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Clearly we've all got a lot going ton right now, as is evident by the lack of posting, it's such a busy time of year with the holidays looming and lots to wrap up by the end of the year. Today, at my house, we take a step back to do some celebrating; it is little Tilda's first birthday! Over the weekend we had a few friends over for cake and singing. Today we'll go to lunch and open presents. What a wonderful year it's been.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Happy Birthday to Tilda! My how this past year has flown. Tilda is a doll. I love that last picture of her.
I've been busy indeed. My granddaughter Julia was baptized on the 13th. I left for Chicago on the 17th to attend the 2011 Annual NCTE Convention. I was also having computer problems--so it was with the techs for a few days.
Yesterday was my little Tyler's first birthday. It felt as much of a celebration of us making it safely through one year of parenthood, as it did a celebration for him.
Although I started writing and illustrating children's books well before I had my own child, I can see why so many people are inspired by their own children to start creating. To be honest, part of me had felt (and feared) my creative life would be over once our baby arrived — due to time constraints as a mum — but now I feel I'm actually being refueled and inspired as I watch him grow and develop, as he takes each new step in his life journey, and exhibits his funny little quirks. And don't even get me started on the cuteness of his round head and chubby feet.
The journey as a parent is a fascinating one, full of highs and lows, laughs and frustrations and exhaustion. I created this video for Tyler, for us, and for family and friends near and far, to mark his first year. He has watched it about 20 times already as he dances along, and each time it ends, points to the computer and demands "a-deh!" ("again!").
I hope you enjoy meeting my little bunny rabbit...
This is my son at about 3 wks. old. I was 32 when I had him.
This is that same boy at 22 yrs. old with his dad.
When my son was born I bought him a journal, I even had his name engraved in gold leaf on the front of it. Inside, I wrote my thoughts and my love for him, even how we named him after my father and his father, so he would do good deeds and follow in their footprints of good works. I have sat and read this journal today. My eyes are full of tears at how time has flown and what a wonderful child he has always been. I remember how when he was little and still on a bottle, how he would take me by my hand, and walk to the couch then crawl up in my lap for his nap. This was done EVERY DAY!! Being an older mother nothing else seemed important enough to not stop everything I was doing, and sit down and cuddle with my little guy. Now, that little guy is about to go off into this big ole world and finish his college degree. Where did all the time go?
2 Comments on WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!, last added: 9/15/2011
I was a stay at home mom with all 3 daughters & loved those moments.....now with one in her second year of university, one in her last year of high school.... I wonder too..... It does go by fast! My youngest is in grade 7 & this is my last year at that elementary school that I have been a part of for 14 years! What a wonderful idea to keep a journal of your thoughts & beautiful way to name your son!
My eldest will be turning 22 as well. She's in Denmark working on a Masters Degree. Sometimes, it feels like a whole lifetime has gone by since the day she entered our world, other times it feels like yesterday. Here's a cyber hug for your tears shed today >:D<
As a mother our jobs are to raise our children to be self-sufficient, and ready to go out into the world and be successful. Well, I did do that. Now I'm not sure I'm ready to let them go! My sweet Katie did running start here in WA, that is were she did high school and college at the same time. OMG she did so well. A week after she graduated she left for the Navy. She is so strong and determined, I wish I had half of her strength and brains. Now my son goes off for his junior year of college, he is doing a dual major of Physics-Engineering. I will only have one child left at home. My career as a stay at home mom is about to be finished. This has been one of the most rewarding careers of my life. Yes, I loved aviation, I actually wanted to be an airline pilot, but ya know, motherhood was and is far more exciting than I could ever have dreamed.
Here's the key, "When you know who you are and recognize the gifts you have been given, it is easy to make an impact on the world. Yet, when you can see potential in others and play a role in helping them grow..... it is exponentially rewarding.
2 Comments on I'M WORKING MYSELF RIGHT OUT OF A JOB!, last added: 9/6/2011
You are and will always be their awesome mom!!! I can't even begin to imagine your feelings right now. I still have awhile to go before all of mine are out of the house. The kids are terrific so hope you can take peace in that:) Love the quilt you made for Katie, it is really amazing!! Love you all:)
Wow .......awesome smart kids that you raised......it really is wonderful to stay at home with them! Now it's time for you.....I'm in the same position as you....I miss that time too.... I am spoiling the youngest one though!
