Come on In.....

This might be one of my favorite shots that I snapped tonight....the entrance to our home on Halloween night. I think the entrance to a home is so important, as it is where a person either feels welcomed and embraced or where they feel alienated and sterile. I know that this will become a scrapbook page.....I will journal about what this entrance says about our home...the holiday wreath on the door, the photo of the kids at center stage when you first walk in......the welcome sign that has hung in every one of our houses....the rich red color.....the sign that reads "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.".......a few stray toy cars and dolls and animals scattered about......the piles of shoes meaning that everyone is home and cozy and together. Here's a challenge for all you scrappers out there.....take a few photos of your front door and journal about what this reflects about your home and family. Snap from different angles and you may just hit upon a shot that triggers so many deep reflections. Think about what the entrance to your home communicates to those who enter. I will try to post my finished page (when I get a few scrap-moments to finish it!) and would love to see any other pages completed as a result of this challenge. Until then.....may the entrance to our homes always reflect the entrance to our hearts.

Treats for my Sweets!

Here are my two little sweets ready for a trick-or-treat outing! It is so fun to experience this night through the eyes of my children....they couldn't even eat their dinner, they were so excited to go. Hayden was practicing his best pirate "Trick-or-Treat, ya' Scurvy Pirate" while my sweet cowgirl Kennedy perfected her "Trick or Treat, Pardner....let's go ride the range!" Mommy even tried her best "eyeliner" art skills with the perfect pirate's moustache and a kiss of freckles for my little cowgirl. We made the rounds to our neighborss homes, with Hayden shouting "Let's say 'Trick or Treat' again !!" after each house. When we returned home, they had so much fun passing out candy to the last straggling trick-or-treaters and sifting through their treats and sampling the goods....Hayden's favorite was the Pixie Stix.....crack the stick open, tip your head back, open and pour in.....a shot of pure sugar!! We may be paying for this later tonight with him bouncing off the walls, but hey, it's one night! As for as the sweet stashes, Kennedy loved the Starbursts and corn candy (ah, I love her touch of tradition!). Daddy always goes for the Snickers', while Mommy usually hunts for the Jr. Mints and tangy taffy, or maybe a few sourpatch kids to boot! We had a lot fewer trick-or-treaters than in previous years, so we have LOTS of leftovers......I guess we'll be stretching out the sweetness of Halloween in our house this year!!

Halloween Eve

Halloween Eve 2006 is upon us...this is definitely one of my kids' favorite times of the fall. These are actually photos from Halloween 2005, when my son was a precious little spider and my daughter a sweet black kitty. It is also a time for me as a Mommy to think back on some very fond memories and traditions from the Halloweens of my childhood. I cherish memories of things like special trips to both grandparents' houses for the special candy bags they always saved for us grandkids; annual costume photos; making sure to trick or treat at Devere and Charlene's house, because they always gave away full candbars or packs of gum; running into friends and neighbors while trick-or-treating in our little town; watching all the little kids come to our door and ask for candy; the creativity of coming up with the most unique costumes (that usually involved the use of trash bags, incidentally!); in later years, running on main street to do simple pranks a.k.a eggs and toilet paper....Mom and dad always said do what you need to do, but you pay the consequences if you get caught (we never did!); dumping our candy in huge mounds on the living room floor to "trade" with brothers and sisters for our favorites; even inventorying the candy to make sure no sticky fingers got into our stash! Some Christians are against Halloween, saying it is completely of the devil. Some even go so far as to keep their children home from school on party days. Certainly, we need to be cautious and I think that everyone should arrive at their own decision that is in line with their convictions on this issue....but to me, let the kids have their fun and make their own memories to pass on to their own kids. There is something special about choosing a costume, dressing up, parading through the school classrooms, and rounding the neighborhood asking for treats--it's about connection, candy and costumes. We always emphasize that like every special day, everyone has their own version of what the day means and represents, and that we need to be selective about certain practices and costumes that may differ from our values. Carving pumpkins, bobbing for apples, choosing and making costumes, buying our candy to give out to trick or treaters, lighting the candles in our pumpkins on Halloween night, decorating pumpkin cookies, walking the lit streets of our neighborhood with my little kids as they excitedly look to see what each person will throw into their candy bags...I love the homespun and almost magical (in a good way) touches of this season and hope that tomorrow is a very festive and fun time for you and your family, no matter your age!

