Yep. We are doing it.

Yep, it seems like a swift jump onto the Home School Train, but really, it’s been a passion and desire of mine for some years now.

Two weeks into this wild amusement park ride and I am choosing to exhale, lift my head up, take a deep breath, and rise to this challenge.  Let’s just say there is a LOT of room to grow….FOR ME!

Wow. I said it.

We laughed yesterday for the first time during school.  The deep, belly laughs that just get you going into streams of giggles and weird snorts.  Laughing with an 8 year old is fun.  My husband said that I was acting like a “3rd grader” tonight. What? I can’t burp in a roomful of men that seldom hold back their bodily functions?

Oh.  It was because it happened at the dinner table.  Oops!

Well, back to LAUGHING during school…

There hasn’t been much of it.  It’s been more challenging then I imagined. There’s been a lot of frustration and tears. I have felt a lot of pressure trying to figure it all out.  I am realizing that what we’re doing now is just basically bringing the classroom into my home. That’s not really what I wanted. I thought I wanted more structure and help from a Charter school, but now my Freedom is feeling a bit squeezed. All these things are good though; it has helped me to realize what I DO want out of this year.

A passion is welling up in me.  It is my vision and heart for this year with Elijah. It is Beautiful and Creative and Fun.  It harnesses his strengths and abilities, encourages his gifts and strengthens our heart connection.  It is balanced with goals and accomplishments, and favorite things. It is led by his ever-changing needs and interests. And it is only the Beginning…

“All Aboard!”

It felt like a scene from “The Grapes of Wrath” and the “Beverly Hillbillies” as we pulled out of our driveway.  We were just missing Grandma riding in the chair.  Just so ya know-  we DID bring the rocking chair. Hey!  Camping with Arthritis?  I have Needs!

“How was camping,” people keep asking me. I have two choices when I answer, well, rather two directions I could take.  This is a place for me to be real, so here goes it…

My first reaction is to say that it was really hard.  These words do not do justice when it comes to explaining it all, but it sums it up enough. My body is still screaming from the trip, but I SURVIVED!  I did it!  Did I do it with a smile?  Well, I certainly tried!

I am still in “Recovery Mode.”  That means I will have to conserve movements and try not to get swept up in any torrential downpours or whirlwinds that come my way, even if I have created them.  Just being Mom and managing the household feels like I am overdoing it.  However, I am a PRO at operating in this mode.  My mid-afternoon peak offers a 2-3 hour window where the stiffness has lessened and I am able to get a majority of basic things done. The biggest hurdle is fighting the pain.

I have to put on my boxing gloves and Stand against all the fleshly pain; it is then that I can see the Blessings, the Moments that made it ALL worth it.  I have to hold on to those moments with a death-defying, white-knuckled grip. I cannot let how I feel RIGHT NOW Rob me of those Precious, Amazing Moments!

Camping with the Johnson Family?  Well, 59 turned out this year. It was Priceless.  Beautiful.  Amazing.  Such Love and Joy and Willingness to Serve I have rarely witnessed.  The Comraderie is Absolute, the Attentiveness is Full of Genuine Care and Compassion.  The Excitement to be together and “Play” is a buzzing Energy that swarms camp. All Ages are Helpful, Teamwork Abounds, and the Games… FUN FUN FUN!!!

So I am THANKFUL I got to experience this Family in action.  I am Blessed to be a part of it. I did have a hard time walking and my scooter fell on the “woulda coulda shoulda” list…   Numerous cousins, Aunts and Uncles, my Dad, and even my eight year old son escorted me all around camp.  The pain was intense, I longed for my scooter, BUT these loving arms that helped me were also the bearer of Moments I will never forget!

Moments to laugh at myself for how I was getting around.  Moments to gaze up at the cliffs along the Columbia River Gorge and see the warm colors as the sun set.  Moments to stop, breathe, and just SEE what was all around me.  Moments to visit on the pathway as my escort held me up so I wouldn’t fall.

Moments with Family are just downright PRICELESS! What’s helping me get through this recovery mode is these memories.  Our kids got to spend time with their Great Grandparents!  Good, solid time.  I am focusing on how much this trip was worth the cost- that small cost of comfort that I mentioned before.  It WAS good to push myself and make this happen. Moments are the Gold that shines in the memories.

