I remember this one summer in college, I took the summer off from working and just went to school. It was heavenly. I had class in the mornings, and then spent my afternoons sitting in a coffee shop people watching, drinking endless cups of java, working on projects, and listening to hours on end of music. Did I mention it was heavenly? I think if I had a list of ideal occupations, speaker and writer would fall high on the…
It’s been a while. Too long. I haven’t written in months. August brought a return to school for me, a beginning to school for our oldest son, and the news of baby number three on the way. All of these are joyous things, but here’s the truth: I’ve been tired. And grouchy. Oh so very grouchy. (My poor boys– all of them– I haven’t been so pleasant.) But it is this unpleasantness that has brought about a new mantra in…
I have to admit that I have never seen an episode of “19 Kids and Counting.” I have seen a few interviews and articles, and let me tell you that I believe those dear people have a special place in heaven for birthing 19 little humans who all seem to be relatively well-adjusted, all while keeping their sanity. (And for coming up with that many J- names.) No matter your opinions on the idea of having that many children, we…
I have always been the kid that loved to talk. I can be painfully shy in small groups, but give me a microphone and I don’t care how many thousands of people are in front of me, I’m gonna talk. Somewhere along the way, I also started writing. After all sorts of life experiences, my mom encouraged me to write– a book, a blog, anything. So about a year and a half ago, I started writing consistently. Mostly for my…
Then God said to Jeremiah: Go to the potter’s house; there I will give you my message. I went down to the potter’s house and there he was, working at the wheel. Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making the clay into another object that pleased him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do to you as the potter has done? Just…
Remember how I said that my sweet turkeys go to daycare during the summer time, and I would like you not to judge me for it? Okay, remember that. I really love dropping my boys off in the mornings and taking a moment to watch as they run off to start their day. While I hate leaving them, little humans fascinate me so much. And I truly believe that going to daycare and interacting with other adults and children, having…
It’s been nearly six months since we moved into the “new” house. Why the quotes, you ask? Well, the “new” house, while new to us, was in dire need of some serious updating. The bones of this house are incredible, but most of the rest sort of looked like it had been pulled from an early episode of “The Brady Bunch.” And so, for the last six months, my life has felt a little bit like I am living on…
A moment of honesty. Now, I can tell you I’m not proud of this. But I trust you enough to hope you will not judge me too badly for it. Here it is… I am one of those women. You know the kind. I hope that I have a few more kids (few = two-ish, maybe three if I am feeling brave). And yet, often, when I hear someone is pregnant for their third child (or anything exceeding three), I…
Let me preface this by saying that if you have not yet read or seen The Fault in Our Stars, and you intend to do so, you may not want to continue reading this post… You’re welcome. So as summer was on the cusp of beginning, and I was anticipating all of the time I was going to have to be productive and do projects and read for enjoyment, I decided to pick up a book that seemed to be…
We often make the joke that round about the time my vacation time starts, that is usually when sweet husband gets called right back to work. But May ended and summer vacation started, and miraculously, we have had quite a few days together. Heavenly… A few days ago, we were standing in the kitchen talking while the boys were sitting at their breakfast table giggling and talking like brothers do. Suddenly, the oldest shouted out, “Kiss her, Daddy!” We laughed…