It's been a busy month with sadly not much writing or drawing going on. We are packing up for a move once again, this time to a little house in the country:
It's been a long time since I've lived in the woods, twenty years I guess? Since leaving home as a teenager I've lived in Richmond, Virginia, Providence, Boston, San Francisco, and most recently Northampton, Massachusetts. Lately though I've been feeling the strong urge to live in a remote, beautiful, quiet place. Maybe the work of taking care of a baby has become enough stimulation and I need more of a calm, relaxing environment. Or maybe I've just come full circle and want to raise Tilda in a place similar to where I grew up. Either way, I'm excited to see where the change of environment takes me personally and creatively.
More soon once we settle in!
3 Comments on A house in the woods, last added: 8/24/2011
Tilda is a doll! She seems to have grown so much. I hope you, Bruno, and Tilda enjoy your life out in the country.
Even though I grew up in a city--a long, long time ago--there were still a number of open spaces/fields of grass where we kids could play. I lived within walking distance of two ponds where I skated in winter. Unfortunately, the area has been built up a lot in the decades since I was young.
My boys and I must have read Jane Yolen's SOFT HOUSE when it first came out in 2005. If not then, it was sometime soon after, because "soft house" feels like it's been a part of our family vocabulary forever.
This is our most recent soft house, one that was up for two days, a place we read CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR in the stifling heat and tried to keep the dog from knocking down walls.
I love the way stories and their words become a part of our conversations around here, things like "You can't have that wish, my Little Bear." Or we'll talk about the things that "all come out even," like Francis's lunch box meal (once she gave up on the bread and jam). When a family member does something impressive, we might quote Pepito's brothers and sisters.
6 Comments on Life Imitating Art, last added: 8/15/2011
That soft den reminds me so much of the ones I used to build with my girls! We used to say "Can't you sleep little bear?" after their beloved book, when they were disturbed in the night. I recently posted a poem called 'Little Girl Lost' about the sadness of losing these precious years on my blog, and had lots of tearful comments from readers! Thanks for the memory :-) The Time Sculptor
We used to love Little Bear. And of course all the Dr. Seuss books and many others. But I can't say that we quoted them like you. Still we have many happy memories reading together when my daughter was younger.
I love the soft house! Now I want to go make one with my girls... It is funny how that happens--the Dr. Seuss-esque books seem particularly catchy. My two year old always washes her "hand hand fingers thumb...dum ditty..." etc. :)
I've never heard of a "soft house" but we make them all the time! (They are the best places to read!!) Now I'll have to find the book!
We quote books all the time, too. Most all are from picture books we read with the kids when they were little. I never thought about how full our language is of them!
My little girl is only three, so we're still building our library. (I just added a couple books to our library list, so thank you for the recommendations!)
DD is a big fan of Robert Munsch books, so we have phrases like: "Daddy, good food!" and sometimes my daughter will color "oranges that are oranger than oranges" and "cow plops that smell like cow plops"
Many thanks to the Educator and Mom Judges at Creative Child Magazine that have honored us with the 2011 Book of the Year Award following the 2010 Book of the Year and the 2009 Seal of Excellence! We are honored to be among the wonderful group of corporations and products on your Toy Guide list!
0 Comments on 2011 Book of the Year! as of 6/22/2011 4:58:00 AM
For the past couple months when I have a few minutes I've been reading Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. The book is a journal of her first year with her son, Sam, and how it changed her life. It is dark and funny and brutally honest. When I've had two hours sleep and am covered in spit-up and pacing the apartment trying to get baby to sleep its helps to hear about motherhood from a writer's perspective- she spares no detail good or bad. This is part of an entry when her son was 7 months old:
"I wish I felt more like writing. I don't particularly feel like I have anything to say these days. I feel like the propulsion is missing. All that emptiness and desire and craving and feeling and need to achieve used to keep me at the typewriter. Now there's me and Sam, and it feels like there's not any steam in my pressure cooker. Whenever I teach, I tell my students about that line of Doctorow's, that when you're writing a novel, its like driving in a tulle fog: you can only see about as far as the headlights, but that's enough; it's as far as you have to see. And I tell them that this probably applies to real life, too. But right now I feel like I'm just sitting in the car with Sam, not really going anywhere, just getting to know each other, both of us looking out through the window at what passes by, and then at each other again."
