tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370370922024-03-07T12:15:51.352-06:00A Musing Mom SpeaksOne mom's thoughts on faith, parenting and life in general; along with some inexpensive gift ideas and instructions.Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-55028751388981608402011-07-01T14:08:00.001-06:002011-07-01T14:08:43.805-06:00Starting a New ConversationHaven't heard from me in a while, eh? I'm still around. I have a few musings about life in my household rattling around in my head. Bear with me until I can capture those. In the meantime, I invite you to join me in a new conversation. If you've ever wondered about what it takes to be satisfied in life, if the thought of counting what you have and watching what happens when you reach "enough" Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-87950126847437955272011-02-23T08:19:00.002-06:002011-02-23T08:31:50.001-06:00An Awesome New Book!I'm excited to introduce a new book to you today. I've been reading it for the past few weeks and have been encouraged to keep taking steps toward living my dreams. First, hear some words for you today from author, Kathi Lipp. Then leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false falseLarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-59849541318854803992011-02-17T21:16:00.004-06:002011-02-18T12:25:21.091-06:00Expiring SoonIf you live in Chicagoland and haven't heard about it yet, a certain food store chain was just put on life support. My prediction? They're not long for this world. In fact you might say they're past their expiration date.Oh wait. That's the food they sell. Ironically, last month this particular chain announced that they would no longer be accepting expired coupons from customers (they were one ofLarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-34720119390802586122011-01-21T16:37:00.003-06:002011-01-21T16:54:13.345-06:00A Boom in the NightBoom! I jerked awake, certain I'd heard a loud noise. This happens to me sometimes, especially in the winter, and especially on really cold nights. I usually shake my husband and ask him, "Did you hear that?". He then mumbles that he didn't and I try to fall back to sleep, wondering if I heard something or not.Last night it happened again. Boom! This time when I jerked awake I heard the dog in Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-38874801335135592132010-12-13T10:19:00.004-06:002010-12-13T11:05:21.551-06:00Older Model Car (or "Trapped")I watched the movie Little Miss Sunshine last week. It was kind of weird and quirky, but touching too. It actually left me feeling a little off-kilter. But I connected with one aspect of that family's life and that's this: their cranky old VW bus.I don't have a VW of any kind. And some might not even call my twelve-year-old Chevy "old". But in winter weather it certainly gets cranky. This morningLarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-46926071813561892072010-12-07T13:27:00.005-06:002010-12-07T13:48:06.183-06:00Still Around, Just Doggin' ItAs you can see, the lag between my blog posts grows. I'm still here. I hope in 2011 to get back to a more semi-regular schedule of posts.The latest and greatest thing in our household has been the addition of a dog, Alex the Schnoodle. I had been the holdout in our family and finally gave in to the longstanding pleas to "just look" at a dog. I had my reasons: the humane society in our fair city Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-78575712653327272402010-10-23T10:22:00.005-06:002010-10-23T12:00:44.838-06:00Bad Feeling in Her (& My) StomachYou know the feeling you get when someone in your family is recovering from the stomach flu and is feeling just better enough to be hungry? That feeling you have when everyone else is well and sits down to eat a normal meal while the formerly ill person is stuck with jello and applesauce. The feeling you get when the sick one is a little person who gives you sad eyes when you tell her (again), Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-35139519553682738772010-10-13T12:03:00.003-06:002010-10-13T12:34:43.715-06:00Burning the Candle at Both EndsThankfully the title of this post doesn't entirely capture life for me recently. But sometimes it feels like it. Between new school routines, work and a class I'm taking that's proven to be rather rigorous, this little blog has gone by the wayside for a while. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, but that there's so much to write about and not enough time.Here's what I'm thinking Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-21020080619557922212010-09-03T11:37:00.004-06:002010-09-03T11:54:55.554-06:00Cheering for a Big Fat Zero!Anyone remember back more than a year ago when I said I was going to try and get my email inbox to zero? Even I thought it was going to be a stretch. And I was right, it was a stretch. But here's the thing - without stretching, we can't grow.I've been reading a lot lately on ways to promote contentment in your life. The latest is Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity by Keri Wyatt Kent. In it she Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-53530429914079243792010-08-27T05:22:00.001-06:002010-08-27T05:22:00.302-06:00Trash or Treasure?Over the summer I worked on clearing out the clutter and organizing our house. In the midst of it I went on a binge and bought a dozen storage containers for our crawlspace. My girls' outgrown clothes filled up most of those. But two remaining containers seemed perfect for storing the keepsakes DH and I each had stashed away in old cardboard boxes.This week, as my daughters worked to shift some Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-25587843928933147382010-08-25T12:31:00.006-06:002010-08-25T13:12:23.971-06:00A New Drink PouredIt's here! That day is here that I have been looking toward for... okay, I'm not going to embarrass myself by saying how long, let's just say a long time. Today my baby started first grade, which in our school district is the beginning of full-day school. I'm home alone!What's that you say? You already knew this because you could hear the whoops & hollers for miles around? No, no, couldn't beLarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-29569376884511907412010-07-22T06:07:00.004-06:002010-07-22T06:35:40.946-06:00Camp Week!Last week was "Camp Week" in our family. I haven't been big on sending my kids to summer camps (I know - I'm a weird Naperville mom. Everybody in Naperville seems to send their kids to summer campS). But this year a few opportunities came up that seemed to fit my kids. Rather than spread them out and lock up multiple weeks of our summer, I chose to stack them all in one week. Can you say, "Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-11011513739188466642010-07-09T07:16:00.002-06:002010-07-09T07:32:52.970-06:00Summer is NOT Almost