take ten

My Aunt Louie is the queen of cleaning games. Her sewing room at her house is infamous for being a bit untidy. It's her dumping ground and the room that gets the door closed when company comes over. But when she's ready to hit it she sets a timer and tries to Beat The Clock. She'll work like crazy on one counter or table top for say, fifteen minutes, getting it cleared before the timer buzzes.

She has played this game as long as I can remember, and even with no kids living at home, she still plays the game. It's a good one. And with that said, I'd like to dedicate this post to my Aunt Louie.

I've created a cleaning game of my own. It's called Take Ten. I mostly play it on my Clutter Counter. The counter top that serves as the catch all for EVERYTHING in our lives. In the deepest part of my heart I want this counter clear all the time. But it never is.

So I started playing this game, Take Ten. In one round I try to take and put away ten items as fast as I can. The ten items go quickly: a hair band, an envelope to throw away, reading materials to put together for a later time, a marker to put back in the junk drawer.

I only do ten items at a time. So the counter isn't overwhelming this way. Once I've made it to ten, I walk away, and will Take Ten the next time I'm passing through.

I was telling my sister about this game over the phone and how clever it is. She told me Aunt Louie would be proud. And then I confided in her, "Annika. I have been taking pictures of the clutter counter for days now, getting it ready for the "after" shot on my blog. But I can't keep up. I add ten as fast as I take ten." It gave us a hard laugh and we decided the only silver lining is that it isn't as bad as if I had never removed ten items at a time.

But I think I have sort of resolved that this counter top is the equivalent to Aunt Louie's sewing room. It's going to be a work-in-progress as long as we call this house our home. I'll still play my clever game, but when you come to my house and it's covered in random junk, you'll know at least I'm trying...

chili snow fort

I wrote about this on facebook and got lots of fun comments. And since all of our snow is melting into snowman snow I thought I'd tell this story on the blog. Because I can think of many, many friends who need to make this happen in their own lives.

When I was little we had a candlelight winter picnic with our next door neighbors. Jennifer, Betsy and I made an awesome snow fort surrounding the picnic table. We rolled big snow balls, stacked them four feet high, packed them into walls and placed candles on the top of the fort. Then our two families met at the snow fort in the dark for chili, hot chocolate and corn bread. My mom put a tablecloth down, we lit the candles and ate our supper sitting at the picnic table in snowpants, boots and mittens under the big dark sky.

It is one of my all-time favorite memories. A true picture of sweet friends, good food and creative parenting. And for me, it raises the bar for memory making. This memory didn't cost a whole lot. It didn't even require a ton of planning...but it took two mom's who had an eye for fun and creativity. Those are the eyes I want to have in my own mothering.

The real joy is that now we're trying to plan a remake. To get the crew pictured above out to the grovestead for more chili in a big snow fort. Wouldn't that be so awesome?!!

I ended my facebook post with this charge: So go. Roll that snow. Make that chili. Call up your neighbors. And make Minnesota proud! Because I think chili snow forts need to be as common to winter as hot chocolate.

minnesota spring break

Annika's girls had their spring break this past week. Poor, poor, Minnesota school kids! It barely hit zero when they were here. We got to have the girls stay with us for a few nights and it was delightful. Because these girls are delightful.

Mara got us outside the first morning. I didn't think we'd last as long as we did. But everyone seemed happy to be outside. That morning Svea had come to my bed and told me, "Aunt Becca, there were stars and now the sky is pink and purple. Do you want to come see it?!!" She was a sweet little alarm. And since it was 7:00, I couldn't complain.

I let Ivar and Svea nap together the first day. Which was adorable and futile. They came out of their room many times having to fill up their water bottles, and later having to to go potty, and later just because it was an absurd idea to have them nap together in the first place. But at least I got a cute picture. :)

We made a banner and Elsie got to use a marker for her first time. I believe her face sums up her great joy in this milestone moment. Unfortunately she now thinks she's too cool for crayons. But obviously she's a disaster waiting to happen with a marker in her hand.

