Twirls 'n Curls

Like many of you, we've had plenty of time lately with our furry (and not-so-furry) friends at home, and they've been teaching us a lot. Augie is our good-natured Golden Doodle who is about ten, and Ginger is Amaya's four-month old bearded dragon. (We still technically have a 5th grade class fish named Pancake too, but she's not quite as much fun as the others.) They have definitely helped fill these long summer days, and they both seem to enjoy the extra attention they're receiving... most of the time, anyway. Here are few lessons we've picked up from them along the way, about doing life together at home:  1. Respect each other's boundaries. People often ask me how we've survived the pandemic cooped up with a fairly large family. My motto: "Give 'em grace, and give 'em space!"  2. Go where the fun is. If you're lonely and someone else looks like they're having fun, just join in! (Keeping in mind of course, Rule #1) Boredom ha...

On one of the first days they canceled school due to the coronavirus pandemic, our youngest, Natalie (10), was practicing her cello when she stopped and ran over to me. "Guess what, Mom?" she asked. "I was practicing another song and the first few notes sounded kinda like 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.' So I kept listening to the notes and tried to figure out the rest of the line playing by ear... and I did! Listen!" Then she carefully played a melody that would have made Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz proud . That conversation got me thinking: Learning to play by ear... one note at a time... without the benefit of instructions [aka sheet music]... isn't that what we're all trying to do right now? ( Note : Playing by ear in the music world r efers to  playing  compositions without the benefit of sheet music. Instead, the musician would simply use his/her  ear  to feel out the composition and follow the musical progressions.*) Maybe it's tryin...

Retrieved from: https://busybeingjennifer.com/give-thanks-free-chalkboard-printable/ I'm sitting here on Thanksgiving night, 50 feet from the beach in a beautiful Mexican vacation home, listening to one of the worst windstorms I've heard in at least a decade. As with many rentals, it's obvious ours isn't cut out for this kind of weather. The wind is howling around and through the windows, rattling the glass and creating a noise similar to a tea-kettle whistle, with rain seeping in through the edges. (I'm also, I should add, typing in the dark at the kitchen table, trying to provide support to a scared, tired kiddo who doesn't like the storm any more than I do. Apparently, even paradise has its rainy days.) It's yet another reminder of a powerful lesson I've been learning, or re-learning, recently: Embrace life. All of it. The good, the bad, the funny, the downright ugly. It's all there anyway. We can hate it, and become bitter. We can ign...

The other day, I was scrolling through some pictures on my phone when I thought, That looks like it was so much fun!  After which, I immediately thought, Wait a minute, stupid, YOU were THERE - YOU took the pictures!  That's when I realized, we do a lot - I mean, A LOT of stuff. Work. School. Volleyball. YoungLife. Drama Class. Voice Lessons. Improv. Family Nights. Church. And the list goes on each week. (Don't even get me started on the animal shelter and Rubix Cube Club!) And while I feel I do a good job of being fully present in each activity and event as it happens (that's something I've had to work at), I don't always make the space to pause and reflect on all that's happening. It's like I take the picture and move on. Sometimes, we need to mourn the end of something, before we can really move forward with our lives. Other times, we need to give ourselves a break after completing a difficult task. Or maybe we just need pause to celebrate the good th...

We try hard to get away together a few times each year - it helps us remember why we like each other! It was midnight when I opened our front door and slipped inside. I was coming back from taking my parents to the airport after their holiday visit, and I was both sad and exhausted. Cold, too - even in Phoenix, it's chilly in late December. Just as I was about to crawl into my side of the bed, I realized my husband was all cozied up in my spot, fast asleep. Total honesty here: At first I was a tiny bit annoyed. Tom always stays on his own side - what's the deal? I just want be warm and asleep like he is!   Suddenly, a memory flashed in my mind, from our earliest years of marriage. We were flat broke and working at a church about 80 miles away every weekend. To save money, we kept the central heat off at home and used a small space heater to warm up whichever room we were in. When we came home on Sundays, if we were lucky it would be around 48 degrees inside ou...

I saw it.... in the way my nine-year old came up beside her sister during the worship service, circled her arm around her sister's waist, and began singing softly.  I heard it.... she was talking cheerfully to a roomful of preschoolers,  "Okay now, in 5 minutes we're going to clean up, and I need you all to help, ok?"   Two minutes later, with strained politeness, she added: "Let's be sure we're talking nicely to each other, ok?!"  I felt it... at 9:00pm, just after I'd tucked her in, when her eyes flew open in panic, "My spelling! I forgot to to my spelling! Mom, I CAN'T turn it in late. I have to do it NOW!"  I flinched, knowing she came by her perfectionism honestly.  The good, the bad, the sweet, the ugly. My girls are mirror images of me and my parenting, with smatterings of my husband thrown in. The way they speak to each other, take care of each other, and leave trails of discarded activities behind so...

