Home It’s mid-summer and it was an ordinary day at our house. An ordinary day to cherish with family. We were all home. We were all taking our time to do what we wanted and needed to do. We weren’t in a rush. There was no school to get to. There was no homework or rushing off to a sports game or practice. We were just existing; we were just living. No one was sick. We had no catastrophes slapping us in the face. We were just a family enjoying our home together for the day. We were present ... Continue Reading...
Fight Violence with Blankets, Love, and Hope
It’s July and I want a blanket in this heat. I want to comfort myself in a blanket, in something other than what I see on the news. I want to ignore the details of the stories. I want them to not touch my heart because it hurts too much to know it. I want to pretend it all didn’t happen. Yet I can’t stop myself from listening; I can’t stop myself from hearing about the recent violence in the news. It’s been a horrific onslaught of senseless terror. My heart yearns to help those ... Continue Reading...
Daily Random Acts of Prayer
I practice random acts of prayer multiple times daily because I feel compelled to do it. I pray when I see someone who looks like they need a prayer. The urge to pray falls on me like a strike. I am desperate to do it. I pray for the woman buying her toothpaste. Her sadness speaks to me by the lines on her eyelids. There is worry I see glimpsing at her eyes, tangible worry I can almost caress. Her eyes are slightly dulled with the chore of shopping. I worry about her home life. I wonder what ... Continue Reading...
My Labor with a Midwife and a Physician
My three birthing experiences were completely different. With my first son labor was natural with a midwife who performed hypnosis on me (which worked to reduce my pain for a good portion of the labor), and a bit of Pitocin to finish dilation. My third son’s birth was a planned C-section and interestingly the quickest and easiest recovery. My middle son’s birth had all possible labor scenarios: overdue induction, natural labor with a midwife, dysfunctional labor progression with ... Continue Reading...
When Letting Kids Quit is the Best Thing for Them
I hate quitters. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. And I teach my kids to be the same way. As a parent, I did something I never thought I’d do, I encouraged my son to be a quitter. He’s an athletic kid who plays football and basketball. He has played soccer and baseball too. Team sports have been his love. This year as a middle school student, track was an option and, as a fast runner, he thought he’d try it. He made it halfway through the season and started to talk ... Continue Reading...
Our Rescue Dog Kipper
This post contains an affiliate link. All opinions expressed are 100% my own. See my disclaimer page for details. Dogs from rescue groups can no doubt be a challenge, but my husband and I have found a rescued dog’s bond is gripped strong from deep inside his heart. One of our dogs had passed away, and we knew we wanted to adopt another dog from a rescue group so my husband began to peruse the websites. We found a 2-year-old dog described as a Feist terrier. My husband visited ... Continue Reading...
Why I’m Choosing Mom Play Dates with my Boys over a Clean House
I’m in my forties and my babies are not babies anymore. Time is roaring onward so I’m changing my priorities leaving dust to grovel at the bottom of my list. I see the dust in my house, and I love it. I’m choosing my own play dates with my kids over a perfectly cleaned home. Moms of kids under five may feel too swamped to realize this amidst never ending sippy cups and diaper changes, but time sprints once kids are school-age. My youngest anticipated his turn to start school, but I blinked and ... Continue Reading...
Tips for Picking Your own Strawberries with Kids
I'm excited it's officially the season of summer. With school out and strawberries ripening, now is the time to head to a pick-your-own strawberry farm. My kids and I started our annual June strawberry picking tradition several years ago. They are so excited to pick each year and strawberry shortcake is now a favorite. We have visited two local farms that I recommend for Minnesota Twin Cities people: Bauer Berry Farm http://bauerberry.com/ and The Berry Patch http://www.berrypatchmn.com/ The ... Continue Reading...
To be a Dad is to be Present
Our youngest asked my husband, “Dad, do you know how to make buttered bread?” He was serious as he asked the question. This gave my husband a huge chuckle and it’s a running joke at our house now that he struggles with the simple task of buttering bread. My kids are fixated on how I do the cooking at our house, so they often assume my husband can’t do things. He’s a dad who knows how to be silly and make fart jokes, a talent I gladly don’t work on. They laugh together as boys can and I am ... Continue Reading...
Celebrating the Somersault-Boys of Summer
My feet sink into the garden muck. The rain has been coming and coming this summer. The humid Minnesota afternoon sun beats down on me, true to the eighty degrees the thermometer red line shows. I look over the short white garden fence and Matt and Ben are playing over at the play set in the other corner of the yard while I conquer the weeds in my swampy garden. I can only wrench them out if using all my back muscles, their roots clenched into the dirt like strong green and brown wire hands. I ... Continue Reading...
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