Summer Moments: Toddlers and Cats

I was heading out of the car from a dinner date with my husband just now and a family with toddler twins was on the sidewalk in front of our house, intrigued by our cats.

From Bedford, New York: Reflections and Rain

painting by Barbara Rosenzweig

Tonight found our older son and me at my parents' house in Bedford, New York. They are in Florida right now, but offered their home as a way station between our home in New Jersey and Worcester, Mass., where G. has been accepted to a college.

It rained all day Saturday. Long hard cleansing rain that melted nearly all the snow still piled in large chunks on the sides of strip shopping malls and driveways and places that don't get much sun.

Whenever I visit my parents, I am reminded of the passage of time, of the way generations weave together. I always consider the treasure of time too and it is hard not to become self-reflective since my drive to my parents' home takes me through the village where I spent my entire childhood.

"There's a Circle in Everything:" A Granddaughter's Tribute

Here is a story, told through song, by a little girl who grew up to be a songwriter(at left). She sings from her heart about
her grandmother, (at right) who died a month ago at age 74. This is a reminder that our lives our fleeting and that the One who called us into being also calls us all home.

A Homecoming Weekend, Sort Of

Homecoming is a bit of a misnomer today because even though it is our local high school's Homecoming Weekend, half my family is out of town. Gabriel, a high school senior, and Greg are in Fairfax, Virginia tonight. They've spend the past four days touring colleges in the region and sightseeing in our nation's capital. I miss them badly. My husband rarely travels for work and I am not accustomed to having half my family missing from home.

Our Babies are in High School

I don't think our sons are old enough to be entering their senior and freshman years of high school tomorrow morning.  I mean, really, do they look ready?

A "Very Safe Place" for Music

Sherri Anderson's mission is to bring music to everyone. She spends her life providing opportunities for children and teens of disparate backgrounds—kids who live in boarding schools or who live in homeless shelters—to make music.

"Sherri sees harmonies that to most of us are hidden," says Professor Jim Wetzel, who holds the St. Augustine Chair at Villanova University, where Anderson recently earned a master's degree in theology. "She is a professional musician and is peculiarly gifted in using music as a way of healing. For her, it's a grace."

Keep Reading over at Patheos!

Tempus Fugit: In Which I am Reminded of the Passing of Childhood

 (the boys in seventh and fourth grades)

The passage of time rarely troubles me. I never have been a sentimental parent. When friends mourned children moving from one grade to the next, ("Can you believe kindergarten is over?") I never felt sad, only excited for them. 

Happy Birthday to a Woman of "Ready Action:" My Mom!

Today, while decluttering the desk in our family room, I found a drawing I made of my mother and father for Mother's Day when I was in second grade.

This Story Begins with a Boy Singing in the Shower

This afternoon, while I was upstairs reading, our 13-year-old son came home from basketball practice. He headed to the shower as part of his preparation for his middle school music concert tonight.

Usually, I am not home when he showers in the early mornings; I have already left for work.
From my room this afternoon, I could hear the water running, and him singing: "It's the most wonderful time of the year."    

Our Graffit-Covered Garage Teaches Me a Lesson

Our garage is not attached to our house, which is more than 100 years old. Our garage is built of concrete and our house is so small that it has been years since we actually put a car in the garage. Instead, our garage became the dumping ground for all kinds of stuff - broken bikes, empty paint cans, rakes, rusted garden tools and lots of leaves. It really was one of the grossest places on our property. I think it had been months since I had stepped foot in it. Still, I didn't expect to discover in the early fall that a certain preteen, because he was "bored" this summer, had chosen to spray paint the walls and floors of this most unlovely garage.

To say my husband and I were not pleased is an understatement.

I am not even showing you the worst of it, because his graffiti included a vulgarity. 

How to Build a Tardis Cake (Or, What Happened Before the Whovians Showed Up)

I am not much of a baker; the other day my banana bread was so overcooked, my sons thought I had put walnuts in it. So when our 12-year-old said he wanted to have a Tardis cake for his Dr. Who Season 7 Premiere party, I enlisted the help of two friends, one of whom is a wonderful baker, the other who knows how to decorate just about anything. Trips to Party City,  googling Tardis cakes and this masterpiece emerged from our kitchen Saturday, with no help whatsoever from me, except for a quick run to the supermarket to pick up extra frosting and white chocolate....

Something About Summer Ice Cream

Our 12-year-old invited a classmate, also 12, to go to our swim club this afternoon. They played Bananagrams while it thundered and we waited for the skies to clear. They didn't. As we were driving home, our son asked if we could go to Magnifico's a family-run seasonal ice cream store that sits snug beside Route 18, a busy state highway.

Westmoreland Sanctuary: Magnificence on a Summer Afternoon

While our older son did some cycling, our younger son and I went hiking today. Yes. Today. During an impossible heat wave.  I wanted to share some of the pictures we took on our hike.

We waited until 4 p.m. to head to Westmoreland Sanctuary, a 640-acre nature preserve that straddles Bedford and Mount Kisco,  New York. The preserve is a few miles from my parents' home and we are visiting with them for a few days.

This Moment: Off the Diving Board

. . . . . . . .

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' at www.soulemama.com

This Moment: A Knight in Shining Armor at his Brother's First Communion Party

this moment - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link at www.soulemama.com with your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

This Moment: Our Seventh Grader and Friends

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Visit www.soulemama.com to see more of these.

The Bicycle Our Son Built

Our 15-year-old son found a passion for cycling about a year ago. This is not a cheap hobby. The beauty of his experiences with cycling is that we as his parents have found out how resourceful and motivated our son is.

Spring Break: When Desperation Breeds Creativity

Our sons have been out of school since Good Friday and won't be back until next Monday. That gives them 10 days in which to figure out what to do with their time. I am off work too and I get to watch what they come up with. I do let them watch lots of television and play on their Game Cube. To a point.

There are also lots of moments I say to turn off the electronics and figure out what to do.  It is pure privilege to live in a circumstance where my children are able to get "bored." In my first job out of journalism school, I covered a tiny town in Massachusetts and had to file a story a day, It wasn't easy but my editor would tell me: "Desperation breeds creativity." And so it does.

Baseball: Dogs in the Bleachers and Chickens on our Minds

 "Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change nor shadow of alteration."

In our house, three sports are happening right now: competitive cycling for the 15 year old, and travel soccer and middle school baseball for the 12 year old.

Today was a glorious spring day, the Wednesday of Holy Week and was the first game of our son's middle school baseball team. The game started at 4 in a county park and the team handily won over a local Christian middle school. Our son, who is goal keeper for the travel soccer team, plays catcher. Here's a shot of him warming up, taken with my cell phone between the fence's links.

Savoring A Pause in Our Busy Days

This is a photo I swiped off the web of Main Street Bagel in downtown Flemington, New Jersey, where I spent a couple of hours this morning with L, our 12-year-old son. We sat at the farthest right table in this photo, next to an older couple. We ate homemade bagels,  I sipped coffee, and we both enjoyed some rare down time.

My husband and I have entered that phase of parenthood, or should I say our sons have entered that phase of their own lives, where down time is an anomaly.