A Place Like This......

Fed Up With Frenzy Giveaway

Today I have a very special giveaway from blogging friend Suz Lipman.

 

A couple of years ago I discovered her blog Slow Family Online. It spoke to the core of my being. We've been able to share our love of creating memories in our families by savoring each moment.

Fed up with car-pooling, the school drop off line, sports practice, hours of homework, and a constant pressure to do more quickly , one day Suz Lipman decided to just stop this mad paced life and to slow down.

This decision or the thought of such a decision can leave one with more questions than answers.

Is it really this easy to just stop? Won't my children just watch TV or play video games? What about my child being well-rounded to get into a good university? All of these I can tell you are some of the same questions that ran through my brain as well. 

"Slowing down doesn't mean moving at a snails pace but creating a time schedule that feels right for you and your family."

Everything starts with the intention to do so. Here's the gem of it all, you, as in you and your family get to choose how you fill your time together. I can share from experience that it is that easy to stop the frenzy and exchange it for fun.

Fed up with Frenzy is a treasure trove of a guide filled to the brim with afforadable activities to help your family slow down and reconnect to one another. 

Included in this slow family adventure guide are cooking and crafting, getting outdoors, seasonal celebrations and wonderful suggestions for "slow" family vacation activities. Pages and pages of wonderful inspiring ideas to create memories for you and your family.

I couldn't help physically smiling while reading this gem of a book because of the memories it evoked from my own childhood. My lucky husband and children have been followed through the hallowed halls of our home to hear me reading from my favorite jump rope rhymes, hand-clapping games, choosing IT, and let's not forget those scouting games and crafting moments such as the ever popular sit upon. 

As I've read through this book several times now, exact and precise moments from my childhood came jumping off the page. I am ever inspired to write a childhood memory journal for my children as we take the suggestions off these pages and make memories together. 

I know for certain that if Suz and I lived on the same street growing up that we would have been the best of friends. The only question I had after reading Fed up with Frenzy is if Suz Lipman ever spoke Pig Latin. Certainly after sharing so many of the same creative moments in our lives, it is hoped that we share Pig Latin as well. :)

Here's a little more about Susan Sach Lipman:

She is the founder of slowfamilyonline.com, writes for Christin Science Monitor's Modern Parenthood blog, and is the San Francisco Slwo Family Life Examiner at Examinercom. She is also the Social Media Director for the Children & Nature Network, which encourages and supports people and organizations working around the world to reconnect children with nature.

A longtime Girl Scout leader, Suz also enjoys gardening, hiking, community volunteering, reading, soap crafting and food canning. She lives with her husband and daughter in Mill Valley, CA.

 

Today we are giving away one copy of Fed up with Frenzy. Please leave a comment below telling us what activities you love to share together as a family. This giveaway goes through Monday September 3rd with the winner announced September 4th. A huge thank-you to Sourcebooks for supplying the book for today's giveaway. 

Fed up with Frenzy can be found in the following places:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Indie Bound

Book Passage

Powell's

Scenes

I've been busy the past couple weeks with several things namely of which was my in-laws coming to visit. At the same time a wonderful course by Kate England of Marmalade Moon started on iphoneography. I've only recently started using an iphone and still haven't figured out all of the neat things one can do with such a phone, including photography. 

Love These Summer Days

The last couple of weeks has seen my house filled to the brim with our visiting family.

After all of the usual sight-seeing trips, there was one place we hadn't taken them yet and that was to the Stuga ( Little Swedish Cabin by the Lake). 

Picnic baskets packed, sunscreen and mosquitoe protection in tow, we headed up to the Smoky Mountains to have a day filled with forest and water fun. 

The awe and wonder never gets old when a child discovers the treasures of nature. My nephew took his father's camera for the first time and couldn't stop taking photos of all his discoveries.

His sister on the other hand loved being on the water so much but was worried about all of the family we left behind on shore. It was a dilemma for her to pick paddling with me and her mother or staying with her family on land.  Her ultimate decision was to come aboard and out to sea, or on the lake rather, with us. Following closely behind us was her cousin "O" who decided to "Tom Sawyer" it across the lake. Side note: Yes I notice he doesn't have a life-jacket on. Yes I hollered that fact to him and yes he went back to shore to get one. But I took this photo before all of that happened. :)

The rest of our day was spent just relaxing and hanging out together as well as eating great food. I love these last days of summer don't you?

Relic in the Forest

The last time "O" and I went to Sweden we happened upon a 12th century gothic cathedral ruin by the side of the road. Surrounded by partial ancient walls, this lovely structure is surrounded by trees and flowering meadows.

All the boy could think about were the ruins at Elinghem and how he had to show his sister. If he had gotten his way, we would have landed at the Visby airport, and gone directly to Elinghem. 

He didn't get his way and a few days later on a gloriously sunny day, the boy finally got to show his sister the discovery he had made a year or so before.

From the moment he left the car he became the ever dutiful tour guide.

 

I did not know one could speak so in depthly about a shell of a building but for our boy it isn't only a shell, it is the wonder of what stories it holds.

