Beyond Just Mom

The little wooden house sits on our kitchen table, typically unnoticed.  My son brought it home from Sunday’s Cool a few weeks ago (yes, that’s what we call it.  Totally different from that old stodgy Sunday school, you know).  It has little disks with velcro on the back, so the peacemaker of the moment can [...]

I think I’ve found my word for this year.
Last year, people kept claiming their “theme words” to focus their energy and I felt a little left out. I couldn’t think of just one word that didn’t feel trite or forced. So I didn’t have one. And that’s okay.
Now, the same word keeps coming back to [...]

At his happiest, my middle son gets goofy.  He always has. 
As an infant, we would tickle him over and over to hear his infectious giggle.  As he grew, he’d entertain us with dramatic antics, and at night you can still hear him laughing with his brother until they collapse into slumber.  He’s eleven. 
I have to admit, the controlling [...]

It’s been a great week and I’ve missed you all.  I’ve got time to just post a few quick updates and then I’ll be back:
1) Last week we hosted our young visitor from Japan and he was amazing!   We couldn’t have ordered up a more friendly, engaging, appreciative and English-speaking (whew!) fourteen year old.   We said [...]

Cover via Amazon

 I’m not sure what this says about me, but sometimes I am thunderstruck by a twist on the same old typical advice.  Listening to a book on CD today, I almost had to pull over the car, overwhelmed by recognition, relief and mixed-up conviction by this: 
“I meet many parents who are trying so hard [...]

Rise without trying
at 5:00 am
capture the sunrise
beat the heat
pretend we belong
escape to the spa
dip in the pool
laze in the river
catch a movie
dinner for two
slumber again
in that big soft bed
then off to the farm.

Big hugs
extra tight this time
catch up
greet the dogs
and sink bare feet into
the softest grass in the world.
Breathe in
break bread
sit on the porch
enjoy the [...]

If you want to push my buttons, you can sass me, ignore me, or turn your back on me while I’m talking.  My kids have learned this well and respond accordingly (depending on whether they feel like pushing my buttons or not). 
Lately, one of my loving offspring has invoked a new move that completely unnerves [...]

Housekeeping is not my passion or gift.  I need a little help from my friends (family).  How about you?
It gets especially onerous in the summer, when there are so many more interesting things to do outside, and there are many more bodies around my house making messes every five minutes.  
Enter the 27 thing fling.  I learned [...]

It stuck with me all week — the complexity, the nuances, and the strange ways I could relate to the story. 
We finally watched Rachel Getting Married on DVD.  It’s a strange, edgy, wobbly-camera style movie about a girl coming home from rehab for her sister’s wedding.  I found it painfully realistic and fantastically unrealistic at the [...]

The shouts, screams and tears came out of nowhere.  My boys were tumbling on the floor — not just wrestling — but aiming for serious damage. 

It was our first day of spring break, so it must be time to start up the sibling wars.  It was also time to nip this in the bud — [...]