1. Yesterday, we went to Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas for #4’s quarterly arthritis checkup.  We were expecting fairly good news as she’s been pain-free and pretty normal looking for the last month or so.  it wasn’t surprising, but welcome nonetheless, to hear the doctor say she looked great.  What I didn’t expect was for her to say: There is no evidence of active Arthritis in any of her joints! 2. It seems that the drug cocktail she... Read more

9 o’clock in the morning and the electronic chirping begins.  Before long it builds to a cacophony of  beeps and ring tones.  It must be Monday morning.  Let the text messaging begin! As my own children sit in the kitchen learning Spanish, Pre-Algebra, and American history, their peers are sitting somewhere in a classroom and texting my kids.  After 15 minutes or so I begin replying to their friends “#2 is doing his schoolwork right now and I suggest that... Read more

9 months ago, my 5 year old son was a pretty good eater.  There were a couple things he would fuss over, but would eat them anyway.  One morning he woke up and wouldn’t eat anything except “cheese sandwich 2 triangles in a pan” (that’s a grilled cheese sandwich made in a pan cut twice to make 4 triangles) or quesadillas (Mexican grilled cheese).  If it grew on a plant, there was no way he was eating it. I tried... Read more

**Ever have one of those days when you can’t win?  yeah…me too… Today was #3’s turn to pick dinner.  There are just days when I need a little inspiration.  I call those days “Thursday”.  So, I asked him, “What do you want for dinner?  If I have the ingredients, I’ll make whatever you want.” “I want chili with hot dogs.” He answered. “A chili dog?” I asked him. He huffed a bit and said “No, mom.  A bowl of chili... Read more

One of my best friends is pregnant with her #8, my own sweet godson, and is due any day.  All the signs of imminent labor are there, but the most obvious is that the obnoxious comments have begun. “Just do some jumping jacks.”“Are you still pregnant?”“How many babies are in there?”“You haven’t had that kid yet?” Night and day her family and friends pester her with phone calls, emails, text messages, and Facebook shout outs. “Have you had that baby... Read more

I’ve spent the last 3 weeks agonizing over my resume.  It’s not an easy thing to sum up your life skills and experience on a single sheet of paper…which reminds me that I owe my husband an apology dating back to his job search of a few years back….Sorry, Computer Guy! So…the resume.  Ugh.  If you only knew how much time I’ve spent staring at a blank Word document page and trying not to cry.  How do you make “I... Read more

I found out this week that I will be one of the speakers at the 2013 San Antonio Homeschool Conference on June 7-8.  I’ll be speaking on “Homeschooling Through Adversity – How to Keep Going When Life Gets in The Way.”  I’m thrilled to have been invited, and even more excited that I get to do it.  If you’re going to be in the San Antonio area next June, think about attending.  There will be some amazing speakers there….and I’m... Read more

 I raved about how much I loved Sarah’s new book, and now I’m going to rave about it again.  I love this book!  (CleanerB, yours is on the way.  It was hard to get to the Post Office amidst the puking of the children the last few weeks.  Sorry!)  Today, Sarah is taking over my blog on her blog book tour to remind us all to pray the Rosary together.  Get out your rosary, and pray along with Sarah, then... Read more

One of the great litmus tests of politics is “Are you doing better than you were four years ago?”  Where do you stand financially and personally?  Are you happier and more secure?  If so, then it makes sense to maintain the status quo.  If not, then it might be time for a change in leadership. So, are you better off?  We aren’t. We aren’t even in a place which is “on par” with where we were this time last year. ... Read more

As I round the corner toward the finish line of my book’s rough draft, I’ve been a little surprised by my own elation.  I’d forgotten how it felt to set and then meet a seemingly impossible goal.  Write a book in a month?  Done in 3 days.  I’m not even kidding!!!!  I know that the next couple of months will be filled with the much less fun task of editing and refining, but I’m ready to be able to declare... Read more