Who built this and why here? What did it look like before? How did it become a ruin and why didn't the people fix it? Then of course there is all the wondering of what could be done with it. 

"We could raise money and repair it. We could have music concerts here. Open a cafe in the summer. Hold weddings, family reunions, plant an herb garden." 

As you have probably guessed this is my son, ever pregnant with an idea or two, three, four, five...... :)

His dutiful sister knew her part in it all and inspected every discovery, every "look here". She is a champion among elder sisters. 

Is what none of us expected was to make a new discovery. As I was taking this photo, I noticed our boy wonder looking inside the far wall. 

"What is it "O"? " I asked.

"It's a staircase!!!! And it goes all the way up."

Dutiful sister Mimi runs to the staircase and starts to climb up. Ever the worrier, "O" starts yelling, "Wait we have to inspect it , you're going too high. What if you fall?" 

And then I must tell you there was silence...........

 The girl surfaced at the top of the cathedral. Following were the ever-worried words of her ever-worried brother.

It took a lot of convincing to get the boy up the stairs so he could have a look of his own. 

But finally he did and now all he talks about is how they climbed the stairs at Elinghem.

What discoveries have you made lately?

A Little Friday Fox Magic

Maybe you remember a couple of years ago I had a fox family move into my garden. Since Spring, I've been keeping a very large secret.......Hulda came back to the old den, her family home, with her newborns. I had a creative moment and made this video last week. Have a look and see the fox mayhem that's ensued. How many foxes in all are in my yard?

Happy Fox Friday !!!!

Two Wheels and Me

There is something you do not know about me but I'm about ready to share. I love to ride my bicycle. Not to race, nor to go quickly, or far but just to ride and feel the wind in my hair and the breath of the sea on my face.

This summer has seen it's share of early morning bike rides, afternoon rides to the lake, and evening rides when the shadows are getting long. 

I wasn't alone in this quest, everywhere I went I saw parked bicycles, each one an individual like it's owner.

Some people riding far and others just out for a ride to their favorite coffee place.

There is this wonderful quote by Hellen Keller, and I discovered that she loved riding bikes as much as I do. I felt so happy she could experience this blissful joy as well.

Next to a leisurely walk, I enjoy a spin on my tandem bicycle. It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face and the springy motion of my iron steed. The rapid rush through the aire gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulse dance and my heart sing. ~ Helen Keller

 

                           

 

Another Time Round the Sun

 

PsssssssssT ......Hey You,.......

Yeah You,.....

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl !!!!!!

Caught on a Gray Day

Though most of our days have been sunny in Sweden there were a few gray ones, even pouring with rain sorts of days. 

On this particular day,......

I walked across the courtyard of The Royal Palace in Stockholm to take a photo of the clock tower and the sky. 

When I turned around I noticed Mimi looking at the same clock tower but she looked so isolated and alone.

And then she noticed me noticing her, and her smile lit up the world.

Among the Stones

High on the cliffs above the sea,

We walk among these ancients stones which use to be the cliffs themselves.

My family and I climb them,

play hide and seek among them,

and enjoy the view.

Shared moments like these bring a return to the quietness within. 

In celebration of our new Mindful Parenting Book Club read, Last Child in the Woods, we're going outside and joining Joy from "You know how we're an art family" in enjoying the great outdoors. 

Fun Friday Happenings ~

 

I'm so excited today !!!! Because the Olympics start tonight. I love both the opening and closing ceremonies and the solidarity that comes together between people and countries. The other thing I love  Olympics is some of the obscure sports one gets introduced to and then becomes an expert of. I don't know about you, but all I have to do is watch an obscure sport for about 15 minutes and I become expert enough to coach from the couch. So here's to the Opening of Britian's Summer Olympics.

NEXT:

I'm going to make you laugh so hard that you'll write me a thank -you note. What could be funnier than Jimmy Fallon acting as Jim Morrison and singing The Doors interpretation of the Reading Rainbow theme song? Nothing I tell you, Nothing.

 

Friend Jamie Ridler is offering this lovely freee- book called "Dreams Really Do Come True and Yours Can Too."

She really wants us to know that somewhere, maybe even just next door, someone's dream really is coming true. Your dreams can come true too. Jamie has put together this lovely collection of life-long dream makers:

 

It is possible for dreamers Kate Swoboda, Danette Relic, Tara Swiger,Amy Palko, Sunny Schlenger, David Cohen, Julie Daley, Leonie Dawson,Chris Zydel, Andrea Schroeder, Bridget Pilloud, Lisa deYoung, Tanya Geisler and Danielle LaPorte.

It’s possible for me.

It’s possible for you.

To pick up your free copy you can find out more about it here .

Photo by Kate England

Artist, designer, illustrator, and incredible iPhoneographer Kate England of Marmalade Moon is offering a course called Unfolding the Creative iPhoneography Course. If any of you have seen Kate's work you know it's brilliant and I for one can hardly wait for this course to learn a couple of iphoto secrets. Be sure to get on the list so you know when the course is being offered.

 

That's it's for this week's fun happenings. Have a great weekend !!!