After Four Years of Blogging, I’m Sure: I’m a Mom

I finished the post below on Monday (except adding pictures). I had tried to veil how frustrated and disappointed I was, because life has become incredibly busy recently. It seemed like the sensible thing to do was end the blog. It has been confusing to sense God leading the exact opposite direction! God specializes in impossibilities, and He is able to make His purposes clear,... Read More

Turtle Shell Rabbit Trail

Last week… we ran across a hexagonal turtle shell pattern while looking at an art book… which led to looking at pictures of turtle shells to see if they’re ever truly hexagonal (sort of, just not symmetrical)… which led to our attempt to re-create the original, mythical, symmetrical, hexagonal turtle shell. It doesn’t take much to entertain us…... Read More

The Amazing Adventures of Kitty Kitty

Last week we had to say goodbye to one of our cats from this post. The hero of the story is alive and well, but his orange buddy has gone on to greener pastures (the back west pasture, to be exact). This story happened when they were both tiny. (The pictures were taken when they had grown up more.) We try to celebrate these good, fun things, keeping in mind that faith is a relationship,... Read More

Wordless Wednesday: Culprit

I never did find out who put the “vases” there in the first place… (Click here to read more or leave a comment on Wordless Wednesday: Culprit)  Read More

Learning Air Guitar at an Early Age

I have a bad case of the winter blues. Last night I sat down to look through pictures, and this set made me smile: My husband was playing air guitar with the kids. There may have been some tickling involved, too. They sang Hootie & the Blowfish “Let Her Cry” (sad), “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Goo Goo Dolls’ sweet “I’ll... Read More

The Castle Builder by Longfellow

Julie sent an email a few days ago and said, “This poem made me tear up. Thought I’d share it with you all [sisters], since you have boys, too.” The Castle Builder by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow A gentle boy, with soft and silken locks, A dreamy boy, with brown and tender eyes, A castle-builder, with his wooden blocks, And towers that touch imaginary skies. A fearless... Read More

On My Mind Today

I was surrounded by young kids (all mine, of course) a couple days ago. They were climbing on me, crowding me, asking me repeated questions, with one request piling on another before I had a chance to respond even to the first one. This wasn’t how I imagined parenting to be. Some days I’m a walking sermon on child spacing. In the middle of this, my husband called. He... Read More

First Father-Son "Construction" Project

In the aftermath of the Christmas chaos, I found my oldest boy sitting on a chair, cheeks wet with tears. “I wanted Daddy to build something with me,” he moaned. This kid has been mechanically inclined ever since he was a baby at nap time, when he removed most of the screws from his crib. Like a high-energy dog who eats shoes (Click here to read more or leave a comment... Read More

Camera Shy Kid

My son is not a morning person. I wonder where he gets that… “Seriously, Mom…” (Click here to read more or leave a comment on Camera Shy Kid)  Read More

Planting Fall Mums (While Cooking Stuffed Pasta Shells)

The last few days I’ve occasionally felt a slight chill in the air! Maybe I’m just imagining it. Either way, it seems to me like sufficient reason for planting fall mums. A couple evenings ago, I started up some stuffed pasta shells, in my new quest to have sit-down family dinners more often. I boiled the shells, browned the onion and ground beef, mixed a pack of cream... Read More