This is how I feel today. Writing and painting feel very far away.
1 Comments on Operating Instructions, last added: 3/24/2011
Operating instructions is a great book. I read it when my second child was about 6 mo old. The drive to write and create will come back. I promise you your kids will ultimately fuel your creativity rather than deplete it. :-)
In her memoir (Hiroshima in the Morning) and personal essay (“Why I Left My Children“), authorRahna Reiko Rizzuto explained why she left her husband and two sons (ages three and five at the time) to become a part-time parent.
The video embedded above features a Today Show clip with Rizzuto and relationship expert Argie Allen. A recent profile of the author on Shine generated more than 16,000 comments, 360 re-tweets on Twitter, and 75,000 “likes” on Facebook.
What do you think? Here’s an excerpt from the article: “In any case, it’s evident that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to motherhood. But does striking out on your own or being a ‘Hiroshima Mom’ take free-range parenting to an extreme?”
Photo gleaned from E-how Article By Ma Wen Jie, eHow Contributor
The idea for this post, started with a Tweet. “Balancing work & life is like being on a teeter-totter. I’m the fulcrum w/ kids on one end & a biz, the other. I’ve got 2 hold ‘em both up.” The idea for the Tweet started with my first day back in the office after being out-of-town for several days. When I returned, both my family and my job needed me, and like every other time I’ve been away, I immediately started the balancing act I like to call, “My Life.”
A fulcrum, quite simply, balances two similar weights. If you are a working mother too, I know you can appreciate the analogy. At home, I have a sixteen-year-old daughter who is a junior in high school and has begun SAT prepping. She’s starting to think about where she wants to go to college. My daughter, is a smart kid, but is struggling in pre-calculus. Leading up to this point, absolutely everything in her life has gone her way. She’s good at everything she touches and could, quite frankly, skate through life on that notion alone. While she sometimes pushes me away, as teenagers who are getting ready to fly the coop often do; I know she needs me now, more than ever, to help her to figure out how to begin to orchestrate the rest of her life.
My son is equally gifted. He’s almost nine and spends hours on end making origami, drawing finite pictures, building rockets, making his own science experiments and looking-up answers that his parents aren’t smart enough to answer. He wants to be a rocket scientist and one day, go to work at NASA. Athletics only interests him slightly (which is a good thing, because he’s only slightly athletic) and my husband and I have to prepare to raise a true scholar.
Both of my children need me in very different ways, and every day, those needs change as sure as the shifting tides. But, I have a third child and one that I’m a single parent to, my company, TAG! The Creative Source. TAG! is my sixteen-year-old, thriving, teenaged marketing company that wants to grow, and I have to start to review strategies that will take my company through to its adulthood. At TAG! I’m truly on my own with no partner in place.
If you were to ask me, why I do it, why do I carry the weight of two separate worlds on my shoulders; I’m sure my answer would relate to some and probably differ from most. I work, not because I have to, but because I want to. I also desire personal security; I don’t want to have to worry about what to do if something ever happened to my husband. In addition, I want to raise my children to believe that they can be absolutely anything they want to be. My son may well want to walk on the moon someday, and I know we are raising him to do exactly that, if he wants to. My husband and I are blessed with two incredibly independent children who can now think on their own two feet are able to contribute to the world with or without us.
So, this is how teeter totters are made. Mothers like me, sometimes root themselves firmly into the ground, and allow massive weights to be placed on their shoulders while two separate forces rise and fall despite the needs of the other. Sometimes, we falter, but we try to never crumble, for if we do, we know the weight of two worlds will come colliding down upon us.
When you came across this post, you were probably looking for some great article to build your own teeter totter at home. If that’s the case, I don’t want to disappoint. Check out this great article on e-How, “
3 Comments on Life is a Balancing Act, last added: 2/22/2011
Tweets that mention How Teeter-Totters are Made « said, on 2/22/2011 6:55:00 PM
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tonia Allen Gould, JLmade. JLmade said: Correct link: http://bit.ly/gNE67u "Faltering, never crumbling". Good read & reminders on life & balance via @ToniaAllenGould [...]
Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day yesterday! We made a visit, at last, to the incredible Tartine Bakery down the street from where we're staying in San Francisco. I've been hearing about this place for some time, but every time we've tried to go there was a line down the block to get in. So yesterday we headed out early and thankfully made it through the door. It every bit deserves its reputation for having the best sweets in the city. We had chocolate croissants still warm from the oven, apple brioche bread pudding, and these delicious chocolate hazelnut tarts.
The complete list will be here on March 5th. Congrats to everyone!
Lastly baby made some sweet progress this weekend. For the very first time she lifted her head up during "tummy time"! These days you have to give babies time on their belly, since its not considered safe to let them sleep that way, so they can learn to lift their head to prepare for crawling. Normally Wren cries the whole time, but this weekend she not only smiled through it but got some lift! I am a very proud mama.
I love that early stage of life when an infant lifting their own heads is like a Olympic weightlifter's arms shaking frantically when they are trying to do a record dead lift. Adorable! (And she wins a gold medal)
Ha thanks Dan! Yeah its crazy how helpless they are at first and how much work it is to just learn the simplest things. Next up: how to control her arms so she doesn't whack herself in the face all the time!
Let me preface all of this by saying I adore my child, and he is the brightest spot in my life.
That being said.
Here is this morning's schedule, so far:
5:50 AM: Alarm clock rings (iPhone robot ring). Hit snooze. 9 more minutes and I will get up to write.
5:55 AM: The monitor kicks to life. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
6:00 AM: After a bathroom trip, return Little Dude to bed. Pray he will not realize that this actually qualifies as morning. Grateful he dragged my lazy butt away from snooze-button land.
6:05 AM: Rocking on a synopsis edit. This is a miracle since I hate working on synopses.
6:10 AM: "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
6:11 AM: Keep writing. Pray he will give up and go back to sleep;
6:13 AM: Second bathroom trip with Little Dude.
6:17 AM: Second bathroom trip accomplished. Trying to be patient but can only think of momentum on writing. Then Little Dude snuggles back in bed and says "Sleep is the best thing in the world, except for YOU, Mommy."
Heart. Melt.
Hand him my iPod shuffle/speaker and tell him he can listen to one of his "story tapes" on there until HIS alarm goes off at 7:09. He says he will pick the story himself.
6:18 AM: Miraculously, able to jump right back into synopsis work. Five paragraphs edited and...
6:25 AM: "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
The battery on the shuffle, which had a 3/4 full bar when I looked at it three minutes ago, has evidentally crapped out. That or somehow he has inadvertently brought about complete and utter iPod failure. Perhaps we need to set him to work on some North Korea nuclear enrichment plants.
I set him up with his lullabies and he tells his teddy bear that they'd better curl up and get some sleep because it's very early.
Relief.
6:30 AM: Consider capitulation. How long will he rest, really? Decide to blog. And here I am. But now I think I'll try one more time.
A big thank you to Rebecca for blogging in my absence over the past couple months!
Its been ten weeks since I had a baby and I think its fair to say life as I knew it has been turned on its head. There are of course the obvious changes: the day is now structured around the needs of a tiny, hungry, brand new person who doesn't care much for my to do list. I'm lucky if I can get one errand done in a day.
Time has slowed to a snail's pace when it comes to cooking and laundry, but its also flying by. Baby grows and changes at light speed. She's gone from 6 pounds 11 oz to almost 13 pounds in her short life, from seeing only a foot in front of her to being able to track me from across the room, and most remarkably gone from a distant, sleepy gaze to broad faced grins like these:
The grins are the best. They make my heart explode with happiness. I would do anything for them.
But the biggest change that first hit like a mac truck and has since been winding its way through my thoughts has to do with the way I think of myself. Like most artists and writers, I've always leaned pretty heavily on my work to define who I am. Its what makes me feel different and special and unique, the thing that I have to offer the world. Strangely that is shifting. Having a kid is perhaps the most commonplace thing a person can do. It doesn't make me different at all, if anything it makes me more like everyone else. But it feels so profoundly beautiful in all its commonness.
