The year of the table
There is something about “The Table” that keeps drawing us in. Even before we moved to France, we owned a well-loved dining table that came with a leaf to extend […]
spirituality
Growing a world-shaped heart
I just love that French word “terroir”, most often used in reference to wine. Terroir describes that dynamic process by which the whole environment: climate, geography, soil, air – gives […]
Inside my Tuesday home
It’s Tuesday. Gone is the ambition of Monday. Friday seems so far away. Tuesday is on the way to somewhere and it hasn’t arrived yet. My Tuesday home is surrounded […]
Pregnant! Now what?!
Isn’t it such a great thing that we were given a full 9+ months to prepare for the babies that end up in our arms? Even third time round, it […]
Freefall to Fly
A few months back, I wrote a review of the novel Americanah because of its rich layers and interwoven themes: Immigration, The Third Culture, Cross-cultural living. Books must really be of […]
On race, immigration and love: Americanah
Introducing a book that depicts life pretty accurately on three continents and unpacks the sensitive subject of race in a relatively non-judgmental fashion. It’s a book that also humanizes the […]
“They’re gonna hate you for it”
I have been grateful for so many encouraging comments and emails about traveling with small kids, multilingualism, and cross-cultural living on social media. Then, almost out of nowhere, this one […]
Adventures in China with small kids
Not so many Western families travel to China with young kids for a vacation. That was the first thing that struck us as we flew to Shanghai a few weeks […]
Good grief.
Late last night, I mustered up the courage to flick through my old blog that accompanied me like a best friend from graduate school, outlasting even my first two real […]
Be.
You know you are getting older when you get all negative about setting New Year’s resolutions. It’s kind of sad when you lose that youthful trust in humanity and in […]
The time I almost missed Christmas
We all have hopes and longings for our children. We want them to learn to crawl, to walk, to talk. We want them to care for others, to be bridge-builders, […]
This gift of diversity
How desperately, do I want to teach our kids to be lovers of this world. Interesting then, when it actually came to inviting the so-called ‘world’ into our home (without us […]
Hope for this weary mama
Two lanky girls stumbled into the coffee shop. One following the other. They both wore glasses. Their gait was either demonstrative of high intelligence or the insecurity that comes with […]
Tia Camp
Well, girls, I am pretty sure I am the luckiest pregnant mama out there. My sister-in-law, a.k.a. “Tia”, recently declared she would be taking Ayo one day a fortnight in […]
Flying alone w/ 19 month Ayo
This cozy Sunday afternoon found me catching up on Pam’s witty blog about air travel with a toddler over here. I beckoned Tall Mountain to come over and read her […]
Co-housing thoughts
On Sunday, we enjoyed an impromptu post-church lunch with some friends of ours. They have four children, two of whom were adopted into their family from mainland China. Their four […]
Remembering the Sabbath
When asked what was the hardest thing about living in the States, my friend recently responded: “probably the way the Sabbath day is treated like any other day. I mean, […]
The discipline of solitude
*7:30 am. Alarm clock rings* Cool, Ayo is still sleeping. Why am I so tired! Oh yeah, we went to bed late again. Will we ever learn? Sure. Tonight we’ll […]