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turning 41.
On Tuesday I turned 41 years old. I asked Gabe if he feels overwhelmed by how old his mom is, to which he replied, “Well you don’t look old, so I don’t mind at all!” Sweet Gabe. A few months ago the book club of ladies from our church decided to go see a Broadway show in Greenville. They very kindly invited me along even though I haven’t had time to attend book club in about two years. So I told David that’s what I wanted to do to celebrate my birthday. We drove up on Saturday and had a perfect day. First stop: a little shopping at M. Judson…
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january 2023.
2023 started off with a sinus virus that several members of the family passed around. No fun. Being home sick is a good time for organizing new Christmas gifts. Noah was eager to take pictures of his growing rocks and gems collection and to show his friends. Rainy, sick days at home are also good for puzzles. We’ve been doing some fun ones lately, loaned by my parents and friends. I say the word “we” loosely, because I never do puzzles if I can help it. I’m a happy flipper-over of pieces when it first comes out of the box, though. After we got healthy, a group of…
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new year’s victories.
Happy New Year, friends! Rather than write a blog post about my New Year’s resolutions, I thought I’d start off 2023 by talking about a few things that are going well. This post is serving another purpose too. I read 106 books in 2022, which is actually less than normal for me. I’m fine with it, because I never like to set a reading goal (and I read two monster books last year: The Iliad and The Odyssey). However, this year I’m challenged to do something a little different: I want to be more reflective with what I read. I want to slow down and take time to process my…
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ten.
My last baby turned double-digits on Saturday, December 31st. I have to laugh (or else I’ll cry) because as I sat last week attempting to write a very short blog post, I kept getting interrupted by a clash of wills with him. Finally, I closed my laptop in exasperation and went to have real talk with him. So I’ll paste David’s birthday Facebook post and show you a picture of our Noah with his birthday gift, a spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx). “Noah turns 10 today. Our baby. Adventurous, high energy, kind, enormously generous, comes alive outdoors among insects and rocks. Snake handler. Part Ishmael with no problem talking over and against…
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raising teenagers.
Since I’ve neglected the blog so often in 2022, I realize that I never documented Judah’s 15th birthday. I’m kicking myself for deleting my Instagram account before copying what I posted about him on September 8th, but here it is to the best of my memory: Judah is 15 years old today. He loves listening to classic rock on his record player, running, paddle-boarding, Mr. Blackwell’s high school co-op, Stranger Things, and reading. He’s working on his second novel. He has a gift for noticing people others don’t notice and welcoming them in. He tells his little brothers a bedtime story every single night, and prays aloud for me when…
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plant exchange (by amie).
Today Mom and I went to a plant exchange at church that our friend Allie organized. It was so fun. I very much enjoy hanging around with people who love plants. It was a perfect time to share clippings we’ve started, and purge plants and pots we don’t want, and also exchange for different types. The plant ball in the picture bellow is a fun craft you can do with your plant clippings! Isn’t it cute? There were lots of plants. My Mom and I said we wanted to get rid of plants and only bring a few home. Yeah, we definitely brought more then a few home! …
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interior door project, part one.
We haven’t had a house project in a good long while. But because it’s so nice out these days, last weekend David decided to tackle one that’s been needed for the 9 1/2 years we’ve owned this house: the interior doors. To explain why it’s needed, I give you Exhibit A: In the boys’ wing of the house (“wing” makes it sound grander than it is; in truth it’s a very tiny hallway), we have six doors total: a bathroom, two bedrooms, three closets. And they all look like this. I think you can figure out why — someone thought it was a good idea to slap latex…
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atomic habits and some true confessions.
A friend recently bought me a copy of the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, because she knew I wanted to read it. So I’ve spent the past month noticing and taking stock of my habits. Because I can be a tad negative, I first made a list of some of my good habits: Reading (both alone and to my kids) Tidying up the house Cooking dinner most nights Folding laundry Being friendly Reading my Bible each morning. Additionally, I have two major habit victories from the past few months: getting in shape, and eating healthier. I still can hardly believe I’ve stuck with those large shifts because…
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pawleys island 2022.
As I alluded to in my last post, August was a challenging month. So was the beginning of September. The end of summer, start of school and soccer and beginning high school for Judah (still homeschooled but attending a new co-op and adjusting to a bigger work load). I’m teaching four classes for our co-op this year, one is a high school class and has doubled my weekly prep time. Kira was spayed at the beginning of September, a surgery that was delayed two times because the first time she went into heat and the second she had an infection at the site of her original leg surgery she was…
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august.
I’m playing catch-up here on the blog, so here’s August, half-a-month late! A friend generously let us use his pool for a couple of weeks. It was blissful. Amie and I spent the summer learning different ways to propagate our plants. We’re enjoying sharing them with friends. We loved celebrating Alyssa’s birthday at Sakitumi. Favorite book of the summer. Please read it! It will break your heart, but in a good way. We spotted the biggest moth we’ve ever seen (a Polyphemus moth), dead in our driveway one morning. We’re sad it died, but if it had to, Noah was very happy to mount it…