Hoppy, Hoppy, Joy, JOY!

Ever have a FROG on your face? No, it's not like "egg on your face" but is actually quite fun, not to mention tickly! Scenes like this happen quite frequently at our house, as my kids seek and find all sorts of interesting and fascinating creatures as playmates. Just a bit of HOPPY JOY for your evening!

Creativity

I have been doing a lot of deep thinking about creativity as of late. What is creativity? Is creativity something that every human possesses? Is creativity measured in amounts, such as I have "a lot" or I'm just "a little bit" creative? I spent the morning helping out in my daughter's kindergarten classroom, and I assisted the kids in making life-size self drawings. It was interesting to observe how the kids responded to this assignment, which was basically tracing their bodies and then turning the decorating over to them. Some of the kids were literally frozen--intimidated?--by the task, and drew a few lines but nothing more; others had more confidence and worked diligently with color, design, and enthusiasm. More than once, I heard a child say in his or her own way, "I'm no good at that." Sad, no, tragic. Already, these young kids have an idea of whether they are creative or not. And here are my two cents.....EVERY HUMAN BEING is creative. We were fashioned by God, who is by nature an exceptionally creative being. We know that God created us IN HIS IMAGE, and His Image includes creativity.....AMAZING CREATIVITY! I have personally had the opportunity to salvage my self-concept as a "creative person", but I think that is largely due, in part, to the fact that when I was younger and going through school, I was very good at doing things "right." At copying the teacher's example to near-perfection. At working hard to make my projects "look good." And so teachers labeled me as "creative" and encouraged my creative work. Fortunate me. In short, I believe that I was in some way allowed to retain my sense of myself as creative. But many, many, many children do not have that experience. It only takes one teacher or parent or adult to label a child as "not creative", and that child can be doomed to live believing themselves to be "not creative." Tragic. So tragic. So what can we do? First, we can model a creative life in all that we do......scrapbooking, taking photos, cooking, decorating our homes, accessorizing our wardrobes, arranging our furniture, building our birdhouses, knitting our scarves, nurturing our gardens, whatever. We can model that mistakes are OK and a critical part of the creative process. Dare we say celebrate mistakes? We can let our kids create! In so many ways......let them pretend, buy them a big trunk of dress-up clothes, turn off the TV, immerse them in art supplies, don't worry about the floor (it can be cleaned up when they graduate)! Expose them to the wonderful creativity in nature, in public museums, in the artist's studio down the block. Cook with them. Walk with them. Dance with them. Cuddle them in and tell them wonderfully fanciful stories., even those that come from your mind rather than the pages of a book. And just love them. Because confidence comes from connection in relationship, and confidence is an important foundational stone for risking creative endeavors. Don't compare work. Encourage the individuality in yourself and your family. Give your children blank paper, not just coloring books. Encourage them to color and draw outside the lines. Embrace their unique spirit. Make your own wrapping paper. Hand the camera over to your child sometimes, no matter how young they are. I promise that what you see in your child will be well worth any extra effort this type of lifestyle takes. Take the challenge and let me know how it goes! I promise you, you will not regret it.

On Fireflies

OK, so some of you might be wondering where the "Firefly Free" part of my blog's title came from. It really is simple......my kids LOVE and are totally mesmerized by fireflies. But also symbolic......Our home backs up to a large field and woods, and we have many, many fireflies twinkling in the summer night skies around here. This past summer was really the first summer that my 3-year-old son discovered fireflies, and after that, it become an obsession and an almost-nightly part of our summertime family routine. When the darkness had settled in, it was time to get out the nets and try to catch the ever-elusive firefly! These photos were taken on a night when some family friends were over and the kids were going for a nightime swim in our backyard pool......and then they sighted the night's first firefly and they lost all interest in the pool.....there was some bug-chasin' to do!!! We parents just stood in the backyard giggling as we watched the kids running to and fro, here and there, as the fireflies flickered on and off, teasing them with their light only to have the light blink off just as they were about to capture them! Fireflies are magical to me....they are the real-world fairies of our summer backyards! My husband and I love the wide-open space of rural America......and fireflies signify that....the wide-open space, the carefree spirit that comes in the summertime but that can hold true in each and every season, if nutured. To me, an ultimate picture of carefree childhood is a child, holding a net, bug-jar ready, running in the back yard chasing fireflies, fully abandoned to the simple joy. I love that my children love communing and interacting with critters and nature......you will see this in many posts......and I love that they yearn to run firefly free, giving off their own little twinkle against a world which in so many ways is dark and in need of light. Every little twinkle has its perfect place.......whether firefly or child. So, firefly free means shining your own little light......giving off your unique twinkle........it means running with pure abandon after your dreams.....it means leaving cares behind and just frolicking, playing.....letting the summer breeze tousle your hair and the cool grass burrow between your bare toes......firefly free!