These Moments enter in during the still quiet second that we stop.  I am practicing this a lot lately.  Letting it all just go.  Fly fly away all the little nagging things.  Fly far far away.  Shifting to “the here and now,” and enjoying what is around me comes easy to some.  I have to work at it. My husband and I balance each other out that way.

Life is made up of a bunch of Moments. Which ones do you focus on? I just want to share that it IS possible to retrain yourself!

I make Mountains.

With every thought laced with anxiety, “what-if’s,” or fear, another load of dirt piles up on the mountain I’ve made in front of me. Then, it’s in my way, and I must climb it. Pretty dysfunctional system I got going on!

This latest mountain had become 1000’s of feet tall over the past two months.  As I stood before it and it towered above me, I was forced to make a choice:  continue feeding my mind with fear-based, stressed-out thought patterns ~OR~ put on my hiking boots and climb.

This particular mountain had a name: Camping.

Our annual Johnson Family Camp-Out (JFCO for short) was the culprit of this particular bout of worry and stress. I had been mentally preparing myself for the last two months, trying to figure out all the “this-in-thats” and “yada-yadas” to enable a certain level of my comfort zone to exist in camping conditions.  During this process I created this mountain that loomed above me.

These kind of mountains are capable of causing the “deer in the headlights” reaction, and can keep you at a standstill for weeks, months, or years.  These kind of mountains can get so large and can become so powerful that you may begin to wonder where your freedom has gone!  These kind of mountains can also become too comfortable…

It was a genuine battle for excitement about this family vacation.  That sounds HORRIBLE!  But you see, Camping= Pain to me. It is Willingly placing myself in a more uncomfortable state devoid of any true relief for an extended period of time.  It is a costly endeavor. Last time, it took three weeks to recover.

Why do I go?  Ah- see, this is where the mental battle comes in.  I must push through mentally and emotionally in this. When you’re in pain, it tends to take over your focus and it can be quite difficult to get past yourself.  All the S’mores and star-gazing and fun camping things don’t immediately pop in my head.  Pain Management does.

I GO, because this is a tradition worthy of the small sacrifice of comfort. The Johnson Family is Treasure from Heaven!

We were unable to make it last year.  I’ve already shared about how hard it was a year ago.  Camping was not in the vocabulary. But this year, we were going, and I was trying to prepare in every way imaginable so I could enjoy myself.  I am a walking oxymoron…

A few days before we left I was driving home, thinking of a year ago when I couldn’t drive. JOY came over me and I got really excited!  “We are going this year! It is so special and I am so excited to see the family,” I told myself. I started to think about all the fun times and relationship that occurred every time we voyaged up north to the JFCO.  It just melted all the fears.

I had been dwelling on all the hard stuff!  As I started to toss out all the fears and anxieties, it felt like I was digging up the mountain. Something sparkly caught my eye! I had struck Gold! I continued to dig and mine for more.

Yes!  It would be physically pushing myself beyond my limits.  Yes, it could be painful.  BUT: Family! Good Times! Building Memories!  Laughs, and all the GOOD things FAAAAAAAAAAAAR outweighed it all! It is ALWAYS worth it and I always return MORE in LOVE with the JOHNSON Family!

There was a treasure chest FULL of jewels in this mountain.  I had just covered it all with dirt!  It took some serious digging to expose it! Once I got a glimpse, the mountain started to dwindle, the trip sounded fun again, and I relaxed about everything.  I kept focusing on all the RIGHT stuff, and the mountain dwindled to a hill that I could see past.  I can’t honestly say it was eliminated, but at least I could easily climb over it.

So now, I’m wondering and pondering this:  What other mountains have I created? What am I missing because I’ve chosen to partner with “pain management” and a comfort zone mindset?  How much are Bulldozers?

Cause I’ve got GOLD FEVER!

I’ve been beaten down and weary.  There’s a part of me that doesn’t recognize myself anymore.  I used to be such a fighter.  Somewhere along the way I misplaced my championship belt.

What happened? Why have I resorted to “just taking it?”  It’s like I got so tired of losing that I just laid down and let myself get run over. Not just on a quiet street, but more like on a freeway.

No, I haven’t been hopeless…

Have you ever felt like this?  Where you just get beaten down, stand up, and then get squashed back down?  You crawl back up, get absolutely pummeled, get up again, then get hammered even more? Each time you get on your feet, it’s like there’s another villain waiting to get you.   I’ve had enough.  I’m ready to take the “victim” sign off my forehead. I’m picking up my boxing gloves.

