this moment {my wand}

Linking with SouleMamma and many others:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Sorry, friends, but this needs a little explanation.  This was taken on our drive home from vacation as Mr. Man watched back-to-back Harry Potter movies with wand in hand, at the upright, ready to shout any spell on cue!

May your weekend be filled with the magic and wonder of a 9-year-old with a long awaited new toy!

home sweet home

Thanksgiving for us means visiting family, eating a grand feast and too much of it, slowing our pace for a few days, and giving gratitude for life's many blessings.  This year, in a move very unlike me and Papa, we planned a family vacation to Florida.  To be fair, this is our first family vacation ever, aside from trips to different states and countries to visit extended family.  But, this was our first destination-determined-by-us vacation.

The choice was obvious for our Harry Potter loving family - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Oh yeah, the children are 9, 7, and 4, so we should really throw Walt Disney World into the mix.  And we did just that.

This Thanksgiving was a harried, festive, fast-pace, exciting adventure for our family.  A memorable one to be sure.  I am so thankful we did it - for the magic, for the wonder, for the smiles, laughs, and good times spent with just the five of us (and 50 million others at both parks). 

The trip started with a surprise announcement - an early arrival to Florida and an extra day at Universal.  

In the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (otherwise known to us as Harry Potter world) we shopped Hogsmeade, traveled the Hogwarts Express, toured the Hogwarts castle, flew on our broomsticks, purchased our very own wands from Olivander's, flew with the Hungarian Horntail, sampled butter beer, pumpkin juice, chocolate frogs, and Bertie Bott's every flavor beans (even dirt, yuck!).  The detail in the shops, the classrooms in the castle, and the staff all led you to feel as though you walked right into the hidden areas of Hogwarts, complete with soundtrack.  John Williams will create the perfect ambiance anywhere!

Next on our agenda was Disney.  Our hotel was alive with our favorite characters and we were transported directly into the movies.  The children took turns sleeping in an anemone with Nemo and Marlin.  We were greeted at our buildings by seagulls, Mr. Ray, and Crush and the pool was alive with color.  Every minute of our stay was filled with visual and auditory stimulation.

Swallowing every ounce of the feminist inside me, I treated the girls to a princess makeover.  They thoroughly enjoyed every minute of their transformation.  Oh boy were they sweet!

We had to slip in a few photo shots with our favorite character - Goofy.  Of course, this is because Grandpa is goofy and he likes Goofy.  So we had to say hello on his behalf!

There were so many other magical moments to share, but I'll stop with these highlights.

After all this excitement and wonder, I have to admit that I am oh. so. glad. to be home.  To celebrate our final destination, I promptly poured myself a cup of coffee, baked bread, and made my traditional chocolate chip cookies.  It felt wonderful to have my family behave with as much excitement over my homemade goodness as the day we entered Hogsmeade.  It's good to know they appreciate home and all that it means.

It's good to be home!

this moment {listening}

Linking with SouleMamma and many others:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy listening!

it is well...

it is well...

with my soul...

it is well, it is well

with my soul.

This familiar hymn fills the spaciousness of my heart, my mind, my soul as I gently reenter the world following gladsome.

What a beautiful weekend with 11 amazing women, each with their own story, each their own set of hopes and expectations for this retreat. This quickly established community of women, whose sharing and warmth and risk-taking and comfort and love for our authentic, creative selves, far exceeded our wildest imagination.  What a gift gladsome was and will be.

There is so much to tell of this wonderful retreat, but today I'll say only this...

Creative intention begins by giving voice to our creative hopes and dreams, but is more than goal setting or accepting challenge to take action on our desired creativity. Creative intention is imagining our wildest, truest most creative self and then stepping back to watch her unfold.  Perhaps she'll take a lifetime to mold, perhaps a few days.  But she'll emerge in a place where her soul connects with her creative life; where the energy in this fusion takes hold and she arrives.

Here's a sampling of creative intentions in the making. . .

I stumbled upon this quote by poet Rainer Maria Rilke in some strange alignment of events and I thought it beautifully captured the essence of creative intent:

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

Peace to you dear friend...

this moment {friends}

Linking with SouleMamma and many others:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

happy halloween

I have a guest blogger this evening.  I hope that you enjoy!

The Day My Jack 'O Lantern Came to Life
Story written by second grader, Peace

It was the day before Halloween.  I was carving a pumpkin.  I finished just in time to go to bed.  The next morning, it was the day of Halloween.  It was a relief.  And guess why!  We had no school.

When it was time to get ready for trick-or-treating, I heard a noise. It sounded like it said, "Thanks for carving me."  And as it started to talk the room got lighter.  I turned around and my pumpkin was talking!  I screamed really loud.  I got so scared I ran out of the house.  

