holidays + celebrations

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climb the mountain

August 23, 2010 in holidays + celebrations, sponsor giveaways by eringoodman | 88 comments

What a wonderful morning we had yesterday singing and dancing (and oh yes – sweating!) in service to the muse. If anyone would like to see some photos (taken by my wonderful husband, who also provided technical support for my slide show) you can view them on my facebook page. And now, per my usual, I’m sneaking in just “before the bell” in the last full week of August with the Two Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway I promised.

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I didn’t actually climb this mountain — but I sure enjoyed photographing it.

When our family went to camp last year we played a game called “Climb the Mountain.” Everyone made a big circle and the camp director shouted out “Climb the mountain if you…drove more than four hours to get here…have never slept in a cabin before…love the color yellow…etc.”

If what was spoken applied, you ran into the center of the circle (climbed the mountain). And then ran back out. It was a quick and easy ice-breaker and it was a whole lot of FUN!

We can’t exactly play that here but in the interest of getting to know more about the wonderful people who visit here (more than 10,000 of you each month according to my latest stats!!!) I came up with my own blog version of the game. And to make it more interesting, there’s a great give-away to go with it!

All you have to do to play along is leave your comment(s) at the end of this post! (Oh and by the way, this game / giveaway is open to everyone, including my friends and family who seem to think that there are some sort of corporate rules that make them ineligible. Yeah. Not true.)

So here goes. Climb the Mountain (er…leave a comment) if…

~ You have been reading exhale. return to center. since I launched it in August 2008.

~ You subscribe to my blog posts via e-mail.

~ You have taken a yoga class with me, or attended one of my retreats, Mothers’ Circles or workshops.

~ You live far away but wish you could attend one of my events.

~ You subscribe to my e-newsletter.

~ You have been a sponsor here.

~ You read one (or both) of my old blogs (this one or this one).

~ You read my essay on mothering.com and “tracked me down.”

~ You read my essay in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms.

~ Something I have written has made you cry. And you’ve thanked me for it!

~ We met through the RI Birth Network.

~ We connected through kidoinfo.com, soulemama.com, Writer Mama or mothering.com.

~ We’re “old friends” who reconnected through facebook!

~ You buy your favorite Pat’s Pastured products from me or are a fan of Pat’s Pastured!

~ We have a shared love of Treasure-Mapping.

~ You can’t remember how you found your way here.

~ I’ve interviewed you – or you’ve interviewed me!

~ You will be attending the Contra Dance that I am hosting THIS Saturday!

~ You have never commented here before.

~ You loaned me something and I kept it way too long. (Kidding. I never do this.)

~ You have no idea who I am or what this blog is about – you’re just here for the give-away!

~ None of the above – but you’d like to leave a comment anyway!

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1. Leave a separate comment for any of the above that apply – you will be entered into the drawing for each comment!! (Up to a total of 10 comments per person!!)

2. For an additional chance to win, please share this giveaway on twitter, or facebook, or link to it from your blog. (There’s a little “Share This” button at the bottom left of this post that makes it easy to do!) Come back here and leave a comment telling what you did to spread the word and you will be entered for ANOTHER chance to win!

Comments closed. Thanks for playing along! I’ll be back on Sunday to announce the winner!

Comments will remain open until Friday (8/27) at 8 a.m. EST when I will select the winner of this beautiful EXHALE necklace handmade by my friend and longtime blog sponsor Kate Bussey of Mills Creek Market.

Good Luck! And…

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

For reading. For commenting. For supporting me in doing the work I love!

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celebrating 10 years

July 9, 2010 in essays+reflections, holidays + celebrations, living our dreams! by eringoodman | 28 comments

Ten years ago this week, John and I exchanged wedding vows in a small white chapel with peeling paint and no electricity.

We traveled to and from our ceremony by trolley and I still remember the absolute bliss of eating take-out pizza in the bouncy red trolley with wooden bench seats on our way to the reception, after four years of love and friendship, now officially husband and wife.

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July 8, 2000 ~ Photo by The Halls of Photgraphy

Yesterday we went back to the little white chapel with our children and the intention to stand on the steps and renew our wedding vows.

To our great delight we arrived as a wedding rehearsal was just ending and we were able to go inside and once again stand on the altar together.

This time with one of our children choreographing and photo-documenting the ceremony while the other clambered over wooden benches and ran circles around us.

July 8, 2010 ~ Photo by Lily

As we stood there together we laughed remembering the hours we spent carefully crafting our vows, intentionally selecting each and every word, debating at length about my desire to call each other lovers — Is it really necessary to call me your lover in front of your grandparents, Erin? — and finally agreeing to disagree (the first of many such compromises) and to each speak the truth in our hearts.

July 8, 2000 ~ Photo by The Halls of Photography

I find myself also reminiscing about the beautiful honeymoon trip we took to Nova Scotia, the rustic cabin by the ocean that was our home for one week, and the shared dream we basked in to return to the same spot, perhaps on our tenth wedding anniversary, along with the children who were but a dream themselves.

The kids decorated our mini-wedding cake with flowers from the garden.

As my heart is flooded with sweet memories, my mind also drifts to the challenging moments, the dark days that at times stretched into weeks and months, and the decision earlier this year that the tenth anniversary family vacation we once envisioned is simply not in the best interest of our family.

Yesterday we celebrated this special day together.

And later this month John and I will celebrate alone as we enjoy a second honeymoon – just the two of us for one week, with nothing but time and open road in front of us.

It feels the perfect way to honor the last 10 years, celebrate all that is right now, and step joyfully into the next chapter as we ask ourselves…

…Where do we want to go from here? 

