Christmas traditions in Italy

December 21, 2011 By 3 Comments

Host families of exchange students open their homes because they want to provide an opportunity for students to see American culture. The Christmas season is one of many occasions when an exchange student can experience the American way of life. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing current exchange students, discussing traditions in their home countries and their experiences thus far of spending the holiday season in America.

My son is illustrating for me. #christmas
photo credit: sprittibee
Chiara is an exchange student from Modena, Italy.

These are a few of the questions I asked …

:: What is your favorite Christmas memory from home? Definitely when I was little. I used to leave some cookies with some milk outside the window for when Santa Claus would come. Then the doorbell would ring, and when I opened the door, there were a lot of presents for me!

:: What kinds of Christmas decorations are displayed in your country? We always put a Christmas tree up, usually on the 8th of December, with a lot of different decorations. We also put the nicest Christmas cards we received over the past years, some candles and other little ornaments.

:: What are some foods you made/eat at Christmas time? At Christmas Eve, we have a big family dinner at my house. My dad cooks almost everything. It’s usually a fish-based dinner with appetizers, pasta, other entrées, sides and a lot of desserts. On the 25th I usually go to my grandma’s house and she cooks food that is more typical of my region and my city. The main dish is meat tortellini (she makes them from scratch). They are fabulous!

:: What do you think is the strangest tradition in the United States? I haven’t experienced an American Christmas yet, but perhaps the strangest tradition is all of the decoration people put outside their homes. We also do it in Italy but not so much!! I like it though!

:: What is the Christmas music in your culture like? The music is more or less the same as American music. We have songs like Jingle Bells or White Christmas. I believe they have the same melody…they are just translated in Italian!

:: Are there any traditions that you have brought with you to the United States? I might make tortellini during my Christmas break. I will spend it in Florida at my host grandparents’ house…my grandma would be so proud of me!

Have you ever spent Christmas in another country?
What did you experience?

marinah signature


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Filed Under: Family, Worldview

How NOT to Do it All at Christmas

December 12, 2011 By 23 Comments

You don’t have to DO stuff to make it Christmas.

Christmas IS Christmas.

Oh, Christmas Tree!
photo credit: Dawn Camp

It is how we celebrate the birth of our Savior that should define Christmas for us. Not how we decorate, bake, shop, entertain, clean, send cards, carol, or whatever our cultural traditions may be. What matters most to you – is it the “doing” of the *required* Christmasy things or is it the BEING in Christ to honor Him?

Not all traditions are worthy of being kept.

Which traditions matter most to you, your husband and/or your children?

Choose just the special traditions. You will be surprised how much more
everyone will enjoy doing the FEW, when not stressed by the MANY.

 Top 5 Things I am NOT Doing This Christmas

(Please note I don’t have children at home so my list will be different from yours.)

1. No tree. This is a downgrade from our table top tree which was a downgrade from our full sized artificial tree which was a downgrade from our humongous fresh tree.

  • Know what? Even when the kids were home, no one especially minded the downgrades. (And even though Tyler says the tabletop tree was a little “tacky” I don’t think he was permanently scarred!

2. No Christmas letter or cards. This is a downgrade from email letters which were a downgrade from my clever and witty Christmas Letter “Game” which was a down grade from store bought cards which were a down grade from handmade cards (starting with pre-made blank cards) which were a down grade from cutting and making each card from scratch.

  • This year I will revive a tradition of sending out a card at an unexpected time of the year instead. Once it was during Epiphany and another time I think it was summer, hehehe.

3. No Christmas baking. This is a HUGE downgrade and I am not entirely sure I can entirely pull it off. But I am definitely not making 40+ Christmas cakes this year. I may even outsource my top-secret recipe to a teen-aged girl to make for me…still thinking on this one.

  • This is a downgrade from the last 25 year’s worth of cake baking and a down grade in that for the last 15 years I have made fewer and fewer and fewer totally scrumptious cookies and fudge. I’m blessing my family and friends with a lot fewer temptations, right?

4.  (Almost) no lights. Ah, here’s the rub. I LOVE lights in the house and outside the house and down the fence line. I love light, period. I love lighting the way to our home and making it look bright and cheery inside, symbolic to me of living the Christian life: in the light. I keep my indoor tiny white lights in the kitchen (wrapped around the open beams) year round. I talk my hubby or son into lighting up much of our front fencing (it’s pretty long!) and then into leaving them up until they burn out sometime in the spring. We live in the country and our little road is pitch black during these winter nights so the lights are very welcome sight. BUT this year -

  • I have to downgrade to no outside lights as we are leaving the day right after Christmas and hubby probably won’t want to put them up since I won’t be here to enjoy them. Still…

5.  No Annual Bright Ideas Press Employee Christmas Party.  Ouch. This is not a tradition I am easily giving up. It is a decision based on where we are today in terms of health and time and also where our employees are in terms of other commitments.

