Blessed in the Mess!
One Midwest mom's musings from the bottom of the laundry heap...
Monday, May 12, 2014
Let's play a game!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
I'm thinking about expanding this blog a little, to include hosting recipes I've been posting in my new facebook community, www.facebook.com/delitefuldinners, but to be honest, I'm not exactly sure how to go about design and layout here on blogger, beyond using a simple template.
Buckle your seatbelts...it might get a little bumpy around here for a few days...but hopefully, as with all good construction projects, when the dust settles, it will be worth it. :)
Monday, January 6, 2014
Day one. Again.
A couple of years ago, I managed to lose a whopping 85 lbs! Eighty. Five. Pounds.
Then... Life happened, and I stopped going to the gym. We started homeschooling. My husband started a new job. And little by little, I gained back 75.
One handful of chips...
one cookie...
one Route 44 soft drink...
one extra helping at a time.
What happened? Where did my motivation go? How did I allow this to happen? Again?
I've been giving that a lot of thought lately. I remember a few awkward and apparently meaningful moments.
We were out to eat dinner, and I whipped out my phone to try and figure the nutritional information before I ordered... And my husband said, "Why can't you just relax once in a while? It's like you're obsessed with this whole thing." And I felt... embarrassed.
I was at work one day, and a co-worker, trying to complement me, said, "You're just disappearing!" And I felt... invisible.
I went to the doctor one day, looking for encouragement about the weight I had lost, and instead, he chose to talk about how far I still had to go. And I felt... discouraged.
I lost 85 pounds and my husband and I still fought too much. And I felt... unlovable.
I looked in the mirror one day, and was horrified at the loose skin hanging on my thighs from such dramatic weight loss, and I felt... Ugly.
And so now it's all back. And I'm paying the ultimate price. I'm now on medication for blood pressure. My back and my knees are in constant, chronic pain. I'm tired and cranky and feel pretty unworthy of love.
But... That's simply not true. I am worth it. My kids are worth it.
Worth it.
And worthy, no matter my genes, or the size of my jeans.
So today, I begin again.
:-)
Monday, December 9, 2013
Roe vs. Wade
55 million Dead.
With 40 years of abortion on demand in the United States, we have the blood of more than 55 million dead children on our hands.
Do you realize how many 55 million really is?
It's the entire population of the Nation's top 80 cities. Combined. God have mercy.
New York, NY
Los Angeles, CA
Chicago, IL
Houston, TX
Philedelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
Dallas, TX
San Jose, CA
Jacksonville, FL
Indianapolis, IN
Austin, TX
San Francisco, CA
Columbus, OH
Ft. Worth, TX
Charlotte, NC
Detroit, MI
El Paso, TX
Memphis, TN
Boston, MA
Seattle, WA
Nashville, TN
Louisville, KY
Milwalkee, WI
Portland, OR
Oklahoma City, OK
Las Vegas, NV
Albequerque, NM
Tuscon, AZ
Fresno, CA
Sacramento, CA
Long Beach, CA
Kansas City, MO
Mesa, AZ
Virginia Beach, VA
Atlanta, GA
Colorado Springs, CO
Raleigh, NC
Omaha, NE
Miami, FL
Tulsa, OK
Oakland, CA
Cleaveland, OH
Mineapolis, MN
Wichita, KS
Arlington, VA
New Orleans, LA
Bakersfield, CA
Tampa, FL
Aneheim, CA
Honolulu, HI
Aurora, CO
Santa Anna, CA
St. Louis, MO
Riverside, CA
Corpus Christi, TX
Pittsburgh, PA
Lexington, KY
Stockton, CA
Cincinnatti, OH
Anchorage, AK
St. Paul, MN
Toledo, OH
Newark, NJ
Greensboro, NC
Plano, TX
Lincoln, NE
Buffalo, NY
Henderson, NV
Ft. Wayne, IN
Jersey City, NJ
Chula Vista, CA
St. Petersburg, FL
Orlando, FL
Norfolk, VA
Laredo, TX
Think about it.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Common Core...a Primer, and Why it should matter to you.
I have noticed a trend lately amongst my friends. Now that schools are underway again, lots of parents are finding themselves looking straight down the barrel toward some major changes at their child's school. Parents are complaining that their child has more homework than ever before. And what's with all the writing? and the new way they're teaching math? Parents maybe aren't sure what's happened, but they are definitely noticing that there has been a shift...and it's pretty drastic.
So, I decided to put together this blog post, compiled originally from a conversation on facebook, to serve as a little primer. Common Core 101, if you will. Now, there are certainly many, many people out there who have written exhaustively about the subject, in much more eloquent terms. I will be linking to several of those sources throughout this post. But my intention is simply to give a starting place to those parents, teachers, students, and concerned citizens who may be wondering, "What's this all about?"
I have some very strong opinions about The Common Core. It's pretty sinister. Seriously...bad, bad stuff...and although in the homeschool world, parents are in an uproar about it, I find that very few public school or private school parents in my circles know anything about it. Unfortunately, we homeschoolers have been forced to learn about it because many of our trusted curriculum publishers have chosen to align with the new standards...so we were placed in a position of having to do a TON of research before we choose what to use in our families! Many in the homeschool world believe that no child will be able to escape the Common Core, eventually including, unfortunately, homeschooled kids. Some believe that these standards may give the federal government power to intervene and even outlaw homeschooling altogether.
By the way, have you seen what's happening in Germany?
First and foremost, let me say this: although the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been adopted in forty-five states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity, the matter is far from settled. As a matter of fact, many States are fighting back! For a look at what's happening in your particular state, take a look here:
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
A Note to All the Single Ladies
Romance.
It's such a wonderful idea, isn't it? Just the mention of the word, and well, I know exactly what you're thinking.
A dozen roses.
Maybe some chocolates?
A candlelit bathtub, and rose petals on the bed?
Maybe even your own version of one of these guys?
or, for those ladies of the 80's like myself...maybe it's this guy?
Well...let me just state the obvious. Hollywood is lying to you. All of that "I'm-desperate-for-you, can't-live-without-you" stuff is nothing but overblown infatuation and lust.
Seriously.
Do you know what love looks like?
This:
Love makes an emergency run to CVS for cold remedies when his mother in law is ill..
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Palm Sunday! Hosanna Parade!
We then made these cute, totally easy and adorable "palm leaves" that I found on Pinterest:
I didn't have any popsicle sticks, though, so we just glued the hand prints together to make palm leaves. The kids and I then read the story from their Read and Share Bible, and then paraded through every room in the house, waving their palm leaves, shaking their egg shakers made from plastic Easter eggs filled with jelly beans, while the kids shouted "Hosanna! Bless the King of Peace!" I'm not even sure where that spontaneous praise came from...but we went with it!
The upside of being snowed in? Lots of quality family time....and I am ahead of the game, for once. I already have 24 plastic eggs filled and bagged, and "Bunny Bait" made for their party at preschool on Tuesday. The kids had a great time helping me make a double recipe of the Bunny Bait.
Bunny Bait
Mix together:
popcorn
mini pretzels
Easter colored m&m's
Melt 1 bag of vanilla-flavored or white chocolate chips
Pour over popcorn mixture and stir to coat.
Spread out on cookie sheet to cool, and add sprinkles!
Allow to cool and break into pieces.
yummmmmmmm...