One of my favorite things in the world.....

..........is children's art. Splashes, brushes and puddles of color, texture, shape, and feeling. Even before I had children when I was training to be a therapist, I recognized and celebrated and believed in the validity of something so powerful, so expressive, so raw. I derived real joy out of watching children create and absorbing themselves in the process......they are so good about that! And I learned from them something about reclaiming the artist in me, about creating without the limitations of what people think. About making messes, not worrying how much paint or clay or glue is on their hands or the table, about putting whatever comes to mind onto the paper or medium with which they are working. Sadly, my daughter has just recently begun making statements like "This doesn't look like a flower" and "I didn't do it right, I need another piece of paper." And I have quickly attacked these statements by encouraging her to create, to refrain from identifying aspects of her art as mistakes, to just express herself and play with the art! I am afraid that school and others' comments are setting her on the road to losing her confidence in her own artistic expression, and I am bound and determined to put a stop to it. I have always had a pretty wide-open art policy in our home.....create to your heart's content, and it can be cleaned up later....this explains why if you come over for dinner to our house, you are likely to see dried clay in the cracks of the table and floor, or smudges of paint on the oak surface....or even find yourself sitting on a few stray beads or dried droplets of glue. And I really don't care. I like these reminders that that table has been a home for my children to create and dream and express. I just created an ART space for them in the basement where they can create while I scrapbook; it is stocked with all kinds of mediums--colorful paint, feathers, beads, glue, foam, pipe cleaners, felt, glitter, to name a few--and they can use it however and whenever they want to. When the mood hits, they can paint. If paint gets on the carpet, oh well. If they feel like mixing the colors of playdough together to make every imagineable shade of brown, and then sticking feathers and sticks into it, so be it. Who am I to set the limits on their imagination. I am much more interested in nurturing their creative spirit and preserving their sense of themselves as an artist, than in keeping my house spotless and my carpet paint-free. In our other house, I let Kennedy paint on the wall of my scrap room with bright red paint; at only 3 years old, she created a wonderful scene of people, animals, and wonderfully fanciful images that I couldnt' precisely identify--nor was it important that I did. They were her art, her expression, her view of some wonderful world in her mind. I always wondered what people thought of when they visited or when we put the house for sale, and our little girl's bright-red mural graced one whole wall of the room. It just made me happy, both seeing her create it and having it permanently on the wall. The painting above is one that Kennedy just created last week.....she entitled it "Flower Daylight Moon." It is gorgeous, and she was so proud of it. And she named it all on her own, without me even asking if she wanted to name it. OK, maybe I HAVE done something right in nurturing their creativity.....maybe I do have a chance to counteract any influences from outside that say it has to be done just one certain way, you have to use certain colors, etc. So all you parents and teachers out there....I urge you to let your children create! I mean really create! It supports their healthy development, infuses into them confidence and assertiveness, and helps them to express concepts that would otherwise be difficult to express verbally.....take it from this child therapist....it's one of the best and most healthy things you can do for a child......and one that will make you so thrilled as you see their joy in creating and in cherishing the finished product. Stop yourself from presenting a model, just the "right way of doing it" and let your kids go! You will likely be amazed at what they come up with when they don't have the notion that all they are supposed to do is copy the teacher's example. I know that "Flower Daylight Moon" is now one of my most cherished possessions in this world, and I can't wait to see what other creations my kids have within their souls. Cleaning up messes is daily routine work, but creating is soul work. Which one do you think is most important?

