First Piano Performance at BCreative Launch

I've really dropped the ball on telling everyone about the stuff we've been doing lately.  For homeschool and just for fun (which is *****shhhhhhhhh****, don't tell anyone, also for homeschool.  I'm sneaky like that).  There's just not enough days in the week sometimes, ya know?  So even though today is Halloween, I'm gonna tell you about music.

What the Kids are Saying: Elizabeth

Me (whispering): This is the song we had during communion at our wedding.

Lizzy: Really?  I can't wait for my wedding...

7 Quick Takes Friday: Apple Pie, Thrifting, and a Promise

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I make a mean apple pie, folks.

Weeeeee-HAW!

Happy dance!  Happy dance!  I'm totally doing this dance all over my house right now!  It's super hard to type but totally worth it because......

Detroit and the Brother I Don't Know (history, volume 4)

(this is part 4 of an ongoing memoir series. read parts 1, 2, and 3 for all of this to make sense.)

So we moved to Detroit.  That's what people do when they don't know what to do or they need to start over- they go back to where they started.

My dad started in Detroit.  He started as number nine of 14 children in a brick tudor on Lakewood.  It's for sale right now.  I hope whoever buys it loves it the way it ought to be loved.

Top 10 Tips for New Moms

Congratulations!  You are about to have/just recently had your first baby!  Knowing you, you've scoured the internet and all those message boards and read that Girlfriend's Guide AND that annoying helpful What to Expect thing.  You. Are. Ready.

Or maybe not.

'Cause there are just some things that books are afraid to tell you because if they TELL you you're gonna be all "Um, no way.  This book is insane.  I refuse to spend my precious dollars on it because clearly it was written by lunatics." And then you will not buy it and the publishers will cry.


Well guess what?  My blog is free!  So I don't mind if you call me insane and suggest that I'm a lunatic because, um, hello- we are all in agreement about those two facts already.

In light of that fact, I think it's high time for....

Top 10 Tips for New Moms

My Daughter is a Slob

Inspired by my friend Cari and the closet of Repunzel Doom:

7 Quick Takes Friday: A video! And a dude with a machete!

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First, the very happy, good news.  Finally, after months of paperwork and phone calls, Tommy was approved to receive his unemployment benefits after getting laid off back in May.  Hallelujah!  While it's not a whole lot, it's a whole lot more than zero, so we are pretty stinkin' stoked.  Now instead of working odd jobs and not applying to real jobs, he can apply to real jobs that have super long applications and a multitude of essay questions.

True story.

7 Things You were Dying to Know About Me ('cause I'm stylish)

Hold on to your hats folks, because this is going to Blow. Your. Mind.

Homeschool Haikus

I know today is supposed to be memoir day, but honestly y'all, I'm a little exhausted from yesterday still.  And 'cause this is my blog and I do what I want, my girls and I are going to put up some autumn haikus with a link-up at the end.  Easy peasy and can pass as learnin'.

Perfect for us lazy savvy homeschooling moms!

To My Babies in Heaven

I know you feel only joy.  You have no troubles and no pain.  Because that's what heaven is all about.

I hope you're together.  I know you're together.  And even though I know my goal in life is to get my babies to heaven, it still makes me sad that you three are there, and these four are here and they don't know you.  They won't, can't, know you until they're in heaven too.

Moving Mountains

If you don't know Robin from Farewell Stranger, you should.  Her credo is "Live the Life You're Meant To" and you know that that sort of thing sets my heart aflutter.  But aside from that she is inspirational and kind and brilliant.  So when she suggested that we swap blogs today, I may or may not have squealed and then hopped up and down and then told her about how I'm a loon.  'Cause that's how I roll, yo.



She battled, and was victorious over, terrible postpartum depression and has helped countless women manage their own struggles.  And y'all...she is a real, published author OMG.   Check out the wonderful books she has contributed to: Not Alone: Stories of Living with Depression and Welcome to My World.  True story, folks!

So click that little blue button to visit Robin's blog (I'm over there today telling you that you're worth more than the sad, dim version of yourself that some people would suggest is good enough.  Because you are and it's not), read her HI-larious story here, and leave her some comment love.  She is truly great!