There is a quote from one of my new mom books that I love:
"A few weeks ago, my baby gave me a flower. Never mind that ... it was missing a few petals, or that he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to let it go. It was-and is-the most gorgeous flower ever given or received. Silver and gold wouldn't buy it from me ... These aren't just my hands anymore; they belong to a lineage of mothers a planet wide and millenia old. I was a woman on an April evening in a kitchen in my corner of the world, catching time between the pages of a baby book, and at the same time, I was my mother, her mother, a mother somewhere on another continent carefully tucking a flower into the pocket of her shirt, a flower you couldn't buy from her with silver or gold. We don't know each other, but all over the world and all through time, we're gathering up wilted flowers and misspelled love notes, and every single one of us knows the singular ache that's love and pride and sadness all mixed into one."
-The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
Part of me feels sad that the life I had is gone- no more staying up all night to finish a painting or feverishly devoting every waking thought to a story idea. Now my time is scheduled and my job is to make the most of the time I have in front of the computer, when I have it. But I also feel deeply excited about this new life. Mother love is fierce and unending. As I find my way back into making books I do so with a wilted flower in my pocket.
Congrats! I'm also a new mom (and an editor) and one of the many exciting things is the fact that reading to my little one is helping me to see books in a new way. Reading aloud to my little boy is so much fun!
Oh, Anna! This explains what being a mother is in a way that nothing else I've ever read does. BEAUTIFULLY written and so you. And Wren's grin! Even before I started reading, there were tears in my eyes. I can't wait to meet her and see you....I wonder if you will seem different to us?
It's also so interesting that you define and think of yourself differently -- not relying on work for uniqueness sounds amazing, and I bet in a paradoxical way will make your work better.
My son is three months old today. I feel like you got motherhood just right with this post. I wouldn't change my new role for anything, but I did go through a time where I mourned the loss of my old life. Now I realize that it hasn't been lost. I'm still a writer. But, I'm a mother first. Luckily, that provides so much inspiration! When I do get to sit down to write (while my son sleeps), I'm armed with more and better ideas. I'm even more productive because I know my time is limited. And I know that, by writing, I'm being a good example for my son. I'm working toward my dreams.
Many congratulations - such a gorgeous photo, such a gorgeous grin. And thank you for sharing your thoughts on a very special watershed in your life. My boys are 12 and 9 now and there aren't many flowers any more but it is an unforgettable feeling, those first, pudgy little fists being thrust at you, crushing a daisy, just for you.
I recently finished reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (on my new Kindle :) What a wonderful classic! I thoroughly enjoyed it...but I wonder if most teens today would struggle with it. It is long, and it isn't particularly exciting. It's just a picture of life in the 1800's. An idealistic picture full of morals...which might be unwelcome to some...but turned out to be just what I was in the mood for.
Page after page, I found myself drawing welcome advice from Alcott's wisdom. I almost saw it as a manual for motherhood hidden within a fun, romantic story.
Four daughters are being raised by their mother while their father is away fighting in the Civil War. The family struggles with poverty but tries to make the most of what they have. The sisters and their mother are close and loving as can be as they face trials together.
Here are some quotes that stood out to me...
Marmee (mother) was a "tall, motherly lady with a 'can I help you' look about her which was truly delightful. She was not elegantly dressed, but a noble-looking woman, and the girls thought the gray cloak and unfashionable bonnet covered the most splendid mother in the world." The maid said of her, "Some poor creeter came a-beggin', and your ma went straight off to see what was needed. There never was such a woman for givin' away vittles and drink, clothes and firin'." -Wouldn't you like to have such things said about you? I would.
The girls often put on plays. What could be better, honestly? "It was excellent drill for their memories, a harmless amusement, and employed many hours which otherwise would have been idle, lonely, or spent in less profitable society." Yes! The value in spending time with our families and amusing ourselves together.
When the girls left the house, "they always looked back before turning the corner, for the mother was always at the window to nod and smile, and wave her hand to them. Somehow it seemed as if they couldn't have got through the day without that, for whatever their mood might be, the last glimpse of that motherly face was sure to affect them like sunshine."<
4 Comments on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, last added: 1/12/2011
This has been one of my favorite books since I was 15 years old...I read it twice that summer. I loved each character as though they were my own sisters. When Beth died, I cried a puddle of tears all over the pages. Oh and Laurie...was there ever a better male character ever written? Edward Cullen doesn't come close in comparison. The dimensions were written in such detail and color. Wonderful book!!!
