“It’s my year to put the star on top of the tree!” my oldest squeals as we remove the silver star from its box from the basement. Each year, he and his brother take turns being hoisted up into the air by my husband, stretching to place it a top the tree.
Read MoreI pull out the boxes of Christmas decorations from the basement the day after Thanksgiving. My stomach is still full from the night before. It will be another day before we set up the Christmas decorations yet already I feel stuffed, in my clothes, in my home, in my life. The tree will take up much needed real estate in my already tiny front room. I groan thinking of a full month of feeling claustrophic in my house.
Read MoreOn my grandparent’s shaggy avocado green carpet, I set up the Winnie the Pooh Weeble house they gave me for Christmas. Chubby Christopher Robin and Tigger go for a ride on the teeter totter. Pooh slides down the mini slide, rolling around when he gets to the bottom. “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down!” I sing as I push them on the tiny swings, after I have given them a nice picnic lunch of honey, of course. I tuck Pooh into his little bed and sing him a good night song, “Jesus is coming, coming for me, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye.” The song is about the rapture, when Jesus will come for all those who believe in Him. It will happen quickly and without notice, I am to always be ready.
Read MoreMy 6 and 7-year-old sons are obsessed with the hip-hop historical musical about Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton. We know all the lyrics inside and out. We take turns taking the lead on the Hamilton or Aaron Burr lyrics and our goal in life is to rap as fast as Daveed Diggs’ Lafayette. So when we planned a family vacation to NYC we knew there was one stop we couldn’t miss. No, at $500 a ticket, I just couldn’t see taking my family of four to see Hamilton, dropping over 2K on one night. We took the boys to Trinity Church near Wall Street to see the graves of many of the historical figures portrayed in the musical.
Read MoreI see in you, the description of your daddy as a young boy, your Abuelita shared with me years ago, a curious little boy peeking behind the wall at her working in the kitchen. A little stinker of a boy who loved to tease and have fun but fiercely loyal and loving to those he selected as his inner circle.
Read More"I want motherhood to stay in these moments, not the moments where I am yelling like George Costanza"
Read this story over at Tribe Magazine
Read MoreRead my reflection on the Gift of Silence in the Morning over at Busted Halo
Read MoreAs a parent, I am determined to give my sons, a proper film education. My husband and I have been scheduling our own Family Film Festival on Friday nights. We sometimes give in and show the latest kid film but mostly we introduce them to films and genres that we love from the classics.
Read MoreMy chronic depression is here to stay, but with these components, I keep the monster from visiting so often.
Read MoreMy whole body is goosebumps as I hear the songs I listened to secretly on my Walkman, late at night as my parents would fight outside my room. These songs made me feel like I wasn’t the only person who thought things weren’t right in this world.
Read MoreFriends always ask me how I am able to buy the bulk size produce for a family of four without it going bad before we finish it. This is how I do it.
Read MoreThere is a sense of surrender in Joy that is different than its lesser, tamer cousin, happiness. Joy, that next level of happiness, is when we let go
Read MoreFor the past 5 years, I have ran or walked 3 miles nearly every morning at 6am.
It is the same 3 miles. The exact same route. This is just one of the ways my OCD rears it’s head. I used to apologize for it but when you do the same things, the same way, at the same time every day, you begin to notice that others do too. They just don’t publicize it.
Read MoreIt was not his style that he is remembered for, he wore a bright blue utilitarian painter smock every day, but his simplicity, his impartiality and most of all his joy of life.
Read MoreThese survival skills morphed into actuality as I realized I had learned along the way how to adapt quickly to new situations. I size up situations quickly and adjust accordingly. Always, always act like you belong in the place you find yourself, even if you don’t.
Read MoreSome of us realize that we just aren’t as dazzling or special as we thought we were going to be, myself included. Life gets in the way. There is always someone prettier, smarter, more successful, someone who shines brighter.
Read MoreMy 5-year-old son and I are sitting side by side on the couch reading. I with Annie Dillard’s An American Childhood, a book I should have read long ago and he another A-Z Mystery. I have a bag of chips on my left and every few pages he raises his hand out, without speaking for another chip. My 7-year-old is elsewhere in the house, probably in the smallest space between two pieces of furniture, curled up with his own book.
Read MoreThis summer will be the 5th that I host a summer time Happy Hour on my deck. As one of the kids who regularly attends put it, “You know, Happy Hour! Where kids play and the grown-ups have a glass of wine”.
Read MoreIf he would have been embarrassed or his eyes filled with tears, my reaction would have been more compassionate. But he was tickled that such a calamity happened! He knew mommy would take care of it.
Read MoreThrives on moments where storytelling, art and faith collide.
