I am so happy to publish a series of posts that I have been wanting to write for quite some time. Over the next 14 days, I will be sharing some simple ideas for creative family fun. Each day will feature a new idea for low-stress, engaging creative projects for children and adults alike. I…
Tag: creative family culture
Vision and Hindsight, A Tale of Two Lists
The year flew by. This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table, lamenting all the things that I meant to do last year–my open journal with the list I scribbled down, wide-eyed, like a child on her birthday, a January ago. Beautiful vision. And just like that, I blinked, and those twelve months are…
Creative Family Advent, 25 New Family Traditions for the Christmas Season
It is Christmastime! I am always looking for ways to savor the season more before it slips away, truly wanting to create lasting memories with my children. If you feel the same, this post is for you. Here you will find 25 new family traditions for a creative Christmas season. These are low stress, nearly-zero-prep,…
Things We Love: Origami (Top 5 Origami Books for Beginners Recommended by Kells, age 8)
Sign me up for more crafts where kids can go for years building skills on their own, just using a well-written book and a stack of paper!
Big Announcement from The Chester Family!
Well, the day is here that I share something big that is happening to our family. After years of wrestling with a vision of a more creative life, showing up season by season to journal, write, make art, make music, encourage my husband in his incredible music, support our children through homeschool and giving them…
Embrace the Mess, A Letter to My Future Self
This letter is to my future self. One day, when you are storming around your messy life as a mother of many small children, scowling at spilled crayons and upturned buckets of legos, haunted by the ghost of clean kitchens past… When you reach the point, clocking in late for laundry after a long day…
Marking a Season
I miscarried nine days before our 15th anniversary. There we sat, across the table at a little cafe, drinking coffee together. Our six living children were home with a friend who gave us the day together to celebrate our marriage. The week before, Randy and I had privately laid the whisper of a body down…
Living an Unscripted Life
It is nearly September. This is when I am always scrambling for a good idea for how to make life work around here. We only get 24 hours a day. There is so much to be done. Every day is a combination of homeschool, home business (teaching music lessons most afternoons), explosive creativity that needs…
Keeping Part of You Alive (Motherhood and Creative Vision)
Sometimes I look in the mirror and barely recognize myself. What happened to that person I used to be–the one who was bubbling over with good ideas and introduced to strangers with an impressive trail of accomplishments following her name? The person who had dreams and ambitions greater than getting every room in the house…
Slowing Down This Christmas Season (Creative Family Advent 2018)
Christmas is coming, and I am longing to anticipate it with more wonder and joy. With slowness and purpose, deep gratitude and a supernatural ability to see beyond the busyness into the sacred. I want us to savor these days as a family and make memories that will last well after the childhood years have…
The Chesters Take the Challenge: NaNoWriMo, Brave Writer, and 4 Books Written Around One Table
The Chester Family is taking the NaNoWriMo challenge! I haven’t been this excited about homeschool (and maybe life in general???) in a really long time. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, and people all over the world wake up on November 1 with the commitment to write a novel in 30 days. I…
The Sacred Everyday
This morning I woke up to a miracle. All of my children are still soundly sleeping in their beds, except for the baby, who came down early to snuggle. Her head is fuzzy and soft like a little duck. The house is dark. And quiet. There is no birdsong yet. The hum of thought in…