I have just been too weary to stand up again. So it feels like I’ve given up.  Deep down I haven’t though.  I think I just needed a rest! Like that’s so wrong?

This has been the season where my friends are the ones holding me up.   They BELIEVE when I don’t.  They Pray when I can’t.  They HOPE when I can’t see.  They have been RELEASING Faith, Declarations, and Peace over me.  They have been Standing and Fighting FOR ME.

I thought I was fighting.  It’s an all-day, everyday battleground for me.  The first battle I win each day is getting out of bed.  At least I start out Victorious!  I thought I’ve been fighting because I push through and still do so much despite how I feel. I thought I was fighting…

I thought I was a fighter because I used to stand against all the pain and arthritis and just flat out rebuke it.  I spent hours a day doing this.  Am I really supposed to fight this hard?  Is there Grace?  Yes.  Are we “CO-labors?  Are we supposed to Strive for something that’s already been done?

I have been fighting with my actions:  physically NOT accepting my limitations, proving myself to any and all who may see that I am not a lazy, worthless person because I have pain that severely limits my abilities.  So I go Truckin’ along, despite the pain, and that’s how I’ve been fighting.  Yes, I have Faith. But where has it been directed?

I’m just now realizing that I’ve been focusing on the wrong battlefield.

My inner self-talk needs to change.  I need to SPEAK what I don’t see over my hands, my feet, the pain.  I need to tell my feet what they CAN do instead of getting frustrated and focusing on what they can’t. Each struggle throughout the day and all the reality talk in my mind is just downright depressing.  Yes, I have joy.  But does that mean I’m really happy?

Somewhere and Somehow I need to lay down all the disappointments, fears, self-pity and hopelessness.  I just need to get OVER it and GET UP AGAIN!

I’m going to change what I say in my mind about myself, and what I speak out over myself.  There’s power in our words.  Try it and see what happens.

So here I am, STANDING! It’s not a graceful process, but at least I can get up.

Feet, I LOVE you.  You WILL RUN one day.  Hands, I am GRATEFUL for you- you do so much for my family, and you will be able to do it all WITHOUT PAIN someday. Elbows, you have endured the fire.  You are STRONG!  …and Mind….You CAN be RENEWED!

I am Thankful for my feet.  I am Thankful for my feet.

Repeat 10 times.

This is one of those days that I MUST force myself to be Thankful for these things at the end of my legs that are causing me such intense pain.  Some people don’t have feet.  Therefore, I MUST be thankful that I have feet.

The pain has been building the past few days, probably because I have been functioning at “Normal.” My pain levels went down a couple points on the Richter Scale.  For me, this is HUGE, a reason to celebrate, and enough cause to go 200 miles per hour.

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest level of pain imaginable, I have scooted through this past year at an 8-9.  It takes A LOT to stop this Energizer Bunny on Crack.

A “10″ day puts me in bed. That’s not good, but it’s something I need to work on.  I need to LISTEN to my body and get OFF my feet BEFORE the pain reaches an 8!  Tragically, there is Always so much to do and I get sucked in. I’m at a 9 right now.  Time to back down.

My Feet dictate my day. It’s Terrible and absolutely WRONG! But that’s how it is.  My feet determine how much I will accomplish, or how little; where I will go or where I won’t; going outside or staying in.  They have too much power.  How do I get it back?

My feet are Giant, reddish-purple, veiny, swollen, stiff and Throbbing.  Paints a pretty picture, doesn’t it? As much as I love summer, I am DREADING the moments when people will stare at my feet.  I have struggled for years with embarrassment of a swollen body.  In High School my knees were bigger than my thighs.  You will never see me in shorts.  I have boundaries.

My feet determine how I will dress, and the style I have.  Pretty dainty girly shoes with heels are merely something to admire from afar. Shoes are like art for me. “Oh- That’s Beautiful!  Look at the colors and the texture…”  I have to wear “special shoes” like Forrest Gump.  Just don’t call me “Grandma.”

Did I mention I am THANKFUL for my feet?

I am stuck in clothes that go with flip flops or tennis shoes.  I STRESS out about occasions that call for a dress.  My heart sinks.  It’s just impossible.