  • This is a huge downgrade from the usual big happy dinner party for all our employees, families, supporters complete with decorations, lots and lots of great food, and gifts for everyone. It was painful for me to rescind all the invitations (hello evite.com!) and cancel a party that I LOVE and look forward to each year. But a wise friend counseled me to consider the costs this year in terms of time, energy, health and to think about cancelling. It hurt to do but it was the right decision, for this year at least. Another year, maybe not.

Top 5 Things I AM doing

1. Spending time with local family (son, daughter-in-law, two little granddaughters and our church family and friends).

2. Calling family and friends far away. (Something I am especially bad about doing during the rest of the year.)

3. Shopping almost entirely on-line and having items delivered directly. No, the boxes don’t come gift-wrapped but they do get delivered timely.

4. Going out to brunch on Christmas Eve day – something my dad started when my oldest sister was a little girl and is one special tradition I have carried on with my own family.

5. Attending Christmas Eve Service. Always.

Lastly, Firstly, and Most Importantly: I am trying to spend my time honoring Christ, in my heart and mind;
by my words and deeds. This is Christmas to me.

What about you? What might make Christmas
more meaningful and less stressful in your life?
Share it with me!

Maggie Hogan


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Filed Under: Faith, Family, Homeschooling, Maggie Hogan

Ten Days of Raising a Life-Long Learner: Day 9

November 17, 2011 By 1 Comment

10 days of Raising a Life-Long Learner

Tweens & Teens:
Pursuing Passions!

“They know enough who know how to learn.”
The Education of Henry Adams p. 314

BJ was a quiet kid – like his dad. He enjoyed playing the piano and messing around with his friends. There was one thing that really got him excited, though, and that was computers. As soon as he finished his studies each day, he would spend whatever time he could on the computer. His mom got him books on programming and he pored over them. What he read, he put into action on their Mac. Over the years, his interest grew. He really wasn’t sure he was interested in going to college; he really was sure he was interested in computers!

His parents took the money they had saved up for his college education and bought him a state-of-the-art computer, printer, and many peripherals. He had learned so much about computers and programming over the years, they believed he would learn what he needed to know to be a valuable employee or entrepreneur if just given exposure to the right equipment.

Right about this time, BJ began volunteering in the TV studio at their church. He started out sweeping the floors and emptying waste cans. Just by being there, he was learning much. Folks began to notice that he had an incredible amount of interest and aptitude in the use of computers in television and movie production and was even able to help them through various difficulties which arose. Soon a paying position opened up; BJ applied for and got the job.

Then the homeschool graduate was making good money doing what he loved. Now, years later, his reputation in his city for being the fellow who ‘knows how to handle problems’ that arise in computer and film production is well established. BJ is in demand for this type of consulting and is happily doing his life’s work.

 Experience is the Best Teacher…

…. so the saying goes. Many young people are taking advantage of the enormous opportunities available to them as home educated students. The flexible schedules they usually possess, as well as the ability to take the time to really focus on an area of interest, are of great value.

However, these opportunities don’t usually just jump into your lap. It takes an alert, caring adult to:

  • search out possibilities
  • turn occurrences into opportunities
  • encourage the student to participate.

There are adults who would be pleased and honored to share their vocation with an interested young person.
Do your student a favor – help him/her find one!

Be sure to visit these brilliant women during our
10 Day of Adventure between November 7th-18th!
I love these ladies and I know you will too.

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy


This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please refer to the disclosure policy.
Filed Under: 10 Days of Lifelong Learners, Family, High School, Homeschooling, Maggie Hogan

Ten Days of Raising a Life-Long Learner: Day 7 — Baby Steps

November 15, 2011 By 2 Comments

10 days of Raising a Life-Long Learner

Baby Steps

Kaylee: Determined Doer

 

Avalon: Patient Watcher

Meet my granddaughters. The cutie on the left is Avalon—at this writing she is 9 months old. (Picture is at 6 months.) The spitfire on the right is Kaylee, pictured here on her second birthday. (She is now 2 1/2.) The joy of having them close by and raised by Godly parents is more than I can express! It’s also been quite a learning experience for me. Seeing them through the lens of time and experience is very different from when I was in the “parenting a toddler” era. They are also prime fodder for this column :-)

Take Avi, She is a watcher. She watches and watches and watches. She doesn’t miss a minute. She is quiet and reflective and willing to try new things but she operates in a world of gentle pacing. She is learning to walk but doesn’t get all stressed out and crazy when she falls or can’t get up. She is capable of many things but is also content if Grandmom wants to give her something or do something for her.

