I’ve fallen off the wagon for the last couple of weeks. The menu-making, planning-ahead-for-meals wagon. We’ve been foraging through cupboards, sparse pantry shelves and barren refrigerator/freezers for the last several days. How long can a family survive on PB&J? We would have found out had it not been for Brittany‘s example. She inspired me to get [...]
I’m joining with Ann Voskamp today for Multitudes on Monday. We’re counting gifts of grace, but I have to say: So many gifts, so little time. You see, it’s already 11:18PM and I’m just starting my post. And not only that, but I’m not sure I met my self-imposed 3 gifts per day in my [...]
I’m writing this post on Saturday afternoon, just before 2PM. I’m the picture of simplicity, still in my pajama pants, unshowered and unbrushed teeth/hair. Alas, my morning has not been completely wasted. I’ve compiled two weeks of menus, printed them off, written a grocery list and given it to Peter (who, thankfully, does most of [...]
I confess, Sundays are sometimes pretty stressful around our house. Today, however, was a good day. I woke up well rested. Peter, not so much, according to his new super cool sleep cycle study app. He and I were able to spend time together and pray together before the kids woke up. I was able [...]
I’ve just done a thorough review of our teens’ Facebook settings. Yes, I took my own advice. One of our teens had several applications which needed to be deleted, but it took us forever to figure out where to do it. After several failed attempts, I finally searched the Facebook blog and found this: I [...]
Today I am reminded of Adam, the toddler in the simple cardboard book I Don’t Want to Go by Anne Sibley O’Brien. I bought the book for Morgan when he was two or three. He had such a difficult time with transition! Whenever it was time to transition from one thing to another, he would [...]
I have about twenty minutes before I have to go pick up the paint brush again, but I wanted to quickly share with you a few of my thoughts on this New Year’s day. All four children were away for the Christmas holiday. Two have returned, and the other two come back home on Tuesday. [...]
I sent the kids outside to sled on our street, no doubt turning packed snow to ice so the road will be nearly impassable by nightfall. The boys returned, in all their sweaty, smelly funk. I can’t breathe. What is it about 12 and 13 year old boys who’ve been playing, the smell that takes [...]
I’m spending the first snowfall trying not to eat the entire plate of Laity Lodge Christmas Cookies I made last night. When we had The High Calling team retreat at Laity Lodge this fall, I couldn’t get enough of those cookies. Once I returned to the hectic chaos of the real world, the cookies faded [...]
When is the best time to redecorate the Master Bedroom? Surely not two weeks before Christmas! Unless, of course, your husband is a man obsessed with finding the solution to the drafty bedroom, a pursuit that has spanned the entire four and a half years of our marriage, living in a home built in the [...]