Today I got a sitter.  I was planning on getting work done and a bunch of errands out of the way. My feet have changed my plans… once again.  BIG Sigh…

This is where I just need to adjust and be flexible.  I need to accept what it is and stop fighting it. I need to blend it with Hope and add a Giant Heap of Thankfulness. This recipe makes 20 servings of Peace and JOY…

I will be Thankful that I have someone to chase my toddler all over the house today.  Each step I take is excruciating.  I will be thankful that I do not have to carry around a 25 pound bambino on my hip.  That would just make my feet worse right now.  I will be Thankful that I can just put my feet up and rest for a bit.  I deserve it.

I will be Thankful for my feet. I will try to love them UNCONDITIONALLY. I have to be Thankful that these kind of days are happening less.  It makes me appreciate the good days when my pain level is only a 6. I have to believe that it won’t ALWAYS be like this. One day, the pain will go down to a 2… then a 1… then NOTHING AT ALL!!!

For now, these are my footprints. There’s just one set today.

I am the Quinoa Queen.  I am the Quinoa Master.  I am the Quinoa Kuckoo-head.

Yes, my family eats this ancient Incan grain 4-5 times a week.  It is pronounced “keen-wa.”  It’s so fun to say that my almost 8-year-old has crooned out his own tune aptly entitled “Shock tee Keen WAAAAAAAAAAAAA,” EVERY Time I mention quinoa. Does it get on my nerves?  What made you ask that?

Quinoa is a complete protein with a rich and nutty flavor.  It is my staple, and when I make it and feed it to my friends, they ask for more! There is red and white quinoa.  You cook it just like rice. Red is my favorite, but I also like to mix them because of the colors.

My baby loves it.  It is his favorite!  I cook it with my favorite vegan bouillon and add finely chopped spinach and carrots and mashed avocado.  He GRINDS it!

If you’re looking to add more raw foods into your diet, it’s easy to make a raw quinoa salad. Just soak the quinoa over night. Rinse it a few times in the morning, and let it sit in a colander under a towel for 4-6 hours.  It sprouts!  SO GOOD FOR YOU!  Add whatever fresh veggies you have!  I like to create my food with color, so I add red bell pepper and carrots, purple cabbage, fennel, corn, zucchini, broccoli, Anything and Everything I have in my fridge, all finely chopped of course.  I make a simple dressing with olive oil and vinegar, maybe a shallot and some seasonings, and Voila! Yumminess! It is so tasty and it fills you up and it gives you so much energy!  I garnish it with some avocado and fresh parsley or other herbs I have on hand, and serve it on fresh chopped spinach.

Lately I’ve been bringing a Mexican Quinoa salad to parties.  Everyone loves it and it is so healthy! Here’s the recipe:

cook 2 cups of quinoa with  vegan bouillon.

Add: a can of Black beans, rinsed and drained

3-4 ears of raw corn, freshly cut off the cob

a handful of fresh spinach, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

cilantro, chopped, to taste

stir the salad together and  put it in the fridge to cool.  Serve with avocado and your favorite salsa on top.  You can stir in salsa

for a spicier dish.  Squeeze on a lime if you want.

It’s really Yummy!  It’s Vegan, and it’s Gluten-free.

ENJOY!

I miss food.  I think about it all the time.  My life revolves around it.  Adding gluten-free to my repertoire of restrictions is causing me to ardently and vigorously practice the Art of Self-Denial.  Everyday.

The first week at Trader Joe’s was ridiculous!  Like a 2-year-old, I had to say “No” to myself at least 20 times as I walked past something I wanted.  It didn’t help that I was limping so bad and moving at snail pace!  All those yummy and satisfying, delectable and savory items were beckoning to me as if seducing my taste buds.

I imagined myself slapping my own hand as I started to reach for something.  My self-control was revealing itself.  Each “No,” made me stronger.  The first three days were the hardest, but by the end of the week I didn’t feel like I was going to “cave” at the sight or smell of something I shouldn’t have.  I could calmly say “No.”  I lived on Lara Bars and apples with almond butter.

Here I am, day 63 into this Crazy Gluten-free, Vegan lifestyle, and I am no longer hanging by a thread… I am holding the scissors, poised to make my move!

