the kids
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winter bookshelf for the kids (and kids-at-heart).
Friends!! I’m so sorry this took me forever, clearly I overestimated my ability to hammer it out really quick. I hope it’s worth the wait. I had so much fun writing this post. Children’s books are an unending source of delight to me, and the most amazing thing is how many wonderful books I’m discovering these days that I never knew existed. I read middle grade and young adult fiction to myself for fun (books my kids may not be ready for yet), but when I find a new picture or children’s book title I like to wait to discover it with them for the first time. C.S. Lewis said…
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a birthday post.
Hi friends! Yesterday was my 35th birthday! Can you believe it!? It feels like a sort of milestone. I’m halfway to 70! I’m really not one to be sentimental about my kids getting older (I love older kids!), but yesterday I had a sort of earth-shaking revelation: I’m 35. Judah is 9 1/2. That means I’ve lived exactly one half of the life I have with him at home, before he spreads his wings and flies away. A few moments of heart-thumping panic, and then I moved on. Here’s to seizing the next nine years with my boy and choosing not to be consumed by guilt! Here’s to having lived…
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our additions.
Notice I said additions, not addition. I don’t have house addition news quite yet, but we got a few other additions in the meantime. Eight, to be exact. David has been wanting chickens literally since the summer we moved back from India. That’s when he developed an enthusiasm for having a backyard homestead. He decided bee-keeping may be a bit ambitious, but built our garden the month we bought our house (number one priority). The time hasn’t been quite right for chickens (number two priority). Thankfully David’s parents, Steve and Linda, moved from Pennsylvania into our neighborhood two years ago and got chickens soon after. We lived vicariously through them…
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a new way to spend tuesday afternoons.
On Tuesdays at 1:00, my mother-in-law, Linda, comes over to sit with my kids. She reads or works while they have their afternoon room time until 3:00, then walks them two streets over to her house to play until 5:00. Tuesday afternoons are one of God’s gifts to me in this season. For the past six months I have exercised, gone to counseling appointments, scheduled my trip to the dentist, and run errands in a blessedly quiet van. My counselor is so great that she works herself out of a job; currently I’m seeing her once a month, which leaves many Tuesdays wide open. I guess ideally I would use…
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noah is four!!
Dear Noah, On New Year’s Eve we celebrated your fourth birthday and discovered you have grown two whole inches since we adopted you. When you came into our lives 20 months ago, you were simultaneously the most charming child we’d ever met, and you were angry and out of control. You constantly stopped strangers in delight just by your smile and your zest for life. But you also grabbed other kids’ toys and threw them in the trash out of spite. You hit your grandparents if they didn’t give you what you wanted. You knew very few words, but “no” was one of them. You had a smile that lit…
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homeschooling littles using charlotte mason.
Happy Monday, my friends! Can you believe we made it to Christmas week!? Today I want to answer another question from my recent homeschooling q and a series. I thought I’d separate it from the series, because I think there are some lovely quality-time ideas in here for any parent (or grandparent! or babysitter!) of littles, whether or not you homeschool. Perhaps your child does part-time preschool and you’re looking for some ideas for the remaining days. Or maybe you’re thinking ahead to those long stretches of boiling hot summer days and what you’ll do with all that free time. Or you’re a nanny and would like to give your…
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december afternoon.
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swim team and adversity.
Our big kids had their second swim meet this weekend. It went really well, both of them improved on their times from their first meet, and Judah swam two new events. But this competition experience is challenging me in a new way as a parent. All four kids for the most part enjoy their swim practices. They like their friends and their coaches and have gained confidence in learning new skills. But truthfully, the meets have been hard for Judah and Amelie. They are really, really intense experiences: noisy and crowded and competitive. David and I aren’t allowed to be on the pool deck with them, so we drop them…
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siblings.
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last week in photos (or: thanksgiving gratitude).
Hello friends! How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was full of people and lots of really yummy food. Here’s what we’ve been up to lately! Judah and Amelie had their first swim meet last weekend at USC. Judah has been swimming with Columbia Swimming for 15 months, and Amelie for nearly a year. We wanted them to have a good year under their belts before starting swim meets, and I feel like this is the perfect time. They swam Saturday and Sunday: I’d say the first day was super overwhelming and a bit traumatic and we definitely had some tears, but the second day went way better. Navigating the crowds, noise,…