Backyard Anniversary

By Michelle (Graceful, Faith in the Everyday)

One year we spent five days hiking Acadia National Park in Maine.

Another year we kayaked around the San Juan Islands and ate freshly caught salmon at dockside restaurants.

Yet another year we bumped along a dirt road in a horse-drawn wagon to a tiny log cabin nestled amidst wildflowers beneath a looming Colorado peak. That evening I ate grilled bison for the first time.

This year we celebrated our anniversary in the backyard.

Earlier in the week we’d decided dinner out wasn’t in the cards. Our thirteenth anniversary fell on the same night as the elementary school open house. Brad was vigorously prepping his classes for fall semester. The boys started school that Wednesday. And I was putting the finishing touches on the debut issue of a new magazine at work. We had a lot on our plates.

Yet I was frustrated. We had to do something. Didn’t we deserve at least a little time to celebrate 13 years of marriage?

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One Word At A Time: Children

By MAD21

"A child is a revelation from God.
Prophets receive visions, mystics ponder the ineffable,
great preachers deliver God's word.
The greatest revelation comes through flesh and blood.
Every child is a fresh, unheard-of image of God,
and children keep coming and coming because the world
has not yet conceived of all the fullness of God's glory."

- Mike Mason, The Mystery of Children

I was a little surprise addition to our family. An unexpected challenge to my parents who thought they were already done having children. I have 11 and 13 years between my brother and sister and I, which technically puts me in a new generation (and considered and only child in some ways). I always told people I had the best of both worlds. I had a brother and sister, but I lived alone in the house with my parents by the age of nine. However, if I had had a choice I have to say I would have preferred to have had a sibling closer to my own age. It's one of the reasons it was important to me to have more than one child. I didn't want my kids living their lives without siblings they were close to, who were closer to the same stage in life.

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One Word At A Time: Summer

By MAD21

Summer. In our corner of the world it means hot and humid, thunderstorms, green grass and beautiful flowers and plants. But for me, summer means a whole lot more.

It means time.

Growing up and even during my young adulthood I remember people around me always talking about loving summer, not the season per se, but the time of year. Honestly, I never really understood it. Obviously as a child I loved summer because it meant no school and sometimes a family vacation, but in all the years leading up to parenthood, summer was just like any other time... just hotter. Work schedules and extracurricular activities continued on throughout the year without much thought.

Until this past year…

I am entering a different phase of parenthood. We are past the years of potty training and strollers, bottles and baby food, and teaching our girls to walk and talk. My oldest was in half-day Kindergarten last year and my youngest in a three-year-old Pre-K class two mornings a week. We had soccer, gymnastics and horse-riding lessons, along with birthday parties, play dates and homework. The end of the school year was so busy for us I don’t even remember May.

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The Overnight Guest

By Michelle (Graceful, Faith in the Everyday)

Recently my friend Sarah’s daughter stayed with us for two days. And I’m going to state this honestly, without fear of offending Sarah, because good friend that she is, she knows me oh-so-well: I did not look forward to the experience. Not because I don’t love Laini – I do – or because Laini’s not a great kid – she is – but because the visit interfered with my finely orchestrated life. It was different; it strayed from the routine. Laini’s visit required that I step out of the box, shake up the system a bit.

I said yes because I genuinely wanted to help my friend Sarah, who had to travel out of town for a conference. I said yes because I love Sarah and her daughter. I said yes because I knew Sarah would do the same for me, without a moment’s hesitation. I said yes out of love, sure, but also out of a sense of duty and responsibility.

What’s funny is that in saying an obligatory yes, I was the beneficiary in so many unexpected ways.

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This Time Is Short, Love Each Moment

By MAD21

My oldest graduated from kindergarten last night. It was an amazing program. The kids and their teachers had obviously worked very hard to put it together. This was the first time that I saw my daughter perform in front of people while looking like she actually enjoyed what she was doing, instead of being so nervous that she just kind of mouthed the words and barely went through the motions.

During the Headmaster's presentation, he spoke about the fact that turning six and graduating kindergarten is an important milestone. I, myself, have been pondering for the last few months on the importance of this time in my daughter's life. At first, I was struggling to figure out why some people make such a big deal out of this stage. Don't get me wrong, every minute I have with my kids is important to me. But I wondered why this specific time is celebrated.

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