Life is very, very sweet right now. I am writing this post on the heels of a weekend that included carving pumpkins with friends in our beautiful backyard, finishing soccer seasons with incredible volunteer coaches, trick-or-treating with neighbors after eating pizza in the cul-de-sac. The crimson maple in our front yard is the proverbial cherry on top.
And also, every week it seems there are new decisions to navigate as our family grows.
Last week it was deciding whether to let Annie start ballet class. She is excited about the prospect, and we could JUST squeeze it into our schedule, but it would mean lots of racing around on that day of the week and less of a chance to just be home with the kids, cooking dinner and making sure piano practice happens. After going back and forth, we decided to hold off for now, but the thought still lingers — are we prioritizing one child’s interests (the one with an activity already scheduled on that day) over another’s? Is that fair?
And then this weekend it was deciding whether to let June trick or treat with friends. We fended it off last year, but this year she was SO excited to go. Even though I wanted to hold her back for my sake, she was more than ready and had the best time with her close-knit group of neighborhood pals. The rest of us ended up walking with two of Annie and Shep’s best friends and then met back up later for soup, candy sorting, and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
There are no perfect answers in a growing family, just an attempt to stay nimble and loving and connected to John as the questions arrive. Sending you love in your questions and answers as we embark on this new month!
Finally made good on Annie’s middle name with an American symbols family theme! Happy 250, America!
On my calendar: — Flying to Nashville for a work conference! It’s just a quick two nights but I am very excited to see my younger sister while I’m there. — An early “Christmas” dinner with some of the original CWM gals and husbands. Lara has kept this annual tradition going for us and it is always the sweetest evening filled with both deep and light conversation. — Thanksgiving in Virginia with John’s family! So looking forward to turkey trotting, games, making sugar cookies, and just being together.
What I’m loving right now: — I just bought the first-ever pair of flannel sheets for our bed and I am obsessed. They are so cozy, and I really love the deeper colors of the floral pattern we chose. — After months of trying to figure out how to get a bench cushion made for June’s window seat (it was her birthday gift, given back in January!), I rolled the dice and ordered one through this custom listing. It arrived last week and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality! Considering ordering a different style for our porch swing. — I usually add or replace 1-2 pieces of Christmas decor a year, and this year, it’s these little Christmas tree night lights. I feel like it’s often these tiny details that kids really notice and remember :) More Christmas decor from our actual home rounded up here!
As a reminder, you can find allll the things I’ve loved over the last few years neatly organized right here!
What you’re loving right now:
This is where I highlight a few items here that have been popular in the last month with fellow readers, based on my analytics. Here’s hoping this will help you find something you’ll love!
— Our Halloween candy bowl. Rifle does no wrong! — These acrylic, magnetic photo frames. We’ve used them to hold ultrasounds in the past, and I just bought five more to hold photos of our past Halloween costumes. (The frames are double-sided, so five can hold ten years of costumes.) We have them lined up on our piano (above!) and it’s so fun to see them displayed. — The book bedazzling supplies we ordered for June’s little gathering: gems, wax pencils, and extra glue. — The tiniest white noise machine – perfect for traveling. — This very soft polo. Added to my closet here.
What I read in October: — The Strength of the Few | My sister warned me not to read this Hierarchy sequel because it ends in a cliffhanger just as bad as The Will of the Many, but I disregarded her advice and am happy I did, ha. I actually liked this second installment better than the first! It jumps between three worlds, so there’s a bit of work to be done tracking characters and timelines, but I found it to be satisfying and worth the effort. Recommend if you enjoy complicated world-building fantasy! — A Time to Gather | I’ve been a fan of Bruce Feiler since reading The Secrets of Happy Families years ago, but I give this offering a more mixed review. A traditionalist at heart, I reject his downbeat view of traditional rituals, but I did enjoy reading about his around-the-world road trip to witness life rituals on six continents. And I jotted down several practical notes for my own future ritual-making.