OverThere is something about the Fourth of July holiday that compels people (moms mostly) to start talking about how quickly the summer is going by. "It's just flying!" they'll say. And every year, but particularly this summer, I think the same thing. I stand there and listen to everyone talk about the fact that summer is nearly over on July 4th and think to myself, "Really??".I haven't figured this Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-55438145997003837922010-06-09T14:32:00.006-06:002010-06-09T14:55:40.878-06:00Summer Reading (as if!)Summer to me, at its best, is about devouring books. It's about finding a cozy hammock or lawn chair or pool lounger and immersing myself in another world. As a child and young teen I could spend hours upon hours reading. Now? I'm happy to sneak a brief quarter- or half-hour stint of reading while the kids play. Which has been so frustrating given the material I've had in my hands for the past Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-62396116246871662010-05-11T12:35:00.004-06:002010-05-11T12:51:25.194-06:00A Sweet Mail DeliveryI arrived home last night from a long weekend with LMH & Timid Daughter in New York City (more on that to come in a later post). We crammed in a quick rundown of our weekend during the car ride home with AmusingDad and the Uber-Princess. We followed that with a swift distribution of gifts - from us to the two left behind and from Uber-Princess to me for Mother's Day. Finally, once the Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-32178375328117685912010-04-30T14:36:00.003-06:002010-04-30T14:52:48.526-06:00New Food Allotment StandardHave you noticed the new packaging for old foods? Lately there's arisen some 100-calorie craze. I think it started with cookies and stuff (I am particularly fond of the Oreo 100-calorie packs). And then I noticed the dried cranberries 100-calorie packs. Now the latest are packages of Kraft processed cheese squares (no, I did not notice that they were processed when I bought them or maybe I Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-70835651048833290282010-04-27T09:00:00.002-06:002010-04-27T09:03:02.215-06:00Your Laugh for TodayIf you are the mom of a preschooler or have ever been the mom of a preschooler or even just know a preschooler, you might want to check out an essay of mine that MOPS.org is running on their website about some things I've noticed about the perils of public restrooms. You can find it here.Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-77791385821508231682010-04-07T13:19:00.003-06:002010-04-16T12:51:33.813-06:00Living on a BudgetCan you believe that my husband and I lived without a budget for most of the past 14 years? How did we do it? Well, I guess we both mostly just tried not to spend much and tried to save lots. It worked fine since our bank balance always stayed positive. Sure, we did have fun and splurge from time to time, but there wasn't a plan for it.Then in February I read Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-11878753404138702642010-03-22T13:15:00.002-06:002010-03-22T13:33:58.242-06:00Dwindling ChoicesAfter a trip to Russia a couple decades ago, a the part of culture shock that I experienced on my return to the U.S. related to the huge amount of choices available to us. Take a trip to the grocery store for a simple gallon of milk and you can see this at work. If you want milk, you can choose from name brand or store brand. And then there's fat free, 1%, 2% or whole milk. Or maybe you'd like Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-31784495118840854212010-03-09T14:10:00.002-06:002010-03-09T14:21:22.683-06:00Too Many Tabs OpenMy husband usually rolls his eyes, groans or in some other way, expresses his frustration at me whenever he uses the internet on my computer. "You have too many tabs open", he complains.I glance over his shoulder to see what can be closed. Then I click on one or two tabs. He rolls his eyes again and I shrug my shoulders back. I can't help it that I'm never sure if I'm done with something. I Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-26881616087622816162010-02-26T15:10:00.003-06:002010-02-26T15:28:01.400-06:00No Time For SchoolThree day weekend! My kids are off school today and I find myself wondering just when it is that they are at school any more. In the month of February (granted it's a short month), my kids only had one full week of school. Looks like it will be five days of school next week, but then only three the following, followed by another five day week. Then it's a four day week before Spring Break starts Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-84552634464615000462010-02-18T12:10:00.005-06:002010-02-18T12:31:12.916-06:00Forgive Me For Being Less Than PerfectI made a mistake today (big surprise, huh?). I got caught up being social and forgot a group of children who were waiting for me to come during their lunchtime to discuss a story with them. A friend pointed out that the children would have waited a little bit for me and then gone on to eat their lunch and enjoy recess. End of story for them.When I realized my mistake, I quickly emailed the Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-16108033670620019862010-02-12T05:30:00.002-06:002010-02-12T05:30:01.491-06:00My Reading Goals & Current Reading ListLast month, in keeping with New Year's, I set myself some goals for the year. I made goals for my writing and goals for my food consumption and goals related to personal fitness. And...I made some reading goals. I made it a goal to read one parenting book, one marriage book and one book on the writing craft each quarter. So far I'm on target with those goals. Admittedly, they aren't that Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-50614486131584160002010-02-10T05:30:00.000-06:002010-02-10T05:30:00.490-06:00Introducing: Never Say Never Today's featured book is a new novel by Lisa Wingate. I've been up late more than one night following the stories of Kai & Donetta in this enjoyable Texan saga.* Paperback: 352 pgs Publisher: Bethany House Release Date: Feb. 1, 2010 ISBN-10: 0764204920 ISBN-13: 978-0764204920 Retail: $12.95About the Book: Kai Miller floats through life like Larahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37037092.post-28061983483676046522010-02-08T05:30:00.000-06:002010-02-08T05:30:00.177-06:00Celebrating the release of Thin Places Today I'm glad to share with you about a new book by Mary DeMuth, called Thin Places. I've had the opportunity to meet Mary at a writer's conference and have benefited from her wisdom on writing and navigating the publishing industry through her blog, So You Want To Be Published. She's both an excellent writer and a delightful, authentic woman.Mary has worked hard to earn her right to be heardLarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17395699574182189503noreply@blogger.com9