I love Little Women too. My niece (16 yrs old) recently had to read this book. She was bored out of her mind. She is not a reader anyways but I was disappointed she didnt like it.
I dearly love this book! As you said, it absolutely has wonderful gems about motherhood and family. It's one book I've often said I'd like to read once a year. Also, don't miss "Little Men," it is very good too!
I didn't read Little Women until just this past summer (and I am well beyond being a teenager :-)). I really loved it! I've been reading about LMA for many years and just started blogging about her this summer - we'd love to have you stop over for a visit - http://homespunlight.blogspot.com/2011/01/little-women-by-louisa-may-alcott.html. We have a lively community.
I've been a fan of Natalie Merchant since near the beginning, and many of her songs with the band 10,000 Maniacs are in my top 50 of all time (however, do not ask me to list my Top 50 of All Time; I'm nowhere near ready to commit. But "These Are Days" is in the Top Ten). Today I'm finally getting around to enjoying a (March) birthday present from my mother: Natalie's new project, Leave Your Sleep.
Leave Your Sleep is a collection of 26 songs, all of them composed around poems by a wide variety of well- and lesser-known poets including Rachel Field, Jack Prelutsky (the only one still living), Ogden Nash and Eleanor Farjeon. The year-long project "represents parts of a long conversation I've had with daughter during the first six years of her life."
The two CDs come packaged in a fetching small book which includes short biography and a black-and-white portrait of each poet--a treasure trove for anyone who has wondered, like me, why more popular songs aren't set to poems.
Easily my favorite so far is "maggie and milly and molly and may"--lyrics by e. e. cummings, a poet also dear to my heart. Click here to listen to a snippet of this lovely piece that gives, as my own read-alouds often fail to do, a seemingly simple narrative poem all the glow and gravitas in the atmosphere as it has inside us.
maggie and milly and molly and may ~ e. e. cummings
maggie and milly and molly and may went down to the beach (to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) it's always ourselves we find in the sea
Hi Heidi! I love Natalie Merchant, too. "Kind and Generous" is one of my favorite songs. And the e.e.cummings poem rings true. Thanks for sharing this.
(Ours is called THE BLACK DOOM and includes a haunted castle with a parking lot, an eyeless lifeguard [who later gets olives as eyes], lots of gorillas, a pool full of raspberry Jello, and an annual haunted castle pizza party).
Staple.
Enjoy!
10 Comments on New Use for Old Manuscripts, last added: 7/2/2010
Sounds like it was fun. Maybe you're inspiring one of your kids to be a future author.
FYI Heather Kelly is posting an interview with me on her blog today. Please come visit and say hi. The link is http://editedtowithinaninchofmylife.blogspot.com/
Jill, yes! My boys are monkeys. Though I have to confess, I'm the one who started the whole gorilla thing.
Valerie, I'm very big on re-using scrap. My local claim to fame is I raised enough of a stink for the parish to consider bringing in recycling. It was my students' letters to the parish president that sealed the deal (I love that their voices were heard).
I so know the feeling. I just had my last 14 hour day yesterday between work and volunteering at an event at school right after work. I'm so glad not to have days like that till Fall, though till school ends June 18th, it'll be busy.
Karen, the snakes were part of a birthday cake (one of my sons asked for a snake cave the other an ant hill!). Those snakes have taken up residence in the van.
"All y'all" is one of my favorite local expressions, along with "I've been knowing him/that" for "I know him/that" and "She fussed me" for "she yelled at me."
Love it. I just can't decide if I'm ready to have these conversations all day every day for three months. 20 minutes in carpool is slightly more manageable. Ha!
This was hilarious, Caroline. I need to get in a carpool so we can have some more interesting car conversation. Mine is mostly. "He's pinching me, Mom!" and "I need to go potty." Maybe it will get better when they get a little bigger.
A lot is going on in my world right now. We are in the process of moving from Louisiana back to Albuquerque, NM, where my husband and I grew up and married. There are a few other minor events going on: waiting to sell one house, trying to buy another, wrapping up my boys' school year, and, in a few days, receiving my first edits. No pressure!
