Life On Lisburn

Well there are some very excited people here at our house.  We have the first snowflakes (that aren't flurries) falling! Jamesey is determined that he wants to go outside without shoes and socks, D is insisting that this means Santa arrives soon and Anna-monkey can be found frantically searching for her American Girl book about Samantha that has Christmas in it because that's all about snow too.  Hot chocolate is probably somewhere in the rotation for the morning chaos before we head to church.  Although D is insisting that the roads are covered and church is cancelled - goofball. Thanksgiving is this week and I'm excited to see family on both sides.  Recipes are being shared across the miles, plans are being made and it's been fun to hear about traditions that families have.  Having been so many miles away from family for so many growing up years it's sometimes hard to pinpoint exactly what family traditions we have established.  It means there has been ...

For the last 15 years or so I've deliberately chosen to create a list of things to try in that birthday year.  The number always correlates to my age and it's always fun to see what lands on the list.  Some early examples have been to try having my eyebrows threaded, attempting aerial yoga, research plants that are hard to kill and then try to keep one alive for a full year (still unsuccessful), start a blog. But this year I keep finding that I'm hitting a wall with ideas.  It's not really about goal setting - sometimes there are goals but more often it's about trying things - kind of a birthday bucket list I guess.  This year - I'm struggling.  Some things have stuck - like try a recipe that I've saved on Pinterest but for the most part it feels like a blah year - and I am not about to have my 30's end on blah.  Help a girl out with some suggestions! Here are my early ideas - 1. Host a pineapples vs pumpkins party 2. Read a book about each of the fir...

Anna brought home her Scholastic Book Order forms (complete with book wishlist) from school this week and she had a really cute question to go with them.  She told me she was so excited to maybe order a new book or two and then she asked me if grownups had book orders (LOL).  I'm from a family of readers and I'm excited that we're raising readers over here.  Her question made me smile and it did prompt me to put together a little book wish list. Reading has been a big  part of my life for as long as I can remember.   When we lived overseas I remember getting the Christian Book Distributors catalog when friends would visit from the US and then we'd place an order through them on their return home.   The books would be shipped to my grandparents and then the next time people were visiting from stateside they would bring the books with them.  Note - this was BOO -Before Online Ordering (LOL). My current reading wishlist runs in a few different directi...

Tomorrow Jamesey starts Kindergarten.  We love the classroom that's been selected for him.  He'll be part of a Multiple Exceptionalities classroom with a phenomenal teacher and team.  This classroom curriculum emphasizes communication and skill development - both areas that we are so excited to see Jamesey grow.  More than a few elements in this adventure don't match our experiences with Anna Monkey.  Let's see - he'll be attending school in a neighboring district.  Our district shares special needs classrooms with surrounding schools - it's a pretty smart arrangement! How else is it different?  I'm pretty stuck (and not in a good way - in a kind of nervous stomach, butterflies the size of elephants kind of way) on the fact that Jamesey is non-verbal.  Anna has always been a chatterbox (she comes by it honest and I'm okay with admitting that).  We have always heard about all the details of the day in a very thorough accounting.  I'm grie...

When you work at your college alma mater and it's where you met the love of your life you'll frequently encounter memories that make smiles happen.  I remember the spot in front of on campus apartments that crazy people did a gallon challenge, late night conversations on a bridge between two buildings, dinner 'dates' to the dining hall or a now renovated coffee shop turned commuter lounge.  All those things make me smile - but this time of year as the Residence Life staff returns to campus holds a special place in my heart.   We had mutual friends but our paths didn't really cross until the end of our First Year in college - at our campus formal when someone asked me to dance.  It's silly, but I remember that his tie had Volkswagen Beatles all over it.  He asked me for a second dance and I said I needed to get back to my date.  We never really had a conversation but you can bet after that I knew who he was.  Fast forward a week ...

Summer has flown by! It's my favorite time of year (but I'm working hard to embrace all the seasons).  As we start getting ready for school by ushering in earlier bedtimes, returning to routines, and school supply shopping it seems appropriate to reflect on some of my favorite memories.  It's been an incredible couple of months and a pretty amazing mixture of perfect and total chaos. We built an extra special bucket list and really enjoyed randomly choosing our adventures for the day.  The rascals did so well with understanding that some of them involved delayed gratification - for example we had to plan our trip to the zoo and they poured energy into helping choose what activities we would enjoy while we were there.  It was so neat to watch their enthusiasm as they bounced into the day and it particularly touched my heart to see how they anticipated Jamesey's involvement in the activity and discussed how he could enjoy it more. I enjoyed our adventures with pain...

People have started talking about this crazy thing called "back to school" and my summer lovin' heart just isn't ready for it.  We've been making the most of the minutes, the hours and the days.  Dodging the heat with water play, visiting the library, reading, avoiding housework (sorry Jer - I'll get to that - maybe).  It's been incredible and fun-filled and my heart starts to go into overdrive as the calendar gets ready to flip to August.  Even though the heat doesn't go away and it's summer weather into September (sometimes October) - that calendar page turning is a daily reminder to me that we're heading into a new season (literally and figuratively).  We'll say good-bye to Daddy's softball games, late evening swims, fireflies with their 'sparkly bums' (thank you David for that), bed-times and wake-ups will be a little more coordinated and for this girl who works hard to embrace change it'll be a challenge.  But I'm d...

Help a girl out.  I want to write, I feel compelled to write.  But, silly thoughts like "I don't know what to write, to say pester me." I'm not an authority on any area but I love to learn.  I adore my family and if I'm honest we do life pretty well about 85% of the time and the rest we're a hot mess and never are we a Instagram/Pinterest, picture-perfect, spiffy crew.  I enjoy people even when it's busy and full and as long as we all practice kindness that's a really good place to start.  I'm learning to speak special needs as well a typical needs.  I have tremendous respect for early risers.  I'm not certain if I'm creative but I aspire to be so.  Coffee is one of my love languages, pineapples, quality time and gifts are others.  I don't love making decisions but I'm pretty willing to make them when I have to - or I can roll with it. Reading makes me happy but I can also settle in for a good sitcom or movie, but a conversation o...