Towards the end of their stay I was feeling at a loss of what to do next. I was really run down and we'd already had enough screen time. So I was thrilled when our slumberland truck showed up to deliver our couch and chair. And then, to my good fortune (and to the truck driver's terrible misfortune) the truck got stuck right there with front and rear wheels all stuck in snow banks. It took 90 minutes of digging, the use of mattresses under the tires and a tow truck to get it out. Neighbors were blocked from their homes. It was pretty epic. And for a mama looking for a diversion, it created the most exciting closing event I could have hoped for.

Here the kids wait for the great reveal, and then are the first to give the new couch its first sit.

I love these kids so much. When they were about to arrive Rory said, "You seem to be feeling much better. Are you well?" And I said I was just so excited for my nieces to come over. It was the same feeling when I was a little girl and was going to see my cousins. Just so, so excited. And a joy to be together. We talked a lot about this summer when Claire, Simon and Nellie are coming to Minnesota. We can't wait!!!

Spring ALWAYS Comes!

Oh dear. We've been struck down at this house. But since I'm not going down, we're doing our best to keep our chins up. It started a week ago with Rory getting the flu. Not the stomach flu...but the fever, chills, achy body flu. He rounded his week out with a case of pink eye. I got the flu the day after him. While on a conference call, I started getting really, really cold. By the end of the call I had bundled up in hat and scarf couldn't figure out why I was shivering so bad. I took a hot shower, my legs were achy and I went to be for five hours. I woke up and told Rory, "I feel like I was in a bad tussle with a bull yesterday." That's how my body felt...like I had been kicked around, bucked around, stomped on... And I think it's the first time I've ever used the word tussle in a sentence.

Eventually this flu morphed into terrible colds. I lost my voice for a few days. Rory and I basically have whooping cough each night. We sound terrible. Elsie's nose is a constant run and Ivar can't believe his good fortune and all the television I am letting him watch. We'll get that back in check when we're all well again. Until then, a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do.

Elsie and I walked out to the mailbox last night and found a box from Tennessee. It said, "Just a Reminder..."

I opened it up and there were these awesome words:

What joy! It was a springtime care package from my cousin Jeremiah's family. I am assuming they had read my blog post about falling down in the walgreens parking lot (still have impressive bruises on my knees and shin from that one) and took pity on me. What a gift!

Inside was hand spun, beautiful, rainbow bright art yarn. I adore it. And flower tea! And a prism to make rainbows and paper sun catchers. And creative and thoughtful cards from her kids to my kids.

The timing of this box was impeccable. And all day we've been making rainbows in our living room, reminding ourselves that SPRING ALWAYS COMES!

Soul Sisterhood Summer Camp

I'm a big fan of summer camp. I worked as a camp counselor throughout my college summers and then as a program director for a number of summers after seminary. I think amazing things can happen when young people get away from their screens and out in God's creation for days at a time. I think powerful relationships can be formed when kids eat, play and live together. I believe God speaks clearly into hearts when kids are given the time and space to listen.

Recently I have become a huge fan of The Soul Sisterhood. My friend Amanda has poured her heart into these retreats and summer camps, filling each moment of the day with intention and creativity. The camps focus on cooking, sewing, crafting, journaling, building deep friendships with one another and strengthening each camper's unique identity in Jesus.


The retreats are intentionally small in size...limited to only 12-15 girls per camp. There is a camp grandma who is there simply to love the girls. There is a camp cook who helps the girls make and bake all the goodies they will eat all week. The counselors are just a bit older than the girls and there to serve as mentors and role models. The camps meet at a farmhouse just outside of the cities

And here's the exciting part. Amanda has just added another week to her summer for any 11-14 year old who would like to join the Soul Sisterhood! The camp week begins around 4 pm on Sunday, July 6 and concludes on Thursday, July 10th. Girls will be coming from all over and will enjoy a week of community, crafting, good food and time with their Creator.

If you know of anyone who might be interested, I cannot say enough good things about this summer camp. And feel free to drop me a line with any questions!

Click this link to find more information about the week.
And click here for registration information.