The 90 day challenge ended a week ago. We still don’t know the winners yet (I think I’m probably 2nd), but I know that no matter the final standings…I’ve won.  When I started this thing back in April, I had 29% body fat, terrible eating habits, was a size 14, and had high blood pressure. Three months later and my body fat is 22% and going down, my diet is vastly improved, I’m a loose size 10, and my blood... Read more

**I’m talking about sex and abortion. If that’s not your thing, I’ll see you tomorrow.** The pictures out of Austin yesterday were breathtaking. The groups of blue standing and singing or with heads bowed in prayer, and those of orange holding signs, marching, or yelling in protest. The group distinctions could not be more stark. While the pro-choicers (orange) seem, in pictures at least, to be comfortable with confrontation, the pro-life protesters (blue) are obviously not. The maelstrom in Austin... Read more

I took #4 to Scottish Rite Hospital for her regular, once every 4 months, arthritis check. – It’s official –  She’s in remission!! No more shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We literally danced and skipped from the exam room to the car. Thank you to all of you who have walked this long hard road with us either in person or in prayer. I don’t have the words to adequately express my gratitude to all of you.  Other than a simple and heartfelt “Thank... Read more

(no… not mine…do you really think I wouldn’t tell you?) A friend of mine sent me an ultrasound picture today of her new little one. It was one of the grainy black and white kind, not the cool 4D ones. I was on the phone telling her congratulations when I heard a squeal from the couch. My 19 month old had found my iPad and seen this ultrasound photo: I hung up the phone and turned on the camera. Here’s... Read more

Two and a half years ago when our son was diagnosed with a Sensory Processing Disorder, I thought I understood what that meant. The way the doctors explained it was that his brain misinterpreted the information it was getting from the nerves in his mouth. He would eat or drink things and his brain wouldn’t register the feeling of what he had in his mouth. This left him looking for harder and harder things to chew in his quest to... Read more

I got a question from a reader (I love questions, more people should ask them) about what I do for preschool. I answered her over at the new place. Come and join us over there! Read more

My husband told our children that if they could catch one of the wild bunnies in our neighborhood they could keep it as a pet. Most of my kids rolled their eyes and ignored him, but #’s 4, 5, and 6 have taken him up on the challenge.They’ve been at it fr the past 4 hours – planning traps, getting a box ready to house their new pet, and scouting for bunny holes. They finally found a burrow twenty minutes ago... Read more

I’m feeling a little lost these days. For the last 10 months, all of my time has been eaten up with either homeschooling or writing/editing my book. By some happy coincidence, I finished both the same week. I had one week of prepping for the San Antonio Catholic Homeschool Conference, but now that I’m done with that…I have nothing going on until August. I’m just wandering through my house at a loss for what to do now. The first thing... Read more

Not strictly a “homeschool” post.. more of a “take care of mom so she doesn’t burn out and can keep homeschooling the kids” post. Anyway, it’s over on my new “homeschooling and book stuff” site. Never fear, Shoved to Them will still be going strong with all the other stuff I love to talk about. Here’s the link Read more

I finally saw the payoff today for all of the working out that I’ve been doing. All that lifting weights over my head stuff meant that today at the pool I could pick up my 11 year old son and fling him in the pool. Being able to wrassle around with my eldest boys and hold my own makes it totally worth it. Then there was the pride on my 13 year old’s face when one of the other kids... Read more