{monday mission} upcycle bad art (and make it badder)

I have not done a Monday Mission in a while and it seems about time I rectify that. This week, head over to the thrift shop (or your own attic if you are like me), choose a serene or saccharine painting and add something to it. 

This was a little gift for my son's birthday. I added a bigfoot, a burning house and a fleeing figure. You can figure it out - or can you? While my painting is not as skilled as I would like, I think you get the gist. And it was fun and made us laugh. 

Of course, this idea is not unique. For more inspiration, check out the work of Wayne White or David Irvine. This would be a blast to do with kids too!

{read} Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

"So now do you see what books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people only want wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless. We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. Even fireworks, for all their prettiness, come from the chemistry of the earth. Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality."



One of the reasons I love being in a book club its that I am encouraged to read outside my preferences. While not the memoir or nonfiction that I tend to read, this book had me nodding, underlining and exclaiming to those around me, "you can't believe this! this book was written like 60 years ago! it could have been written now!"

A dystopian warning where people are scared of books and talking and thinking, residents spend their free time watching wall sized TVs with programs that they can never quite remember (even though the actors are called their "family"). Constant bombardment of noises, shocks, and fear keep people "happily" isolated in their cocoons of comfort.

Protagonist, Guy Montag, a fire fighter charged with burning books and the homes that try to hide them, meets a girl who pulls back the curtain and makes him question what is really happening around him.

This book is the tale of his unravelling.

Highly recommended and a great book to discuss with a group. I can not wait to share this one with my kids when they are teens.

Dream Lab 2015 - registering now

\It is that time of year again!

Dream Lab is gearing up for its 3rd incarnation and I am excited to share with you! 

The lab has been lengthened to 3 weeks and the content is ALL new. That is right. I have rewritten the lab to reflect what I have learned in the last few years about integrating your dreams into your "real" life. We are going to dig into the past a bit, share real life tools, methods, and resources for getting stuff done, investigate  various types of dreams, learn how to "own" your work and embrace failure and so much more. 

You know the power of mama scout groups and the serendipitous creative energy they create. Maybe you have already made some real progress on your dreams and can share your story as you move into your next chapter. 

I have another idea that I wanted to share with you. 


I am beginning to see this work, these labs, as really important. Not just to the individual woman who gains some self reflection and improvement - but to culture in general. I can hardly read the news each day without feeling like I have been punched in the gut. There is so much pain, violence, mental illness, random tragedy, and fear. I feel like strong feminist voices need to ring out in our communities and the public sphere. Each strong, vocal, and nurturing woman can spread a more peaceful vision to those she encounters. Maybe this is bordering on feel-good utopianism - but why not? We each have something to contribute and at this point in my life (as a busy homeschooling parent) these labs are what I got.

So, can you help me spread this vision to other women who you think would be interested in caravanning with us?

I want to offer a referral program. If you refer 3 people to the lab (they can just put your name in the notes when they sign up) I will enroll you in the Summer Journal Jam. SJJ started last year and was 3 months (close to 90 prompts!) of creative prompts to start and sustain a family journaling practice. It is worth $99!

Use social media or direct messages to share your story of how you benefited in the lab and expand our tribe of kick ass women. Right now we are tiny - but mighty!

And as always, please email me with any questions or concerns. 

xxoo, amy

You can sign up here.

{read aloud} The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Our last book club selection was a Civil War era tale that wove together history, adventure, laugh out loud humor and the horrors of war. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg is a quick read, packed with the unbelievable shenanigans the protagonists find himself in as he searches for his illegally conscripted brother - from helping a Quaker abolitionist, working in a medicine show, flying an untethered silk surveillance balloon to actually participating on the battle field. The battle scenes are not sugar coated and reveal the brutality and cruelty of warfare, but there is a tidy, happy ending. We recommend this book, especially if you are studying the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's end this year. 

{read} The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them. Whenever I'm sad I'm going to die, or so nervous I can't sleep, or in love with somebody I won't be seeing for a week, I slump down just so far and then I say, "I'll go take a hot bath"

I meditate in the bath. The water needs to be very hot, so hot that you can barely stand putting your foot in it. Then you lower yourself, inch by inch, till the water's up to your neck. 

I remember the ceiling over every bathtub I've stretched out in. I remember the texture of the ceilings and the cracks and the colors and the damp spots and the light fixtures. I remember the tubs, too: the antique griffen-legged tubs, and the modern coffin-shaped tubs, and the fancy pink marble tubs overlooking indoor lily ponds, and I remember the shapers and sizes of the water taps and the different sorts of soap holders. 

I never feel so much myself as when I am in a hot bath. 

...I guess I feel about a hot bath the way those religious people feel about holy water. 


I recently revisited The Bell Jar 20 years after I first read it when it was mentioned in my reader's tribe. Not only does it retain its power, but it was even more poignant the second time with the benefit of age and experience.

To read Esther Greenwood's story of one year in her life - from her highs of success, to her mental breakdown and the barbaric treatments available in the mid 20th century to her final rebirth - is to read (ash experience) the story of what it means to be an educated woman in America. Her story is recognizable in the women I know and talk to today.