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 Happy weekend friends..

 

scenes from a holiday weekend

May 31, 2010 in holidays + celebrations, photography by eringoodman | 9 comments

a thousand words :: easter weekend

April 5, 2010 in a thousand words, holidays + celebrations by eringoodman | 6 comments

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{ Happy Monday to you! }

a simple christmas

December 28, 2009 in essays+reflections, exhale audio, holidays + celebrations by eringoodman | 7 comments

I hope you all had a lovely holiday.

We’re taking things slowly this week, enjoying some extra family time with Papa on vacation (and some very special couple time as we look forward to our first overnight trip without children since we became parents over five years ago).

I’ll be back to say hello later this week and look forward to returning to a more regular posting schedule next week.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my second audio post. Still far from perfect — you’ll hear me struggle with Ps and Cs and stumble over more than a few words — but I’m having lots of fun revisiting these old essays and sharing them with you in this form and, as I often remind my children and my yoga students - practice makes progress.

I hope you enjoy…

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This piece was published in the Southern Rhode Island Newspapers in December, 2007. The photo is of my grandfather (Grandpapa to my children) holding the mixed-media collage I created as a gift for my mother.

 the blessings of a simple christmas ::  audio | text

 

a magical moss garden

December 21, 2009 in holidays + celebrations, nature, waldorf-inspired by eringoodman | 12 comments

Last week we visited with our dear friends for a lovely, low-key holiday gathering, and the kids (and at least one adult ;-) were absolutely enthralled with this beautiful moss garden display on their windowsill.

Wishing you moments of magic, peace and simple beauty on this Solstice Day. 

 

walking the spiral path

December 17, 2009 in holidays + celebrations by eringoodman | 11 comments

Last Sunday morning, our children woke to discover a Labyrinth of rocks and shells in our living room. They knew immediately that the fairies had visited while we slept. 

Rushing into the spiral maze, they quickly discover a small red box at the very center. Tucked inside the box are several tiny pieces of chocolate, which they happily enjoy before walking the path again (and again!).

Later that day, we attended the annual Advent Labyrinth at our UU church, a magical and sacred event that we look forward to each December.

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When we enter the church sanctuary we find a spiral of greens laid out. At the center of the Labyrinth sits our dear friend ready to light a candle for each person who walks the spiral path. 

Gold stars are placed along the path and small animals and crystals can be found on or near them. Once the candle is lit, it is placed on a star alongside a special treasure that calls to the heart.

As we sit together listening to the drums and waiting for our turn to walk, my mind drifts through past years. 

I have walked the Advent Labyrinth with my children in my heart, in my womb, in my arms, holding my hand, and this year I watched my beautiful girl carefully walk the spiral path alone. A few minutes later, I walked with (but a few steps behind) my sweet boy as he proudly carried his candle.

Traditionally when one walks the Labyrinth a question is held in the heart. The path represents the journey inward to the Self and often answers are revealed along the path.

With my attention focused on my children and the dancing flames in their hands, I am not able to focus inward. And yet the experience is still amazingly powerful.

With the exception of the musicians, we were the last people to leave the sanctuary and as we did, I paused to take one photograph.

This is the magic of the season that I love so much.

 

the lantern walk

November 23, 2009 in community, holidays + celebrations, photography, waldorf-inspired by eringoodman | 10 comments

Due to rain, the Lantern Walk took place a week later than planned but it was well worth the wait.

In a letter home, Miss Anne described the event in this way:

“The Lantern Walk is a chance for families to come together at school and have a sweet, safe adventure experiencing the night.”

And that is just what it was.

Such a lovely evening!

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As an aside, I am very pleased with my photos this year — much more so than last year. The secret (surprise-surprise) was my breathing. Each time I took a picture, I let out a long slow exhale (using Ujjayi breath) and it really helped to keep my hands steady during the longer exposure!

 

a poem for papa

November 19, 2009 in at home, holidays + celebrations, poetry by eringoodman | 14 comments

Late last week, the kids and I started getting ready for a very special day – Papa’s birthday. Taking my lead from the beautifully simple way birthdays are celebrated at our kids’ school, I encouraged them to make homemade cards for Papa as their gifts.

While we worked we talked about all the things we love about Papa and took turns telling stories about some of the (many) funny things Papa says and does.

It was a truly lovely morning.

To go along with the drawing she did (of a little girl finding a mama robin and her eggs), Lily asked me to write these words, her poem for Papa.

Green as the grass,

Light as the snow.

You are my father,

Let’s go.

I love you so.

Love,

Lily

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Happy Birthday Papa! We love you!

 

getting ready

November 11, 2009 in holidays + celebrations, living + learning by eringoodman | 5 comments

While I am making phone calls and typing notes and mentally preparing for the RI Birth Network’s Third Annual Fall Forum: When Birth Doesn’t go as Planned, my children and their classmates are preparing for another very special annual event that will occur this weekend — The Lantern Walk.

On Friday night, just after dark, we will gather at the school for a bonfire, singing, a candle-lit stroll down the Wiggly Woggly Path, and the releasing of milkweed pod boats filled with candles and wishes.

It is an absolutely magical experience, one that our entire family looks forward to each November. And last week at school, the children began getting ready by decorating their lanterns.

I love how things often come together like this — in May it was dancing the Maypole the day after I returned from my first visit to New York city for a Power Moms book-signing event — and now this weekend as I get ready to host what is shaping up to be a very important event in our birth community, we will begin our weekend with the simplicity and sweetness of the Lantern Walk.

Such beautiful balance.

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