Adventures in La La Land

My thanks to Tim McGraw for the phrasing of my final entry. :-) Image Source I saved my favorite for last. If there's one thing I want my kids to learn (aside from the saving grace of Jesus), it's to be kind. My parents modeled this in a powerful way, and I grew up thinking it was normal. As I got older, I was astonished to see the way people treat each other and talk to each other. Image Source As Christians, being kind is an easy way to share the love of Christ. Instead of being snippy and rude with a slow waitress, just be kind. Instead of sighing loudly and scowling as the person in front of you at Meijer takes forever with their order, smile and be patient. Instead of returning evil for evil, be the better person. Image Source But don't reserve your kindness for strangers. Shower it on those closest to you as well. Talk nicely to your kids and husband. Treat your parents with respect. Be friends with your siblings. Use sarcasm sparingly - and never i...

If you've ever read The Screwtape Letters , you know that Satan is the "father of lies." C.S. Lewis writes the book as a series of letters from the "master demon" to a "rookie" (my words). He gives pages of advice to the young demon on how to keep people from knowing and loving God. The entire book is riddled with admonitions to deceive  and persuade  and mislead . John 8:44 says, "He [Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Now, I don't understand the theological intricacies of how Satan lies to us. It's not verbally (like it was with Eve in the garden), but I also hesitate to ascribe so much power to Satan as to say that he can "whisper" things in our ears - aka, impress things on our minds. But regardless of how these thought-lies get into our heads, I do know the Bible says ...

My baby is 8 months old today. I love  the baby phase. Every month I see it slipping away little by little and I have to remind myself not to despair. This is probably our last baby [sidenote: I'm still waiting for that "I'm DONE" feeling. That does arrive eventually, right??] so I'm holding onto every little snuggle and toothless smile while I can. But at the same time, I'm trying to live by this mantra: Look forward to the firsts instead of lamenting the lasts. Karen Kingsbury capitalized on that feeling of longing for the past with this horrible book: Affiliate Link The Amazon synopsis: With lighthearted illustrations and a sweet, reflective tone, best-selling author Karen Kingsbury encourages parents to savor not only their children’s firsts, like first steps and first words, but the lasts as well. With the tenderness of a mother speaking directly to her child, Karen reminds us not to miss last days of kindergarten and last at-bats in Little Leag...

You are receiving a special advance edition of the Saturday 7 this week because I'm leaving for Ladies' Retreat tonight. 1. I have a confession to make: it bothers me that Lucy isn't competitive. She's an amazing reader, and whips through chapter books at home. But at school, they do AR books, where each book is assigned a level. She only does the minimum requirement and doesn't rush through the books to get to a higher level. She's happy just to coast along in the middle of the pack with the rest of her class. And at Awana, she can learn as many verses as she wants each week, but she only does one because that's all that's required. She couldn't care less about getting ahead or being the top of her class. Whose kid is she??!! 2. The weather finally turned very cold this week (temps in the 30s and 40s - which will feel balmy in a few months) and we played this game: We heat our house with an outdoor wood burning system. It requires my dad to...

*This post is inspired by my weekend plans. I'm off to Ladies' Retreat with my church, where I'll be hanging out with women of all ages. I've scheduled my posts to continue while I'm gone, so you shouldn't miss out on the last few days of Write 31!* I have an amazing  group of girlfriends who got married and had babies around the same time I did. We get together often for playdates and to bounce ideas off each other about discipline and picky eating and stay-at-home-mom-dom. I'm so thankful for them and their friendship. Having other mom-friends is vital to making it through these years of parenting young kids. But I'm also very grateful for my friends who are in different stages of life than me. For me, it was a little bit built in with my sisters. Niki is 9 years older than me and Libby is 6 years younger, so none of us were ever really in the same stage at the same time. I was 8 when Niki got married. Libby was 14 when I got married. Niki...

On Tuesday, when my van died in the Meijer parking lot, I literally sat there laughing for a minute. Lena piped up from the backseat, "Why are you laughing?" When I told her the van was dead, she declared vehemently, "That's not funny!" But it really was. And you know what's even funnier? The reason my van died. My mechanic called me yesterday with the news . . . it was out of gas. Lol. Seriously! I had it towed to the mechanic because it was out of gas!! In my defense, the gas gauge did suddenly stop working. It said I still had a quarter tank. So here's a mini life lesson: don't trust your gas gauge! Do you really blame me for assuming the worst after all the car trouble I've had in my life? Haha. I realized during this whole debacle that there is a lesson to be learned here. I could have been mortified. Or I could have been angry that I paid $42 for the mechanic to tell me I was out of gas. But I can honestly laugh about the whole scenario....

Less than two months, people!! Christmas is coming!! And I'm breaking out the Christmas music. All you naysayers can just pipe down, because I hold firmly to this philosophy: Enjoyment of Christmas should not be limited to one month!  Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. I look forward to it for months. As soon as the weather turns cold, the Christmas music comes out. I've been Christmas shopping for weeks. My calendar is filling up with plans for Christmas parties and family gatherings. I'm getting in the spirit!! Thanksgiving is just another delicious part of the whole holiday season. I don't love it any less just because I've already started looking forward to Christmas. Why put off the joy of Christmas until Thanksgiving is over? That only leaves me one month to enjoy it! Bring on the Christmas cheer! To see more from my Write 31 Days series, click the image below:

This morning I was driving to Meijer when I felt like my van suddenly started to decelerate. I was just about to get in the turning lane to turn into the store when it happened, so I needed to slow down anyway. I'm overly paranoid about my car breaking down, so I figured I was imagining things, until I actually attempted to turn. My power steering was definitely out. Fortunately I was turning right and slightly downhill. I managed to coast into the parking lot of the Meijer gas station before my van totally died. I turned it off and attempted to re-start it. Nothing. Dead as a door nail. I just sat there laughing for a minute because I have the worst luck with cars. And that is why I always opt in to the "roadside assistance" plan when choosing car insurance. With Progressive, it's $9 for the first vehicle and $5 for the second (per a 6 month plan). 100% worth it when we drive clunker cars that frequently break down. This isn't the first time my car has broken...

