This past new year I set several goals for myself as I’ve done many times before. It was a little different for me this time because I’d been fighting sciatica and didn’t really feel like I was going to be able to meet the challenges I’d set. However, with a few visits to the doctor…
Dear Emma: a letter to my newest high school senior
Dear Emma, I’ve been working on this letter for over a month. I’ve deleted it completely now to begin again. How can it be? Parents say that all the time, but I just really don’t get it. You’re supposed to “always be baby Emma.” That’s what I promised you before Gloria was born. I didn’t…
He already knew.
Warning: if you don’t like my honesty, it’s ok to quit reading. I’ll actually never know. A while back a friend of mine described a party she gave to one of her children who was an early teen. She told me she looked out the window to see the kids playing tag in the yard,…
When you have teenagers you can’t talk about their crap.
When you read blogs written for mothers they are one of two things. They are either super vague or geared toward having young children. There is a good reason for this. When you have teenagers, you can’t talk about their crap. You can read blogs all day long about potty training and sleep training and…
Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours
On the morning of February 2nd, I drove the kids to school instead of taking them to the elementary school where they normally catch the bus. The middles are going to a rural public school this year. I’ll write more about that at some point. One of them was not having the best morning as…
Luke is the actual “best dad ever”
Over 18 years have passed since my husband became a father. I watched him hold our little 8 pound 12oz baby in his arms as if she were made of porcelain. He changed every diaper in the hospital. I didn’t change a single diaper until we got home…and that was our first child. He sang…
I know there will be questions
Something unexpected happened this week. I know that many of you will want to know what happened and why our choices have changed. This will probably be a long post, but I need to tell you all the details so that you’ll really understand. If you are a close friend of mine and this is…
New Normal
A neighbor stopped by last night to drop a card off at our house for Madelyn. He and his wife have 3 small children. Our neighborhood has undergone a shift in the last year, we’re one of the “older” couples on the street. As I chatted with him for just a minute he explained how…
The time is now (Senior mom series)
There are so many clichés about being a high school senior. People will say, “This is only the beginning” or “The adventure begins here.” The quotes go on and they are all the same, it’s great to be a senior. You’re leaving the nest and stretching out your wings. You’ll still depend on your parents…
Reconnecting with a friend after 17 years
I’ve been waiting to post this picture until I had just the right words to say. I was going to post it on Instagram or Facebook, but I decided it was worthy of a full on blog post. This is a special picture and though I am sure there are no words I’m going to…
Declutter project: My dresser
Luke and I share this dresser. So we don’t have a ton of excess in this department to begin with. I have the top two small drawers, then the next two big drawers. Luke uses the bottom two. Pretty much all I wear are T-shirts and over time that can really pile up. Also, I’ve…
Declutter Project: Kitchen Desk
I’m getting started with my decluttering project. I’m still not committed to calling it minimalism just yet as really all I’ve done is the cleaning out of one space. I have made a decision though and I think that is a start. I’m part of a FB group called Uncluttered. I’ve just started the course…
Assessing the situation: Declutter life change: Step one
Two posts in one day! Not sure this will get posted today but even starting to write a second post in the same day is some kind of record I’m sure. So, with beginning this whole process I wanted to take a moment and kind of assess the situation. I’m working on two lists. The…
New Project: 2017
I’m going to try something new. I’ll be linking some videos in my blog and let you walk through this process with me. (Gloria informed me that I videoed this wrong. I’ll do better next time Glo.) This is going to hurt. (emotionally, not physically)
My kids are a construction zone
I’m sitting in a Starbucks waiting on Glo while she is at basketball practice and I’ve found myself with a few minutes to reflect. It’s a little too air conditioned in here and it looks like the weather might finally be turning to fall. I spent the better part of yesterday in tears and today I…
Thank you, election season, for stealing my children’s innocence
Dear Whoever Hung the Republican Party Propaganda on My Door so that I Know for Whom to Vote, First I don’t want you to be mistaken, I am 100% pro-life and will vote pro-life when it is possible, so I get you. I know you wanted me to know the pro-life candidates. I just wanted…
I miscarried 10 years ago
I realized today that Monday, September 19, was the 10 year anniversary of my first miscarriage in 2006. When I noticed the date, and I remembered, it came over me like an unexpected flood. The tears poured out and I felt the same sadness as if 10 years hadn’t passed. There is nothing you can…
Our family vacation to Seattle
We’ve been getting lots of questions about our family vacation. Though I posted tons of pictures on social media I thought it might be fun to go through some of our favorite days with a little more insight. First off, a good friend of mine said something like this. “Your family looked so sweet in…
My first time to be a “senior” mom.