Pure Blue Joy

Remember the joy of anthing blue? Blue raspberry Slurpees, blue suckers, blue pixi-stix, the brighter bluer the better? There is just something joyful and abandoned about blue, isn't there? About looking in the mirror to see the beautiful traces of blue on your lips and tongue. About the faint hint of blue around your mouth that proclaims, "I just ate something blue!" As I mother, I must admit that a small part of me cringes at this photo of my son....how much sugar, additives, and who-knows-what-else was in this bluer-than-blue sucker? But then, the rest of me overrides that voice and just celebrates the joy of all things blue! And this joy isn't just for kids!! Just the other day, I enjoyed a blue Icee with my kids, just before I had to go up to my daughter's school for a meeting. Yes, my tongue was left blue, and my initial thought was to do some quick tonque-scrubbing before I left. But then, I stopped and made the conscious decision to leave my tongue blue and to JUST LET JOY BE! And whenever I have a choice, no wimpy yellow or orange flavoring for this 34-year-old Mommy of two, no way.....MAKE MINE BLUE!

Ever Feel Like This?

Like you are precariously balanced on a tightrope and only one slip away from plummeting into.......I snapped this photo at our recent family trip to the circus, but as I was thinking about today's post, it just spoke to me. Most days, I feel a bit like this man....and some days I feel A LOT like this man.....trying to find balance and wondering what would happen if.....trying to get to my destination but sometimes focusing so hard on each move that I lose sight of the ultimate goal? Ever been there? I know that I am a woman who tries to do it all, who believes with all her heart that she can have her bread, butter it, and eat it, too. And so far in my life, I have seemed to accomplish this..BUT several things have happened over the past couple of months that have shown me once again the truth of my existence.........without God, I am nothing. Without Him in my life, there is no accomplishment. I think we as Christian often flippantly state things like "God is in control" or "Give it to God", but how often do we really stop and ponder the bigger implications of giving everything--EVERYTHING--over to God. I think many times, I tend to look at God as the umbrella in the photo--He is there in case I tip and to give me a sense of security. However, in actuality, if that tightrope rider falls, that umbrella is going to do nothing to protect and save him, nothing. False security. A "looks good" prop. That is NOT what I want my life to say about God, and I am learning that. I am learning what is means to truly submit and commit my entire self to him. It means recognizing my own human failures and the true insignificance of my efforts , apart from him. It means yielding my owns desires and goals to His greater purpose. It means celebrating even the seemingly mundance daily tasks to which He has called me, because they are part of His Perfect Plan. This life is an awesome adventure, and God is growin me.......next time I am striving for balance, I know that He will remind me that in Him, all is in perfect balance.

Another Pumpkin Carvin' Weekend.....

.........has come and gone in our family, and what a fun day we had! The weather was very cold and rainy, forcing us to do everything inside, but it didn't dampen the mood or the festivities. This tradition has been going on for 19 years.....the first year involved only a couple of kids and it has now blossomed...with the addition of baby Jacob this past summer....to 20+ grandkids and that same number of pumpkins. This year, Kennedy did everything herself from the cutting open to the cleaning of the guts to the drawing to the carving....with only a little help with the teeth...great job, Sweet Girl! Hayden was convinced that he needed to carve his baby pumpkin, which is actually a gourd, so we did, and it was precisely adorable with its tiny little stem and sweet pumpkin face. He so proudly carried it around showing everyone his "tiny wittle punkin'"! Matt went pretty mild this year, with a happy pumpkin face (he usually goes the scary route), while I opted for a Halloween kitty for mine. It is always fun to see the kids express their individual creativity.....this year's highlights included Heathers' Detroit-Tigers "D"--Go Tigers!--to honor their World Series appearance, Uncle Joe's set of four singing pumpkins (took him all afternoon!), Baby Jacob's first pumpkin, and just a cool array of unique designs. Other highlights of the day included apple bobbing (Kennedy was the apple-bobbing queen, securing three apples all by herself and soaking wet in process!), an awesome family meal, drawing names for Christmas which will be here before we know it, and just enjoying watching Grandma and Grandpa McDonald enjoy having all the kids and grandkids have such a nice day. Counting the year that Matt and I were dating, this is my 7th McDonald Pumpkin Carving weekend, and I love it more and more each year because it represents family, festivity, fun, and the heart of children.