The tragedy of Plath's life as experienced in this semi-autobiographical novel is right at the surface and as tangible and electric as it was 45 years ago. I was moved and highly recommend a rereading if it has been while for you too.

{review} Heidi

“Not long after, and while it was still twilight, the grandfather also went to bed, for he was up every morning at sunrise, and the sun came climbing up over the mountains at a very early hour during these summer months. The wind grew so tempestuous during the night, and blew in such gusts against the walls, that the hut trembled and the old beams groaned and creaked. It came howling and wailing down the chimney like voices of those in pain, and it raged with such fury among the old fir trees that here and there a branch was snapped and fell. In the middle of the night the old man got up. "The child will be frightened," he murmured half aloud. He mounted the ladder and went and stood by the child's bed.

Outside the moon was struggling with the dark, fast-driving clouds, which at one moment left it clear and shining, and the next swept over it, and all again was dark. Just now the moonlight was falling through the round window straight on to Heidi's bed. She lay under the heavy coverlid, her cheeks rosy with sleep, her head peacefully resting on her little round arm, and with a happy expression on her baby face as if dreaming of something pleasant. The old man stood looking down on the sleeping child until the moon again disappeared behind the clouds and he could see no more, then he went back to bed.” 



This is such a sweet book. It is one that I think you might read to yourself and think, "well, that was nice," but read aloud, it becomes something else altogether. I do not think I can finish any read aloud with out crying at least once and this classic was no different.

Heidi's childhood is marked by drastic and sometimes cruel upheavals. She is always able to look at the positive side of most situations and her friendliness, generosity and kindness are pretty saccharine compared to today's protagonists. But, I think we need a good dose of this every so often and this time of year is perfect.

Pick a week where your evenings are free, stock up on the hot drinks your family loves and settle in for a cozy family story.

We have this edition and I think it would make the best gift for anyone on your list this year. 

{review} Esperanza Rising + Smuggled

My kids book club just read Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan and once again I am so happy to augment my own reading with the awesome books I am introduced to through our homeschooling adventures. 

Esperanza Rising is the story a young girl who lives a very privileged life on Los Ranchos des Rosas in Mexico, the vineyard her father owns, in Mexico.  She has servants, loving parents, and constant pampering. The night before her birthday, her father dies and circumstances quickly change. All the sudden Esperanza and her mother have to be smuggled out of their hometown and across the border into California where friends have helped her mother secure a field worker position. The late 20's and early 30's in America were a particularly tough time for Mexican-American citizens and immigrant workers for several reasons explored in the novel.

Through constant struggles and growing, Esperanza becomes like the mythical Phoenix bird, recreating herself from the ashes of her former life to find true happiness and worth. I do not think there was an adult in the book club who was able to finish the book dry eyed. Educational, emotional and heartwarming, this book is a must read (and maybe a must own for your own library).

Our group met, discussed the book, ate the fruit and vegetables that formed the titles for each chapter and made yarn dolls, a craft that shows up several times in the book.

As a family, we talked a lot about immigrants and migrant work forces. There is a large Mexican population in central Florida where I live. I worked with migrant students as an elementary teacher and college instructor. I explained to my kids that many of the struggles that Esperanza faced are current struggles. In particular, the Immokalee Tomato workers have protested and earned support in my community for their efforts to earn more money and improve conditions for field pickers.

I am lucky enough to know filmmaker and producer, Jennifer Fischer of Think Ten Media Group and she sent me a copy of her latest, award winning feature film, Smuggled.  I wanted to watch it with my kids, and after reading Esperanza Rising, I knew the tie in would be perfect.

Smuggled follows the story of Miguel and his mother as they are hidden in a locked luggage section of a bus traveling from Mexico to America. They are excited to be reunited with the family patriarch (who is apparently working in America legally and waiting for them).

The film's relative slow pace and long scenes pull the viewer into the horror of being hidden for days without sun, fresh air, bathrooms, or even room to stretch. Without giving away the plot, things do not go as planned due to one simple accident and viewers are on edge until Miguel is eventually reunited with his father.

My kids were stunned and moved by this film. I was drawn in to the drama of this sparse and direct story line quickly.

I remember when I was in 3rd grade, my favorite teacher gathered all the 3rd grade classes and told the story of her family's harrowing escape from Cuba when she was a child. She shared the actual escape (hiding family treasures, using connections and important doctor appointments in the United States) as well as the trials of her father, a highly educated professional in Cuba and his ordeal as an immigrant. She left us with the message that even if everything is lost (or taken) the one thing no one can take is your mind (ideas, thoughts, dreams). It is there that you always free.

Sharing stories like this with children changes their lives and worldview. We learn that the world is not confined to our immediate environment. That things are fought for and complex and sometimes tragic.

Smuggled is available for rent or purchase on Amazon or through Think Ten Media's website. I think it is a challenging but thankfully not a gratuitously graphic film.  I highly suggest it not only to socially conscious families - but to teachers and schools as well. The discussions and reactions from a community of learners would be so rich and valuable. And so very worth it.