What's In My Teapot?

You know how it feels when you're playing Candy Land, and you're making progress and feeling pretty good about things, and then you draw the card with the little plum on it and you have to go aaallllllll the way back to the Gingerbread Plum Trees at the very beginning? It's downright disheartening, right? Well, that's a little how we're feeling today, and here's why: We got word this morning that the contract on our house was terminated, and while we certainly knew it could happen, especially after the home inspector went over the place with the perspective buyer, a fine-toothed comb, and a magnifying glass, it still leaves us pretty discouraged. On top of that, another family that is interested- and has been since August- finally had a contract on the home they're trying to sell and thought they might be able to make an offer on our house, only to have their contract fall through, too. It's not a lot of fun to be carried back to square one af

Today has been a day for sharing. Gavin shared a piece of gum from his personal pack with each of his siblings, minus Finley. Parker shared little candy balls from the tiny toy gas pump that he loves to operate, wherein the candy rolls down a small track and lands with a clink at the bottom when you turn a miniature crank on the side of the pump. Elasa, Gavin and Parker shared a bit of their time and energy with the neighbors across the street by raking some leaves out to the curb, where the leaf truck will vacuum them up later this week. A friend from church who drove past and saw the children out raking leaves stopped and shared from  the stash of smarties he keeps in his work van, giving them each a pack. Elasa in turn shared her smarties with Finley, biting them into small pieces to make them more consumable for a one-year-old. Parker saved one smartie to share with Daddy upon his return from work. I love seeing my children share, and the attitude of generosity behind

Ever have an urge to write on a rainy Monday morning when it its high time to get school started, and the dirty laundry is giving you reproachful looks, and the beds are unmade and rumpled, and the baby is still in his pajamas even as the clock strikes 9? Me too. I have learned that if there is such a thing as a Writer's Law, it certainly includes this: a writer will always and forever have his or her most inspiring thoughts at the most inconvenient times! Indeed. Ten times out of ten, my best thoughts for writing come to me either in church, as I am walking into Wal-Mart, or when I am zipping about the house in the midst of a crazy morning when I don't even have time to finish my coffee, much less sit down and write. This is why setting aside a time every day or even every week would not work for me! Faced with a spot of time when I could actually write, I am always faced with another, darker problem: a blank head! So what is the solution? Apparently, some of the t