So young... and so clueless! Order. Efficiency. Productivity.  These are words I'd use to describe my life... before kids. Back when I crammed 4 years of college into 3 years, or worked 40 hours a week plus spent 20 hours each weekend helping start a church in Los Angeles. I was stretched. I was exhausted. And I loved it. Just before we had our first child, my husband took a job as the senior pastor of a small, rural church, and I stepped down from my job in a busy office to be home with the baby and help him at the church. I’d read some books on motherhood to prepare myself, but all in all, I wasn’t too worried. I mean, I’d been taking care of executives for quite a few years by that point. Their needs are much more complex than a tiny baby’s.  How hard could this be, really?   As it turned out, much harder than anything I’d ever done.  What I remember the most about those early days was the overwhelming frustration of not being able to get anything ...

People often ask me what it's like raising 4 girls so close in age, especially working full time. I always mention a lot of emotions, a lot of fun memories, and a little bit of crazy. A few months ago, on a particularly hectic Thursday, I decided to chronologize a few of the events, to give you a glimpse into my life:   Wednesday 11:50pm - Finally decide to call it quits on turning 300 chopsticks into wands in time for the Harry Potter-themed dance on Friday at my kids' school. Thursday 6:50am - Hit snooze again on my alarm and realize I have lost any potential morning time sans kids by choosing to decorate said chopsticks until midnight. 6:57 - Roll out of bed to wake up the kids. On the way to their room, note that my oldest, Linsey, is sitting in a yoga pose on the bathroom counter, doing her makeup. 6:58 - Turn on shower to get warm because It. Takes. Forever. 7:01 -  Weigh myself and vow to do better than the takeout I had yesterday. 7:02 - Check on kids...

Pretty much any parent will tell you, our kids teach us MUCH more than we could ever teach them. Here are a few lessons they've had on display this summer that I just had to share: Character Traits Empathy : the art of making your expression match someone else's for awhile   Industry : Our willingness to learn from the generations before us  connects both teacher and student to something bigger than themselves.      Serving : Learning to do things for yourself is great.  Learning to do things for others is even better. On Style      Flair : There are certain mundane tasks one simply can't avoid in life.  However, one always has the choice to do them with style. Uniqueness : Be proud of who you are, quirks and all. "Today you are you! That is truer than true.  There is no one alive more you-er than you!" - Dr. Seuss     Tech-Savvy: ...

To bring you up to speed on our lives: This week, my youngest started kindergarten, and the other two started in 2nd and 4th grade. This week, my mom left after a two-week stay here where she did all my dishes and laundry. (Thanks, Mom!) This week, my husband went on a week-long backpacking trip to Colorado while I stayed home to get the kiddos off to school.  (Thanks, dear!) We're also in the middle of buying a house and becoming foster parents. Like, right now. One life event never seems to be enough in our family, we prefer juggling two or three simultaneously. But, I digress. Lately all these changes have caused me to think about defining moments in my life, moments that clearly outlined the path I knew I wanted to take. 9 1/2 years ago, I felt like my life should look like this all the time: Regal, intellectual husband who "abounded in the work of the Lord" as the senior pastor of our small church in a rural town Modestly clad, doting wife who spent hour...

S ome Christmas down the road, my towering pine  Will have matching ornaments, all in a line,  And red ribbons cascading down tinsel of gold; But that's some Christmas down the road. O n that same Christmas, my Nativity Scene won't come from Fisher Price,  And no one will ask, "How long till Christmas?" more than once or twice. No fingerprints in my fresh-baked fudge, no meltdowns from sugar overload - But that's for some Christmas down the road. T hat festive season yet to come will hold no reindeer ears  Blocking my view of the Christmas parade, no childish games that end in tears. No holiday parties with tokens or tickets, and no cheap "treasures" bestowed... But that will be Christmas down the road. T his year, I'm holding on to the mistletoe kisses,  My handmade crafts and those batter-smeared faces. I'll take smudges, bad jokes, and a mismatched tree If it means having Christmas again with ...

A coworker was having a rough week awhile back, so I told him that I'd been praying for him. His response struck me - he simply said, "Keep doing that. I live an incredibly blessed life... the correct prayer is for me to recognize it far more than I do." For some reason I was thinking about that conversation tonight after I sleepily went through the motions of making lunches, putting the kids to bed (and back to bed again..and again), and picking up the house. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the keychains we'd picked up for the girls on our recent trip to California. They reminded me of how much fun we had, how many friends we saw, what great memories we made...   That's when it struck me, I am so blessed! The signs are everywhere, I just need to wake up and see them . So, being the literalist I am, rather than going to bed early as planned, I grabbed my phone and began snapping pictures around the house of more things that remind me of how amaz...

Hi! You haven't heard as much from us lately with new schedules and activities and jobs to adjust to, trying to get back into the swing of things though. I thought I'd start with some highlight activities for our family the past few months, what we've been up to since our transition to AZ. Activities : It's been great having more family time since we moved, especially on the weekends. We go hiking at least monthly, which is totally fun and addicting. I never get tired of the desert mountain view! The girls do great too, and we usually try to drag at least one or two people with us, so that's an added perk. Hannah loves collecting rocks on our hikes! New rule: she carries them down herself :) Phoenix Skyline We also have fun doing "city" things we haven't ever really lived near before, like having a zillion movie theaters and restaurants to choose from, and more stores than I could visit in a year (although I'm trying!) Our lo...