So we’re a week into my new routine. I’m not sure what’s worse, drinking a gallon of water a day, or making myself exercise. Yes, I know they’re good for me. But yeah. Not my favorite. Add in the fact that I’ve got some serious squirrel! syndrome and no fewer than five children orbiting me on any given day, and then top it off with my awesomesauce ENFP personality that gets bored at the drop of a hat, and yeah,…
So it rained today. I’m not talking a warm, summer rain. Nor am I talking about a drizzle. I mean rain. Weather. The kind of rain that makes you want to stay in bed, under the covers with copious amounts of hot tea and cake and a stack of novels. The kind of rain that makes you want to go and re-read Genesis, just to remind yourself that God doesn’t plan to kill the world by flood ever again. The…
Do you ever find yourself, in these strange times, losing track of what day it is? More and more it seems like the days are picking up and flying by- I intend to get things done, but it feels like I turn around twice and it’s already the weekend again. Whew! Things are opening up here in Freedom-loving Idaho, for which our family of extroverts is EXTREMELY thankful- but we still find ourselves losing track of time on occasion. Or…
Hot black tea (always Lipton here!), a little sugar, a little cream. A small (or big!) slice of cake. Take out the fancy plates and cups because they should be enjoyed, not just sitting gathering dust on a shelf waiting for the perfect moment. A good book, with a simple plot. Or maybe it’s you quiet time with God. Hopefully something that takes you away from the stress of the day and gives you some space. Talking with your kids…
It’s that time of year again…The kids are asking me daily at this point, “How many days until Christmas?” and there’s not enough hours in the day to finish all the tasks on my to-do list as it is. Yesterday, one of my kids found a favorite bracelet of mine and thoughtfully asked me if they could gift it to their best friend. Now, the bracelet in question isn’t real as far as quality is concerned, and in fact, it’s…
What do you do when you want to have a memorable gift, but you’ve already done the standards? What about the kid or relative that has everything? Here’s your 2019 guide to seven Mom and Daughter gift ideas that are sure to bring flavor to your festivities this year: KIDS $25.99 Available Here BILIBO TOY Meet the Bilibo. (Billy-Bow)What is it? It’s a sled. It’s a hat. It’s a turtle shell. It’s a chair. It’s a basket. It’s a doll…
The Context:We heat our house by wood-burning stove. It’s old-fashioned, but we like it. And it suits our pocketbooks. Tonight, we put a fire in, and our smoke alarm went off. Okay. Odd. Closed the dampeners, and realized that the fan we have blowing the air away from the stove was actually turned toward the smoke alarm. No problemo. Easy fix. When we installed the stove, we learned what to look for, and I probably went a tad overboard by…
So our family hemmed and hawed last week over Disney+. We are what you would refer to as movie and television mavens. But we’re picky. Insanely picky. We don’t like anything that has an underlying agenda. We don’t like anything that’s just junk, and we’re more likely to enjoy an old classic en masse than use our limited screen time with something new and risky. Now, right out of the gate, (I can hear the voices clamoring) if you are…
So this month is National Novel Writing Month. Or, as we scribblers like to call it: NaNoWriMo (Nah-No-Rye-Moh). This program is in it’s 20th year. Wow! Since I’ve been penning typing up my fabulous children’s book series this summer and fall (available here), I thought it would be good to get out into the public and do a few writer-friendly events. The purpose behind NaNo- is to write fifty thousand words in thirty days. To give you an idea of…
You may or may not have heard about the recent kid-created holiday of Wolfenoot, which took the internet by storm this autumn. Long story short: a young boy was given the task of inventing his own holiday and he invented a holiday that was for people who are nice to dogs. It is both endearing and creative. And it’s captured the world’s hearts and imaginations. I mean? Dogs? Presents? Total win! Having children who are easily bored with tedium we…