If I could only be Vegetarian again!  What a dream!  Oh how I miss bread!  Cheese! Sandwiches! (Been dreaming a LOT about those lately!) I just don’t think I can do this anymore! I feel so whiney and deprived and I MISS FOOD!

Each day, at every meal, I have to deny myself. I have become the Master at self-denial. It is a strange, new form of pain.

The worst part is when I am feeding my baby a piece of perfectly buttered sourdough toast and the warm melted butter oozes between my fingers as I break it into smaller pieces for him to eat.  I envision myself just cramming it all in my mouth!  BUT I CAN’T!!!

I have sat across from my husband in my favorite bakery while he delighted in the BEST FRENCH DIP of his life while I ate a salad.  Did I mention that French Dips used to be my favorite?!!!

It was TORTURE!

I have to enjoy the smell of the foods I can’t have and be satisfied.  It hurts.  It’s not too much fun.  It’s what I’ve got to do right now.

I am moving around better and feeling better!  My pain levels have gone down a couple points, which is intensely AMAZING!  Obviously, I have to tell myself that this is all worth the sacrifice of a few minutes of satisfaction I would get in a piece of bread.

So how do I do this?  How do I say “No” to myself 50 times a day? I have to allow myself some vices.

I can’t give up everything because it feels like I already have. You can’t take my coffee.  You can’t take my red wine.  I am French and I have already given up bread and cheese! You cannot take my dark chocolate. But if you EVER try to take away potatoes I may seriously hurt you!  It’s all I got left!

I have to hold on and keep going.  I feel like these changes are adding years to my life and healing up my gut so I will get better.  For some reason, I have a grace for it Most of the time.  But those moments where I could just end it all and eat an entire loaf of bread?  I have those thoughts! I think about all my favorite foods that have gluten in them ALL the time! I am hoping that this will only last 6 months to a year and then MIRACULOUSLY my gut will be healed and I will be able to digest normal foods again.

For the time being, if you happen to see me staring at your food and you think I may actually attack your plate, you better move because I just might.

Freedom is as simple as the ability to get out of your house!  At least, that’s what is is for me right now!  All of a sudden, as of last week, I am able to load up my baby in the car AND drive.  OOOH- what a combo!  Yep, Life is beginning to look up.

I took my little guy to his one year Dr. appointment ALL BY MYSELF!  Now this may seen small, but it is a little victory to me because I have NEVER taken him to an appointment before.  For the past ten months I have relied on strategic planning with my husband and friends on my good days when I could actually drive.  I needed someone to load him up and someone at the destination to take him out.  Then, upon my return travels, I had to make sure I had arms to get him back inside our house.  Yeah, headache.

When it’s not so easy to go places and it takes all that planning, it’s just easier to stay at home.  There were times I didn’t leave the house, or even go outside for two weeks.  It was just too hard. I didn’t notice that the walls had closed in and I was so affected by it until my husband would convince me that it was worth getting out.  It was those moments I realized that it WAS worth the extra effort, and the possibility of “paying for it” later.  It was OK though, because it got me out of my comfort zone.  It was a true breath of fresh air.

But SUDDENLY, I find myself with the ability to get out on my own!  Wow!  Let the clouds part and the sun SHINE straight down on me!  (Insert a little background music right here.)

Now those little things that need to get done can actually get done! The Best part is that I don’t have to rely on someone else to do it for me, or for help to make it happen!  Help is always appreciated, however everyone needs a bit of independence, right?

I need to slow down because I am wearing myself out!  I’m trying to make up for the last year and doing way too much.  It feels so foreign to zip around my house and get so much done in a day. Yet it is a very Welcome phenomenon! Funny that finding the balance doesn’t come too easy.  I just have to be thankful for this ability right now, and let the Hope seed have a little place to grow in my heart.

I don’t know how long this will last.  I have to be thankful and appreciate each moment, every trip to the grocery store, and every walk out into my yard to the tire swing. I have to hold on to the truth that THIS is how it’s supposed to be!

I still have pain all over, but it’s not stopping me.  I will always truck on through it.  I have to. My pain levels have been between 8-10 on a scale of 1-10 all year.  Just this little relief of living at a 6-7 seems like a huge gift of relief! No matter how much I hurt, I just have to keep going. I cannot lay down and stop. If I did, there would be  no victories.  I would lose. I will not lose on this battlefield!