I forgot it was time to go trick-or-treating after I saw everybody doing just that.  I ran back in the house and started to go trick-or-treating.  My pumpkin followed me.  I ran ahead more.  My pumpkin still followed me.  I stopped and said "Do you ever run out of energy?"  My pumpkin said, "No!  I'm a pumpkin!"  

And that was the story of when my pumpkin came to life.

Wishing you and yours a spooky and imaginative Halloween!

Costume made with love by Grandma

it's raining

What to do when the weather doesn't cooperate? For certain, the to-do list posted on the refrigerator will have to wait.  You know, the one that contains raking leaves to prep for garden mulching, taking down the trampoline for the winter, cleaning off the back porch for. the. winter.  Not gonna happen in this dreary, cloud covered, rainy, pre-hurricane set of days.

Funny how weather sometimes makes us do the very thing we fight so hard against: REST.

Instead of our hectic preparation and putting away, we did exactly that.

Here's a glimpse:

 :: snuck in a horse ride before the cold air arrived
:: baked biscotti with my dad for the very first time
:: watched a movie or two
:: built a fort
:: slept in said fort
:: moved to the bed when his adult back told him he must
:: stayed in our jammies all day
:: slept late
:: cleaned up said fort
:: had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa
:: watched football with neighbors
:: played board games with Grandma and Grandpa
:: enjoyed a bit of being forced inside, forced to sit with each other, forced to pass the time playing with those we love

Wishing you and all living beings a safe week filled with happiness and joy!  Special thoughts and prayers to all who are facing Hurricane Sandy this week.  May you be well!

this moment {autumn leaves}

Linking with SouleMamma and many others:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

breathe

I lay here wanting to pause this moment for I know it is a fleeting one.  She's just finished reading herself a book. A wonderful variation on Cinderella, starring the grand duke, who is called the grand duke because he is grand and he dukes people. 

She's tired now and straightens her pillows and blanket falling into bed.  Feeling particularly snuggly, she asks me to scratch her back - inside Mommy.  Okay, I say.  For a little while.  

Soon, she pulls my arm away, gently, and puts her hand in mine.  With her other hand she searches for any spot of bare skin in all of my clothed layers.  Her fingers find their destination and set softly on my chest.  Skin-to-skin, hand-in-hand we lay and she breathes.  Her breath is a beautiful and natural one, her belly lifting as a child's is wont to do.  

It is this breath that makes children different from us, you know.  Adults tend to breathe from their chest bringing in tension and anxiety and blocking air from getting deep into our selves.  Children are magically better at remaining calm and I believe their breathing makes them this way.

I closed my eyes and listened to her breathe, stuffy nose, rattle, and the hum of air going in and out of her little body.  And I thought of all that the breath can do:

Breathing in, I give thanks for all that I have in life.
Breathing out, I let go of tension and frustration.

Breathing in, I allow in calm and rootedness.
Breathing out, I acknowledge the cycles of unrest and rest that fill my mind.

Breathing in, I honor those cycles and know they just are.
Breathing out, I let go of the desire to figure it all out.

Breathing in, I savor this space with my youngest child.
Breathing out, I imagine our lives and bodies connected as one.

Breathing in, I give thanks.
Breathing out, I wish joy and happiness and peace to all living beings.

Because that it all I know to do in this amazing moment.

needle in a cornstack

My mother has no sense of direction. Go ahead!  Ask her which way she thinks you should go.  I promise you'll get lost.  How do I know?  I've tried to follow her directions. Not pretty.

So when we found ourselves alone in a corn maze, I thought "Oh great. This ought to be fun."

We actually entered the corn maze with 4 children who sprinted off in a different direction and my husband who was smart enough to follow the kids.  Meanwhile, my mother and I were still trying to get our bearing.  

There we were, the two of us, still a little surprised at how quickly things did not go as planned.  We headed down a path we thought would eventually meet up with the children only to find rather quickly that it would never lead us back.  Hmph!

She had the map and made an attempt to read it.  Again, my internal thoughts were not optimistic.  We looked together, discovered that the large opening in which we found ourselves looked to be the cow shape opening on the map and decided to find the maze stations that were strategically and educationally placed throughout.  

We checked off the first station and filled in the clue on the crossword puzzle that accompanied the map.  

Then the next.  Each time, she examined the map and offered her analysis of where we were headed.  I led.  She followed.  This was getting exciting.

We continued through each station, gathering clues and my mother gaining confidence in her new found skill. 

Lest you should think she would now be safe to let loose with a car and map, at each station she looked up from the map with a puzzled expression which revealed she had no clue from which direction she had come.  Baby steps, people, baby steps.

Regardless, what she and I discovered in that maze that day - working together makes even the least likely of things doable, supporting one another makes giant leaps possible, and being lost in a corn maze is a great way to spend uninterrupted time together - was a lesson I will not soon forget. 

May you be gifted with new discovery shared with the ones you love!