Revisiting my October goals: Edit Sheptember (No progress! Pushing hard on my photo album goal meant all other creative projects slid to the background.) Finish gathering our Halloween costumes Make Halloween front porch ghosts with Shep Prep for and enjoy our pumpkin potluck Send care packages to our college babysitters Choose a light fixture for the kitchen island (Research has begun, but nothing decided.) Finish designing our 2020-2024 family photo album (SO CLOSE! Just one more year to lay out, which shouldn’t take me more than an hour.) Buy a protective router Thoughtfully figure out Christmas gifting for my side of the family (Progress here!) Hang our wedding landscape and guitar in the piano room (Landscape: done! Guitar in progress — waiting on a hardware kit!) Meet with a second contractor about our screened porch project
November goals: — Really really actually finish the photo album — Begin painting the kids’ 2026 book ornaments — one of my favorite projects every year! — Complete handmade gifts (I have one concept and plan to replicate it for three different occasions. I’ve already bought the fabric!) — Design and order our Christmas card and newsletter — Edit Sheptember — Buy a protective router — Hang John’s guitar — Figure out what to do about Samantha. Annie really wants an American Girl doll for Christmas (specifically Samantha). My sister has hers saved from childhood, and is happy to pass her along (and she’s in surprisingly good condition!). I need to decide whether to have her head replaced or wrap her as-is :) — Plant fancy daffodil bulbs in our front bed — Learn a flash mob dance for a v. special event coming up!! — Finalize gift list and make wise Black Friday choices — Set aside an hour to get December plans in order
Grateful for you, friends! I’m so glad you’re here — writing can feel lonely without conversation! A few things I’d love to discuss: what book ornaments would you paint for your kids this year, if you did such a project? Have you ever had an American Girl doll’s head replaced? (LOL) Would you be interested in gift guides this year? (My thought: share a few things each of the kids already has and loves, in addition to what we’re actually getting them this year.) And any thoughts on celebrating milestone birthdays?! My 40th is coming up in February and I have begun to consider what might be fun, but haven’t settled on anything yet.
Invariably, the words I write at the top of my PowerSheets each month are some variation on “This time is yours to enjoy.”
This, apparently, is the reminder I need month after month – not a reminder to work harder or do more, but a gentle (yet insistent) remix of my grandmother’s “I just tried to enjoy them.” In the swirl of work, and distractions, and travel, and daily responsibilities, and evenings, and mornings, and after-school afternoons, it is the call that most resonates with me: to look around. To notice. To delight. To enjoy the imperfect abundance all around me, and to reflect gratitude to the one from whom all blessings flow.
I am extending that offering to you this month, too. Happy October, friends!
On my calendar: — The 11th anniversary of Articles Club! We’re celebrating at my house and discussing Dolly Parton and legacy with fancy Southern foods and I can’t wait. — Our annual fall mountains trip — this year to Brevard! — A campout in our backyard for our church community group! We went back and forth on dates and waited too long to book at our local campsite, so our backyard it is, ha. What we lack in lakeside location we make up in cleaner bathrooms, I suppose?
What I’m loving right now: — Have y’all heard of Any Human Ever? Click the button to draw a random life from the over 100,000,000,000 people who have ever lived and learn what year they were born, where they lived, and a brief sketch of their life. Really, really interesting. — And underrated seasonal activity: mini wooden puzzles! My in-laws have given us one or two for the last few years and they are so fun. All of the pieces are irregularly shaped and some are “whimsy pieces,” shaped to match the theme of each puzzle. We keep them out on the counter for each holiday and the kids love doing them while I cook dinner, while eating breakfast, etc. even though they’re geared toward adults. I just bought this one, this one, and this one! The price is really reasonable for the quality. — I had a rare in-person shopping spree at J.Crew Factory recently and took home this dotted top and this very soft polo. It’s nice to shop in person! :) Added them to my closet here.
