Kelle, Author at Enjoying the Small Things

North Pole Party

December 11, 2017 By Kelle

It was a whirlwind weekend here, with holiday festivities that left our house a wee bit glitter-dusted, but the result was holiday magic. (sidenote: I will never bake another cookie again in my life.)

Saturday evening kicked off our 7th Annual North Pole Party, a celebration that began years ago with nine kids and some Santa hats and has swelled, with time and more friendships, to a gathering of 36 little ones spanning from “first Christmas” to middle school, and a kitchen full of moms recalling this same celebration when their footie pajamas were much smaller.

It’s one of my favorite nights of the year, and every year we celebrate this, the scene ignites this deep gratitude–the kind that almost takes my breath away–for this window of motherhood I feel so honored to enjoy.

We celebrate Mrs. Claus style–with cookies, milk and cocoa–and in our pajamas while the rest of the magic spins itself because that’s what happens when you bring kids and twinkle lights together.

With no further ado, some moments from our evening…

Even Latte had Christmas pajamas.

Our reindeer food bar:

Ornament making:

And my dad’s reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, this year, the Cajun version (my friend brought it from New Orleans)–it’s hilarious.

Each child brings a $10-15 gift to exchange with another child. In past years, this is the part where everyone laughs because it’s been a hot mess–trying to call out names without missing someone, matching gender/age appropriately, not having some kid end up with their own gift, etc. I finally got some sense and matched up names well before the party so everyone knew who they were buying for, and–praise the heavens–it went smoothly.

Lainey’s happy with the babies which is exactly how I was when I was her age.

From the archives, our North Pole parties of the past: Last year, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011,

Grateful for all these friends we love and another year of memories….

10 Years of Blogging Anniversary: A Few Words to My Readers

December 8, 2017 By Kelle

I realized something this week–tomorrow marks the ten year anniversary of this blog. Ten years ago, new to motherhood, I sat down, typed my first blank page and released it to the void with horrible design choices, crappily edited pictures, music that annoyingly auto-played when you opened the blog (what, doesn’t everyone want to be force fed Coldplay’s Viva La Vida while looking at pictures of a stranger’s kid?), a title I chose without a lot of thought but….Passion! Gosh darnit, was I ever passionate about starting that blog. As I wrote in that first post that I’m not even going to link to because my enthusiasm embarrassingly exposes the fact that I am a 10-year-old secretly living in a 38-year-old’s body (sshhh….don’t tell), “It’s a blank canvas I can’t wait to paint on! It’s a new Hello Kitty diary complete with colored gel pens that I can’t wait to write in! It’s an empty scrapbook that is begging to be filled. It’s a thousand dollar shopping spree to Michaels! So, here it is…a blank page. My hands are shaking! I can’t wait to fill it… with the little things that make me happy.” Perhaps that sums up what admittedly may be on my tombstone someday: “She wrote with exclamation points.” I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but there you have it, how it all began–with exclamation points and reference to the craft aisles of Michael’s. Little did I know my proclaimed affection for Hello Kitty and gel pens would lead to a blog post where I would expose the bones of my soul and admit I was shaken from something that changed the course from the perfect dreams of motherhood I had spent so much time spinning in my head to the heart of real life–you can’t plan it all, sister, but you can paint the feck out of life with the brush you’ve been given. Of course, when I wrote it, I thought maybe twelve people would read it. But more showed up, and if there’s anything I learned from sharing that post that will forever keep this blog close to my heart, it’s that the people behind these screens? They are real, and they are wonderful, and we need each other’s stories.

The world of blogging has changed so much since I started, and while I miss the days of intimate story-telling that used to characterize the mom blog world, I embrace the changes of the Internet, our family and the creative challenges that lie ahead.

(inserting a few favorite pics from the 10-year archives here)

A few things I’ve learned from writing this blog that I want my kids to know:

1. You Are Not Alone.
What you’re going through, the way your family looks, the things in your mind that haunt you, the way you think, your guilt, your love, your pride, the things you think you’re failing at…you are not alone. You are not the only one who can’t keep the house together or loses permission slips or has experienced pain. There is a community out there of people just like you–rooting for you, cheering for each other. To find your community, share your story, speak up. To be the community, look around, listen.

