Kelle, Author at Enjoying the Small Things

Perfume Apple Pie…and a little bit of thankful

November 25, 2010 By Kelle

I prepped for the big day today. Cleaned the baseboards, the toilets, the dust bunnies that have been sleeping in the corners for far too long. I rolled my pie dough and chopped all my apples, finishing them off with a few scoops of sugar and some generous shakes of cinnamon.

After all that work, I tasted, as any good baker must do.

It was awful. Like strong soap.

And then around the corner came Lainey, wearing a sheepish grin and holding a bottle of perfume. “I spwayed it,” she fessed up.

Needless to say…

We’ll start over tomorrow.

I love Thanksgiving. The linens, the dishes, the food, the chaos, the chopping, the football, the heat in the kitchen, and the fullness at the end of the evening.

I noticed Brett printed out some Wikipedia pages on Thanksgiving today. They’re stuck to the refrigerator with a carpet cleaning advertisement magnet, and I have yet to ask him what it’s all about. Probably some attempt to teach the kids as all good try-and-be-a-good-parent attempts go, and I will smile tomorrow watching him pull out his little papers and read through typed explanations about what it is, how it started, why we do it. I love this about him, I do.

And he has me thinking…what do I want my kids to know about this day?

Lord knows I’m all for being grateful. Hell, I ride unicorns. My kids will know we’re grateful–if not from the hot-glued felt banners literally spelling it out hanging over the table, then from the hundreds of thank-you’s we pray throughout their childhood. For good food and safe homes and health and trained doctors and cool toys and loving friends. It’s so important, really it is. But, it’s so done. Like rattling off “I love you” before you hang up the phone every single time, depleting it of its real meaning. When does I love you really mean I love you and when does thank you mean that kind of thank you when you feel it in your bones…when you want to kiss the universe and cement grateful moments into a place where they won’t fade away over time?

I think the true meaning of gratitude arrives on its own. You can’t try too hard to create it; you can’t stress too much about conveying it. Oh, we’ll read the Widipedia pages tomorrow. We’ll talk about Plymouth and Spanish explorers and throw out fancy phrases like “bountiful harvest” that will leave little eyes clueless and confused. We’ll take turns sharing what we’re thankful for this year which will range from less original but still valid answers like houses and jobs to the more emotional blessings of little almond eyes and the tiny soul that changed us. I’ll most likely cry and then pull it together. But still, that’s not the heart of it. That’s not the meaty core of Thanksgiving…the kind I want my kids to grasp and feel.

It will come somewhere in between…when no one’s watching. Right when the kitchen’s crazy and the gravy’s boiling and the football game is roaring and hands are being washed and babies are being prepped and hotpadded dishes are being carefully carried to the table. And someone will holler for everyone to come, and I’ll watch as conversations are wrapped up and bibs are fastened and heads are tipped in laughter. And right about then, I’ll want to grab my kids and kiss them, whisper into their ears….”This is Thanksgiving. This, right here, is being thankful. Drink it in, Babies. Drink it in.”

And then you just hope they get it. That over time, they know that they are blessed and that there are so many places in this world, in this country, in this little town, where there is pain and need and hunger. And knowing just how good it feels to have it, you hope they give it back.

So, yeah. I’m thankful tonight.

And two Thanksgiving treats for you.

Giveway winner of Mark Poulin’s $75 gift certificate, Commenter #471 The Stansbury’s: I always think that moms of toddlers and babies are so brave for camping…and adventure I haven’t faced…yet 😉
Congratulations, Stansburys! Please e-mail your contact info to kellehamptonblog@comcast.net.

And what’s a holiday without more free stuff?

So, I just got my new Silhouette digital cutting tool, and this thing has crazy possibilities. Scrapbook pages, etching, iron-on designs, letters, rhinestone bling.

I’m going bananas Christmas paper crafting right now. It comes with software ready-to-go, and their website is filled with downloadable fonts and projects. Valued at $299, and one is FREE to a random commenter on this post. Winner will be announced Sunday evening. Hello, Santa!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Camp-aign. (and a Giveaway!)

November 22, 2010 By Kelle

I’ve added something to the Bucket List this week: Learn how to play guitar. Because as one-with-the-Earth and family bonding and bug-slappingly wonderful as our camping trip was, it would have been just a bit more proverbial (in the unicorns jumping over rainbows kind of way, of course) if there was a guitar at the campfire to complete the moment.

