Hi Sweet Friend!
Last week I shared the newspaper article about my decision to give my books away to local moms.
Here is a quick video of the Magical Moment that followed as a result.
It totally made my heart sing, and I hope it does the same for you!
May your day be full of little moments of joy, peace, wellness, and of course, Magic.
Love and Blessings,
Kasey
Hello Friend!
This weekend I’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day with my mom and my daughter, as we travel up to Syracuse, NY for a couple of book events!
On Thursday, I’ll be speaking at an event for a local hospital that’s doing a huge NICU expansion to better meet the needs of families throughout the greater central New York area!
Friday evening, I’ll be at the local Barnes and Noble, reading and signing from A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Magical Life.
Both events feel so timely with the arrival of Mother’s Day weekend!
As I plan for travel, making sure I’m packing all I need, while at the same time ensuring all is taken care of at home, I got thinking about the role of Mom and all that entails.
In particular, the way we need to be so flexible, especially in times when all our planning doesn’t exactly go the way we intended!
I thought back to the time when Preemie was about to be published, and my publisher suggested I make a promo video for the book.
A videographer was arranged, a date was picked, and a basic concept for the video was created.
Lee, myself and the kids on the lake, just being us, just being together.
At ten o’clock the night before we were due to film, the letter I read to my daughter in the video came pouring through, and I knew it was meant to be a part of the video.
I was delighted to have received such a gift and felt it would really enhance the video.
Then at ten thirty, that same night, just as I’d finished writing that letter, the front door opened, bringing in a warm summer breeze, along with Lee and Tucker, who’d been spray painting boat parts in the garage…
And they were both BLUE – like Papa Smurf and Baby Smurf!
I had to hold on to the door frame to keep myself from falling over!
I had to unclench my fists before running over and punching Lee!
I had to take several deep breaths to keep myself from screaming!
And then I had to figure out how we were going to get out of this mess!
Every surface they touched on the way the shower turned blue. The shower curtain had to be thrown out.
An hour later, they were both wrapped in towels, shriveled and shaking – the hot water long gone, but they were mostly not blue.
Then the laughter began. Laughter that could not be stopped.
And I knew in that moment that much of the magic of motherhood comes from those unpredictable, unforgettable, messy moments!
To this day there’s still a blue handprint on the towel rack in the bathroom. For a while, I tried to scrub it off, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Now I look at it and just smile.
And remember. And rest assure, that it’s all perfect.
Messy and perfect.
And here’s the video to prove it!
May your Mother’s Day be full of memories, Magic, and maybe even a little messiness!
With love and blessings,
Kasey
When our daughter was little, there were times when she was so out of sorts, I felt helpless in helping her.
One day, I opened up to a friend and shared this with her. In return, she offered the suggestion of asking our girl the simple question – What do you need?
That question became my magical go-to.
I remember the numerous times I knelt down, put my hands on her bony shoulders, and asked her, What do you need?
Often, she didn’t know, but the fact that I cared to ask and listen, seem to be exactly what she needed.
I offer this to you today, because so often, many of us find ourselves in times of uncertainty and feeling out of sorts.
This is an opportunity to ask ourselves this very question– What do I need?
And in response, just listen.
Let your voice from within tell you what you need.
Maybe you’ll hear:
Rest.
A bath.
A good cry.
A long walk.
The cup of tea with a friend.
A turkey sandwich with lots of cranberry.
A romantic comedy.
A night out belly up to the bar with with a salted margarita.
A pillow to punch and get all my anger out.
What do you need?
Your turn.
Ask yourself – What do I need?
Write down the first things you just heard.
And let the Magic begin!
Eleven years ago I gave birth to a baby who needed machines to breathe.
Which is why I can’t wait to tell you this story.
It all began with a tree…
It was a silly purchase, really. The nursery was having an end of season sale.
It was 75% off, but still, we should have known better.
“A Sequoia?” my friend asked. “Don’t they grow like a thousand feet?”
Not 1,000. 60 maybe. I know, silly next to our house, but the kids got all excited…
“Do they even grow on the east coast?”
Turns out, they do. But just for a little while. And then they start to die.
We gave it a couple of years, but this fall my husband and I decided to finally dig up our California Dream and put in something more suited to our yard and east coast climate.
It was after dinner one night, I was washing dishes, Lee was digging up the tree, when Andie came flying through the kitchen door, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Daddy’s digging up the Sequoia,” she cried.
“Oh honey, it’s nearly dead,” I said.
“No it’s not,” she said, wiping tears from her cheeks. “I’ve been bringing it back to life.”
Way back in September, at the beginning of the school year, Andie’s class of 5th graders had been given the choice to learn to play the soprano, alto, tenor or bass recorder. Andie chose alto and had been practicing everyday out in our backyard. Turns out, she’d been playing to the tree. And in fact, upon further investigation, the tree was coming back to life.
“I thought I was only planting one tree tonight,” Lee said heading off to help Andie choose a new spot for her tree (by then under moonlight!).
It was only a few afternoons later that I was at school picking up the kids, when Andie’s teacher approached.
“I thought you’d want to know…” she began, and went on to tell me that the recorder teacher had asked every 5th grader to pick up their instruments, choose one note, take in the biggest breath they possibly could, and play that note until they ran out of air.
“I watched as the breath slowly seeped out of every child and they set their recorder down on their desk,” she paused. “And then I saw that Andie was the only one left. The only one still holding her note, long after the rest had stopped.”
I had to take hold of her arm to steady myself. I didn’t even try to stop the tears.
I thought of all the years we’d given Andie kazoos and whistles, straws to blow feathers across the table, balloons to blow up… and to hear those words. And to see the image of her holding that long, clear crisp note.
A dream come true.
Here is a short video of Andie playing to her tree. Her visitor is Meg.
Learn more about our “premature journey” here.
Get started with transformational life coaching that helps you break the cycle and step into your most Magical Life