2. Put Your Art, Story, Songs, Voice Into the World…WITH HEART.
Don’t wait for an invitation. Don’t wait until you’re “good at it.” Time’s a ticking, get it out. Let your story and song and vision and art seep out of every cell of your body wherever you are. Own it. Share it honestly and with passion. As Hugh MacLeod wrote in one of my creative Bibles Ignore Everybody, “Whether you’re writing to an audience of one, five, a thousand, a million, ten million, there’s really only one way to truly connect. One way that actually works: Write from the heart. There is no silver bullet. There is only the love God gave you.” Give that love to the world by voice, pen, hands. Don’t worry about what the world gives back (although a boomerang of love is guaranteed, eventually).

3. Make Mistakes.
The only way to overcome the fear of not being good enough which holds so many people back is to just be brave and practice being not that good. Be responsible, kind, thoughtful but know you’re going to make mistakes. Let the little ones go (grammar, spelling, that one time I posted a picture of me wearing the baby carrier wrong and everyone laughed), but learn from the big ones and let them change you for the better.

4. Don’t Compare Your Insides to Someone Else’s Outsides.
You know what happens if you’re driving on a road alongside a cliff and you look too long at the beauty on the other side of the cliff? Your car moves with you, and CRASH, you are dead. Focus on driving your own car. 10 and 2, baby. Your course, your destination is your own. How empowering is that?

5. By Golly, Have Fun.
This is it–the reason I keep blogging. Because I’m having fun. Because there are so many wonderful little things in the world to collect and be inspired by and celebrate, and I love having a designated jar to put them in.

And then there’s you, the people who take the time to click and read. I’ll take this ten year anniversary as an opportunity to virtually hug you. Thank you for showing up here, for taking interest in things I care about. Thank you for celebrating little things with me but also for embracing the big things–for advocating with us for people with special needs, for donating to the fund raisers we share with you, for sharing your stories in e-mails and comments, for the “me toos” you let me feel. Thank you for high-fiving red lipstick and children’s literature, Midwest summers, stocking stuffer guides and, Dear God, let’s not forget my love affair with Christmas.Thank you for reading about the sponsors we share and allowing us to make them a part of the blog too. I try very hard to let story, love and enjoyment of happy little things guide everything I do on this blog, and I make great efforts when incorporating sponsors to make sure those things stand out and to respect my readers. And when the hard and heavy things come along, I aim to share them too–enough of them to remind us that life isn’t a ride on a Lisa Frank unicorn.

I hope this space is always a place where you feel welcome, supported, inspired and connected; and as I continue to write here, my goal remains to create an inspiring space that feels a little bit like home–or a colorful classroom where Mrs. Frizzle is wearing a weird outfit that is both questionable and cool. New goals for this space for next year are coming, but for now, let’s toast to ten years. Thanks for coming along, friends.

Permission to Cheat on Holiday Cookies and Other Allowances and a $200 Giveaway

December 5, 2017 By Kelle

This post is sponsored by RetailMeNot. All of the holiday allowances in this post help save time and cushion my sanity to preserve this season so that I’m enjoying it rather than scrambling to perform in it. They also happen to include savings from Retail Me Not so that my wallet gets cushioned too.

“I’m all ready for the holidays and there’s nothing for me to do except sit back and listen to Bing Crosby on repeat until December 25″…said no one ever. December can be an ironic month for many–the intention to gather, slow down and enjoy our bounty can often just create pressure that makes us feel stretched, stressed and anything but bountiful.

I, of course, don’t hide the fact that I love this time of year. We create bucket lists, plan holiday adventures and get dizzy with excitement over parties and decorating and watching loved ones to open gifts that we put our hearts into. But I wouldn’t enjoy it if my expectations didn’t come with the cushion of allowances I give myself–to simplify where I can and use as many resources available so that celebrating the season doesn’t mean stretching ourselves thin or feeling guilty for what we did or didn’t do.

Whether it’s scratching the homemade meal you planned and ordering pizza instead for Polar-Express-and-living-room-fort night or laughing at the fact that you never found the time to finish the homemade gift you planned for your sister so you ordered her those red shoes she’s had her eye on instead (20% off though, so yay!), RetailMeNot basically serves as the hubbub of savings for you this season with thousands of coupons, deals, cash back offers (that can be combined with codes!) and discount e-gift cards. Instead of rummaging through old mail for that pizza coupon you may have saved or scrolling through e-mails for holiday deal offers, RetailMeNot puts all the best deals and savings out there in one easy-to-find spot. We used deals we found on RetailMeNot for all of these holiday allowances this year:

1. Permission to knock off both “Decorate a Gingerbread House” and “Christmas Cookie Baking Extravaganza” with a pack of store bought gingersnaps and some candy.

