Inspired by...

We--all of us--have been made for goodness. We have been made for laughter. We have been made for caring, sharing, for compassion for we do indeed inhabit a moral universe. Yes, goodness is powerful.

Desmond Tutu

. . .

To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition...to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived: this is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

. . .

Love shared anywhere transforms situations everywhere. Your life is your corner of the garden; tend to that and you tend to the world

Marianne Williamson

 

Gallery

Just a collection of images that bring out the happy & hygge in me. 

More at my tumblr, Gather

Reading

On my bookshelf

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
Deafening
The Spies of Warsaw


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Twittering

Entries in kids (14)

Tuesday
Dec012009

Glass choir

During Thanksgiving dinner the kids were enjoying getting a ringing sound from sliding their fingertips along the rim of the glasses. So afterwards, Lauren assembled a line of glasses, brought in the tuner and created a chromatic scale, goblet style. The rest of the weekend they spent experimenting with sheet music and original compositions (read: random playing).

It was kind of like when they were kids and they would spend hours building forts or playing with boxes.  Who knew a few glasses would keep the teenagers so busy? 

Tuesday
Jun302009

Summer launch

One of the advantages of getting out of school later than most of the rest of the country is I had time to peruse all of the summer ideas that other families were doing. I loved Jenny's (private blog) take on being productive in the mornings and leaving the afternoons for fun. I remember visiting Christie last summer and loving how her kids earn books each week (I think she has a bin full of new books she snagged at a book fair...right, C?).


We usually like to have some kind of structure (although flexible). I wanted to be able to set aside mornings to get work done on some research and writing I've commited to this summer and, at the same time, give some guidelines for the kids to get a few things done every day relatively unsupervised (and by unsupervised I mean un-nagged). I also wanted to provide some fun ideas to stave off the blahs and the floppies (as in, flopping on the couch, flopping on the floor, and whining). So this is what we've come up with.

Summer Bingo! Stacy described her Summer Bingo idea here and I was hooked (she even includes downloadable bingo forms and rules, which I adapted for my kids' ages and interests). After the kids do their beds, pick up their clothes, do a job and practicing, they can do activities on the Bingo sheet. Some are really fun, some are enriching or educational, some will help move the kids forward on goals (scouts, personal progress). They can earn tickets toward prizes every time they get "bingo" and, if they do the whole thing each week, some $ will be put toward their school clothes or something they're saving for. The best part is that it's self guided and it motivates them to get the essentials (work and practicing) done quickly.

click to enlarge^
Maddy and her best friend, Meg, have been helping as junior counselors for the Vacation Bible School here in town in the mornings. They got home and decided to do the "make something in the kitchen" option. {Mmm. Chocolate chip cookies...keep them away from me, please.}

Sam elected to do the most decadent item on the sheet first: one hour of video games. Figures!

Lauren is babysitting for a neighborhood family all week so she has yet to dive into the world of Summer Bingo.


For the afternoons, we've put together a list of activities and field trips we'd like to do together as often as we can. Our days will be just like a mullet: business up front, party in the back.

What are you doing this summer to stay occupied and sane?

Monday
Jun222009

Off kilter

Something's amiss when I get this in the mail

before the kids even get out for summer vacation.
Or put on their new swimsuits.
Four more days (and counting)!
Both of my daughters are heavily ensconced in studying for finals
all the way through Thursday.

On the other hand, Mother Nature has cooperated by giving us entirely UNsummery weather.
The better to study for tests, my dear.

Friday
Oct312008

Boo! review

Usually we carve pumpkins earlier in Halloween week 
but this year we "saved it" 
(read = I never got my act together) 
until Halloween afternoon. 
This meant only three of the five of us were there.  
Which is why it looks like I only have two children.


Sam, bless his soul, crafted his costume on his own 
using things we already had on hand.
He went trick-or-treating with two of his friends,
(plus all the dads).


Maddy and her friends established many weeks ago 
that they would go together as a theme: angels and devils.
(Remember seventh grade is high pack mentality age?)
She went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood
with two of her friends, stopping here
to dump off candy midway.


Lauren is in the pep band and they had a football game tonight 
where they played.  But they wore their costumes and,
according to L, had an "amazing" time
(this is the most common adjective she uses right now)
I made her pose for this late tonight when she came home.
Hence the sleepy eyes.


It was a beautiful, starry night.
60 degrees.
I'm guessing we had around 300 trick-or-treaters.
(I ran out of candy and
 had to raid the kids' candy haul at the end there.)


The night was not without drama.
(Remember 7th grade is ripe with drama?)
A couple of hours before trick-or-treating time,
Maddy's friends called and informed her they were no longer going as devils.
Instead, they were going as Sarah Palins.
Maddy was disappointed that the theme was (so arbitrarily) broken
but she rose to the occasion and  handled it graciously.
Like a good angel should.




Thursday
Sep042008

;)

Thank you for Flying Summer Airlines
Bye.

6:50 a.m.


Buh-bye.

7:15 a.m.

Bye now.


               8:15 a.m.                                



Enjoy your stay in school land.
Come fly with us again next year.
{wink}
{wave}