S Club Mama

I like reading memoir-type books about mothers with autism spectrum kiddos. It's a comfort to know I'm not alone in this jungle of ASD weirdness. "Sand in My Sandwich (and other motherhood messes I'm learning to love)" by Sarah Parshall Perry was right up my alley. She's got two kids on the spectrum (and her gender numbers will be the same as our own: 2 boys, 1 girl). image via amazon.com There were many places in the book where I was shaking my head in agreement. She uses a pretty well-known quote in ASD circles that is: if you know one autistic kid, you know one autistic kid. Which basically means that they are all so different. I know 4 kids around my son's age with autism and not one of them seems to be exactly the same (and really very little overlap of tics & such). However, in "Sand in My Sandwich" I felt like Perry used a lot of blanket statements for autistic kids rather than pinpointing these were specific to her kids. She a

I have been a diary  keeper and journal writer since 4th grade. I had an electronic Dear Diary and a red journal (I believe it was a coca-cola one) with a lock & key. I kept all of my personal secrets in there - who I had crushes on, how mean my sister or cousin was, how awesome my sister or cousin was. Everything. I've had varying colors, styles, but none since 4th grade with a lock. Even in my early years of motherhood, I've kept a journal. I even keep a journal for each of my children and my husband, although none of them reads the ones I keep for them and I'm not as diligent with theirs. I tried to do a DIY Q&A journal for my kids and I've been terrible at keeping up.  image via amazon.com I have been a diary  keeper and journal writer since 4th grade. I had an electronic Dear Diary and a red journal (I believe it was a coca-cola one) with a lock & key. I kept all of my personal secrets in there - who I had crushes on, how mean my sister or cou

Confession: we have more children's devotionals than we've read or are likely to read. Wow. Good to get that off my chest. Now, I didn't buy all of these devotionals so it was never my intention to have this many. We are also not consistent in reading devotionals - we've tried breakfast time, after school, bed time and we just haven't found a time that works for us. However, do not let our lack of diligence keep you from continuing to read this review of "I Can Learn the Bible" by Holly Hawkins Shivers. The subtitle of the book is "52 Scriptures Every Kid Should Know." Now, I believe this is a subjective look because there are SO many verses from the Bible kids (and adults) should know. image via BookLook Part of my family's problem with devotionals has been the format of the devos. Usually there is one verse and then a story to go along with maybe a little blurb at the end a la Aesop's Fables. The lesson. The format is just one o

I'll be honest with you all; I've been in a spiritual funk lately. Both my husband and I realized that we don't feel that close to the Lord lately - not really sure why. Even one of my best friends admitted that she'd felt the same way but was very peaceful when a song had lyrics about God "still" being there. With these thoughts in my head, I began to read "More (from messes to miracles)" by Tammie Head. Who doesn't want more? And more of the One who made "everything and everyone" (as my children pray every meal)?! Even better. image via Icon Media I felt a connection with this author, Tammie Head. I understand some of her past and she seems very authentic in her faith. She just spoke some words (wrote some words?) that pierced my heart. She spoke about how self-centered/egotistical we can become; like our lives revolve around us and only us. "We focus on ourselves, we focus on our problems we focus on our pasts, we focus

Sometimes we just seem like we're in a rut - we're stuck where we are, how we are, in whatever our circumstances. God doesn't call us out of slavery to sin just to be stuck and not really living free. "Life Unstuck" by Pat Layton is about really getting out of the sticky mess we find ourselves in and finding out how to get unstuck. I really thought I'd get a deeper read with this "Life Unstuck" but, for the most part, it was a shallow book, very fluffy. Now, that's my opinion, and somebody may really need this book in their life. It just wasn't for me  at this time in my own life. image via Amazon.com Some of the good things I gleaned from this was that yes, we (especially as women) need to change what we believe about ourselves by saying positive things about ourselves. We are so hard on ourselves - give yourself the same grace you'd give your friend. In the latter chapters, Layton also talks about being free to be flawed. I thin

This time around, we decided to find out the gender of our baby. Actually, I decided to and Big A knew I couldn't keep that news to myself so he agreed graciously. We took the boys to the ultrasound and they did good for about 15 minutes. It was a long session because the computer froze on the poor tech. No big deal, we got to see our baby. face little fist back/spine big ol' foot, definitely ours Then we decided to have her tell just us, the parents, not the kids. We wanted a fun way to tell the boys. Being that we live in a small town with not any real shopping opportunities, we decided on tinting ice cream. We started by having the boys choose which they thought baby was. They each chose a girl. They are logical "we have a brother." Then I tinted the ice cream. Ice cream, not glop. Which will it be?! It's a girl!!! Since our announcement, I've had many good-hearted people say things like "oh I'll

