Our daughter is downright giddy tonight: A few weeks ago one of her bottom teeth started to wiggle. I figured it would be a good six months until she lost it, judging by her brother’s loose-to-loss ratio. But this girl is tenacious. She has been viciously biting into apples and carrots, rotating it with her index finger, and pushing on it with her tongue. Her … Continue reading Losing Our Baby… Teeth
I type tonight with dirty fingernails, weary muscles, and sunburned skin. It is Memorial Day weekend, and for that I am grateful. Especially grateful to the men – my grandfathers included – and women who fought to make this a country where we can all make our own choices about most anything one can choose to make a choice about. Thank you. This weekend we … Continue reading At Least We Smell Like We Went Camping
Week 1 of summer is down, so it’s time to check in on some of those lofty goals I set. Let’s recap: Goal #1. Relish my children, and dedicate special time to them every day. Success! I took the kids bowling, biking, hiking, and swimming. One day Sam was off playing with an old preschool pal, so I surprised Maggie with a visit to that … Continue reading Big Wild Week
I still vividly remember sitting in a classroom at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln back in 1992ish. It was a small course at the Teacher’s College, and the professor asked the 30 or so of us why we wanted to become educators. One curmudgeonly old dude (he was probably 30) raised his hand and said, “Three reasons: June, July, and August.” Half the class laughed, but … Continue reading Hail Summer!
I’ve been having so much fun with this blogging – both the writing and learning WordPress – that I decided to buy my own domain name and switch over to WordPress.org so I can get more creative with the design. I’m taking an online WordPress course this summer, and I have so much to learn. Can’t wait to dive in! Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, as … Continue reading What’s in a Name?
I’m worried about our old dog. Yesterday I came home and found her stuck half in and half out of her doggie door. It requires a slight hop to get through, and her back legs barely have the strength anymore. I helped her outside, where she struggled to squat and do her business. She typically prefers to be outdoors, but yesterday she wanted to come … Continue reading Yellow
When I dreamed up the wacky name to this blog, I was mostly thinking of it as a play on words. One part “Feng Shui” – the ancient Chinese art of rearranging your environment to create a positive energy flow. Another part “schwa” – the most common, ordinary sound in the English language. Juxtapose the two and you have this blog – Feng Schwa – … Continue reading What the Chi?
I tell our children that reading is a gift. A gift that cannot be stolen, and one they will have for life. I firmly believe it, too. History has a tragic track record of denying people the right to read in an attempt to prevent them from revolting against oppression. Ironically, there are many amazing books that best illustrate this point. Take Nightjohn by Gary … Continue reading All Buggy Eyed
Lately I’ve been dabbling my toes outside my comfort zone a bit, and on all accounts I’m coming up short. It’s got me in a funk, because these shortcomings are making me feel like a lame mother. It started a few weeks ago when we took the kids skiing at Alyeska. I don’t ski, so I deemed myself the photodocumentarian. It was adorable to watch … Continue reading Old Mom, New Tricks
In case anyone else out there wants to throw a bird-themed party, I thought I’d share a few ideas that we used to pull it all together. When Maggie initially picked this theme, I had no idea what we would do. In the end, we had more ideas than we could use! Designing the invitations is my favorite step in the party planning process. I … Continue reading Bird-Themed Birthday Party
Profoundly Ordinary 