Now take Kaylee, she is a doer. As in I WILL DO IT MYSELF, ALL BY MYSELF, AND LEAVE ME ALONE I AM BUSY DOING IT. Whatever “it” is – Kaylee is absolutely positively convinced that she, and only she, can do it. She tries and tries again until she “gets it right.” Put shoes on the correct feet? Done. Dribble a full sized basketball with Granddad? Just about. From the very beginning, she has wanted as little assistance as possible and is offended if you try to help without her asking for it. She is non-stop run, play, and figure everything out kind of a kid.

Which of these two personalities strikes you as the best candidate for being a life-long learner? The correct answer? BOTH of them are. Why? Even though they were born with very different personalities and traits, they both have parents equally aware of their needs and of God’s Word. Parents who will work WITH their personalities to guide them into adulthood and who will encourage them in the process of being Life Long Learners.

Have you watched a baby learning to walk? Some get up, fall down, try again. Some get up fall down, cry, try again. Some just get up and fall down and get up and fall down over and over again. It’s fun watching the process and seeing how different each child reacts to failure (falling) and how much perseverance a particular child exhibits. Some just seem determined from the beginning and no amount of falling down will change their perseverance. Others appear to give up more easily. Yet others have their efforts helped (or hurt) by too much or not enough parental intervention.

What Type of Parent are You?
 Do you jump in and help that baby, toddler, teen accomplish their goals:

  • Before they fall?
  • While they are falling?
  • After they have fallen?
  • Do you provide an environment that allows for growth, trial & error, even failure, in a safe place?
  • Does your “baby” give up easily because mom or dad will quickly come to the rescue?
  • Does your “baby” become exasperated because you almost never come to the rescue?

It’s a fine line, isn’t it?

We want our kids to succeed at their challenges, their goals. We want to protect them from pain (physical, mental, emotional) along the way. But we also want them to become life-long learners & problem solvers, which includes learning some things the hard way.

It is so important to know your child’s temperament.

What one child needs and can deal with in terms of hands-off would absolutely crush a different child. Some need much more direction in learning perseverance, others need more in the way of limits! Know your child. Read your Bible daily, and commit this to prayer:

Lord, please give me wisdom in training _______ in perseverance so that he/she will grow into a person who has Godly character. Help me to know when to help and when to back off; when to offer advice, when to keep silent; when to encourage, when to admonish. Please Father, give me insight into their needs and personality so that I can be wise in their upbringing.

There is no definitive answer for how often or quickly a parent should come to the rescue.
But the Bible offers general principles. Regardless of whether you intervene quickly, or not at all, one vital component toward raising Life Long Learners is training your children to stay on task in order to complete their goals. This is one of the most valuable gifts you can provide. Parents, don’t forget that you need to persevere so that your children finish well! Here are some verses to read, chew on, and from which to seek wisdom.

All Scripture taken from the New King James Version (NKJV).

Proverbs 24:16
For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again,
But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

Romans 5:3-4
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

2 Peter 1:5-7
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

2 Chronicles 15:7
But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!

Tomorrow: Tweens and Teens

Be sure to visit these brilliant women during our
10 Day of Adventure between November 7th-18th!
I love these ladies and I know you will too.

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy


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Filed Under: 10 Days of Lifelong Learners, Family, Homeschooling, Maggie Hogan

Ten Days of Raising a Life-Long Learner: Day 6 — Research Ninja Skills, Part 3

November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

10 days of Raising a Life-Long Learner

Ninja Research Skills (Part 3)

Absolutely Indispensable Reference Helps

Yesterday, we talked about sources for finding out pretty much anything and how to discern which sources are reliable.  Today, let’s discuss specific books and sites.

Bibles

I highly recommend owning several versions besides your family’s preferred translation.

  • One of my favorite websites is www.Biblegateway.com  which has easy-to-look-up versions in a myriad of translations and nice on-line commentaries too, including Matthew Henry’s.