I am a terrible cook. I don't know why. I can read and follow a recipe. But I apparently don't have much common sense. Haha. Here are some lessons I've learned the hard way . . . 1. Wax paper and parchment paper are not the same thing. I still don't know the difference, but one of them will start on fire if you put it in the oven . . . 2. Stainless steel bowls are metal. You can't put them in the microwave. 3. You have to put a lid on the pan when you make rice. When the instructions say, "cover," that's not just a suggestion. 4. The lid to your glass 9x13 pan is made of plastic. It will melt if you leave it on the pan while cooking in the oven. 5. Spaghetti sauce stains white plastic bowls . . . forever. 6. You can't cut shapes out of Jell-o unless you follow the directions for "jigglers." 7. Never let your ponytail get too close to a KitchenAid mixer in motion . . . To see more from my Write 31 Days series, click the ima...

No one really needs me to tell them this. Everyone knows the benefits of reading to your kids are immense. But these are my life lessons - things that are important to me - and reading to my kids is one of them. I grew up in a family of readers. My parents modeled it for me well. My dad brought us to the library every Saturday and we'd get stacks of books to read during the week. I read the entire children's historical fiction section of our library before I hit 6th grade. I'm pretty sure we kept that library in business with the fines we accrued, but it was a pivotal part of my childhood. My parents read to us often. We went through the whole American Girl series (at least the 5 original girls). Their love of reading and their willingness to read to me ignited my passion for books. And it's something I hope to pass on to my kids. Before I was even pregnant, I start collecting kids' books. It's become a bit of an obsession, and we don't even read 90% o...

1. I've started putting away some of the baby stuff - the baby bathtub, the playmats, the rock n' play. - and it's kind of breaking my heart. I really don't think there are any more babies in my future, so it feels so final to be done with the stuff. Watch me be one of those people who gets rid of all the baby stuff and then accidentally gets pregnant when my kids are teenagers. (I wouldn't be crushed. Lol.) 2. I was looking something up in one of my old blog entries this week and came across this, that I wrote two years ago. I was talking about people living in the 1800s. Part of me wishes I lived back then. People didn't have as much time to think. They were too busy surviving. My washing machine does my laundry, my dishwasher does my dishes, I buy my peaches pre-canned. So I have too much time to think about what a failure I am and how I'm so tired all the time which probably means I have a tumor on my brain. I don't think the women of the 1800s w...

If you're a businessman, your success is measured by how well your business is doing. If you're a teacher, you're judged by your students' test scores. So it makes sense that if you're a mom, your effectiveness is measured by how your kids turn out, right? It's a trap I fall into too often. So when my kids inevitably don't live up to my expectations, I declare myself a failure.  I am a rule-follower. I read the instructions. I like knowing what's expected of me, meeting expectations, and being rewarded. I was the teacher's pet, straight-A student, goody-two-shoes all through school. It's where I placed my identity. I floundered a bit when school ended for good, but assured myself that I was meant for motherhood and that's where I would shine. Boy, was I wrong. Haha. Over the past 6 years, I've been astounded by my lack of mothering prowess. I expected it all to come naturally to me (like school did). I expected to enjoy every second ...

I told Justin last night, “Make me call the doctor tomorrow. My depression is not getting better on my new meds. Right now I feel terrible. Tomorrow morning I'll feel better and put off calling the doctor again.” Since the meds haven't been working, I've been relying on some of my old methods of dispelling depression. None of these works 100% of the time (or I wouldn't need the drugs!), but I've had varying degrees of success with each at some time or another. 1. Loud music. My genre of choice is worship music. There's nothing quite like belting out praise songs when I'm stuck in a depressed fog. (Check out my favorite worship songs here .) 2. Escapism. This probably isn't a healthy way to cope, but it tends to be effective. I get out of my head by getting into a good book.  When in pain, distract the brain 3. Get out of the house. Maybe this only applies to me because I'm a stay at home mom, but it's too easy to wallow if I ...

This one is kind of stupid. It sounds like something you'd hear on Barney, but the older I get, the more I see its value. At some point, I decided to stop apologizing for who I am and just embrace it. Let me give you some examples. 1. I let my kids watch TV. Lots of it. They learn stuff from it. I get things done. I sit on my couch scrolling through facebook. It works for us. 2. I eat sugar (and so do my kids). Life is too short to eat leaves and twigs all the time. 3. I like social media. I'm not one of those people who feels "so refreshed" after a facebook hiatus. 4. I read what I like - which happens to be Christian fiction. Yes, some of it is cheesy. But a lot of it is very well written without the smut of secular fiction. 5. I grew up sheltered and I'm sheltering my kids. ( Romans 16:19 ) 6. I'm a little chubby. But I get to eat donuts. 7. I don't get drunk. I feel like progressive Christians think this is one of those Biblical comm...