It’s happening. I titled this year “The Beginning of the End.” It is the beginning of the end of the family years. Those times when our house is filled with children is coming to a long drawn out end. There are nine years separating my oldest and my youngest so I get to be sappy…
My girl, Glo
I have 4 amazing daughters. They are all talented and funny and beautiful. I have this one kid though…that well…she’s a bit of a ham. What people don’t know about her is that though she puts on the facade of being an air head, she’s actually really smart. She’s a thinker and super intuitive. She’s…
Why I do this blog thing
I’ve been thinking lately about why I put so much time an effort into this little blog thing that I do. I don’t currently make any income from it (though I would love to.) Yet, I somehow find the time to post and share. What is it that makes me come in the office…(ok, it’s…
Logo
So excited about my new logo. It feels so official.
The story of a climb
As you could have guessed, I am writing a post about my time in Colorado last week. It was really great. My aunt Reneta and I used to spend a lot of time together when I was a kid, and that was a while back. We really enjoyed the time to reconnect. I fell in…
Featuring me!
Can I tell you something crazy? I was chosen to be a contributing blogger for an online and print magazine called Beauty and Lifestyle Mommy. Once you’re there scroll all the way down to the “About” button at the very bottom. Under the about tab you’ll see a button for Contributing Bloggers. Click there and…
Raising girls in this “rape culture.”
(This is super long, I’m sorry but I just have so much to say on the subject) I’ve been tossing that title around in my head for a couple of weeks and honestly typing it made me sick to my stomach. I have all these words to say about this…all these thoughts and I can’t…
You be the judge: edgy kids
You do, you judge. Maybe you call it “discernment” and that makes you feel better about it. I mean…we do have to discern which movie is good for our kids and which one will turn them into a psychopath murderer. We do have to discern wether or not THAT friend is the right one for…
Counting down the days
I am so crazy excited about my upcoming adventure. In just 53 days I am leaving KS to go on a super fun adventure. I’ve mentioned it before but just had to write about it today because it’s really on my mind. My aunt Reneta from Mississippi and I are going to camp and then…
On turning 39
I haven’t written in a while. My focus is on my girls and words float in my head. Ideas of things I want to write, things I want to say, but time keeps moving forward and I busily move from one task to the next. Now, I just had a birthday and I have all…
Words from a friend
I met my friend Karen about 10 years ago. At the time she was teaching for a virtual school that we are no longer a part of. She was my assigned teacher. When I first started using the school for curriculum I decided that when I had to talk to my assigned teacher the conversation…
Goals for the New Year 2016: Here We Go Again.
A few people shared their goals for the new year on yesterday’s post and I was quite inspired by my cousin, Hannah. I too need to strengthen my prayer life. Our Bible study has taken a break for the holiday season and that has left me a little unfocused. So though most of my goals…
Resolutions vs. Goals
I have a bone to pick with the New Year. Why do we set resolutions? I think we are just setting our selves up for failure. Can we please start a new trend? Is that even possible in 2016? Trends and fads seem to move faster than an earring headed toward the sink drain. Can we set…
30 Days Project: Where did the time go?
I had a grand plan of writing every few days. Wow…time fles. In some regards I feel like I failed. I didn’t “make someone’s day” every single day. BUT…when I was tired, when I had just “had it” with shopping and errands, I smiled any way. I made friendly chit chat with the person ringing…
Are homeschooled kids just “better?”
