The House Poet

All summer, I've been a bit concerned about August. There are so many events and changes happening this month that I'm a bit overwhelmed!  First of all, my twins start Transitional Kindergarten in a few weeks and that will be a huge change for our family. Our schedule will change as well as our routine. With three young children, that can be a little worrisome. Not in a bad way, but we will all have to adjust and that could take a little while.  My youngest is turning three on Sunday, which is crazy because he is my baby!! I am so proud of him and I love watching him grow, but it's still a little bittersweet. He loves his birthday and has been excited about it all week, which is a lot of fun. Sunday will be a big day in our house, so I need to get ready! ;)  Those are two big milestones happening this month, and there are a lot of smaller things going on as well. We are meeting up with my second cousin and her daughter from Luxembourg in SF the week before the twins...

Hello dears!  I just saw noticed that I haven't posted anything since the first day of March! Woah! So much has happened since then, which is why I haven't been online that much. We had a busy spring and now it's already summer!  I haven't had much time for writing, but I was able to revise a few pieces and I have been submitting them. Now, it's that always fun game of "wait for a response." Not always pleasant, but very important if one wants to be published. I just submitted a very special piece this morning about my adult Irish Dancing journey. Fingers crossed that it gets accepted, but even if it doesn't, I'll revise it again and send it somewhere else. It's a piece I strongly believe in. :)  As for Irish Dancing news, it's been going very well! I have now moved up into Novice adult, which means I can start learning more advanced dances. I am very proud of myself and how much I have progressed as a dancer since January. It's a...

Today was the day I had set aside to do all the important things, such as paying bills, phone calls, cleaning, giving the kiddos a bath (they were incensed that I washed their hair!), and trimming their nails. Luckily, I was able to get all that plus a few more things done, however I really want to try and practice some Irish Dancing today too. So we shall see!  2015 was a great year for accomplishments, both as a family and personally. My husband and I are excited about 2016 and are going to keep moving forward and working hard. Just as 2015 was ending, I had two poems published, one of which won a holiday poetry contest! :)  My poem, "Christmas With Little Ones," won Mothers Always Write's Holiday poetry contest and I am so excited about it! That was the first time I'd ever won a writing contest and it means so much to me. That poem came straight from my life and my heart. Check it out here:  Christmas With Little Ones-Winner My poem, "autumn," was p...

During this holiday season, people like to talk about generosity or the "spirit of kindness." I try to be generous to others, as much as I can being a super busy stay at home mom on a budget. Yesterday I wrapped some gifts for some neighbors on our floor who are especially kind to me and my family. I also wrapped up gifts for my Irish Dancing class and it felt great to see their surprise when I brought out the little wrapped presents.  I've been thinking about how kind words and gestures can help someone when things are difficult. When I was pregnant with my twins, I was in my early twenties. I had no idea what to expect with twins and I needed support and guidance. I had left college, lost friends, and I had to rethink my entire life. I felt so isolated. Kind words would have meant so much to me and my husband at the time. Even my father, who was excited about his impending grandchildren, shared this news with people at grocery stores or wherever we were. Usually peopl...

Yes, that is what I'm doing. My three sweet cherubs are playing nicely together (miracles do happen!) and I am able to sneak some laptop time. Yesterday I even worked on my fantasy WIP for a little while and that felt really good!  I have been incredibly busy and I really want to write my Feis post! The Feis was amazing and I can't wait for the next one in January! We adults are supposed to get a school dress made for it, but we still need to be measured. So I'm crossing my fingers that it will be ready in time! I'm also learning the Blackbird set dance for my Novice set dance and I love it! I'm trying to get the set part down, with all those fun rocks and such. ;) Oh boy!  New goal: San Francisco Oireachtas 2016! I am THRILLED about this because we live right next to SF and my TC said I will probably be able to do the adult traditional set at the Oireachtas! She's going to help me prepare; I love how supportive my school is. Such a blessing! We are also try...

It's early Wednesday afternoon and I've already done four loads of laundry. It's been a busy day! The kids have decided that naps are not cool any more and I have found that finding time to work on writing or blogging or even just practicing my Irish Dancing has been hard to find. So! Last night I had my dance class and it was WONDERFUL! It was four of us adults in the class and we flew through our dances and even started learning the Hard Jig. So exciting! I was smiling almost the whole class. I know I still have some little things I need to work on, like pointing my toes and kicking up my feet in the back during tip downs, etc. It's a lot of fun! Two of my poems were recently published in the October issue of Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal that really promotes poets supporting one another through positive comments and such. It's a lovely journal, full of meaningful poetry and insightful poets. Here is the link to my poems "Foghorns" and ...

Hello everyone! Here we are at the end of September and I am enjoying hot chocolate, even though this past weekend was HOT. Hope everyone else is well! I've been thinking about motherhood lately, and the ways to express my experience with motherhood in writing. I wrote two new poems for an anthology about motherhood called All You Can Hold, and I hope the editor likes them! I recently had a poem accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of Mothers Always Write, which is a wonderful online literary journal. They published one of my poems in the beginning when I was just coming back to writing and submitting a couple years ago. The staff have been so supportive too! Writing about motherhood is important but might not be easy or simple. So many emotions come with being a parent, and sometimes it can be difficult to sift through those emotions and express them on paper. I love writing about little moments with my kids; my most recently accepted poem is about peeling an orange f...

I can't believe it's already the end of July! This summer has gone by so quickly! This morning I found myself thinking about Fall and all the changes we are going to see in the weather and trees. Grey skies, chilly mornings, random hot chocolate cravings, acorns crunching all over the place...lots of fun to look forward to! Actually, I just want the heat to go away. On Sunday, we took the kids, along with my dad, to the beach. It was their first real "beach day" and we had fun, but it was exhausting. Taking three young kids to the beach takes a lot of you, just saying. They didn't even want to go near the water, which is understandable since the waves are loud. So they just sat in the sand and played for a couple hours while I went into the water and splashed around. I felt like I was 9 years old again! Anyway, back to the real world now. I have a few sandy tote bags that I need to clean out, not to mention a crazy amount of laundry. So, writing news! My p...

Hello all! With three kids under the age of four and a busy household, sometimes it's very difficult for me to make time for writing and creating. However, in the past couple of weeks, I've had two poems published in online literary magazine, which is amazing! I feel very accomplished and ready to forge ahead and write. But life can get in the way, and sometimes you just want to watch Downton Abbey and paint your nails to relax. I think there are many moms out there, be they stay-at-home moms like me or working moms, who want to write more. Perhaps you want to start a blog or novel? Maybe poetry is your outlet. Whatever it is, I thought of 5 ways to boost your creativity and how to keep it going. Make sure you have the materials you need on hand and nearby. For me, cute and colorful notebooks can really inspire me and feel good to write in. Right now, my favorite poetry journal is a Moomin journal from a set published by Chronicle Books. Beautiful, smooth paper just b...