Pumpkin Freedom... Embrace It.

So, I am perplexed.
I know everybody and their neighbor likes to Pin cute, crafty, and inventive things on Pinterest. (myself included) I am all for this harkening back to general homemade cuteness.
What I don't get is why we, as a people group, have felt the need to turn everything into a DIY craft project?

Do we really need to make our own brooms?
Do we realize suckers are still for sale? We don't have to melt jolly ranchers on a cookie sheet.
Did you know that you can still buy skirts? We don't have to make them out of shorts, old t-shirts, or even duct tape. I'm just sayin' that given the choice between spending $15 and countless hours on a DIY skirt made out of rubberbands, and a $15 skirt from Target... I am going with Target. Every.Single.Time.

I  got an e-mail with 15, yes FIFTEEN ways one can create, embellish and DIY the crap out of pumpkins.

People... they.are.pumpkins.
They are a decoration all on their own because...
They are round, and orange, and come in various sizes and shapes.
No two are exactly alike. They are like the snowflake of fall.

So stop...
stop covering them in glitter
stop sticking gold thumbtacks in them
stop decoupaging them
stop gluing yarn to them in yellow and blue
stop making them out of cardboard, old books, and yes... DRYER VENT HOSES


Just enjoy them for what they are.
pumpkins.

They are one thing you can and should be able to just walk into the grocery store, plunk down your $5 for, stick on your porch and say... "DONE".

Embrace this freedom friends.
Take back the organic beauty of the unadorned pumpkin.
Stop exploiting them for your DIY addictions. ( exploiting... a tad over dramatic, but you get the point)
PUMPKIN FREEDOM FOR ALL!

I want to give everyone permission to be free and simply enjoy fall
ONE PLAIN PUMPKIN AT A TIME.

So put down the bedazzlers, sit back, watch some leaves turn colors, and leave the poor pumpkins alone.

Well, until October 31st when we gut the junk out of them and stick candles in their innards.
Survival of the fittest you know ;)
(I should note that having small children paint pumpkins rather than giving them a knife to carve, this I am all for. Intact appendages are a good thing.) 

Feel free to leave photo links in the comments of your pumpkins. I will add them to my new pinterest board entitled "Pumpkin Freedom"

Why we is homeskooling are kid...

Sorry, I couldn't resist the title...
So, I am homeschooling my oldest son, Lincoln, this year. He is in the sixth grade. This plan was put in place waaaaay back when we got married. The one thing we did actually do from the marriage counseling book we read was to talk about our future children. How many we wanted, what our educational goals were for them, etc. We decided then and there that public elementary school, homeschool for middle school, and then back to public school for high school was our plan. Amazingly we arrived at the homeschool phase of that plan this year... Lots of people ask, "Why just for middle school?" So, here are some of our not so scientific reasons to homeschool at this juncture...

1. Time alone with my son. Lincoln gets me all to himself again. That ended for him at age two when his first little brother arrived. I am very excited about two years of just him and I. We need this time to "re-connect", and bond again.
2. Middle school is THE hardest time to deal with peer pressure. I remember feeling so so so much more insecure, and unsure of how to be me, in middle school. By the time I was in high school, I think we all got more comfortable in our own skin. It was ok to be different.
3. Boobs.
4. Did you need more explanation for #3? Boys think about girls, which is normal. Little middle school girls readily putting their pre-pubescent racks on display, that is not normal. It is like showing a cave man meat, then telling him to enjoy a salad.
5. I want to teach him about some classics of literature that I'm afraid he won't get to read. There is so much pressure on teachers to meet ridiculous standardized test scores that they no longer get to be creative, and really teach.
Watch this woman's story. She says it well. Then, get your kid's teacher a little gift or a note of encouragement. Their job is becoming impossible, and its sad.


6. Sleeping In. Yep, this nap loving mama said it. The middle school system starts on a crazy rooster type schedule around here. The bus still tries to stop for Lincoln. At SIX FIFTEEN AM! That is like, the middle of the night! He needs sleep. Kids need sleep. For the love of all that is holy, PARENTS NEED SLEEP!
7. There is a teacher inside me. I used to teach pre-K. I loved it. I am starting to remember the joy of seeing someone have that "light bulb" moment. When it is your own offspring, it is pretty amazing.
8. Talk time. Wow... I knew I was looking forward to talks that might naturally take place in our little one on one school set-up. Um... wow. I was not prepared for what they would be about! In our vast two weeks of school we've chatted about divorce, sex, and "Mom what is a transgender?". So much for those "sheltered" homeschool kids eh?
9. Lockers. Expecting a sixth grade boy to manage unlocking a locker, keeping it neat, remembering his homework and getting to his next class while staring at all those boobs? That is just an unrealistic expectation folks. Our young men cannot do all this at once. This is why detention was invented.
10. Miley Cyrus. We can blame everything on her now right? Put this in her column too... In reality it is the lack of knowledge about these things that is the reason. Once you are in high school I think its safer to say things like, "I don't have time to watch crap like the VMAS" and you sound cool and of higher intellect. In middle school, you get a wedgie and called a baby.
11. I really wanted a denim jumper and red turtle-neck. Standard Issue for we crazy homeschool moms :) 
12. Did I mention boobs?

So, there you have it... Some sound and not so sound reasons we are homeschooling for middle school.

Oh, that post...

I have been gone a while.
For good reason.
We have been through some hard personal times here at the casa.
I am betting some people who know me "in real life" are waiting for a blog of great detail on what happened...