Dan and I have always loved our hometown, but realistically never thought there would be the opportunity to go back. Until now. He's been asked to start a new Presbyterian church. From scratch. (That means the four of us, to begin with).
And another thing: we need to come up with half the money to sustain a little church for three years.
We've put offers on two lovely houses, only to be turned down. In this market, sellers are cautious when it comes to buyers who haven't yet sold their own homes.
In some ways, this process is terrifying. We've stepped out onto the edge of a cliff, trusting a safety net to be there when we jump, when we return to this beauty:
Good luck with your adventure, because that's what it is. It's always hard juggling selling & buying a house, but even more so with this economy. You're right, sometimes you have to take a risk to get what you really want. Good for you for doing it. Don't feel bad when you don't have time to post while you're going through all this. We're your friends and we understand.
Sometimes the best rewards are when you take the biggest risks. All the best to you and your family, and continued success in your writing career. Going "home" can only mean good things.
It's amazing to me you even have time to post at all! Wow. So happy you are moving to where you feel you should be. It can be hard to hear ourselves over the din of life. You a bold warrior woman.
Caroline, you do have many changes ahead but remember that change can move us to greater things. It will all work out.
I have had to take a few risks in the past. My husband and I decided to move our three little ones back to our home town at the same time he was asked to start a new business. Our older home didn't sell for two years and we ended up having a nightmare tenant. Ugh.
But, it eventually all worked out and we are better for it today.
Best of luck with the house sales and the edits. Don't forget to take a breather and care for yourself.
WOW--I attend a PCA church plant, too! We're in year 4 and getting closer to being self-sustaining. I'll be praying that the pieces fall into place for you all to get started in your new work.
Despite some of the uncertainty, it sounds like a wonderful adventure! Going home is ALWAYS a good thing. I'll be praying for your move, your husband's church, and your edits! :-)
Good for you, Caroline! This reminds me of something right out of the Experiencing God study. Stepping out a limb and watching him provide for you. We were in a similar boat a year ago when we moved back to my husband's hometown from China. It was amazing how everything worked out.
Blessings on you! Nobody will blame you if you don't blog regularly. :)
I really relate to what you're going through. It reminds me of a saying by one of my favorite artist/poets. Brian Andreas does these little poems with funky paintings and one of them says:
"There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good."
Best luck for all that's up in the air! I'm sure it will all work out in wonderful, surprising ways.
WOW! You are a brave woman. And I'm excited that you'll be closer. I'll be ALB a lot this summer!
I have a feeling God will take care of you four and your new adventure.
My biggest risks were: going off to college in a town where I didn't know a soul, getting married to my husband at an age I thought was too young (22), and quitting a PhD project to pursue this writing dream. So far two of the three have been the right choice. :o)
I applaud your willingness to follow your heart and take chances. We moved our whole family (four young kids) to Germany once and stayed for two years, and then about five years later another trek to Boston area that only lasted 1year. Both adventures were something we'll never forget and never regret and doors in Germany still open up for us even over a decade later.
All the best and blessings to you and your family as you church plant.
We moved back to my home town about 5 years ago. It has been wonderful. I am excited for you. I hope this new adventure goes well for you and your family.
When Bubs and his friend, Ben, wanted to cook up some weed paint in my kitchen, my knee-jerk reaction was to say no. And I almost did. But then I remembered that I want to say yes when possible.
I'm so glad I did. It turned out to be a wonderful little homeschool project.
Here's their process...
1. Collect weeds that leave marks on the sidewalk when you rub them there. Mash up the pieces.
2. Boil in a small amount of water, stirring frequently.
3. Use a collander to separate the chunks from the paint.
4. Paint!
Here's a sample. It turned out like watercolor paint. They made yellow out of dandelions, too which made me sneeze like a maniac...but still...
I'm glad I decided to swallow the 'no' and go for 'yes' instead.
Poetry immersion continued this week with more children's choices: "Nightmare," a spider poem from Hey There, Stink Bug!by Leslie Bulion, chosen by Christopher; Sophia's selection "I Know Someone" by Michael Rosen collected in My Song Is Beautiful; and Kate's choice of "Violets, Daffodils" by Elizabeth Coatsworth from a lovely large-format collection that I'll get back to you on. Rafael chose "Schools Get Hungry Too" from Kalli Dakos's The Bug in Teacher's Coffee which I'll be going back to when we talk about voice, and yesterday Ella picked "Monday's child is fair of face" collected inThe Barefoot Book of Rhymes Around the Year, which I've owned since my years teaching in London. We all enjoyed coming back to this one which popped up in our read-aloud Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf, a classic English series by Catherine Storr which is not well-known here but very worth tracking down.
