sling diaries :: tradition

 i love and believe that quote up there.  in every conceivable manner, the

family is the link to our past and bridge to our future.  we're doing as much

as we can to have those links & bridges filled with love, but i'm not naive

enough to believe that we're probably doing a lot of things wrong. 

i'm thankful for grace and hopeful that these nine little people bond

together in the common belief that even through those 'wrong ways'

our family is pretty awesome. 

we link them together with tiny traditions. 

kisses on the bridge of their nose,

Ugandan food night, bedtime squeezes, family dance parties, new year's eve

appetizer parties, church on sunday, candy factory after Outback cheese fries,

saving our loose change all year to give chickens/seeds/goats from a catalog

to an impoverished family, Jesus Storybook Bible, clapping at dinner until

the person that made it stands on a chair to bow, Operation Christmas

Child boxes, Yahtzee around the round table and

donuts from Chuck's on Saturday.

 sometimes matt sneaks out before anyone has stirred on saturday morning.

he returns with a big, white box of the most delicious donuts.

for real.  i think Chuck's glazed cake donut could go up 

against any other bakery's and win.  hands down.

the cinnamon swirl one?  amazing. 

ridiculous in the best possible way.

 but, sometimes we venture there, too.

the kids line up and point to which one they want.

they affectionately call the lady 'the donut lady' as she greets them all

and marvels how the kids have grown and how our family has grown

they grab a little carton of chocolate milk & a seat next to one of the regulars.

verna is 88 and has 3 great grandchildren.  she doted over bianca's curls, emmy in 

her big sister chloe's sling and our big family. 

i hope these little traditions give them each love, security and a sense of belonging. 

that they link us all together as we grow.

that someday, say 20 years from now, we'll all merge back together here....

bigs and littles of all sizes and buy Chuck's bakery out of cake glazed donuts

to bring back to our big, round table where we'll sit and talk and laugh and eat

 together.

::::::::::

this post is a part of Sling Diaries: volume II--chronicling the art of babywearing

in 15 families.  you can follow along on the facebook page and pinterest.

photos by my friend, liz.