Sorry to disappoint, but this is not that blog.
I cannot write that yet. I don't know that I ever will.
I couldn't post anything anywhere that was remotely thought provoking without being asked, "Was that about...". So I put up photos. Photos are pretty safe. But to write a whole blog post? After that May camping trip one, I sunk... and sunk low. So rather than BS everyone like I was with my cheery FB and Instagram photos, I left the blog alone. 

Because when you have your world turned upside down... it tears you apart.
When people believe lies about you and your spouse... it tears you apart.
When you lose your community, your church, and even some friends... it tears you apart.
When your children ask you tearfully, "Why?"... it tears you apart.
When you see others hurting... it tears you apart.

And I am not where I need to be with everything just yet.
I don't know when I will be.

I do know that I would have lost it completely if it wasn't for:
~ one amazing husband
~ three brave and tough little boys
~ grace filled family members
~ courageous friends
~ and the simple truth of God's word.

"A bruised reed He will not break,
and a faintly burning wick He will not quench;
He will faithfully bring forth justice."
~Isaiah 42:3

I don't want to neglect writing about my boys and their adventures though. In the midst of all this they have lost first teeth, finished elementary school, started playing football, said funny things, gone to yoga classes, and made great memories... and I cannot wallow so much that I forget to document these things.

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day,
you will look back and realize,
 they were the big things."
~Robert Brault

Twinkle Lights, Popcorn, and Camping...

 So, if you remember this post  you remember we have become avid campers. However, we became such with borrowed equipment from a sweet friend. It was time to get our own. Borrowing from a camping guru like we did was great though... we knew exactly what we needed!
So, we scoured sales, thrift shops, and online sources and compared prices and tried to really keep it simple (read: not expensive) to go on our first camping trip of the year. We did it, and it was a smashing success if I do say so myself. Here are some highlights in my favorite blog form... the list.

1. Weather.com was not even close to right about the weather for the weekend. "Highs in the 70s" were no where to be seen, but hey, we DID see our breathe in the tent!

2. Wet Wood = lots of smokey fires. I felt so, um... robust smelling by the time we left.

3. When the rude college age kids in the next site over wake you up at 2am with their loud yapping, just roll over and let it go... and take solace in the fact that your kids will be up at the butt crack of dawn and you won't be shushing them. at.all. Glorious street justice :)

4. Popcorn made over the campfire may give your arm a cramp, but it tastes SO good. (this was one of the supply "splurges" that I used some of my birthday money on. SO worth it!)

5. Get the Ikea french press so your husband can have his coffee. Caffeinated spouses = happy spouses.

6. Two words. Twinkle Lights. ( we had many people stopping to look at these. they were SO festive. I plan on adding more for the next trip!)

7. The best part of camping? No internet or wireless. Ahhhhh... :)

8. Reading The Hardy Boys by the fire was almost so stinking picturesque, I wanted to pinch myself. I mean, here we were, reading, sipping hot chocolate, sitting by a fire, while the wind whipped through the air. If one of my kids hadn't farted and brought me back to reality, I might've thought I was dreaming.

9. If your husband doesn't smoke a pipe, I am sorry. Camping just isn't camping until that pipe tobacco scent is wafting through the air.

10. Oh, those twinkle lights? They light up the camp site a lot more than you realize... or maybe you do realize it as you tinkle in the woods before bed... the ever so twinkle lighted woods. Ooops.

The Day I Stopped Clicking

If you know me, you know I am a pretty consistent picture snapping Mama. Ok, maybe consistent is putting it mildly... maybe I am more like a...

click-crazy
obsessive
unstopping
never-without-a-camera-in-her-hand-Mama.

Here is proof, this is a book I recently got. (Which is super cute by the way.)

But recently, if you look into my computer files, you will see a sharp decrease in the number of photos I've been taking. It wasn't on purpose, but I thought more and more about the why, and the how, and the purpose behind all that clicking. Ok, and truth be told, my computer is almost out of memory. I have a reeeeaalllly hard time deleting photos off and trusting they are on the hard drive. What was I to do? Stop taking pictures? I am a firm believer in documenting life with photos, but was I really doing that?

As I began to be honest with myself I saw some issues with the constant clickage.

I had forgotten how to simply experience the memories I was trying so very hard to capture. 

I realized this when I was SO busy clicking away on a hiking trip, that when Micah asked what I thought of the view, I realized, if I didn't have the photo to look at, I would have no clue. I had only glimpsed it through my iPhone and my Canon view finder.  I was more concerned with filters and the proper shutter speed than actually seeing the view!

 I started to realize, I need to let my mind's eye have the first click sometimes.

I need to experience the moment more and stop worrying about having the perfect shot of the moment.
I know I want photos to show my kids as they get older, their spouses, and someday, hopefully my own grandchildren. But when I think back to what my Gramma shared with me about her life, I don't remember it because she had a shutterfly photo book, or showed me her instagram feed. I remember because her memories were so powerful, and she was able to share them in such detail, that you felt transported to that place where your mind makes its own images of what it all may have looked like. I have a perfect photo in my head of her first apartment in the US, and what arriving there was like after sailing into Ellis Island.  Oh, to be sure, I would love... LOVE a photo of some of these things, but her words and memories were powerful too, in their own way.

So, back to me and my chain-smoker-esque photo ways. What am I going to do differently? I have promised myself to...

Experience first. Photograph Second.
Live first. Snap Second.
Write the memory in my mind, and then say cheese. 

That next hiking trip... I can vividly describe to you the way the sky looked that day, the many shades of blues we saw. How a storm rolled in and the cloud front was like a dark curtain over the valley. I can show you a photo too, because I did take one... but not until I had lived the moment with each of my boys first, and that my friends is why those photos are special.

The memories and the documentation of life just got a little sweeter again...