With nothing but a paper clip, chewing gum, my trusty laptop and the help of a certain Computer Guy I know, I’ve taken over Defend Us In Battle.  What?  They weren’t using it It took patience, a bit of stealth………..and ninjas….to catch the one moment that had them looking in the other direction.  It’s all mine until they catch on and then I’m making a run for it!  (anybody know a good place for a mom, a Computer Guy and... Read more

My 3-year-old son walked up to me a few moments ago and clambered up onto my lap.  He placed his chubby hands on either side of my face and gazed into my eyes. “I wuv oo, Mommy,” he said. As my heart beat pitter-pat, he reared his head backwards and slammed his forehead into my own.  As tears welled up in my eyes, he laughed maniacally and pronounced, “Head bonks mean love,” and walked away. Read more

The woman at the grocery store looked at my overfull shopping cart and my half dozen children and proclaimed, “I could never do that.  You must be a saint.”  People say this to me all the time, canonizing me against my will.  I’m not a saint.  I’m just a normal mom.  I’m a normal mom with 6 children.  The six children don’t make me a saint, they just mean that I know more about the inside of a delivery room... Read more

Once upon a time, my husband’s grandmother was engaged to be married.  (It’s hard to think of her as that young woman in her early twenties.  She’s been old as long as I’ve known her.) Her fiance’s aunt and uncle took her shopping for a wedding present and were determined to buy flatware for the young couple.  Grandma had a definite picture in her mind of what she wanted on her table.  Having grown up on a farm in Oklahoma,... Read more

The Church of the IV Majesties, Oklahoma’s only legal satanic church (we’re so proud), will be holding a public exorcism on October 21st. Have you heard about this?  Probably not.  The participants are purposely mocking Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular, and the media is mum.  When an obscure Florida Protestant pastor decided to mock Islam by burning the Qu’ran, the world was up in arms ( sometimes literally). When an Oklahoma satanist mocks Christianity…crickets. If this were a... Read more

I have been working for the last couple months for a small legal group which is helping homeowners to avoid foreclosure and keep their homes.  I’m not doing anything grand, just filling out paperwork, but it is fascinating work.  Once upon a time, I dreamed of being a lawyer, not the go-to-court-and-give-fabulous-speeches kind, but the fill-out-paperwork-give-advice-and-help-people-in-their-every-day-lives kind.  This little part time job is letting me live out a childhood fantasy and it’s fun to me. It’s also infuriating.  In two... Read more

A friend of mine and I were day dreaming out loud about what we would do if we won the lottery.  We laughed about the trips we would take, the shoes we would buy, the peace we would feel with millions of dollars in the bank. It got me thinking about more realistic goals.  We have no bills except for our house….what if we paid off the house?  How would our lives be different without a mortgage payment?  We wouldn’t... Read more

After my last post, I got lots of people saying “Pull him out now!”  While there’s a part of my which delights in that idea, a larger part is not ready.  Let me explain why. He hops out of my car every morning ready and eager for school.  When he was learning at home, it was always a battle to get him to the table and an even bigger one to keep him there.  He’s excited about learning again.  That’s... Read more

My in-laws came into town this weekend to say good-bye to my father-in-law’s mother. The nice thing for us was that it meant we got to see them, too. Saturday afternoon, my mother-in-law and I took my girls shopping for clothes and sparkly things and just enjoying a moment of girliness in the midst of an emotional weekend.  At some point during the afternoon, the conversation turned to #3 and public school.  She wanted to know how he was doing... Read more

My beloved Computer Guy has been gone all week to a convention in Las Vegas.  He’d never been there before and was a bit curious as to what all the fuss was about.  He didn’t sound that impressed with Sin City, but he thought Salt Lake City was beautiful. His flight home was delayed by two flat tires and a missed flight.  Instead of happily snoring next to me, he’s spending the night in Salt Lake City at the expense... Read more