Finding My Happy Place

It’s time to get a little personal. I want to talk about the bedroom.
OK, not THAT personal.
Am I the only one with a complete pit for a bedroom?
It is no secret that, with five kids, housework is a constant challenge for me. I feel like it takes all I have to just keep things [...]

Let’s Just Call it 9 1/2 Things I’m Thankful For

Yes, I failed to post five things that I was grateful for last night. Not that I hadn’t thought about them. It was just a side effect of several nights of a baby not wanting to sleep worth a darn. Truth be told, I almost skipped tonight, too, for the same reason. I lay down [...]

And His Imaginary Friend Complains that He Doesn’t Call Anymore

This weekend, Noah and Wyatt decided to write letters to Santa Claus. These were given to Sean with the instruction to mail them to the North Pole today (and then my instruction to save them since I could see him not necessarily thinking about the fact that THEY MADE LISTS since he isn’t the one [...]

Children Are Angels Who Sing Off Key

Once a year, all of the children from three to eleven years old in our church do a presentation during the main part of our Sunday meeting. All year long, the kids practice the songs they will sing. For the last month or so before the presentation, they practice reciting parts that they are each [...]

Wherein I Go Shopping for Men’s Clothing and Fall Over Dead from Sticker Shock*

I got an earlier than usual start to my day today. This is thanks to the fact that Noah decided not to ride along with Sean and the other boys when Sean went to get donuts for a special treat this morning, then got bored/lonely when his visiting grandma went down to take a shower. [...]

On Having a Daughter

I am now three months into being the mother of a daughter. Since Violet was born, I have regularly had people ask me if it is different having a daughter. I have avoided the urge to respond, “Only when I’m changing her diaper.” I mean, she’s still a little lump of a baby (a very [...]

Sometimes, I Lack the Ability to Be Profound

Today, I am thankful for:

The Chinese buffet. Because my whole family enjoys it. And I’m lazy.
An evening spent on the couch snuggling with a sleepy baby (and pushy cat) and watching Project Runway. I’ve been trying to spend my evenings cleaning and organizing lately, so it was great to just be lazy.
The opportunity to teach [...]

It’s Not Too Soon for a Mid-Life Crisis

After I posted my letter to myself yesterday, I had a “so where do I go from here?” sort of a feeling. Then Jill (and then Nicole) commented that they would love to see me write another letter to the future me. So I started thinking about it.
First, I had to figure out who I [...]

Seeing My Future

January 13, 1993
Dear Me,
This is a letter to myself to let me, in the future, see what my hopes and expectations were when I was almost 16, and to see how my life met up to those dreams and expectations.
In two and a half years I hope to graduate high school and probably go to [...]

Gratitude

Last year, I made a challenge to myself to spend the month of November focusing on gratitude. I decided to do Thirty Days of Thankfulness on this blog by listing five things that I was grateful for each day. It was not always easy, but it was an incredibly positive experience for me.
About a month [...]