Life throws us those curve balls and our plans seldom look like the blueprints we have in our minds.  Adjusting is not easy, but fighting it just seems to take more energy. I am constantly finding myself repositioning myself, trying to weave these two concepts into some beautiful kind of tapestry.  It always looks different. Somehow, accepting where I’m at has brought freedom.

I’ll rest in this new-found freedom and enjoy every moment while I can!

My little baby Abraham turned one a few days ago. This one year mark has caused me to think a lot about this past year and the Roller Coaster ride that it was. As I was giving my little one-year-old his bottle at bedtime, I looked down at his sweet sleeping face, adorned with the Mohawk I gave him after his bath.  I was enjoying this moment.  Then I started to cry.

How much have I really been able to enjoy my baby this year?  I have had one of the hardest years of my life with my health.  Was I really able to ENJOY him the way I was supposed to? I began to question everything I’ve done, and I saw myself beginning to take a step on a trail that would ultimately lead to pain.

As his birthday grew near, my husband and I joked about how this was not only a time to celebrate our son turning one, but it was also a marker indicating that we had “survived” this past year.

I just wanted to take a moment and share just a tiny bit of what we experienced.  I am discovering that I tend to not fully let people know how I am REALLY doing.  I hide a lot of it. It’s just easier that way.  But I will try to open up more.  That’s why I’m here…

The Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms slammed me pretty hard about two weeks after Abraham was born.  I found it increasingly difficult to hold my baby due to the pain, stiffness and inflammation throughout my arms. By the time Abraham was 6 weeks old, I could no longer put him in the car and drive. I was suffering from intense joint pain all over and seriously anemic.

I had done research that stated that the hormones from breastfeeding intensified RA symptoms.  My Doctors just told me that I had nursed my baby long enough and I just needed to get back on meds or I would be in a wheelchair.  Same thing they always speak over me.  I had been off of meds for a year and a half- just so I could have this baby.  It was not my intention to get back on that horrible stuff.  This is where Hope and Reality collided.

I made it two more months.  I guess I am stubborn and determined, or maybe I was just clenching on to my last thread of hope.  I hated giving myself a shot once a week.  I hated the side-effects of it.  This was not my plan and I was not ready to yield.  But I had no other choice.

I balled when I nursed my baby for the last time.   I made it five months.  I had to tell myself that I did my best and gave it my all.  I gave Everything I had. Yet I still felt robbed.

This happened with my first son as well.  I suffered for 6 months as stiff as the Tin Man, trying to live and care for an infant. The only way I got through it both times was to intentionally change my mindset to thankfulness.  I had to be grateful that I had the opportunity to breastfeed my babies.  Some women choose not to, or it just doesn’t work out and they are unable to.

I survived letting go and taking my enbrel shots again.  The next hurdle was coming around the corner pretty fast.  I was still heading up to the hospital for iron infusions directly into my blood because I was dangerously anemic.  Then I got my wheels.

The enbrel is supposed to kick in at three months, but it didn’t.  I have had edema all year and have been in agony from my knees down due to the fluid in my legs. I cannot believe how much it hurts all the time!  The edema and RA just make a powerful opponent and I found myself not able to walk at all.  I have to be thankful for the wheelchair.  I have used it more than I like to admit, but I am glad it’s there when I need it.  Getting from point A to point B has never felt so good.

Every day was a battle. Whether it was to smile, to move, to be a mom, or to find Joy within my circumstance, I fought, and I fought HARD.  I can look back and honestly say that I feel I have been victorious.  I lost the battle on many days, let’s be real.  I am human and can only endure so much!  But I WON more than I lost!  I had a secret weapon!

His name is Abraham.

Child of Promise, Born in Faith.  That was my declaration over him when I was pregnant.  He is my promise of Healing and he represents the faith that is buried so deeply inside my heart. He is also something beautiful and healthy and perfect that came out of this body that is none of the above.

Each day his smiles and love and cuteness made me laugh or cry out in thankfulness!  He was worth fighting for!  It took a lot to bring him into this world, but he is my promise.  He is beautiful and has Blessed my family  beyond words.

Adapted by Karen Renee Johnson and Illustrated by Matt Thayer.

I had the incredible opportunity to write the literary adaptation of this famous Silk family story. It was an honor to partner with Sheri Silk through this process of birthing this book. Matt did an amazing job at capturing this humorous tale.

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