Dictionaries

Sigh, so many dictionaries to love and so little time to read them…

Thesauri

NOTE: The one in your word processor DOES NOT count.
The paperback that has words just arranged alphabetically isn’t much better.

  • Do yourself a huge favor and spend under 20.00 for the best, most useful thesaurus ever invented: Roget’s International Thesaurus. Spend an hour to learn to use it and you will wonder how you ever wrote without it. All high school students should be well acquainted with this book!
  • Younger students would be best served to start with a simpler thesaurus like the Scholastic Student Thesaurus by John Bollard

Almanacs

Do you know what amazing information a good almanac contains?
Optional, but every home library would benefit from a recent almanac.

[Warning: sadly, many student almanac's contain pop culture so
please look through yours carefully before handing it off to a child.]

Quotations

A book of quotations is best arranged topically in order to
find just the right quote. These are great for history papers,
storytelling, inspiration, and enlivening dinner conversation!

Favorite Writing Reference Books

  • I don’t know what I’d do without the Chicago Manual of Style. Be sure to get the latest (16th) version which includes: how to treat punctuation, names, numbers, tables, quotations, dialogue, abbreviations, etc. PLUS must-know guidelines for web writing and references. This book (or website subscription) is a MUST for the serious high school or college student.
  • For simpler needs, another go-to resource is the Big Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. There is an online option for it, as well.

Well, I ran out of time before I got to atlases (possibly my most favorite reference material of all. Or maybe not. So hard to have a favorite child!) but that’s how I roll. So, here’s hoping you stop back for Day 6:

A Close Look at Atlases:
Ninja Skills for Finding Your Way!

Be sure to visit these brilliant women during our
10 Day of Adventure between November 7th-18th!
I love these ladies and I know you will, too.

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy


This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please refer to the disclosure policy.
Filed Under: 10 Days of Lifelong Learners, Books, Family, High School, Homeschooling, Maggie Hogan

Homeschool flunkie? Nah…

August 30, 2010 By 5 Comments

It’s the first day of school. 11:06. I’m still in my pajamas. I finally sent my children off for recess. I don’t have a regular plan for recess. But this year seems to be anything but normal. I only started school today because my children were begging. I am so unprepared. We started the day by cleaning out last years school boxes and organizing last year’s binders. Then I put them all aside to be stored. We filled up this year’s school boxes with this year’s school supplies. (Usually they’re laid out neatly at each child’s place to greet them when they first come down to school. This year they were strewn about the school room still in Walmart bags.)

When we finally sat down to do school, we started with Character/Bible. And a memory verse. A good way to start the day! I sent them off to do math, while I created divider tabs for this years notebooks. Then handwriting. Shoot-my 5yo finished her handwriting book. I have to order a new one. Then grammar/phonics. As of 45 minutes ago, I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish ILM2 or just move on to ILM3 and get a fresh start on the year. I looked at all the literature we’d be skipping and decided to finish ILM2. So much for everything lining up in a nice, neat fashion.

So it turns out that really, I sent them off for recess so I could figure out what to do next. Now that I know we’re going to finish ILM2, we can do history next. I ordered the next read-aloud.

Today, it would be easy to feel like a homeschool flunkie, but God offers me so much grace; it’s time to offer some to myself. So far today, my children have been constructive, they’ve learned about loyalty, they’ve worked on a memory verse, they’ve learned, and now they’re building a fort. Together. Those are some of the biggest reasons that I homeschool. That is homeschool success. Just because the day doesn’t LOOK like I think it should doesn’t make me a failure. I do hope I can sneak my shower in, though…


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Filed Under: Family, Homeschooling, Melissa

Constraining our Freedom

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It always amuses me how God uses so many different ways to get a message through to me. Sometimes he practically shouts. I like those times – they’re so much easier to hear than the still small voice.

This week’s theme has been this: in order to get what you really want, you have to give up whatever is getting in the way. If I want to stay healthy, I have to sacrifice my gluttony and laziness. If I want to love my wife more, I have to love myself less. If I want to know God and his word better, I have to sacrifice time elsewhere to spend with him. The list could go on, but the point is made.

None of us can have our cake and eat it too. Just like I can’t serve God and Money, I can’t love health and Oatmeal Cream Pies. I have to choose what is most important, and pursue it. Sacrificing what I like for what I need, oddly enough, does not come naturally. And I’m just beginning to realize how much practice I need.

