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Mental Snapshots
This is one of those mornings I want to remember, not for the significance of events, but for the normalcy of it all, for the love and humor and the way I feel. Some days life is passing by at a blurring pace, and I get worried I’m failing to set memories. So here I am taking a mental snapshot of motherhood and life. First, my boys were in so much pain this morning. Not fun. Definitely amusing. Last night…
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Our Yard: Edible Tree and Shrub Catalogue
We are entering 2017 with a yard full of new trees. It’s time I made a list of exactly what we have out there in our vast landscape (just kidding, it’s 1/3 an acre). We took down the hairless peach because the brown rot has been out of control for years. We had tried sprays and pruning, but in the end I made the impulse decision to pick up two $7 trees and needed a good, sunny space. I was…
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Christmas Heavy
Around Christmas every year, I feel heaviness — not from Thanksgiving feasting — but an emotional heaviness. I’d like to explain it away by the change in weather or that the seasonal glitz and magic of the holidays have dulled as the years wear on, but I can’t ever shake that there is a shadow over my heart. It’s been a heavier year than ever. There have been enormous losses and beautiful gifts of new life, and the collision of…
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Chocolate Milk and Anger
I was upstairs scrubbing my jawline with acne cleanser (thank you, mid-30s hormones and anxiety for bad skin), and I’m listening to the boys making their chocolate milk. They’ve learned to dump instant breakfast packets in a glass, pour the milk and stir. It’s their favorite drink (favorite breakfast as well) and it was a big deal that the youngest earned permission to make his own. They do it on their own most mornings. I overheard angry accusations that the…
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The Annual Pumpkin Pics
Each year we get our Halloween pumpkins from the NC State Farmers Market and have the boys sit for a picture with their pumpkins. This may be the first year there was no drama at all. I suppose we are at that magic age now (6 and 8) where sitting for a picture can be painless. It’s a far cry from the several years ago where only the baby made it in the picture because big brother was wailing. I…
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Camping at Cape Lookout
While posting about our camping trip to Blue Bear Mountain Campground, I searched through the blog trying to find documentation of our previous camping trips. I never shared about them! So over the next few days I’ll be posting some pictures and comments from some of our past adventures. First up, Cape Lookout! One theme that seems to run through all our trips is that we do them on the fly. Often our under-preparation gets the best of us. We…
