Momming
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When We Fail to Catch Our Kids
Last week we were out of power for 5 days. No lights, no power, no running water, no toilets — and no idea when it would be restored. This wouldn’t have been so bad if the temps didn’t drop well below freezing most nights, but we were managing — and I dare say — we were actually enjoying all of the quality time spent by the fireplace and camping out in our living room. By the 4th day, we had actually found a rhythm to this simple life. We had eaten dinner and cleaned up the house before the sun set. We had this “no power thing” down! And as we sat down…
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Let’s Talk About … Breastfeeding
Let’s talk about breastfeeding — that’s not controversial, is it? 🙁 I know that this can be a sensitive topic, and maybe this is a bad idea, but please take whatever I say in this post as just one opinion among many — I don’t want to make anybody feel bad about their own choices, especially those made in the past. Do you ever feel afraid to share your mothering tips with people because you don’t want to hurt feelings or offend? I do — but I’m more convinced than ever that we need to be willing to step out of our comfort zones and share what we’ve learned. Take my own…
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Why Having Six Kids is Easier Than Having Three
During our recent trip to Italy, there were many times we’d be walking down a cobblestone street and be greeted by an Italian exclaiming, “Complimenti!” when they saw our six kids. And back home I have had moments when a stranger looks at me with my kids –like I’m some sort of hero — and says “I don’t know how you do it with six kids”. Believe me, there are a lot of other remarks that I have received that weren’t so complimentary, but the point remains that many people look at a mother with six kids and think that they are some sort of phenomenon, a walking Saint, perhaps part angel-part human? Either that —…
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Easy Weekend Dessert
It’s the weekend! It has been quite the week — I have felt one step behind on everything this week — new schedules that haven’t made it to my calendar means I have found myself missing meetings, arriving late to events, etc… 🙁 So today I am going to get all of my calendars synced up in the hopes that I won’t have so many fails in the week coming up. Oh well, just trying my lousy best here. But time to forget about that and reconnect with family. Here in the midwest, we have just gathered up the last berries of the season. So, I thought I would share one of our favorite go-to…
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7 Quick Takes in Florence
You may have read last week’s post about our time in Assisi. If not, you might want to begin here. For the second leg of our family pilgrimage in Italy, we chose Florence. Perhaps it’s not the first place you would think of for a family pilgrimage — but believe me, there were many unexpected blessings to be found in this city. Please come back next week for more about our adventures in Florence, but for now I am linking up with Kelly for my 7 Quick Takes of Florence. Enjoy! The winding streets of Florence all seemed to lead to the Duomo – I couldn’t get enough of them! One of the things…
