incontent.

Is that a word? Or is it malcontent? discontent?

Sometimes our little family gets the "I need" or "I want" -itis.  It's a terrible condition to live through.  There's a lot of whining and complaining that goes along with it.  Some feelings of "I deserve this or something even better" are common side effects.  People find it difficult to be happy and may take their feelings out on their brother by giving them dirty looks. Other side effects include frowning faces, sulking, wishing you had more money, and otherwise completely ignoring all the cool stuff in your life.

We have a board in our kitchen (it's made from those square magnet boards at Pottery Barn...we use four of them together) that is an always evolving, ever changing thing. Fingerprints optional.

It started out as my inspiration board for how to decorate my studio and our house. 

I got tired of looking at that so I took everything down and called it the joke board. Anyone that wanted to could write a joke and post it on the board.  Many of them were 6 year old humor that made no sense what-so-ever and because they made no sense they always made you smile and most of the time you laughed. There were others that didn't make since that were created by 9 year old humor and so the 13 year old had to walk past the board and every time he saw them would have to say things like, "Why would anyone even post that?  It doesn't make one bit of sense. My jokes are awesome."  And so that would make a person laugh and roll their eyes and so...it was a joke board (in more ways than one) for a little while.

Now it is a Thankful Board.  I bought a whole bunch of different colored post-its because I thought a quilt-looking thing would look pretty darn snazzy.  Anyone that wants to, anytime they want to, can write a little something on a post-it and stick on the board.

It's a homemade remedy for "I-want-itis".

snazzy. LIFE.

for President.

Of the student body.  He's doin' it Pedro style for all of those who love "Napoleon Dynamite".

fun. LIFE.

what can I say?

I think she's beautiful and amazing and hilarious and off the wall and crazy and smart and a wildly good reader. 

I'm a bit biased. 

I love her.

beyond wonderful. LIFE.

 funny.

How in the world did I get lucky enough to have this crazy girl be my daughter?  

She is funny and silly and is always full of wonder.  If I see a butterfly and say, "Ooo!  Look at that butterfly!" She'll be the first to chase it.  By some kind of beautiful miracle she's maintained that awe and fascination that she had when she was 2 years old.  I love her never ending interest in the world.

This crown she's wearing fell apart.  She didn't let it bother her she just decided to rework it and make into a bonnet-y kind of thing with a tie under the chin.  She was so proud of it she was happy to work it for the camera.

She loves to be dramatic but I have to catch her at the right moment for her to be okay with the camera.

She nurtures others to the point of mothering and in the same instant can tease without mercy.

She laughs until she cries and never wants anyone to see her crying.

She comforts someone who is hurt and rarely takes offense or is hurt by others.

She is quick to forgive and quick to laugh.

She loves to make sure that the people she loves know they are loved.

She plays with wild abandon and tries to avoid work by giggling in a hidden corner.

A day cannot hold everything she wants to do and yet she can be content with very simple things.

She loves completely.  There have been many times that I can tell that she feels her body can't hold the amount of love she feels.

She is full of contradictions.  She's pretty crazy and boisterous and enthusiastic and all over the place.  And at the same time she's so reserved.

I love her for her sweet and nurturing and kind self and I love her for her out there wild ideas and funny insights and her wonderful laugh and all of the other opposites she holds inside her.

I love her because she's a one-of-a-kind Emma.  No one in the world is quite like her. She has no duplicate.  I love her and her just being Emma is enough for me.

mom. LOVE.

my mom.

One of my favorite things about growing up was my mom.  You're probably thinking the same thing...

I loved my mom.  She loved me...she loved being a mom.  I want my kids to know that I love being a mom.  I love them.

One of the reasons that I knew that my mom loved me and loved being a mom was because she was always coming up with ways for us to get to do things together.  Every summer she couldn't wait for us to get out of school so we could make plans of all of the fun stuff we could do together over the summer.

I make it sound like it was just me...she couldn't wait for ME to get out of school...but really there were five of us.  One of the first items of business for the summer was to sit down and make a list of all of the things we wanted her to teach us that we thought would be fun.  Then we'd make a plan for our field trips, projects, trips to the pool, adventures to fun places, and creative exploring that we wanted to do.

One summer the three of us girls wanted to learn to sew...that was the project that was going to be the coolest for the summer.  I remember sitting in our garage-converted-to-sewing/project/arts-and-crafts-room for hours working on a pair of shorts just after my 6th grade school year.  I had visions of being the most fashionable and stylish girl of the summer.  I knew people would wonder where I bought my cute shorts because they wouldn't look like I sewed them at all!  I'd like to say that the reality lived up to the dream....and I think it did in my own mind.  I was so proud of those shorts with their skeewampus zipper. 

And now, I have sweet summer memories of my mom guiding me through the unknown of making my first pair of summer shorts.  I didn't grow up to become an expert seamstress or world famous fashion designer but my mom did put the seed in my heart that whispered, "You can do anything.  You are amazing and beautiful and I love you."

And that's what I hope my little projects with my kids do for my kids.

Our American Girl Book Club met a few weeks ago and so since our last meeting in February the girls and I decided that we were going to brave the world of fabric and thread and ribbon and see what came out on the other side.  Each of my girls pinned fabric to pattern, picked through ribbon, and sat at the sewing machine and watched scraps of random bits become something that they created.

It was at times frustrating and at other times so full of wonder and excitement and fun and laughing and being thrilled at what can be nothing at the beginning and seeing it through to the end.

I hope my girls know, "You can do anything.  You are amazing and beautiful and I love you."

And to my mom who started it all.... "You can do anything. You are amazing and beautiful and I love you."

creative. LOVE.