And everyone knows, as corny as Kumbaya and John Denver campfire songs are, there is no one cooler around a campfire than the chick who pulls the guitar out and starts strummin’. And everyone’s all, “Dude! You didn’t! You brought your guitar…Whoa!” It’s gonna be me someday. Of course, I’ll have some Tom Petty in my repertoire as well to keep it cool. Because sometimes unicorns like to rock.

So, camping was a hit.

Our friends John and Charlotte joined us with Austyn and Brandyn’s good friends, Ashford and Drake. Thankfully, we like them all a lot.

We’ve been camping here before, but it was Life Pre-Babies. There’s something fabulously full circle about coming “home” to a beloved place after babies. Like renewing your vows. We loved it once already but now we’re bigger and better, and setting up tents while watching your toddler play with twigs and balancing chubby baby legs around your hip while you’re flipping pancakes on the Coleman grill has a way of making you love it all over again…and then some. I do, I do. I do take thee, Campground, to be our lawfully wedded place of good times, again and again.

I love camp air–this dusty combination of loose dirt and thick gray haze from campfire smoke, and it’s rich with this earthy scent that strangely makes me want to wear plaid and chop wood and catch fish.

I like boiling water over the campfire and making coffee that tastes that much better for the effort. I like sipping cold beer out of a tin cup. I like pulling my babies this close to me under the sleeping bag to keep them warm and imagining that winds are howling outside and our tent and my arms is all that keeps us safe from the big bad storm.

Mostly though, I like being together and feeling for a moment like all that exists is us, some hot flames, and this peaceful place that pulls you a little closer to the earth and all it has to offer.

And as all good renewing-your-vows ceremonies go, let there be photos.

Have no idea what this picture’s about. No one was sleeping but strangely, everyone has their eyes closed…even the dog. Funny.

So, yes…if I had a guitar, I suppose I’d pluck out some sort of high-on-life song about now.

But, I have a fabulous new sponsor instead and a giveaway to go along with it.

Introducing, artist Mark Poulin. Mark is a metalsmith and enamalist and happens to have an incredible talent for creating fun conversation-sparking jewelry.

My favorites: my Tic Tac Heart earrings…

…and the family necklaces (can be worn as a set with one clasp or seperately as Lainey and I are wearing our Quadrapus).

Right now, mention “Enjoying the Small Things” and buy any three items and get a little charm necklace free. (offer expires December 6th).

Plus, Mark is giving away a $75 gift certificate to a random commenter on this post. Winner will be announced Wednesday.

And, one more attempt for solicitation. When we were kids, our homeschool group was selling M&Ms once for something–don’t remember what, but we used to stand outside grocery stores trying to sell boxes of M&Ms. It was boring and ridiculously cold in the winter, so someone got creative and made up this little jingle “Would you like to buy some M&M’s?” which we would sing and accompany our song by tapping candy boxes together. It was silly and slightly embarrassing but in that really cool this-is-kind-of-liberatingly-fun kind of way. Dude, people came by the droves to buy our M&Ms. The point of this story?

If I had a guitar and knew how to play it, I’d sing you a little jingle about voting for Enjoying the Small Things in The Bump polls. But I don’t. You can still vote until tomorrow night (and you can vote every day). Right HERE. Scroll down and click “Enjoying the Small Things.”

Hey, it’s Monday. It’s a holiday week. Somewhere it’s snowing (I hear Montana, eh?), and Brett just changed our garage radio that plays 24/7 to a Christmas music station. Good times, Man. Good times.

Camped out so Rock the Vote

November 22, 2010 By Kelle

Just returned from camping weekend, and the thick perfume of dirt and woods and campfire embers is embedded deep into the fibers of everything that made its way back into the house.

I am still reeling from the fuel of spending two whole days confined with family and friends to the woodsy quarters of Lot 7 at Collier Seminole State Park, and I have lots to say about it–or at least some photos–and will do so tomorrow.

In the meantime, voting ends Tuesday for The Bump’s Best Blog Award, and we’d love your voice to be part of the voting. You can vote everyday, and you have to scroll down to find us (click on “Enjoying the Small Things”). CLICK HERE to vote!

Bug spray needs to be rinsed off, babies need sleep, Mama needs a long bath.

More of this tomorrow and a new sponsor I’m really excited about…

Thank you, Friends.