. I left my Fortune 500 company job as an Art Director to embrace the daily living that I'm meant to have now.

I felt like I had been living a double life-- deeply trying to find balance and rhythm in our home, but fighting for the illusiveness of time everywhere else. "Gotta do more, gotta be more" felt like a runaway train. So, I chose to disembark.

So here I am, barely a month of newness under my belt. I'm practicing healing. I'm embracing the life that is right here.

I'm choosing to reclaim wonder. I'm carefully putting my heart back together. Loving my husband and children, loving our little house and our rhythm.

I'll be here more often too. I feel like I've come home on so many levels.

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!

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!

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.

Occupied

On Christmas day, I found all of us, busy with something that needed our attention.  I got a glimpse of our future and I think I like it.

Alone and focused, but very together.

All is Calm, All is Bright

Every year, we choose a guiding theme for the upcoming year, usually I take the theme from a Christmas carol and use it on our Christmas card, but I try to keep it in the forefront of my mind as we live out our daily lives. 

For 2013, I chose All is Calm and All is Bright. 

It seemed fitting, because who doesn't want to be calm, quiet and full of light? 

Unbeknownst to me our guiding theme became my mantra as we passed through some of the darkest times of our family life and marriage. And claim those words as glorious truth through some of the most adventurous and beautiful times in our family life and marriage. 

I read recently though I can't remember where, that adversity gives birth to hope. Without struggling through adversity, you can be left with an unshakeable hopelessness. And though, I don't know about unshakeable hopelessness, I do know that our hard fought adversity has indeed given birth to hope. And more than that we are now thriving. 

We've learned a lot. Basically, practice radical honesty, ask for help when you need it, take a step back and seek out the good and the beautiful in life. Even if it seems like nothing is beautiful. Be on the watch for it, it will find you. 

And this all sounds trite and hocus-pocus, but looking back on this year, I wouldn't trade any ounce of it, because of the place we're in now.

And remarkably, as we enter 2014. We're entering it Calm & Bright.

So we chose for this years theme, Repeat the Sounding Joy.

Because, we could all use a joyful year to recuperate. (Hows that for honesty!?)

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

Yarn Along: Litany

We were snuggled in on the couch reading before bath time and Isabel read the cover of my book and asked, "What is a Litany?" I said, "usually short prayers where the priest will pray and we will respond. It's a practice of prayer, but in a structured way."

And then I begun thinking about Keeping House -- and the truth that it brought to light. Meeting basic needs of a community is spiritual practice.  I know that warm food, warm clothes, clean sheets make us feel safe and whole.

Last night, I had all three kids (my two plus our beloved Olivia!) in the snow. The snow was so wet, they came and changed some article of clothing, pants, gloves, hats, just to run outside again for more. When they came inside for dinner, their cheeks were rosy, their hearts were full and they were hungry. We lit candles, added a few more chairs, shared dinner together. And I realized, keeping house is much more than folding laundry or changing beds, but it is those things. It's a heart cracked wide open to the people we love and the community we live with.

---

This picture is the beginning of another pickles plain vest, it's off the needles, gotten a few wooden buttons and has been given to a sweet little man. It's knit in Plymouth Yarn- 553 Coffee Beans, colorway Gray 9389.

Joining Ginny for Yarn Along.

Finding Fall: Evening

If you live in the Midwest, you know each season has it's own distinct color scheme.

The sky can tell you the story of the passage of time and if you pay careful attention, can alert you to the rhythm of the seasons.  And so can the fields.

In the spring the grass grows in a matter of days, in the end of the summer the fields turn gold and red. And the light, it paints swaths of color.

So go out in the evening, find the color that is around you.

What is waiting to be seen? Chase the light before it disappears for the season.

It will change you.