Meanwhile, there's some poetry action going on in my son's own first-grade classroom and as a result I enjoyed a peak moment this week: close to an hour snuggled in bed on a rainy evening with my two children as we all simultaneously wrote color poems following a form that Little D had used in class--he in a brand-new writing notebook, I in my umpteenth writing notebook, and Bigger D on her laptop (when did she learn to type so fast?). This is the one he brought home from school, specially copied out for Mommy the poet.
Black and Me
Black is the deep black night and Great Ape's pound
Black is a great wolf's howl
black is a spider creeping
black looks like a slick fur coat
black sounds like an echo in a neverending hole
black smells like smoky black coal
black feels like the threatening black spikes on a steel gate
black tastes like the smoky taste of smoked salmon
black makes me feel brave and swift
black is an old ghost in a tavern
~Duncan, age 7
Much later I realized I had missed Glee....like that mattered.
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"All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." -Abraham Lincoln
"Heaven liveth at the feet of mothers." -Muhammad
I have an angel mother. As a child, I used to sit on the sewing machine cover next to her while she sewed. I liked to be with her. When she came to tuck me in each night, she'd often spend an hour on the edge of my bed. Listening. Advising. Just being there.
My mother still makes herself available when I need her.
I'm feeling grateful for her, as well as for other amazing women who I look to as examples.
That's the thing about mothers. Nurturing is in their hearts.
I still enjoy sitting at the feet of great women and relishing in their spirits, in the way they define motherhood as the holiest of callings. I feel perfectly content, kneeling on the floor, looking up to these women who I am lucky to call friends, lingering as long as I can, hoping that their greatness will rub off on me.
Today, happiness is nurturing and being nurtured.
*One of the wonderful mothers that inspired this post, Shauna Dunn, has recently been named the Utah Young Mother of the Year. For lots of good ideas, check out her new blog, Utah Young Mother 2010. Be sure to scroll back far enough to see her portfolio answers!*
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In the intro to Stephen R. Covey's book, EVERYDAY GREATNESS, he says something that I love, something that I quickly put up in my kitchen. He says, Live Life in Crescendo. Do you know what a crescendo is? It looks like a less than (<) symbol and is used in music to show a gradual increase in volume.
To live in crescendo, someone must be constantly progressing, improving, learning, growing. Many women believe that becoming a mother is the end of their personal lives. They must fit as much 'life' in as possible before starting a family.
But I believe that you can be a mom and live richly, deeply.
In Proverbs we read, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. She worketh willingly with her hands. With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor. Strength and honour are her clothing. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness."
It is easy to think of ourselves as "just moms", but we must remember that we are doing important work. Mothers should be cherished above rubies.
President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has said, "Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels."
I agree with this. My mother is an angel.
I am grateful to be a mother. It is hard. It is wonderful. It is challenging. It is rewarding. It is exhausting. It is exalting.
My hardest mothering moments are when all the kids are upset. My favorites are when we are happy together, whether we are laughing, reading, eating, or just being.
I hope to model to my children a life lived in crescendo. A life filled with a love of learning and an ever increasing love of those around me.
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Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott
:) What a wonderful classic! I thoroughly enjoyed it...but I wonder if most teens today would struggle with it. It is long, and it isn't particularly exciting. It's just a picture of life in the 1800's. An idealistic picture full of morals...which might be unwelcome to some...but turned out to be just what I was in the mood for.
I've been a fan of 
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Anna,
Happy Birthday to Tilda! My how this past year has flown. Tilda is a doll. I love that last picture of her.
I've been busy indeed. My granddaughter Julia was baptized on the 13th. I left for Chicago on the 17th to attend the 2011 Annual NCTE Convention. I was also having computer problems--so it was with the techs for a few days.
I begin my nanny granny duties in December.
Thanks Elaine! I hope you get a chance to relax a little before granny duties kick in!