As a reminder, you can find allll the things I’ve loved over the last few years neatly organized right here!
What you’re loving right now:
This is where I highlight a few items here that have been popular in the last month with fellow readers, based on my analytics. Here’s hoping this will help you find something you’ll love!
— Our final master bathroom accessory. Looks like a fancy rug, is actually a hardworking bath mat. — Our Halloween candy bowl. Rifle does no wrong! — These acrylic, magnetic photo frames. We’ve used them to hold ultrasounds in the past, and I just bought five more to hold photos of our past Halloween costumes. (The frames are double-sided, so five can hold ten years of costumes.) We have them lined up on our piano (above!) and it’s so fun to see them displayed. — The book bedazzling supplies we ordered for June’s little gathering: gems, wax pencils, and extra glue. — The tiniest white noise machine – perfect for traveling.
What I read in September: — 5 Habits of the Tech-Ready Family | I am a huge PYE stan and so grateful for all they do to keep kids safer online, and I heartily agree with the five-habit framework Chris outlines in this book. That being said, PYE’s bread-and-butter as an organization is comprehensive, constantly-updated parental control and tech guides, and that’s hard to capture in a book that’s printed at a point in time. This is still a great — June Baby | Eh. I chose this book because it’s set on Block Island, a little-known enclave that holds a special place in my heart, but it didn’t deliver for me. The craft wasn’t high enough to support a book where not much happened, I guessed the “explosive family secret” from basically page one, and the main character frustratingly stayed stuck for 3/4 of the book. All in all, a pass for me.
Revisiting my September goals: Hang Annie’s curtains (Yes, but also I’m considering this a major fail. Custom curtains I failed to think through and measure accurately…) Edit June in June (Done!! And, of course, reminded once again what a treasure these videos are.) Film Sheptember Make apple cider scones for the first day of fall Sort and tag for the consignment sale Tend to this month’s clutter spot: the second-floor bookshelf Listen to Hold Me Tight with John (We listened to most of this on our anniversary road trip! The rest wasn’t as applicable to our season and relationship.) Send invitations for a pumpkins and soup party Buy a protective router (Didn’t get to this! Rolling over to next month.) Design and order our 2020-2024 family photo album (Made progress but it’s taking more pre-work than I bargained for — I have to organize and cull three years of photos before I can get started...) Clean out screenshots once per day (Big success!) Strength train once per week (Also a success.) Meet with our contractor about a potential screened porch
October goals: — Edit Sheptember — Finish gathering our Halloween costumes — Make Halloween front porch ghosts with Shep — Prep for and enjoy our pumpkin potluck — Send care packages to our college babysitters — Choose a light fixture for the kitchen island (so I can hopefully order on Black Friday :)) — Finish designing our 2020-2024 family photo album (also so I can order on Black Friday, ha) — Buy a protective router — Thoughtfully figure out Christmas gifting for my side of the family — Hang our wedding landscape and guitar in the piano room — Meet with a second contractor about our screened porch project
I wrote recently about my love for the non-optimized vacation, and though I didn’t call it out by name, my ultimate example is, of course, Maine: place-based love of my life for as long as I can remember. Though I listed many reasons to love the unfancy, repeated vacation, there was at least one I left out: the circular pleasure of watching your children enjoy the same things you loved as a child — especially the things that were particularly formative for you.
I had that experience this summer. (I have that experience every summer.) Though she got in lots of cousin and together time, June also snuck away, sometimes for hours at a time, to be alone. Usually her aloneness took the form of building fairy houses on the path leading down to the ocean: moss beds, bark roofs, and little acorn caps filled with blueberries. Mine more often took the form of writing poetry and lists about the upcoming school year on a particular rock on a particular path. Those quiet hours were part of turning me into the person I’d become, and I believe they’re doing the same for June. I’m grateful, and I have to think that someday, she will be, too.
