Our family’s Ash Wednesday was a mess. We chose work commitments and homework over church. And when we told the kids we weren’t going, Elisabeth and Sam started to cry. This pricked my anxiety: were our kids so emotionally disturbed they couldn’t handle a little schedule change without falling apart? When had we become that...Continue Reading
During the 40 days of Lent, I’m writing 40 blog posts. Instead of giving up chocolate or Facebook or corn syrup or whatever, I’m adding this habit back into my life. I miss documenting the seasons our kids are slipping in and out of; I miss remembering and anticipating and processing our lives here. But...Continue Reading
Our kids are at the age where they’re starting to understand relationships. Yesterday Catie pulled me aside and confidentially explained to me about my moods. She said,“just so you know, when you’re in a bad mood, we notice. Sometimes we don’t even want to be around you.” I explained that was kind of the point of a...Continue Reading
My husband is good at marathons. This is not to say he is good at training for marathons. He’s not great at stretching before his runs, or after. He never remembers to ice sore muscles or heat them. He wears running gear that is twenty years old. But he’s finished fifteen marathons or half-marathons because...Continue Reading
We’ve been back in school for one week. A week filled with tempter tantrums, late nights and even later mornings. Heading back to school after seventeen days of family time means finding the kids’ school uniforms, it means going back to the grocery store for food besides cookies and apples, and it means saying goodbye to so...Continue Reading
This Christmas our family relearned a terrible lesson about holidays. Every birthday, every New Years Eve, and every Halloween ends with one or more of our kids crying. One day is just too fragile to hold our months of anticipation. Under all those expectations, the day usually falls apart. For our Christmas this year, these expectations meant our day ended in tears....Continue Reading
This Christmas I had over 70 gifts to buy, and I vowed not to go to the mall for any of them. Any gift I could buy in a crowded store, I could buy cheaper online. Any toy, scarf, or coffee maker I could stand in line for, debating if it was the right choice, I could read hundreds of...Continue Reading
Last week we hosted the African Children’s Choir at our house. They came right in the middle of one of the busiest weeks of our year, including the kids’ Christmas Program, faraway basketball games, big work deadlines, etc, etc. Late at night, when I was exhausted and needed to go to bed for the night,...Continue Reading
The Short Version: buy shampoo without sulfates and see if it helps your hair. The Long Version: Shampoo without sulfates gave my hair volume and shine. Here’s my hairstory. Over the past decade, I’ve tried all the miracle shampoos, emulsifiers, and expensive blow dryers. They all delivered—at first. Right after blow-drying my hair, it was...Continue Reading
Our family needs a different kind of Thanksgiving this year. We need a holiday like these homemade pecan pies. Our pies took a lot of time, but these were intentional hours. Unrushed hours together. We need that kind of a Thanksgiving. These pecans were from our friends’ orchard. They tasted sweeter because of the conversation...Continue Reading