I love everything about this picture. Must be 1971. Beverly Hills Village, in Birmingham Michigan. Most of our clothes were made by fabulous-mom. I know the skirt Annie’s wearing was originally part of a full set of Singer-crafted, floor length Christmas “gowns” for each of us. I’m wearing an ultra-hip, extra-wide, cherry-red Jan Brady watch. Alice’s culotte-jumper was likely made out…
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There is a gap… and we hope we are standing in it. My beautiful 13 year old girl is on one side… Knowledge, Confidence, Security, Purity, Achievement, Direction all reside on the other side of the gap. Distraction, peer pressure, foolishness, juvenile understanding, media are in the swamp between. As it turned out, the texting from Foolish Boys continued and…
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Lets see, we pay the Verizon bill for her cell phone/texting appendage. And she’s 13 (an 8th grader!). Her behavior is high caliber and she’s not done anything to challenge our trust. We believe in the mantra that our children will rise to the occasion of our trust and honor. We know our job is to teach boundaries. We also…
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SUNDAY 6PM. We pull into the driveway with two over-tired kids. Riley played in this weekend’s volleyball tournament with her whole heart and she rose to a whole new level of skill. Eighth grade, right? She’s growing powerful right before our eyes. We emptied the giant vehicle “Frank” and I poured a sleeping Jack onto the couch. We love our…
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Seth Godin used it today and I knew right away I had to start a new game: The Friday Word. (i do so love to be unexpected.) TRIANGULATING IS EVERYWHERE. Satellites triangulate global positioning and tell us which streets will get us where we want to go. Google triangulates web traffic and our clicking and also tells us where we…
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We leave for our seven day trip to Portland Oregon to visit Erik’s school and see two Multnomah Lions basketball games! Since I’m outnumbered without Steve, we begin with a reminder of the instructions that are important for a six year old to hear regularly. [box] Stay close. We’ll be in crowded places and sometimes having to move quickly to…
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Yesterday at school my sweet Riley was granted the esteemed honor of being named MOST ATHLETIC by the Middle School “Yearbook Most Committee” … which apparently determines the bestest and mostest of the most critical components of being in 8th grade. Peyton got Best Laugh Summer got Best Eyes Aine got Best Smile Two girls I don’t know were awarded…
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Erik in Southern California. His caption for this self-portrait: “Jesus time in the amazing weather every morning.”
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Media mania returned to our house this Christmas season. With the return of the Even-Taller College Sophomore Erik, the span of our kids’ ages seemed to expand again to the far edges – making the official suggestion of Parental Guidance all but impossible.
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Our little guy Jack isn’t shy. At 6-years-old, he is typically outgoing and quick to leap into the game. Any game. (this maybe a problem during the teenage years…. Stand by) So there we were: St. Columban’s Catholic church, attending Christmas Eve mass to honor Mom. Far from home.
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December 23. Christmas !!!!!!! It’s here. We’ll celebrate at home tonight even though it’s two nights before the 25th. We’ll read the Christmas Story and just BE together. Food and gifts, yes. But more: our faces our hearts.. love. We’ll be together. And it’ll take some work.
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Recently, Steve and I hosted the middle school’s Wyldlife Club gathering in our home. It was so fun and easy – we just had to feed the [fabulous] leaders and then stay very invisible. Got it. We kept ourselves out of sight during the entire 4.5 minutes that 50 kids arrived and scurried to the downstairs family room. Once the…
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Every Thanksgiving has story, right? And sort of a character all it’s own. Thanksgiving 2011 did not let us down. My brother Mike and his wife Christine hosted their first Thanksgiving in their wonderful home; and with the size of our family, the commitment is daunting. It starts with a tentative [timid] email to 40 people, presenting the idea of…
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Something like six months ago I had a BUNIONECTOMY. It’s hard to decide which word is more ugly: bunion, or its –ectomy. The kind and slightly-too-young surgeon used standard issue hardware to hold my metatarsal in its new place; redesigned to be straighter and more natural. Neat. Power tools. (This makes my husband very happy and of the mind that…
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I learn from Jack His only response to an obstacle is: “I can do it!” and so gallant… determination wins!
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Steve was reading to Jack tonight before bed and they found themselves in the story of Jesus walking on water. Jack asked, “what’s he doing?” Steve answered, “He’s walking on water.” Which made Jack ponder a bit and say, “It looks like he’s standing on the water. How’d he do that?” “It’s a miracle!” Then Jack smirked and nodded and…
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Two Sisters Both 45 years old. There’s a delightful story as to how one family can have two sisters both 45 and not twins. It’s a good one. It’s mom-marrying-uncle and we’re not from Kentucky (because people have asked). That’s more for later. It’s about two sisters who were cousins and childhood pals. The little ones. Among eleven kids, they…
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PLANS WELL MADE It’s somewhere between 4 and 5am and we’re camping. Actually we’re staging ourselves for an early arrival to the Wheatland Music festival that starts tomorrow and we’re on Take #9 of trying to beat the morning queue. We rented the same reliable 35’ trailer we’ve used for a few years (which we now consider ours) and we…
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We did it. All kids are all in school. Even, presumably, the two in college; and the tallest one who’s in North Carolina. I now sit with this moment that I’ve projected tasks into for weeks. “When school starts I will have more structured time to get done what I need to get done.” Often said in the context of…
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My precious mother-in-law sent an email this morning with a link to a famous and stirring video by AndiesIsle and as I watched it, the enormous gift of her constant love wove through my insides like a living, breathing vine. As parents, we give bits of ourselves to our children from the moment they are conceived, and every day throughout…