************************

In 1999 my husband (then boyfriend) and I packed up everything he owned, approached some strangers at a gas station, and gave them all his stuff.

But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program

You guys know that basically we're a bunch of nerds around here, so it should come as too much of a surprise that this wacky girl:

and this crazy gal:

...have just signed up to participate in National Novel Writing Month's Young Writers Program.

7 Quick Takes Friday: My Kids Are Blogging and other Scary things

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My husband is a weirdo.

Darth Vader Mood Chart

Source: 9gag.com via HouseUnseen on Pinterest

If your marriage is falling apart, please don't... (history vol. 3)

(this is part 3 of an ongoing memoir series. 

 It'll make more sense if you start with part 1 and part 2...)

I don't have this all mapped out.  What I'm gonna say and how I'm gonna say it.  The problem is that I really actually don't KNOW what happened back then, in the days before I really remember.

Something went wrong when we were in Europe.  Mom came back to the States.

And right now all I can think is "If your marriage is falling apart, please don't...."

Meet the youngest cast member of Jersey Shore

First of all, yes that is the roof of our house with a tiny 4-year old bottom on it.  Sure, that gives me pause...a little bit of pause.  But more importantly, can we just make a little comparison for a sec?

10 Steps to a Winterized Garden

It's October, and you know what that means: copious amounts of fun sized Twix bars!  If you'd like to pre-eat your Halloween candy stash without sharing any with your pesky darling family members it's best to come up with a super time-consuming task for all of them...

Winterizing the garden!

1. Make everyone go outside and start stomping on the existing plants.  No need to uproot or weed or take rocks out.  Don't even change the little ones out of their church clothes, trust me.  Just toss 'em all out there.

Michigan Fall Colors: A Photo Slideshow

Come take a drive with me through the fall colors of rural southwest Michigan.  

Make sure your sound is on and enjoy!

7 Quick Takes Friday: The Holy Spirit & raspberry cordial

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I was about to start writing these and then I looked at the clock and I was all "11:28 a.m.?  Why do I feel like I should be doing something else?".  Oh yeah.  School.  Seriously you guys, I've totally been accidentally unschooling the last few days weeks and I go back and forth between feeling SUPER guilty and INSANELY happy about that fact.  There are people who, like, buy curricula and follow the rules, ya know?  Us?  Not so much.  Anyway, as you can see, I'm still writing and clearly not schooling ("un" or otherwise).  So if you'll excuse me for just a moment, imma go throw some math worksheets at my kids real quick.

How to love words...and life

Last night my big girls and I finished reading Anne of Green Gables together.  We've read a chapter (or three) a night together for the last few weeks and have enjoyed every moment of it.  Even the heart-wrenching, tear-filled moments last night as we said good-bye to Matthew and sat with Anne during her first painfully sorrowful night.

My Katie ran to get a box of kleenex when she realized we were all wiping our noses on our sleeves.

Something Goes Wrong (history, volume 2)

(This is the second installment in the memoir series.  If you haven't read part 1, you can read it here)

When you found out that I was born a Hare Krishna, maybe you imagined that this would turn into a story of crazy cult practices and fear and brainwashing.  I'll tell you right now that it won't.  It didn't. It wasn't.  It did make my childhood different than yours (probably) but the reason I'm not a Hare Krishna anymore has nothing to do with 'breaking free' of something scary.  It has purely to do with philosophy and theology, and isn't that the most boring thing you've ever heard?  What I'm saying is that if you're here to see the seedy underbelly of a mysterious organization revealed, you're out of luck.

I'm too S*xy for this Painting

I was going to say something about homeschooling and what (nonexistent) curriculum we're using, but then the photo I wanted to use is on the other computer and no I have NOT backed it up on the external hard-drive yet, thankyouverymuch.  So instead, I'm going to talk about Right Said Fred.

Oh yes I am, thanks to my friend MK (she blogs at Why yes I am crazy, thank you for asking!) who was chatting with me earlier tonight about some ground-breaking subject matter and said this:

you can follow her too, ya know! @celticmama

Sunday Funday

Somber.  Always so super somber.  And serious.

"Little did he know he would be the Killer Lips' next victim"