Sunday~November 29, 2009 I pass by crusts of peanut butter sandwiches, the ones strewn about the table, pushed off the sides of small plates by small hands. I don’t have time for the mess, so I head from one room to the other, attempting to quiet bedtime demands. Back and forth I go through dark doorways, one I need more water and I’m scared at a time. I try to calm anxious thoughts about what it means to move house, yes you can bring your bed and even your poster, yes. Now please go to sleep, child. Our plates are so full, we’re watching half of our bounty roll to the floor for the dog. Blessings and curses together, spilling over for the much. Then we panic and clench our fists and our jaws and we scramble to make sense of the mess on the floor. We are trying to prioritize what to […]
Friday~November 27, 2009 We ate like… Well, like cows… constantly grazing… with thanksgiving in our hearts and on our tongues. And it was good. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
Thursday~November 26, 2009 My friend Lindsey gave me a gift today by sharing this quote with me, “Gratitude is noticing the extraordinary in the ordinary. And then taking the nanosecond to feel it.” (K.K. Kaplan) (Oh, how I love that! Thank you, Lindsey!) Happy Thanksgiving!(Dear My Side of the Family,We miss you today!) Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
Wednesday~November 25, 2009Does it seem that being present is something that comes easy for me? I write here about the beauty in the mundane, the joy of having children amidst the backdrop of chaos, and I mean what I say. But maybe it appears that being present, especially with my boys, is a gift of mine. The truth is that I struggle immensely with it, this ability to remain in the moment, focused. I know I also write about my struggles with depression every now and again, and occasionally I write about actually running out the door to escape the whining and mess, but for the most part my posts are goodness and light, and that might make it seem that I’m constantly in that state of being present, of seeing through my heart’s eyes. I was interviewed over on A Design So Vast on this subject, hence my thoughts here today. The […]
Tuesday~November 24, 2009 Cupcake ’10, a Midwestern bloggy gathering, was just a twinkle in my eye, and now it’s become a reality! (I’m so freaking excited.) For all the details and to find out how to register, please head over to theCupcake ’10 site! See you there! comments are closed on this post Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
Monday~November 23, 2009 I would stand in front of the Dr. Pepper and I’d think about how good it would taste, but then I’d remember I could live without it. I’d write what it would have cost in a small notebook when I got back to the car. There were several small chances to save like this throughout the days, and though I’m not usually a disciplined person, I liked to think about what we were saving our dollars to do. I liked my little notebook. Money I normally wouldn’t have missed spending on my usual frivolities would soon be money I gave away instead, and still wouldn’t miss. Two other friends were doing this new thing with me. Each week we’d bring whatever money we had totaled in our notebooks and compile it. Kim became our book keeper and banker, and as the weeks passed, the couple of dollars here and there […]
Sunday~November 22, 2009 _____ A favorite song comes on and we can’t help it. Our stocking feet slip across the kitchen floor, dancing to the music blasting through the speakers. whoosh whoosh blur blur flurry flurryfumble trip spin and laughdip feet firmly plantedthenfeet flying through the airblurry Like life. It’s the way we turn ourselves, trying to find our way to the right moves. I hold a tiny and chubby hand and we twist-and-shout and move our hips and then I twirl that small boy out and pull him back in. My hand on the small of a small back and dip, and a little tummy drops with the fast-moving close-to-the-floor-but-still-caught feeling of it. Like life. Turning ourselves and feeling it. Dip. We fumble through our uncoordinated bonking and slipping and we hold on tight to each other. My little dance partners, they like the dip part best, until that grows old and […]
Friday~November 20th, 2009 -1- I don’t want to rush my children through their childhood. But man, I want to sleep later in the morning. You know, later than say, 5ish. -2- I don’t know Anissa Mayhew like so many of my blog friends do, but I’m still praying for her because that’s what happens in this community. I’m blown away by Annisa’s strength and vibrancy. She’s touched my heart this week and I’ll continue to pray for her and her family. (Anissa is a 35 year old mother, wife, and blogger who suffered two strokes this week and remains in the ICU. You can read more from her husband today at Hope 4 Peyton) -3- Have you heard about Christmas Change? I mentioned recently that Seth and Amber Haines had something exciting up their sleeves, and Christmas Change is it! If you’re looking for ways to share in the giving of the Christmas […]
