S Club Mama

I had two IEP meetings last week. Now, if you watch Parenthood (as I love to do), I will say that I don't understand why that lady last week was freaking out about IEPs. I don't think they are THAT difficult or scary. But we've worked with a really great school system, so that helps, I guess. Anyway, the first was for Squirt. They have dismissed him from speech therapy. His speech is not perfect, but it is age appropriate. No, we will not celebrate this for now as I'm not sure how to do that without making it seem like speech therapy is "bad" and we still have one in it, so...yeah. Yay for Squirt! At this meeting, I was asked if he will attend Kindergarten next year. Answer: about 90% yes. My concerns are from his emotional state; I think he's a little lacking there (and by that he whines - a lot - especially when he doesn't get what he wants now. Yes that's typical of a 4yo but it seems different). Academically, the kid is there. He is smart.

Big A and I have a soft spot for orphans. We've always talked about adopting some day and we currently sponsor three children from foreign countries. Now these children have families but we want to help them to NOT become orphans by helpfully hoping out their families. " The Global Orphan Crisis " by Diane Lynn Elliot talks about this preventative measure to take before children become orphans in developing or under developed countries. This book is chalk full of information on orphans (who are not just kids without parents but could be from single-parent families. In developing countries these are considered orphans because of the difficulties of being single-parent). image via Amazon The statistics are overwhelming (and can become so many in this book that you find yourself just reading over them, unfortunately): "153 million children have lost one or both parents and are, by definition, considered orphaned." That's not including the street kids or

As I sit in this quiet before the roar of the school morning arises, I am flooded with memories. I can recall how I felt in a moment better than I can recall pictures of the moment in my head. My heart resounds stronger than my head. There's the horribleness that was junior high - the whole thing was just aching. I remember how my stomach turned when I had to confront someone or ask help of a teacher. There's the desperate ache reaching out to me from my high school past. A time filled with need, filled by those too stupid to understand their injustice upon one with so low esteem. One who couldn't pinpoint her need for a Savior so turned to emptiness to fill her. There's the exalted joy when I realized that He was the One. Not Big A but Jesus. That horror and guilt at knowing I had denied him over and over in my young years, but the overwhelmingness of realizing that I was forgiven and saved. The secret happiness when I realized he was about to get down on one k

I've been the storytime lady at our local library for almost a year now. It's a pretty sweet gig - only during the school year (we have volunteer parents do it during the summertime) and I set the hours. My biggest rule is - no school for my kids, no storytime. That allows me to be with my kids when I need to be and also to ensure that I'm 100% focused on being a mom OR storytime lady. I've learned through children's church teaching and a spring break meltdown during storytime last year that I am not able to do both at the same time. The exception is that Squirt comes with me during an afternoon storytime twice a month (all of my 8 storytimes are twice a month), but he does relatively well during that one. I thought I'd let you all in on my life as the storytime lady (is there a better term for this job? It sounds weird to me.). I really love this, by the way. I love the kids I read to - for the most part, they sit really well. I appreciate the teachers and mo

"Gimme Shelter" stars Vanessa Hudgens, Rosario Dawson, James Earl Jones, and Brendan Frasier. The synposis is basically that a teenage girl from a really rough, abusive home flees to her wealthy father she's never known. She finds out she's with child and is left with a huge decision to make. Ultimately she runs away and ends up in the hospital where a very persistent priest takes her under his wing. He leads her to a shelter for teenage moms where she has the chance at making a family. Rosario Dawson as June Bailey image via Grace Hill Media While viewing this movie at home wasn't as glamorous as a premiere may have been, I appreciate the opportunity to screen this movie at all. What a heartbreaking tale. Teenage pregnancy really hits home as my older sister and I were born to our mother very early in life. She was tenacious and provided us with every earthly thing that we needed. We didn't have a lot growing up, even when my parents married but it&#

I have been able to run inside on the treadmill for a few months now and had the opportunity to sign up for the Lincoln half marathon for free, so I did. I got a run/walk/run timer for Christmas and made the decision to train like that. I found a plan that allowed me to run 3 times a week. I started the two 30 minute runs on the treadmill (weather has been chilly around here, to say the least) and did a long run of 3.5 miles last week inside. This week I did the same for the mid-week runs and decided to make a go of it outside today. The wind was awful (20-30 mph) but it wasn't way too cold. I was optimistic but realistic, I told Big A to keep his phone on him in case I needed picked up. I felt good for the majority of the run. My foot wasn't bothering me at all until around 3 miles and then it just started to almost cramp up. I even tried to walk more (I was keeping a 4:1 ratio between running and walking) and to rub the "cramp" out (it's not really a cramp b

I write a lot of book reviews on here. I know that may not interest most of you, but I love books and I love free books so that's why I do it. I read a LOT last year! 33 actual books, 9 audio books (add .5 to each of those numbers because I was halfway through a book and audio book when the year turned over). One of those .5 books was " Give Them Grace " by Elyse M. Fitzgerald and Jessica Thompson. I just finished this book yesterday. I hate when people say something "wrecked them." I pray this book wrecks me, ruins me, whatever. I pray this book is not just another book that I've read on parenting. That it's not just one that I loved loved loved that fades with time. I WANT this book to change my life. It has already...but for how long? I don't know and only time will tell. But this is powerful stuff. It's not a system of ABC and your kids will be perfect little darlings by Friday. It's not do XYZ and your kids will always follow Christ.

Whoa - another new year. They come by fast, right? Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this. I enjoyed this "boring" 2014 with no new really anything. However, I am always excited by the prospect of a new year. I love the adventure of "new," and sometimes "unknown" (this is a little scarier). My greatest emotion right now is peace - supernatural God-filled peace. Peace that He is here, was here yesterday, will be here tomorrow. That He softens hearts and changes character flaws. That He loves me and that doesn't depend on how I act from one second to another. That my children are loved dearly by their heavenly Father (and earthly one) and that salvation is from Him, not me. That God does not love me based upon my weight, hair color, jean size, shoe size, fashion sense, domestic skills. This year my goals are simple: - rest in His love and grace - show His love and grace (to myself and to others) - be in constant contact with my Father (p