What about you? Your family? Your homeschool? Are there goals you have not been able to reach because another desire is getting in the way?  What things in your life need to be uprooted so something better can bloom in that space?


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Filed Under: Faith, Family, Homeschooling, Tyler

Baby-Wrangling

May 7, 2010 By 2 Comments

So, apparently babies are time consuming.  At least thatâ™s what my wife tells me :)

I felt bad for her. Helen really likes keeping the house clean. Her grandmother is a German, Martha Stewart type whose house is always spotless and who always has freshly baked cookies whenever you walk in the door, and her mom is one of the most super-organized and clean people I know (although with 6 daughters in the house it was always an up-hill battle against the clutter monster). Helen inherited the love of a clean house as well as a healthy dose of realistic expectations when youâ™ve got kids and lots of company.

Kaylee, however, didnâ™t care how clean the house was. She just wanted to be held. And played with. And fed. And changed. All the time. Naptime was consistent for daughter and her hard-working mother. Leaving virtually no time for chores. :(

One of the best things we did since we got moved into our house was hire a Motherâ™s Helper. Helen knew a young lady from church who loved babies and wanted to get experience taking care of them. Sheâ™s in 7th grade and is one of the sweetest young ladies we know. She only charges a few dollars an hour because she sees it as a ministry and a learning experience. In return, Helen feds her lunch and  helps her with schoolwork when baby goes down for a nap.  She comes over once a week on âœChore Day❠and saves our bacon. We love her.

The other thing we did (which has been a life saver) was turn our unused dining room into a playpen. It sits right between the kitchen and the living room (the most heavy traffic rooms of the house), so Helen can see Kaylee whether sheâ™s cooking or on the computer. We took out all the furniture, covered the outlets, and put in all her toys, her port-a-crib, a nursing chair, and a changing mat. Kaylee is perfectly happy to play in there for long periods of time. She doesnâ™t feel caged in like she does in her crib and she can still see and âœtalk❠to mommy. Helen said she felt like her hands were her own again after we set that up!

Weâ™re just first-timers (and both only 22), so we know we have a lot to learn. Solutions like these are probably obvious to most people, but they were a revelation for us! Discovering what works and doesnâ™t work for our family is such a fun journey. It also helps to have super-supportive family nearby :)

What kinds of things did you do to try and get stuff done while tiny people were crawling up your legs?

-Tyler


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Filed Under: Family, Tyler

Kaylee is walking :)

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

… or trying to at least.  It’s now her favorite game to run around holding our hands. She loves being lifted into the air and tickled. She falls down but she get’s back up and keeps going.  (Thank God for carpeting!)


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Filed Under: Family, Tyler, Vlogs

Playing Dress-Up

April 23, 2010 By 1 Comment

My in-laws came over recently. They only live about two hours away, so we get to see them pretty regularly. This time, they came loaded with gold in their trunk. And by gold I mean a huge chest full of dress-up-clothes for little girls. As Helen sat in the family room unpacking it with her sisters it was so much fun to see her  eyes get so wide with joyous memories. Half the costumes in the trunk she had made at one time or another for her sisters and friends as they played fairy-tale games and filmed amateur movies in their backyard. Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings, Disney Princesses, and generic stock character costumes kept pouring out of this trunk.

My sisters-in-law laughed at me watching them unpack, assuming I wouldn’t be interested in such “girl stuff” – but I was. I can foresee hours and hours of creative play with my baby girl, playing pirates and castles and who-knows-what-she’ll-com-up-with.  And I’m extra glad I kept all my costumes too! Call me geeky, but I’ve got a wardrobe in the basement with all my costume pieces hanging up, ordered chronologically from ancient civ to futuristic. Right next to it is my extensive silly hat collection (including my light-up jester hat and my homemade Hermes Helmet).  And next to that is my sewing machine and serger (graciously given to us by a relative) and our fabric supplies. If you couldn’t tell that Helen and I were theatre majors in college, now you know.

I’m a big fan of creative play. I’ve loved make-believe games all my life – still do, really. And while I’m not into Cosplay, I still love doing silly creative projects with Helen, dressing up as Celtic folk heros and Greek gods for costume parties. And I’m so glad Kaylee gets to have these hand-me-down costumes from her mom and ‘Nana.  I cant wait to tell her to go play outside, or to film her and her friends doing skits in our backyard, or to play games with her and let her imagination take us places. It’s going to be beautiful.

Thanks, ‘Nana, for bringing the costumes. :)


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Filed Under: Family, Tyler
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