For as much as things stay the same on a non-optimized vacation, there are always surprises in store. I’d love to share a few of the highlights and photos from this August in Maine, if you’d like to see!
Highlight No. 1: We got to travel up with our niece and nephew. Cousin Camp directly preceded our time in Maine, so the seven of us flew together from Raleigh to Boston and then made the drive up to the Midcoast from there. Though this might have been total chaos with a younger crew, it was smooth sailing with our 5-12 year olds and we all enjoyed working as a team. Jet Blue, with its individual seat-back screens and complimentary snacks, was a dream. Shep even got a special goodie box with treats, wings, and a note because we flew the day after his birthday!
(Don’t ask about the travel home — our flight was delayed for several hours, then canceled, leaving us to drive the 12 hours home from Boston unexpectedly. Yikes.)
Highlight No. 2: That sunset walk your first night on-island.
Highlight No. 3: I got to lead the evening church service one Sunday. I’ve done this a few times before; I consider it an honor and a privilege to speak to people I love about something that matters to me, even though preparing is somewhat stressful. Unsurprisingly, my message circled around technology :) (This newsletter was my jumping off point!) John and my sister played the piano to accompany the hymn singing, and June and Shep each played a prelude, so it was a real family affair.
Highlight No: 5: Adventuring and low-tech fun. Our cottage has about five analog phones from the 90’s in a drawer and Annie was obsessed. She operated a pet shop all week and each of us had hilarious conversations with her as we negotiated purchasing a cat, dog, horse, tiger, leopard, or seal to bring home.
Highlight No. 6: Enjoying each other’s company, whether we were working hard or playing hard — and even when we got caught on a barrier island in the rain, LOL.
Highlight No. 7: Enjoying a few new-to-me spots — hard to do when you’ve been vacationing somewhere your entire life! We boated to lunch at Linekin Bay and Cozy’s Dockside and both were delightful.
Highlight No. 8: Catching a real live lobster!! While searching for sea stars at low, low tide, Annie poked under a rock and found this guy. John was called over to pluck it from the water and though we did not bring it home to eat, we fed off the story for days and days.
Last month marked one year since we went under contract on our home. It also marked one year since we walked inside that future home for the first time — which, as you may recall, was after we went under contract. That day was an extraordinarily muggy one, with an oppressive gray sky. The seller peered at us grumpily from the neighbor’s porch as we pulled up; the selling agent hovered anxiously as we moved from room to room. I mostly felt flustered as I tried to keep three excited children from touching a stranger’s things, and then — yes, there it is — relieved as we got back in our car and drove away. Nothing was wrong with the house, really, but I just wanted to get back to our house.
Now here we are, a year later, and every time I pull up to this house I let out a happy sigh. It is our house in every way. It took a few months for me to get here — see here, here, here — and on this first anniversary it is good to look back and remember how wrong it felt then, and how right it feels now. I am SO incredibly grateful we took the leap and made the move — our life is better in almost every way for it. Praise God!
And one more fun little update: nothing says “we’re here for the long haul” like buying a piano :) We found this little used Kawai on Facebook Marketplace a few weeks ago and took her home. Now we can officially call this nook the piano room!
On my calendar: — A quick anniversary weekend at the coast! We started doing these mini yearly getaways with our tenth anniversary and they have been so sweet. Eternally grateful to my parents for facilitating things back at home for our 14th! — An afternoon at Fantasy Lake! This was the prize the kids chose for completing the Kindness Challenge; after a few months of working together, they got it done. — A baby shower for dear friends who are adopting.
What I’m loving right now: — My new flower CSA membership! Six weeks of fresh blooms to be picked up at the farmer’s market — heaven. — I think I’ve mentioned this before, but don’t sleep on flagging beloved, spendier brands on ThredUp. I snagged this zip-up sweatshirt in a soft green stripe for 70% off and it is my new favorite thing to wear. — John and I just finished watching Band of Brothers for the first time. Though some scenes are hard to watch, it’s filled me with renewed gratitude for the ordinary men who heroically defeated the Nazis in World War II. Just incredible.
