purposely lost

“Mommy, I think we’re going to have to live here!”,  my daughter cried as we realized that we had been in this spot already.  We were lost!  Not only were we lost but we appeared to be walking in circles.  My son pointed out a rock that we had passed two previous times.  I looked up at the sky.  The once blue sky had grown cloudy and threatened rain.  I wondered just how many hours had passed as we wandered, heads to the ground, hoping to find our way.  Our map was useless.  Huge parts of it were missing, providing us only pieces of where we were and needed to go.  We came to a fork, the path split in three different ways.  My two older kids fought over which path to take.  I was pretty sure one of the trails looked familiar.  We had traveled on it during some of our wanderings.  My husband ended the argument by stating that we would take the third option.  Skirting a mud puddle, we continued our journey.   “This is crazy”  I thought and yelled up to the girl sitting on the deck high above us,  “Hey, can you give us a clue?” Continue reading “purposely lost”

why I love kindergarten soccer: a list

soccer, parenting, family, adventure

It’s fall, time for kids soccer.  Time for the intense competition.  Time for the intricate footwork.  Time for teamwork and one goal after another.   Okay, who am I kidding, this is kindergarten soccer after all.  The one thing I am guaranteed is entertainment!  It’s an age where kids have absolutely no idea what there are doing, but have fun doing it!  They don’t care and that is what makes kindergarten soccer so great and so much fun to watch.  The following is a list of what happened during one of my son’s soccer games.  Seriously, it all happened during one game.

Continue reading “why I love kindergarten soccer: a list”

fall in the adirondacks

There’s a tree a little ways down the road from where we live.  It’s a huge oak tree that stands alone in the middle of a field.  A couple weeks ago I noticed that the tree’s leaves had started to turn; a few brilliant red and orange leaves on the very top of the full green tree.  I thought of how summer was definitely over and fall was coming.  This morning I looked at that same oak tree as I drove by and was shocked to see that the whole top half of the tree was bare!  The leaves had not only turned but fallen off.  All it’s going to take is a good wind storm to blow off the rest.  Where has fall gone?

I love this time of year, but it is so busy.  The move from the lazy, hedonistic days of summer to the fast paced craziness of autumn is always a jolt.  There’s usually not even time to mourn the end of summer!  We are off in a never ending stream of work, school, activities, homework, meetings,and events.  I want to notice that oak tree, but it’s so hard to do as I zoom by at 50mph.  That’s why I cherish our annual fall weekend in the Adirondacks in New York state.  We abandon all activities and commitments in order to head north and gather as a family and just relax…. Continue reading “fall in the adirondacks”

truly alive

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

  —  Theodore Roosevelt
I love this quote!  To really feel alive we need to step out of our comfort zones and dare to do the difficult.  My greatest fear is that I will get lost in the mundaneness of life, the “gray twilight”.  Sure it’s easier to live a safe and comfortable life, but where does that take you?  Only through challenges and struggles and difficulties and successes do we grow and truly feel alive!

parenting after 9/11

This morning as I drove my children to school, I looked back at them in the rear view mirror.  They were all decked out in red, white, and blue as requested by their school.  They were going to spend some time in prayer and remembrance today, September 11th.  My eleven year old caught me looking and I smiled at him remembering that chubby 6 month old child that he was that day.    I decided to share with them, my memories of 9/11. Continue reading “parenting after 9/11”