Coffee Shop Story Time

Here we are with some favorite coffee-shop family activities. We keep needing to remind ourselves that the goal of parenting is not to find something to entertain the children so that we can ignore them and do our own thing. We usually have more fun when we are all present together. This does not exclude adult conversation and down times! It just means we don't exclude the needs of the children when we plan our day, and we shift internally to enjoying one another each as we are today. (i.e., posh location, exquisite drinks, grown-up books and kid books) Oh, and we have some fun.First, we are doing a little free pen and ink drawing with supplies from Libby's little art-on-the-go kit. (like this Chinese set, a gift or this homemade one.) This takes no planning. Even Ezra can do this.Small amount of planning: bringing a few choice reads. Lately we've been way into Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Blueberries for Sal, and Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea.I truly love reading aloud, and both kids are engaging so deeply with the stories.I love this last picture because we're all doing the same thing with our faces.

After-bath Sweet

I'm not quite sure how I converted them all, but we have become a family of happy bathers. It's sort of a problem when we have house guests (whom we love to host!) because normal Americans shower all the time and our bathroom totally isn't set up for it anymore! I've read that baths take more water than showers, but this simply can't be true. Especially if you get three people in the bath!
Near the end of a bath these days the boys like to play a raucous game they call, "Bop 'em on the Head." It's very noisy and pretty splashy and I like to get out of the room at that point.
Not long after this I am summoned to "call the kitties." Then two sweet clean soft relaxed little kitties come meowing to the bedroom for their post-bath massages. Very sweet indeed.

Polishing Shoes

We recently found the most fabulous old little leather shoes for Gibbie. They are so nice that they are decidedly only school and church shoes, or for dancing. They inspired us to get out the shoe-shine kit. Gibbie and Ezra get out the polishing work, and lay out all the pieces.They apply polish, rub, buff, spit, and shine, with a small arsenal of brushes and rags. They have thus far been very tidy, with no big shoe polish messes. They pack all the parts of the work neatly back up in the box and close the lid when they are done.Gibbie has also polished boots and shoes for Mama and Papa.
He's almost ready to hang out his shingle!

Post-Modern Collaborative Advent Wreath

I posted last year on our Advent devotions, a family tradition we're carrying on from Libby's childhood. Advent is the season in the church year that comes before Christmas. It's a time of remembering Israel waiting for the light of the Messiah (who we believe is Jesus) to come, and a time of preparing our hearts for this Christ to come again. We explain it to the kids that when Jesus comes back, God will fix all the brokenness in the world; wipe away all tears and make everything how it was made to be. We do a little prayer time, light candles, sing and play instruments, and read a story or two. It's all very simple.
I love doing Advent devotions because it takes away the bustle of December and focuses us, draws our attention to the bright light that shines in the darkness. Don't we need light when it's so dark outside! Dinner time is really deep night for us this time of year! And then there are deeper darknesses too, for which we need even more light.Our advent wreath turned out so fun this year. All the supplies for this were thrifted or gifted. The colors of the candles are not "proper" at all; I just used what we had. The Christmas candle has little kids playing instruments on one side and ducks on the other. Of course he decided that the ducks will face out. I don't think that the colors of the Advent wreath are ancient tradition. Everyone seems to have their own idea about what each one stands for, so I make free with this tradition. For our Christmas candle, I try to find anything lovely. One year it was a rainbow, another it was covered in green sparkly swirlyques, and this year it's this little volks-art scene.
There are one, two, three, and four stars on each of the candles to represent what respective week we are on. By the time we get to the four-star candle, we will be lighting all four candles, and just a week away from Christmas. Gibbie helped me design and make the candle decorations. (they are made with soft colored wax that we cut and press onto the candles) We have a blackbird for peace, a lamb for joy, bunnies for love, and a sunrise for hope, all very personal symbols for us. I think this is the essence of liturgy; using ritual to make real to us spiritual truths that we cannot see.

Racy D'lene's Coffee Lounge

Last weekend I went on a trip with my best friend Pat who is getting married a week from today. It was a "just the two of us" kind of get away before he becomes one with Angela. On the way back from his cabin we stopped at Racy D'lene's Coffee Lounge in Eau Claire. I've blogged about Racy's previously, but it's worth another mention.

I used to go to Racy's when I was in high school and home from college. This was before I knew much about coffee (which is good, because their coffee wasn't that great back then!) Racy's has been a kind of formative ideal for me of what coffee shop atmosphere can be. It's cozy yet industrial, and a little dark. It has an adequate sound system, which is a detail many other good coffee shops lack.

As I mentioned before, the coffee quality at Racy's has been elevated in the last few years. It might be the only shop with a Synesso in western Wisconsin. We had a good time talking with Kyle, the barista pictured below. Baristas have many common experiences: the gripes and joys of the job. He humored us and poured some latte art.
Thanks Kyle.