As a reminder, you can find allll the things I’ve loved over the last few years neatly organized right here!
What you’re loving right now:
This is where I highlight a few items here that have been popular in the last month with fellow readers, based on my analytics. Here’s hoping this will help you find something you’ll love!
— Our final master bathroom accessory. Looks like a fancy rug, is actually a hardworking bath mat. — Our Halloween candy bowl. Are y’all looking ahead to the next big holiday, too? 👀 — Our board game of the summer that’s genuinely as enjoyable with two players as it is with four. — The best clickable markers. Happy back to school! — This smocked tank dress, my big purchase from the spring that’s still going strong. Even though I opted for a bolder pattern, it has seen SO much wear – the silhouette is just so easy to pull on and feels like the right choice for occasions both casual and fancy.
What I read in August: — Unbroken | Between this one and Band of Brothers I had a WWII month, and I’m not mad about it. This is another absolutely incredible true tale from Laura Hillenbrand, a master storyteller if ever there was one. Unbroken tells the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympian turned airman in the Pacific theater. It is a story in three parts: Louis’s survival at sea for 40+ days, his resilience in the face of brutality after washing ashore and becoming a POW, and his path to redemption after arriving back home. I was so astounded by this story that I retold bits and pieces to my kids each day as I read, and they were fascinated, too. I’ll be checking out the young reader adaption for a future readaloud! — The Will of the Many | This was described to me as similar to Red Rising, and rightly so: it centers a young prodigy from the dregs of society who is taken in by a rogue organization, is transformed and launched into the highest echelons, and must compete in an academy setting while satisfying his benefactors and staying true to his own purposes. It is an absolute doorstop — 720 pages — and I don’t know that it quite earns its length. I enjoyed it, and will read the second one (if only to satisfy some cliffhangers), but I still think Red Rising is better. — The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 2 | As delightful as the first!
Revisiting my August goals: Edit June in June (I hate that this got bumped again! I really try to have the last one edited before we start filming for the next one!) Finalize new chore charts for the new school year Schedule and enjoy back-to-school shopping dates with all three kids Tend to this month’s clutter spot: the second-floor bookshelf Film Annie and Shep’s birthday videos
September goals: — Hang Annie’s curtains — Edit June in June (for real this time!) — Film Sheptember — Make apple cider scones for the first day of fall — Sort and tag for the consignment sale — Tend to this month’s clutter spot: the second-floor bookshelf — Listen to Hold Me Tight with John. I always try to read a marriage book in September, our anniversary month, and this year I thought it could be fun to listen to one together while on our nightly walks. Hold Me Tight is available on Spotify Premium, making it an easy win. — Send invitations for a pumpkins and soup party. Do y’all remember this?! It used to be an annual thing, but we haven’t held one since 2017. Almost a decade later, with a big backyard and older kids, we’re going to try to bring it back. — Prep our family Halloween costumes. Very excited about our theme. — Buy a protective router. — Design and order our 2019-2024 family photo album — Clean out screenshots once per day. You may recall I did this with great success a few years ago, but now, instead of taking a year, I’m doing the clean-out in one month: each day, I scan my phone for screenshots or things that need to be filed elsewhere for one day of each month. (So, on September 1st I looked at January 1st, February 1st, March 1st, etc.) It’s working well so far! — Strength train once per week. My saga continues. I have no words at this time, except to say that once per week is better than never per week :) — Meet with our contractor about a potential screened porch — possibly a 2028 project, but I want to start to get my arms around the scope and what’s possible.
Um, wow… after keeping things very reasonable in August, that is a LOT of goals for September, ha! Feeling ambitious now that kids are back in school, much?! I would love to hear something you’re excited to tackle this month, if you’d like to share. xo
