making space for creativity
This is the third of a guest post mini-series on our family’s favorite games by Amy’s husband, Evan Hays–middle school social studies teacher and board game enthusiast. (Click here for part one and two.) Another amazing thing about board games is that they are accessible to people across ages and abilities. Our six year old daughter…
This is the beginning of a guest post mini-series on our family’s favorite games by Amy’s husband, Evan Hays–middle school social studies teacher and board game enthusiast. I am not sure if you are aware of this already or not, but you happen to be living through a board gaming Renaissance. If I already had…
This weekend I overheard a typical mother-child exchange at the Whole Foods cafe in which the mother laid out a plan for her five or six-year-old son: “You need to eat your lunch and then we’re going to go,” she said. The boy, all wiggles and distraction, said nothing to this plan. To which…
In the early weeks of being pregnant, I didn’t give much thought to maternity clothes. I was consumed with just the new, frightening, wonderful, exhausting possibility of motherhood. As far as I thought about clothes, I think I figured that I wore pretty stretchy clothes, so I probably could get away with those. …
Evan loves board games, so when we were dating, he naturally asked me if I liked games. Who doesn’t like games? But I found out that my idea of Risk or Monopoly wasn’t exactly what Evan had in mind. He was into European board games, the kind created by German Math professors. Think Settlers…
I have nine first cousins, all on my mom’s side. I’m the fourth oldest, which puts me smack in the middle of admiration (boarding on adoration) for my cool three older cousins and complete acceptance and enthusiastic adventuring with my five younger cousins. As a child, I loved seeing my cousins. Comedian…
This weekend we stayed home and enjoyed Milwaukee. Milwaukee shows off in the summer. The whole city seems to linger on porches or backyards, sipping drinks to the sound of kids running around. Or if they aren’t home basking in the upper 70 degree weather, they are off to the state fair, or Summerfest,…
This past weekend we drove down to Illinois for the third week in a row, this time for a wedding. It is, by my count, the 20th wedding Evan and I have attended together. The day we got engaged we went to a wedding, and every year since we’ve been witnessing the sacred vows…
On Saturday morning we got up and crept quietly out of the house, hoping that we could let my niece and brother and sister-in-law sleep past 7:30. I think the dogs foiled this plan, but I hope we slipped out without causing too much of a ruckus. We finally, after almost five months of…
So, I’m in Atlanta. This is actually my third time in Atlanta. The first time I came to Atlanta I was 19, and it was your average college spring trip: you know where you and your dad drive a couple thousand miles from the Midwest through the south to see a slew of Great…
Spring in Wisconsin is shy. She peaks out for a moment, almost sixty and sunny, then she ducks back, below freezing and blankets us in a light snow. This past month has felt like that, moments of rest and beauty that allow us to catch glimpses of the vision for why we moved, then…
It is the last days of our intact apartment. Kind friends keep asking how the packing is going for our upcoming move in 15 days, and I smile and say we haven’t packed a thing. My husband, Evan sometimes will add that we’ve steadily over the years tried to get rid of things we…
There are big changes afoot in our household: we’re moving to Wisconsin! At the end of February, a mere 3 1/2 weeks away, Evan and I are packing up our Maryland apartment and heading 750 miles west. We are excited and sad, peaceful and nervous. We know it’s a good and right decision to…
I love the trend among bloggers to pick a word for their year. The words are often thoughtful and inspiring: Risk. Go. Grow. Slow. Balance. Nourish. My birthday is two days after Christmas, so I have always used blowing out my candles to reflect on my hopes for the upcoming year. Meaning that from…
In this post we’re continuing on the Fall miniseries on liturgical prayer. Last week we looked at 5 of my favorite prayer books, and next week we’ll look at the other half of our prayer book collection. Today we’ll focus on just one prayer, a prayer for the upcoming Fall holiday, Michaelmas. Closely…