My Down Comforter

I woke up this morning and immediately thanked God for......my down comforter. This is another sure sign of fall in our house.....when the down comforter moves from the basement closet to once again grace our California king. We received this comforter for our wedding gift, so there is something sacred about wrapping ourselves in its warmth. I love its ability to be both light and fluffy on the one hand, but so warm and heavy and safe in another sense. It has been garbed in several different duvet covers over the course of our 6-year marriage, and right now the choice is a dark-denim Eddie Bauer classic cover....it just gives a sense of home-spun warmth to our bedroom, and I love laying under it and pulling it up to my chin and just smiling at the simple joy of it. It has been with us through the early years of marriage, through three months of bedrest with our first pregnancy, through moves to four different houses......a symbol of stability despite the changes in our lives. For a few nights this week, my 5-year-old daughter actually took the comforter from our room and put it on her own bed, proclaiming, "Mommy, it makes my bed so soft and cozy....like cuddles!" How can you resist that kind of reasoning? Just loving being enveloped in pure, natural, simple comfort!

A Fairy in my Back Yard

Just wanted to share one of those unanticipated miracles that come along with being a Mommy.......fairies in my back yard! Whirling, twirling, swinging, singing, without inhibition, dancing, firefly free......I love this little girl.

On Fall

There is just something about Fall......are there any other people out there who just get all warm and cozy inside when fall comes around? It just seems like fall ushers in the time of year where hearts turn back to home, where nostalgia reigns supreme, and where the soul receives some much-needed nurturing, connection and solace. I love summer, but my soul yearns for fall......What specifically do I love about fall? Well, the list is long.....but for starters, I love seeing my kids enjoy the same fall activities that I loved as a child and still love.....raking up a big pile of leaves only to jump into them and scatter them all over the yard, only to rake them back into a big pile and run and jump......trips to the pumpkin patch to meander through the fields in search of just the perfect orange pumpkin......sorting through big wooden crates of gourds and marveling at the unique shapes, color patterns, and textures.......going to the apple orchard to pick apples and enjoy a harvest lunch complete with a hot mug of cider, while inhaling the smell of freshly made doughnuts.......bright red apples draped generously in ooey, gooey sticky milky brown caramel.....the crisp air with just "that smell of fall"......trees bursting forth with hues that only could come from God's palette........cool Friday nights at high school football games.....getting out my favorite sweaters, sweatshirts, and colorful scarves.......thinking about the upcoming holiday seasons and all the preparations I love.......meandering through the aisles of Target, Hobby Lobby, Michael's or other favorite stores as they begin displaying the sights and sounds of the season.......concocting new soups and stews in my big soup kettle and serving it up with fresh-baked bread or muffins......Ahhhh, Fall. Change is good for all of us, even though most of us resist it initially. Fall reminds me of that. It reminds me that change, though painful, is most times beautiful and, even, sacred. That change is necessary, that rest is necessary for the promise that comes in the spring when all things are made new. There is no doubt about it.....fall is my very favorite time of year, and I am savoring every morsel. For all you scrapbookers out there, fall is a great time not only to scrap those adorable photos of leaf piles and cute costumes and apple pie; it is also a great time to reflect on changes and transformations in your own life. For me, I am facing a big challenge ahead as I recommit myself to living more healthfully in terms of exercise and nutrition. I have some habits to reestablish, some weight to lose, and some lifestyle changes to make. And so I have been doing a lot of thinking about transformation. Fall is a reminder that not only is the outcome of change hopeful and inspiring, but the process of transformation can be beautiful in itself. Go out and enjoy the simple miracles of fall.....I know I will be this weekend!

Half-Baked: Take One

My first official blog entry. I've been intrigued by this whole idea for a long time and am glad to finally have my page up and running. I love the idea of sharing my thoughts, musings, and insights....of connecting with people from around the country and across the globe. I called this blog "half-baked" because that is what I'm all about......sharing myself, no matter how unfinished or "in process" my life is......that is me. A work in progress. An epitome of the phrase "God isn't finished with me yet." A diamond in the rough, dare I say it. And there is something so fresh and inviting about saying it like it is, rough edges and all. So that is what I am striving for in this blog. Sharing my art. Rummaging around in my soul. Developing my thoughts. Intersecting lives with others who may wonder the same things, share the same thoughts, or have the same experiences. Half-baked is what this is all about.....so I'm looking forward to this new adventure.