Wednesday~November 18, 2009 When Asher first started doing his one arm up in the air, one arm pointing to the ground dance, it killed me. It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, this little airplane person in the blue glasses, shaking his shoulders and bobbing his head, then adding a little butt wiggle for effect. I wish that stuff stayed as funny and adorable after the seventy-eleventh time you’ve seen it as it was the very first time. I suppose it’s just human nature (especially adult human nature) to see something so many times that it loses it’s oomph and just doesn’t lift you in quite the same way it did at first. Of course, if it’s your child, it remains adorable and endearing and you point it out to everyone, but it’s just not the exact same as the very first time you experienced it. And then you want […]
Saturday~ She’ll make you laugh over and over and then give you a peek at her very large heart. They will leave you wanting to gobble more words, astounded at the way those words are strung together, making you feel totally understood right through your computer screen. Short and sweet, she will have you giggling and then wondering what it’s like to be in her creative mind, full of silly analogies and hilarious stories. She will tell her past stories in a way that makes you feel like you were there, and then she’ll bring with those stories what she’s learned and tell you how she loves. It’s beautiful. You’ll feel her heart by looking at her pictures and relating to her while she weaves together words in a way that’s her very amazing kind of own. I could go on and on…. I just want to sit and talk with them in […]
Thursday~November 12, 2009 I need to rake I need to put away the clothes sitting outside Miles’ room I need to clean off the table and refill the fruit bowl and do dishes I don’t even really know what I need to do about this I need to shower and clean the mirror and throw out that old and very stained towel But I think I’ll just get dressed and take the boys to the play place at the community center to get their wiggles out. Because that’s what they need. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This post is a part of You Capture: Real Life over at I Should Be Folding Laundry. P.S. Because I’ve been over-posting lately (I don’t know what the deal is with that? Maybe how I handle moving stress? Procrastination? Could be?) you may have missed my last post with pictures of Asher in his second pair of glasses. You can see […]
Uh huh. Asher Gets Glasses. Take two: Let the bribery begin! Yes, that’s a sucker. One that came with a,“You can keep having treats like this oneif you don’t break your glasses.” Uh huh. That’s right. This is Project Bribe To Not Break… So far. So good. P.S. Yes, the last glasses (the busted up pair) were entirely different. You are not losing your mind. The ones pictured here are his back-up pair, already in use while we wait for a part from his broken glasses to come from DENMARK. And yes, the broken pair are being covered by a warranty. PHEW. Now let’s talk about how cute he is… Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
Wednesday~November 11, 2009 I opened an email the other day to see THIS: It was terrifying. You see, I had 777 followers on Twitter and I was thinking that was a really great place to stay. Just look at that beautiful number – 777 – it’s perfection, so safe and strong. But the person who sent me that picture above thought it necessary to sabotage my Twitter number happiness, and sent out many tweets asking people to follow me, therefore increasing that number and changing it. Rude. (Okay, fine. I had done the same thing to him in the past.) (Hence the terrifying Mel Gibson Payback photo above.) I’m sharing this with you for a few reasons. If you read my post a couple of days ago, you’re aware that I wasn’t having the best day. So the truth is, I needed the silly Twitter banter to cheer me up. That’s one of […]
Tuesday~November 10, 2009 Before I just head off into the wide blue yonder of telling you about something cool, I do want to mention that I did update my last somewhat whiny-bordering-on-complainy post with good news. You know…just so you know. NOW, moving on to something that’ll make you feel all happy (unlike my last post)… If any band could teach your kids a bit of Spanish and how to cover their cough and sneeze, it’s The Jimmies. Really. They’re just that cool. Your kids will be saying “a cow with a hat” in Spanish WHILE sneezing into their elbow “wrunkles” in no time. The best word for this 2 disc DVD/CD combo is fun. If you like to rock out with your kids, The Jimmies are for you. (OK and maybe I was sold the moment I opened the package and found a whoopie cushion, but I’m not saying.) This band definitely […]