When I decided to review " You're Loved No Matter What " by Holley Gerth, I don't think I was expecting a whole lot from it (sorry, Holley). Gerth's previous books have spoken much truth and yet I was expecting fluff in this book. Yet, what I found inside the covers of this book is so much more. image via Amazon.com Truth, much truth, flows out of this book. I should have known how deep it would touch me just by the back copy print: "As women, we tend to think that if we could only get our act together, life would be perfect. But you're not supposed to be perfect. You're supposed to be human. And humans are messy, flawed, glorious, and deeply loved. It's time to lay down those unrealistic expectations that exhaust you. It's time to embrace who you are - even the messy parts. It's time to start living fully instead of just trying not to fail. Let's do this together." Hallelujah, right ladies? Aren't you tired,

Does that word make you cringe like it does me? I've had this little word in the back of my head since hearing the word "autism" linked with my son. Seizures are not uncommon for kids with autism, but they mostly start (if at all) towards puberty (possibly hormonal changes), so I was thinking I had a few more years to have this word stuck in there. so thankful for this sweet boy who just loves this pregnant belly! Then, two Tuesdays ago, I got a call from school. "Moose is not feeling well, you need to come to school" or something along those lines. I thought the wording was off, not 'he threw up, come get him' but didn't think much of it. Just thought it was a routine sick kid pick up so I left on lights, my sewing machine, Netflix paused. As I pulled into the parking lot, an ambulance was parked there. Oh boy. I tried to convince myself that maybe it was there showing the classes, but I knew. And I knew it was a seizure. My thoughts were p

The winner of the new Noah's Ark Veggie Tales DVD, chosen by random.org, is: Kim! Thank you to all who entered; hopefully there will be more giveaways in the future. Stay tuned. Disclaimer: Winner will be notified and I'll actually be taking her the DVD because she lives close.

Historical fiction is something I believe we need to be cautious of reading so that fiction does not turn itself to fact in our minds. That said, I enjoy historical fiction greatly. "The Crimson Cord" by Jill Eileen Smith gives us a look into the life of Rahab, of which there really is not much said in the Bible. I learned something new while reading this book: that people of Jewish faith traditionally believe that  Rahab married Joshua. I grew up believing that she married Salmon in the lineage of Jesus Christ, so that was news to me. This telling of Rahab's life was a look I'd never given it - how did she come into prostitution, what was her life like, how was she so easily in faith of the one true God? "The Crimson Cord" does a wonderful job weaving a tale that does not leave her in rose-colored glasses but also does give some compassion to her way of life. Smith did a great job of weaving historical fact, Biblical fact, and fiction together in a

My boys and I got the opportunity to watch the new Veggie Tales DVD, "Noah's Ark." The first thing I noticed was that Bob and Larry look....different. Weird. They have no eye lids anymore and Larry's coloring is more realistic rather than monochromatic. To me, it makes them look more childish like this show is for babies, which it's not. Maybe I just don't like change or think, 'if it's not broke, don't fix it.' image via walmart.com The movie itself was good. Shem (Noah's son) comes home from his honeymoon to find his family building an ark, The Ark. He's not so happy about it because it spoils his plans for his future. The DVD is "a lesson in trusting God" and throughout you see if Shem and his family will ultimately trust God through this flood. I asked my boys what they thought of the new look (which they actually talk about at the beginning, kind of). Squirt didn't seem too big of a fan of it while Moose seeme

Devotionals are a wonderful way to start my day, reaching out to the Lord in thought and prayer, getting insight from seasoned Christians in areas like parenting, marriage, or life. I had high hopes for this "Once A-Day Devotional: Nurturing Great Kids" by Dan Seaborn devotional. It just did not meet my needs.  image via amazon.com The devotional itself is set up nicely. You can use it chronologically or whenever you want (has dates and Day 1, Day 5, etc). There's a Scripture verse at the start to tie in the lesson, then the lesson, a parenting principle, and points to ponder. These are half-page devotionals so they take no more time than to eat your cereal in the morning. I just did not feel like there was much depth to these devotionals. For another season in my life, they may have been great. Just for now, though, I'm looking for more than what seems like common sensical lessons. I also greatly wanted more Scripture than just one verse at a time.  Fo