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Life is funny sometimes. You don't appreciate good health till you've been mired in sickness. You don't crave rest till you've been swamped in busyness. You don't love home till you've been away from it.

Well, that last one is relative. I always love home. 🙂

The point is, the hard parts in life make the good ones all the more wonderful.

This is a very long and winding post about how that has looked for us this past month, and it might not be interesting to anyone but my mom and dad, but here goes. 🙂 The trip, the sick, and the holiday -- that's how I sorted out my notes. And the title will make sense eventually, I promise.

To make it make sense though, I have to go back a ways . . . all the way back to December 24th and the beginning of some hard things that made the good things at the end all the more appreciated.

Here we are, Christmas Eve 2023.

Not really wishing for adventure but about to go on one nonetheless. About to take flight from Oregon to Missouri to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the Baers. We were somewhat trepidatious about the whole thing, especially since our last experience flying with all three boys was not just the best one, but our tickets were bought, and our massive suitcase was packed, and off we went. ...continue reading →

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In April 2023 I posted a “What I’ve Been Reading” post. I’m slightly embarrassed to say how many books I’ve read since then, but at that point I had already read more books in a year than I had the prior year, so I guess my own progress should be my measuring stick. 🙂

That embarrassing number is three. I’ve read three books in the last nine months. Four, if you count reading Little House on the Prairie to my big boys. But for all practical purposes, three. All of them parenting books, two of them by the same author.

I read Abbie Halberstadt’s M Is for Mama and Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad back to back. I’d already read the first book a while ago but wanted a refresher before diving into her second book. Turns out I liked M Is for Mama even more the second time around. The first time I read it I was really hoping for a more formulaic approach. Your kid does this; you do this. Of course, that’s not how life, and especially not parenting, is. Going into it this time knowing it wasn’t going to be like that allowed me to better process what she was saying, and I really enjoyed and was blessed by both M Is for Mama and Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad. Highly recommend both books.

I also read Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley. After reading two books written from a mother’s perspective, it was really refreshing and interesting to read one written from a dad’s perspective. I started in right away with sticky-noted sections to show to Eric later. That's the real test of how much I like a book. 🙂

I’m actually not feeling very book-review-ish at all at the moment. I'm more excited about what I'm going to be reading next. 🙂 So if you want to know more about the afore-mentioned books and what’s inside them, just do yourself a favor and go borrow or buy a copy. Very worthwhile reading, all three of them, especially if you’re in the parenting trenches. ...continue reading →

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I've had the bulk of this post just sitting here because I wasn't sure how to preface it. I wrote about three different intros, and they all had to do with being eleven, and it was slightly disjointed and a little strange, and I just wasn't happy with it.

And then I remembered . . . nine years ago today . . . a Starbucks that no longer exists, a rainy night, a doodled-on coffee cup, a handsome boy, and a "yes" finally leaving my lips after literally months and months of praying.

Eric and I met at a Starbucks so I could give him the answer to the question he'd asked two days earlier.

The answer was absolutely yes, and we've been together ever since. 🙂

Those were wonderful days. Dating was wonderful. Being engaged was pretty good, too. Being newly married was amazing.

And then came the children, and more tastes of real life, but guess what . . . I didn't ever want to go back to those dating days or even those newly married days.

This life right here is my favorite yet.

And that's where the feeling an affinity to being eleven came in.

When I was eleven, I wasn't yet interested in the future . . . in driving or graduating or working or boys or marriage or children. I wasn't looking forward to anything major. I also wasn't old enough to be very interested in the past . . . to look back at anything with nostalgia. I was just living in the moment, happy with what I had right then and there.

I kind of feel like I’m there again. I'm not waiting for anything major. Not to graduate; I’ve done that. Not to date; I’ve done that. Not to get married; I’ve very, very happily done that. Not to have children; I’ve done that. There's really nothing major that I'm waiting for (except maybe having a daughter, but that doesn't count because I do have my boys).

And any looking back that I do, while done with fondness, is with the understanding that nothing I ever had before can top everything I have now.

I guess that’s why they call it the good old days.

Not looking forward, not looking back. There’s not some time in the past that I wish I could return to. I'm not chomping at the bit to get to some time in the future. Right here, right now, is just fine with me.

These are the days I'll miss.

These are the good old days.

What an incredible privilege to get to live them in peace and quietness. ...continue reading →

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How do three little boys celebrate Christmas? In many ways, but here's how mine have done it in the first five days of December. 🙂

December 1st: Their mother turned on the first Christmas music of the season, and it was glorious. Sebastian didn't even remember how much he had liked With Bells On the year before and was happily reintroduced.

December 2nd: They went to A Christmas Puppet Show at church. There was popcorn afterward, and cupcakes, and a bounce house, and ornament-making. Alec especially was in his element and came home with this funny little ornament. ...continue reading →

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I gave myself a gift last Christmas.

I used to listen to Pandora all year long. (I still would but I can’t figure out how to get it back how it used to be and am afraid I have to actually pay something now to go back to the good old days.) But anyway, I especially listened around Christmas time, partly because I didn’t own a lot of Christmas music, and also because it was an easy way to get a good range of Christmas music, traditional and otherwise.

Away in a Manger? Pandora’s got thirty different renditions. That Capital Lights song I’ve loved ever since I heard it on the radio when I was a teenager and can’t ever remember the name of? Just thumbs-up it and rest assured it’ll show up again without having to go searching for it. Casting Crowns’ Peace on Earth? Thumbs-up it on Pandora but also go listen to it on Spotify to your heart’s content because once through is never enough. Dolly Parton’s With Bells On? Well, that one I finally just bought because my boys loved it as much as I did. ...continue reading →