Parenting Ain’t For Sissies
I watched the oven clock while washing dishes; my pregnant belly so big that I had to lean forward to reach the sink. It’d been an entire hour since my two-year-old made it clear that she preferred sitting on the Time
Snapshots
Last week, before my two-year-old daughter’s hernia surgery, I found myself taking extra time to stare into her eyes. One of the most vivid encounters happened before nap time. For about fifteen minutes, I laid there beside her on the
The Bargain Huntress
I remember, at fourteen, running full tilt in between our van and the front door of the Goodwill, lest anyone from my private school should spot me and know from whence most of my wardrobe came. Now, sixteen years later,
Our Own Little House
This week, at the library, I checked out some illustrated Little House on the Prairie books for my daughters. It’s been a long time since I read the series or watched the Michael Landon + Melissa Gilbert episodes on TV, and
Parenthood: Snipping Away Our Character Flaws
Two weeks ago, I purchased a spider plant at Aldi’s for $4.99. I have a thing for plants, and in our move from Wisconsin to Tennessee, I lost all my plants but for an orchid. Therefore, I’ve been slowly and stealthily
The Outcast E-Book Sale!
Hey, friends, It's a gorgeous 62 degree Saturday, and the girls and I have just returned from playing outside with their cousins. Now, my two-year-old is taking a nap; my five-year-old is eating a snack, and I am using this rare
Think Before You Yell
One by one, the four and five-year-old girls leapt off the diving board into the water. Meanwhile, my five-year-old clung to the pool’s edge and sobbed to the swim coach. I’d enrolled my shy daughter in swim class to help
Each Life Is Book-Worthy; It’s Just The Way It Is Written
My best friend, Misty, came to visit this week. The hour before she had to leave, my husband watched the girls so we could take a walk around our land. We put our hats and coats on in the breezeway,
Life, Love, and Mislaid Plans
Yesterday, my husband and I took our two-year-old to Vanderbilt to have her umbilical hernia evaluated, which isn’t an umbilical hernia after all, but a regular one, and will require surgery in April. Afterward, I was determined to have lunch at
Love: An Investment of Time
One of the traits that endears my husband to me the most is his love for planting trees. When we first got married, we lived in an apartment adjacent to our grocery store with a highway running past and a