Pssttt: here’s a little tip. World Market has these dangerously delicious gingersnaps that serve as the perfect blank canvases for frosting and sprinkles. They also have the best pack of Christmas cookie candies I’ve found, all packaged in one easy-to-store container.

While we love baking cookies, not everyone does–not to mention the mess. So if you’re looking for a cookie cheat, this is the perfect solution. RetailMeNot has several current offers for World Market right now from food (so many great specialty holiday food items there!) to gifts.

2. Permission to order out as many nights as you please in December.

Hear ye, hear ye: If you have fed your family from January to November and they’re all still standing, your job is done. You put in your time, you did your deed, here’s your gold star. They just enjoyed the most extravagant spread of food for the year on Thanksgiving, they’ll be fine with whatever from here on out. This month, you have the freedom to order pizza, subs, sushi and count them all as “special holiday meals.” In fact, let the kids eat on T.V. trays while watching Home Alone–they’ll love it.

We never remember to keep the coupons in our mail-outs for local restaurants, so we use RetailMeNot to find great food deals…like 25% off for Papa Johns the other night.

3. Permission to be a sentimental heap at the holidays. Oh, this one’s hard for me–I always feel like I have to rein in the feels because mine are wild stallions. Whoa, horsey! But, you know what? It’s the holidays, and if I want to roll into a fetal position and cry it out at the ending of Family Stone or go all mushy gushy over the Hallmark ornaments that remind me of my kids’ first Christmases, then so be it.

(little Goodnight Moon…Nella’s pick at the Hallmark store with a $5-off-$10-purchase code we found on RetailMeNot)

I have a heart, and I intend to let it bleed all the emotions this holiday.

4. Permission to celebrate however you like.

Don’t like telling your kids the whole Santa story? Very well then. Take Santa to the moon? Very well then too. Elf on the Shelf stresses you out? Honey, you’re in good company. Two hours of Elf on a Shelf preparation for the lego tower in the shape of the Empire State building you made him build last night? High five, you go girl. There are so many ways to celebrate the season and opportunities for both wonder and imagination as well as simplicity and gratitude. You find what works best for your family, what draws you together, what makes you come alive, what aligns with your values and your beliefs. This season is about love, and whether or not you sprinkle magic glitter all over it really doesn’t matter. Each of our traditions are unique and tell a different story, and that’s what makes the holidays so colorful. No matter what my neighbor believes or how many holiday ideas I read about online, I give myself permission to create our own family memories in the language of love we speak.

Ours happens to come with a side of glitter.

(The kids fell in love with this teeny tiny bottle of magic reindeer dust, another Hallmark deal on RetailMeNot).

5. Permission to not get the most thoughtful/unique/homemade/perfect gift.

Listen, I love to find unique “Wow!” gifts just as much as the next person, but that puts a lot of pressure on the giver, and sometimes receivers aren’t into handmade pottery mugs like I am. There’s nothing wrong with an easy click-to-buy gift card. I buy gift cards for my nieces because I was a teen girl once and know that shopping for makeup in Sephora at that age with money that isn’t earmarked for books/gas/paying your mom back is the golden ticket. And we buy gift cards for teachers because I was a teacher once and know that a go-buy-something-fun-that’s-not-related-to-your-classroom nudge is a huge hug from parents. RetailMeNot has a large collection of discounted e-gift cards that you can send to loved ones far away without facing the post office, or you can print off and creatively package for someone near.

And now that you’ve given yourself permission to enjoy these holidays in whatever fashion works for you, here’s a little bonus gift from our friends at RetailMeNot: They’re offering $200 to one lucky winner. To enter the giveaway, click here to sign up for RetailMeNot, browse their website and comment back on this post with the deal you’re excited to use for holiday shopping this year!

You can download the RetailMeNot app to save on everything, and when you snag a great deal, share your savings on social media with #DealBrag.

Now I’m going to give myself permission to lie on my couch for twenty minutes and finish this book I’ve reading.