Monday~November 9, 2009 How can there be no time to cry? We rushed out the door this morning so our house could be inspected. I drove around with Asher and with the dog climbing all over and her smell climbing all over and went to my Aunt’s house. Asher climbed all over her stairs and he can’t do stairs because he can’t see well without his broken glasses but he just would not stop with the stairs so we left. We were just in limbo with nothing to do. We went to get groceries, and I thought about how frustrating it is that we put an offer on a house on Friday night and we still haven’t heard anything. Then I bought milk and meat which wasn’t that smart because I couldn’t put the milk and meat in the fridge because we couldn’t go home because of the inspection. I wanted to cry […]
Sunday~November 8, 2009 I’ve never been able to keep a plant alive. It’s not that I forget about the plant, ignore it, leaving it thirsty. It’s more like I over think it, water it too often, and prune it too much. I’m a recovering control freak. I thought about this today as I (conservatively) pruned a plant of ours that’s been living a record amount of time in my care. This plant was given to me after my Grandpa died, and I was afraid from the start that I’d kill it. The difference this time is that I’m being less careful. I’m holding back when I start to worry if I’m doing it just right. Should I water it again, does it seem droopy, the edges of the leaves are getting a little brown, maybe I should move it…. No, I say to myself. It’s fine, it’ll be fine. I’ve simply been letting […]
Saturday, November 7th, 2009 It’s time for The Saturday Evening Blog Post with Elizabeth Esther. This is a chance to choose and share a post of your very own from last month. You can head over to Elizabeth Esther’s lovely space if you’d like to see which post I chose to share from my October archives, and/or to share your post. Have a good weekend! (COMMENTS ARE CLOSED ON THIS POST) Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
Thursday~November 5, 2009 He saw the world through new eyes, had ice cream for a Getting Glasses Celebration, got the wiggles out because of the sugar from theGetting Glasses Celebration, and then he said CHEESE a lot to appease hisMother Who Snaps a Gazillion Photos. Then last night as the sun setso did his love for his glasses. I said you get to wear them again tomorrowand he said NO. I put them on him this morning and he didn’t seem to mind them.PHEW, I said. Then I turned to look at himand he was doing this… Yes, less than 24 hours after the Getting Glasses Celebration,the spectacles are completely bent and no longer can be placed on the noggin. Oh my sanity, I’ll miss you. (He’s too cute. I can’t even stay mad.) Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. […]
Wednesday~November 4, 2009 Miles keeps coming home from school with pictures like this one: and this one: He’s been thinking a lot about what it means to “move house.” He’s been listening closely while his mom and dad talk about showings and rush around cleaning for those showings. He’s been listening even more closely when we talk to him about the possibility of selling. We’ve worked hard at pointing out all the positive things about moving, should it actually happen. He’s the kind of kid that needs to mull over these things and then look at the bright side of saying goodbye. So am I. When we got two offers last night we didn’t think too much about the possibility of selling because the offers were very low. We countered the higher of the two offers, bringing the number nearly back to our original asking price. Then we said well, that’s that…maybe someone […]
Monday~November 2, 2009 Asher was just standing here driving me crazy, the way he was demanding a banana. He shouts and he screams! I sigh and boil. Then I turn to look at him and I see how he sticks his tongue all the way out to say nana, and it totally cracks me up. What Asher gives off, his contagious joy, even trumps sibling rivalry. Most of the time. It was right around this time last year that we found out he has hydrocephalus. (If you don’t know what that is, it’s what used to be called “water on the brain,” where valves are not doing their job of getting fluid to the spinal cord…in short. Asher had a brain shunt (a valve that works) put in last December.) From October, when we got the news, to December, when he had surgery, we really had no idea what to expect. I don’t […]