This was my choice, not theirs. No one ever said: “Hey mom, why don’t you give up the next 15 plus years of your life (once it’s all said and done, and IF they all go to high school not at home) to teach us every day. Also, you’ll have to drive us all over…
30 Days Project: Days 8-11
The last several days I haven’t done anything phenomenal, not that any of this has been amazing. Just general kindness, compliments and coffee (of course.) I did have a neat experience, though simple and small, at a basketball game. It was a home game and we were playing another local homeschool team. If you aren’t…
30 Days Project: Days 6 and 7
Day 6 was a simple not a big deal helping hand for someone I didn’t know. Any one would have done it. But, like I said before, it’s super hard to find something to do all the time, so I figured it “counted.” Day 7 was really fun actually. I ran into Target to get…
30 Days Project: Day 5
Yesterday was busy. I completed my task of doing a random act of kindness and though I see this blogging project as a wonderful form of accountability, I want to keep this one to myself. I don’t know the person I helped, but honestly I would have done it wether or not I was doing…
30 Days Project: Days 3 and 4
Days 3 and 4 were about compliments. I made it a point to tell people they were doing a good job or working hard. I told a lady how precious her little baby was. Oh man. He was adorable. I’ve been praying that God would lead me to people that need an encouraging word. Yesterday,…
30 Days Project: Day 2
Again, it was late. I had a headache all day yesterday and again today. (One of those that shoots through my right eye and arches around the right hemisphere of my brain and then down the right side of my neck. You know, those kind.) I had errands to run though, tis the season. I feel like…
30 Days of Kindness Project: Day 1
Today I learned that this is going to be harder than I thought it would be. You would think that I could open my front door, walk out and find a stranger to do something nice for. Not the case. I was actually out today quite a bit. We had a special homeschool class at…
30 days of kindness project
Last Christmas season I decided that where ever I went I was going to try to be extra kind. I would let people go in line in front of me. I would buy the person behind me in the Starbuck’s line a cup of coffee, I would help strangers in tough situations. I thought that…
Honestly
It’s a fault of mine I guess. Honesty. I’m too honest. Is that possible? Yes. I’m really interested in writing. I love it actually. I have a lot to say, I guess. If I write it, I can say it and if you don’t want to read it, you don’t have to. But I have…
Our Favorite “Hands On” Math Tools, Your homeschool Christmas List.
I’ve taught math all the way from preschool through the 8th grade and these are time tested tools that we’ve used over the years and really couldn’t live with out. I’d put them on my Christmas list if I were you. If you have littles these will change the way you teach forever. If you…
Curriculum review #1 Saxon Math: 3rd Grade
Like I said the other day, I get a ton of homeschool questions. One thing people who are just starting out ask most is, “What curriculum do you use.” The truth is that we have used a lot of different things over the years and some have been great, some things have been so so…
Our Homeschool Day Start to Finish
I get asked homeschool questions all the time. Like, a lot. I thought it might be nice to know what a typical (note: not perfect or ideal) homeschool day looks like for us. Keep in mind, I have two that GO to school and two at home. This is complicated and today was lovely because…
A quick confession
I have a ton of different posts rolling around in my head, but I never have the time to write. I just want to get this one out though. This is the super honest, lay it on the line part of me. It’s also the can’t keep my mouth shut and I feel like every…
I run but I don’t consider myself a “runner.”
It’s true. I mean, a “runner” doesn’t miss an entire week and eat Oreos instead. I know people that can run super fast and I know people who run a slower pace but run 6 days a week. Those are runners. Runners train at 5 am when it’s 30 degrees outside. I’m just a casual…
Catlin Camping
Some time has past and I’ve been so busy these last few weeks that I’ve had little time to catch up on anything I WANT to do. I am getting the HAVE to’s done. Writing this post has been on my WANT list since we came home. Camping was beyond what I had hoped. I…