I started this blog back in 2008, a few months before Atticus and I were married. I just “celebrated” six years of writing here in November. Appropriately enough, I celebrated by staying quiet. Quiet has been my default for quite some time. Some of you may have even noticed this, though I don’t flatter myself interesting enough to suspect you’ve been waiting with baited breath for my next post. There are a few reasons for why it’s been quiet over... Read more
In the last few weeks I have found myself particularly affected by the outcome of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases. Preparing to be united with all our extended family for a long Thanksgiving weekend, not knowing the next time we would all be together again, I found myself thinking of Michael Brown’s mother. As I cooked cranberries for sauce, and sliced apples for pie, feeling excited to be with people we love, my heart was heavy thinking of... Read more
We are a family of book junkies. Oh glorious books. So when I heard about an idea for celebrating Advent that involves getting to read one new book a day for nearly a month, I was sold. So sold. Basically, you collect 24 children’s Advent and/or Christmas books and wrap each one individually. Bonus points if you use purple paper. Last year I just used whatever we had laying around because I was scrambling to get them wrapped before the... Read more
I’ve been meaning to post about what we’ve been reading the last few weeks in preparing for Thanksgiving. While I’m watching the Colts game with my hubby – the children are finally in bed – I’m seizing my opportunity. This year we have a lovely stack of November books, some which we own and a few from the library. The one on the top is my favorite. Can you imagine why? Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by... Read more
I had so much fun doing the poem challenge in October. I only wish I’d actually been able to post a poem a day. Ah well, perhaps in a season of life when I don’t have two infants underfoot and a house that needs ready-ing. Ready for what, you ask? I thought you’d never ask! Why, we are getting our lovely 78 year old Tudor style home ready to sadly, put it on the market. We’ve outgrown our little home... Read more
Halloween is upon us! Maggie has been bringing home delightful crafts from preschool for the last two weeks. Today we baked pumpkin shaped sugar cookies for her class parties tomorrow and Friday. We even have some babies in handmade holiday bibs. We all journeyed to the Children’s Museum last week for the (friendly) haunted house. So much fun. Maggie is going as a ladybug this year. A photo sans wings and antennae. Our autumn mantle. I just love that semi-creepy... Read more
I’ve been Catholic my whole life, but my relationship with Mary has not always been strong. When I was a child, mourning the loss of my own mother, I naturally turned to her, though in a very child-like way. I was enamored of statues and images of her. I remember a prayer card of Our Lady of Lourdes that somehow made its way to my possession. Though I can’t quite recall how I acquired it, hours were spent looking at... Read more
I’ve had the great good fortune of finding a poem that succinctly captures two of the most important moments in my life: the day I met my husband, and the moment our first child was born. I call these threshold moments. When something completely new is beginning. Sometimes we know, or at least think we know, what these moments will look like. Thankfully, we are usually wrong and some combination of God’s grace and our choices lead us places we... Read more
I almost titled this post “To let it go” but then I realized that everyone will think I am going to blog about Frozen. I am not going to blog about Frozen. I promise. I swear. What I am going to blog about is the sadness of changes that happen to the places that have made us. Most especially those changes that happen when we aren’t looking, during those moments when we have turned away, either willfully or via distraction.... Read more
This poem makes me stop and re-evaluate the trajectory of my life each and every time I read it. “I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.” Isn’t that what we all want? To know we have been part of something real. The statement turns into a question, daring me to answer. Then, she ends with a real gob-smacker.... Read more
Fumbling Toward Grace
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