"How's the campaign going?"
It's the question I get most often. It's also the question I'm never quite sure how to answer.
Good? ... Great! ... Your guess is as good as mine. ... We'll see May 17th!
The truth - I suppose - all depends on what you're measuring.
This weekend we hosted a Winter ONE-derland party in honor of Felix's first birthday. Considering this child was born during a snow, it seemed like an appropriate theme. Well, the weather had other plans and it was 70 and sunny! I could have hosted the dang party outside!
For my 30th birthday, I created a list of 30 things I wanted to do. One was to write a historical fiction short story. This is the story and as Ruby keeps calling to me here lately. I thought I'd share it here.
One of Nicholas's New Year's resolutions was to try freezer meals. He'd prepped meals for the week on and off through 2015 and wanted to see how it would work to prepare an entire month's worth. Then, we could just pull a meal from the deep freeze, throw it in the crockpot, and on a busy day dinner would be waiting for us.
The year is rapidly coming to a close but before it's over I thought I'd share my favorite things from the small screen this year. We cancelled our cable two years ago and since then my television viewing has changed (and decreased) dramatically. If I'm going to go to the trouble to find something on the Internet or hunt it down on Netflix, it's got to be good.
Here's what made the cut:
Griffin didn’t get his first haircut until he was almost two years old. Amos still hasn’t had one. I get questions daily about when I plan to cut his hair. My answer is always the same.
I don’t.
I only caved with Griffin because it was beginning to obstruct his vision.
My babies don’t have luscious locks or golden curls. Griffin’s hair has a reddish sheen but that’s about it. I don’t have any attachment to a certain look and while I do have hippie-tendencies, there is no alternative lifestyle strategy at play in my decision to leave their hair long.
It is a simple rule every mother should know.
When you cut their hair, they’re not your baby anymore.
Like Sampson, only in reverse. Cutting a baby’s hair seems to make them stronger. Right before your very eyes your baby becomes a kid and I just hate it. Of course, I do want my children to grow up. I want them to become happy, healthy adults but DANG why does every step in the process have to hurt so much!?!
J.K. Rowling captured it perfectly (as is her way) in her latest novel The Casual Vacancy.
“How awful it was, thought Tessa, remembering Fats the toddler, the way tiny ghosts of your living children haunted your heart; they could never know, and would hate it if they did, how their growing was a constant bereavement.”
However, it’s not only that bittersweet mixture of sadness and gladness I experience at every milestone that keeps me clinging to every stage as it passes. It is also a desire to see both of my boys fully soak up the sunshine of childhood.
It is the same reason I hate dressing babies in jeans or little boys in suits. It is the same reason Griffin hasn’t been to a movie yet and my kids probably won’t have jobs in high school.
Childhood is short and I want both of my boys to enjoy it for as long as possible. It is a special and magical time that is over far too quickly. As my favorite holiday song says - if the fates allow, they will have many many more years as adults then they will as children.
There will be plenty of time for work and neckties and haircuts then.
To have an Elf on the Shelf®? Or not to have an Elf on the Shelf®?
THAT is the real question at Christmastime.
For several years, Griffin was just too young. Then last year he never mentioned it. It was easy to ignore the great Elf on the Shelf® debate. I was ambivalent to an elfish presence in our home. On the one hand, I understood how much fun it was for kids and I knew several friends who openly advocated for the little guy. They said all the hassle was worth the look on your child’s face when searching for the mischievous creature every morning. On the other hand, I wasn’t completely comfortable with the NSA-like surveillance that went with the elf and bribing my kid to be good.
Tis the season of gift guides! I like gift guides. I do. However, instead of searching out things to include in a gift guide I decided to sit back and let the gifts come to me. All year long I've been keeping careful tracks of the products that I absolutely loved, products that I couldn't stop talking about, products that I had to share with you!
Last year I awoke on Christmas morning to find these beauties from Kara by Kara Ross under the tree for me!
Tis the season of gift guides! I like gift guides. I do. However, instead of searching out things to include in a gift guide I decided to sit back and let the gifts come to me. All year long I've been keeping careful tracks of the products that I absolutely loved, products that I couldn't stop talking about, products that I had to share with you!
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint®
Remember my amazing bedroom makeover? It went from this...
Tis the season of gift guides! I like gift guides. I do. However, instead of searching out things to include in a gift guide I decided to sit back and let the gifts come to me. All year long I've been keeping careful tracks of the products that I absolutely loved, products that I couldn't stop talking about, products that I had to share with you!
Tis the season of gift guides! I like gift guides. I do. However, instead of searching out things to include in a gift guide I decided to sit back and let the gifts come to me. All year long I've been keeping careful tracks of the products that I absolutely loved, products that I couldn't stop talking about, products that I had to share with you!
Today I'm featuring (and giving away!) my favorite book and CD of the year.
