Life At The Circus

You all know that the really talented crafty genes somehow skipped over me in the family tree.  My girls are not going to get their wedding dress sewn by their Momma like I did.  In fact there is a lot of doubt as to whether or not they’ll ever get the pajama pants I set out to sew them a year ago.  But, I think I may have stumbled across a medium which I can do, and do with confidence. hot glue Don’t worry, I have no aspirations of hot gluing their pajama pants or anything like that, but I did however make 3 of these this week. When I stumbled across a picture of one of these on pinterest (don’t ask too many questions, I don’t fully understand it and def don’t utilize it fully, but I have seen some cute ideas on there), I instantly fell in love with it. It reminded me of the bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils that Tom Hanks writes about in You’ve Got Mail.  (LOVE that movie… one of my all time favs) So, I set out to make one for each of my child’s tuto...

Now that my oldest 2 are at their tutorial two days a week, I find myself with just 2 children at home on those mornings.   It is a truly odd feeling and a dynamic I am not yet used to.  Though I am sure it is nothing compared to the strangeness I’ll feel next year when I am left with only my lil man two days a week.  I am hoping to use this time to 1.  take care of errands 2. stay on top of housework/laundry 3.  enjoy some quality time with my youngest two I was thrilled when I learned our library will be hosting story time a few times a month on the same mornings as our tutorial.  When I told my 4 yr old that we’d be going to story time this week she responded, “Story time, what’s story time?”   meanwhile simultaneously, my oldest child said, “Awh, story time… I remember story time… I loved story time!” And there ya have it folks…evidence that you truly don’t parent the same way each time around.  I remember with my oldest and...

During the intro for of one of the speakers at the Women of Faith conference last month, they asked the speaker what quality she valued most in a friend.  She answered loyalty, but my answer was a resounding… realness If you want to win me over/endear me for life, let me see your imperfections… do me a favor, don’t clean before you invite me over…show up to my house for a play date late… with a head full of wet hair… let me see your van full of cheerios and wrappers and those “lovely” Sunday School papers which seem to multiply and grow wings and threaten to over take your car.    I love it when I find out I’m not alone… when I realize I am not the only mom who doesn’t have it all together, who meant well, who had good intentions… those people that pull away the façade and bear their imperfections, those are the ones I am drawn towards… the ones I feel a connection with… the ones I want to spend more time with.  This year, at the women of faith conferen...

While we’ve been “doing school” at home for the past few weeks for the purpose of reviewing and getting used to the routine, today was the first official start of our new school year. We homeschool, but also use a tutorial.  The kids attend the tutorial twice a week and study at home with me three days a week.  So far, I feel it provides the balance our family needs between homeschooling and traditional schooling.  My 5 year old was beyond ready for her first day of kindergarten.  She has been telling anyone who will listen (as in strangers in the aisle at the grocery store, clerks at Target, people passing in the street… literally EVERYONE) that she starts Kindergarten this year.  Excited would be an understatement!  This girl is ready… I am not sure I was ready for how grown up she’d look when she put on her uniform this morning.  What happened to my little girl? And speaking of growing up… enter my second grader!  (wasn’t it just ye...

Why hello, dear neglected blog of mine… yes, the circus family is still alive and well.  It’s just been a busy week at the circus, what with an earthquake, a hurricane, a Women of Faith conference (another blog post to come about that soon), a head cold, a fantasy football draft and home schooling…. Right now I have mounds, literally mounds of unwashed clothes and dishes to take care of, shirts to tye dye, food to buy, and our annual Labor Day weekend to prep for… but I wanted to stop and preserve a few moments that I didn’t want to forget… Last Tuesday, I was babysitting a friend’s 3 kids when a 5.8 earthquake shook our area.  I was holding my friends baby when I stopped to stare at a spot on our recently painted stairway… “What’s that I wondered?”  and then suddenly the stairway seemed to slant and I felt myself move a bit… The 3 oldest kids (7, 6, 5) were playing downstairs, and the 2 and 4 year old were playing in the bedroom.  I went down the hall to wake my...