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…
Tag: mother
Are You Going to Have More?
People are always asking me if we are going to have more children. The tiniest bit of smalltalk can tease this question out of a complete and utter stranger. We go from eye contact, to a silent head count of my six kids, to are all these yours and are you going to have more……
This Is Not Working
This is not working. I say that all the time. The baby won’t stay in her bed. This laundry pile stretches out infinitely from prehistoric past to all predictions of the future. We are outgrowing the kitchen table, which is the biggest table we can fit in the kitchen. Cat in the house. Math. Bedtime…
The Snow Child Paper Dolls
This week’s paper dolls were inspired by a beautiful play that the girls and I saw with a friend over the weekend. It was based on a Russian folktale called The Snow Child, about a barren couple who build a child out of snow. Through love and magic, the child comes to life. The play…
Making Time for Quiet
My life is loud. With five happy healthy children ages seven and under, a husband who is basically the personification of music, recording in the living room and making Irish whistles and bamboo saxophones all hours of the day and night–not to mention around 25 piano, guitar, and whistle students that rotate in and out of our…
Surrender: Listening for the Song
Our baby is 3 months old now. We have settled into our new roles and are working ourselves into a more predictable pattern of living. Life as a mother of five small children is a blur. Every day has its own rhythm. Sometimes it is like a song. Sometimes it is total chaos. Last week was particularly hard…
The Best Birthday Gift I Have Ever Been Given
Yesterday was my 33rd birthday. I woke up to secret sounds in the kitchen as my girls decorated the holiday table for me with double table cloths and our fanciest china. My three-year-old son came down to snuggle me. In the monitor, I could hear the baby singing in his bed. I could never have…
Make Something Every Day Continues…
I love the Make Something Every Day idea. It might be revolutionizing my life. This week, I spent three days cleaning out my scary laundry room (when I say scary, I mean SCARY, as any of {and ONLY} my dearest friends can tell you). Not many people are allowed to look into this room. I…
The Everyday Page
Ok, I am finally doing something with my writing! Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me about my posts over the last few years. I love writing. It has been a major part of my life since I started journaling in earnest at the age of 15. Every creative idea I have ever had started…
Fill-in-the-Blank Mother’s Day Cards (Downloadable!)
It gets hard to say “I love you” in a new way. Year after year, anniversary after anniversary, Mother’s Day after Mother’s Day… We love our husbands, our children, and our parents. They are the closest people in our lives. But it gets hard to think of new ways to express that love in words….
The Daily Turn #22: Love Song for a Little Boy
Your eyes are approximatelysix inches from mine.They are deeply-set,sincere brown,and smiling.You are two years old–a little wild animal–and in this moment,looking into your small faceI am grateful to be aliveand to know you.To watch,day by daythe animation that makes your little body go.In my heartyou are always findingnew doors.You open up roomsthat I didn’t know were there,flooding…