Being a Mom

I Survived Week 1 of the Social Media Fast!

March 13, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Cooking, Faith, Food & Drink, Life Leave a Comment

I’ll admit, the title is a bit more dramatic than what it was like in reality. I didn’t just survive, I thrived during my first week of the SM fast! I couldn’t have asked for something more wonderful to come into my life at this point in 2019.
I am dealing with some personal, emotional and spiritual struggles, and this is exactly what I needed. Instead of getting lost in the scroll of social media, I am forcing myself to get lost in Jesus. Instead of forgetting about my woes and cares, I am continually thrusting them at the cross. Instead of filling my ‘down time’ with that which doesn’t really matter, I am filling my heart and soul with the One who does.

There is only one ‘thing’ that can wholly fill all the voids in our lives and it’s Jesus. There is only one ‘thing’ that can take all the hurt, pain, sorrow and disappointments and in turn, give you peace and joy and that’s Jesus. He doesn’t compare you with everyone else. He doesn’t look at you and see all your faults and the poor choices you’ve made. He looks at you with immense love and the deepest care you’ve ever known. These are the things I’ve been reminding myself of the last week. The truths of God’s word, what he says about me, what he says about Jesus.
“So keep my words in your hearts and minds. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder.” Deuteronomy 11:18

And as a follow-up to my post the other day, when I was just a couple of days into this fast…here’s what I’ve been doing the past week:
*Figuring out Summer Camps for Reynolds. Y’all, there are so.many.things going on for kids in Columbia! All the options are really great, I just need to figure out which camps will be the best for him.
*Prepping for BLEU!! In less than a week, sweet Bleu will join our family. I’ve made his first vet appointment, purchased his crate, dog food, treats, and all the fun things you need for a new puppy. I think we are mostly ready to bring him home!
*I’ve also sorted through some more of my clothes and given some to a friend and packaged others off to ThredUP.
*On Monday I made this amazing Heavenly Chicken Lasagna for us and a friend and it was AMAZING. I can’t tell you the last time I spent two hours in the kitchen cooking {and enjoyed it}, but this was a fast two hours and it was incredibly rewarding to be able to provide a meal to a sweet friend {and her three kids, while her hubby is out of town} and us that night. My kids loved it – aside from the filling of cheeses/spinach – and both Andrew and I found it to be completely delicious. Make it…you’ll love it too!
*Lastly, like many of you, we are in the throes of baseball season! ALLLLLLL the games and practices!

Friends, this is a beautiful time of year; Spring is ALWAYS my favorite season with the promise of NEWness and LIFE. Daffodils have awakened from the cold earth and shown their brilliance and our peach tree is busting forth her blossoms that will change over to little peaches in just a matter of time.

Take it all in…take in the colors, the smells, the sounds of baby birds chirping their little hearts out. Next Wednesday is the first official day of Spring and I pray that as this new season comes upon us, that you will experience newness in your beautiful life.

Before I leave you today, a little excerpt from my Birthday Card from God book: If you’re carrying a burden, unload it right here. Right now. I can handle it. -taken from Psalm 55:22
Until next time, sweet friends…

Social Media Fast :: Week 1 Day 2

March 7, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life Leave a Comment

I know you’re wondering if I’m actually doing this Social Media Fast…

I AM!!!
I am happy to report that I have only looked at Facebook 4 times – specifically to post on both mine and Andrew’s business pages AND to check up on my Fall Prebook for Sseko. I have also only looked at Instagram ONLY to check messages {I had 3 yesterday} and to post a daily devotional piece in my Instastory {so two times}.

Other than that, no mindless scrolling and getting lost in all the things that distract me from LIFE.

What have I done with this newfound time? I’ve talked to people. lol. I’ve texted friends, I’ve talked on the phone, I’ve talked to my husband and my kids. I’ve read emails that have just been pushed to the side. I’ve READ. I’ve organized a little more in our home. I’ve done things I’ve wanted to do, rather than gotten lost in the cyber stuff.

Benefits I’ve noticed in just two days:
1. I have no idea of what’s going on in the “world” and I like it. I’m not caught up in what everyone else is doing.
2. I’m not wasting time, that is often so precious.
3. I’m not distracted when my kids are around, by things that are less important. I’m being a present parent.
4. I’m not comparing…ah, that’s a big one, am I right?

Negatives I’ve noticed:
1. I have no idea of what’s going on in the world, and I feel a wee-bit left out.
2. There are things I actually want to share with people. Ha. Like my tire went flat this morning while going thru the car line at R’s school. #goodtimes
3. There’s this community within the social media realm, that I have found is bigger than my real-life community. I’m currently missing those people/relationships.

Andrew asked me at supper tonight what day I was on, and when proudly chirped “TWO!”, he was surprised and said he thought it had been longer than that already. Nope. Two days down….38 to go. My nail lady said yesterday morning that you have to give up something ‘hard’ for Lent. If it’s not hard, it’s not worth it. I know that this is hard for me. My automatic reaction to sitting down somewhere with my phone in hand is to tap Instagram first, and then Facebook. So to refrain from that has been difficult. I’m having to change my habits, I’m having to look around a lot more, and observe, and talk out loud. :)

This is going to be a very, very good thing I believe. And I hope that if you’re giving up social media, or chocolate or caffeine or something else for 40 days, that you are also finding it to be a very good thing…albeit hard temporarily. We can do this. Phil 4:13.

I’ll leave you with yet another quote from my little Birthday Card book:
“Stuff is overrated. Stuff doesn’t last. Everything in this world – even the world itself – is temporary.”
Until next time, my friends…

Update On Our Puppy And…A Social Media Fast?

March 5, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life Leave a Comment

Hi Friends! I hope you’re all having a great week. It’s cold and yucky here today, but the birds are chirping outside so that means Spring is almost here, right?! I’m ready for all the 70-degree weather that Mother Nature can offer. Seriously.

So, last week I announced that we are going to be getting a puppy {in 3 weeks!!} and that we weren’t sure which puppy we would be getting, but hoped to know by the end of the week. Well, after driving Andrew completely bonkers for 3 days, asking if he’d gotten an email yet from our breeder about our puppy, he finally emailed her. :)
The family in line above us hadn’t made their pick, so we were waiting on them.

Then Saturday rolled around and we were driving around looking at houses and it came. Andrew passed me the phone so I could read the email.

The family in front of us had passed on a puppy this time {not sure why, maybe they wanted a ‘red’ girl?}, and our choices were:
Red Boy – remember he was the one Reynolds REALLY wanted
Turquoise Girl – all black with a little white on her paws
Blue Boy – the sweet baby that fell asleep on my lap during our visit last Tuesday

We got to the house we were looking at and I had a fun conversation with Reynolds about our options. It went like this:
Me: Reynolds, which puppy do you want?
R: Red boy or Blue boy
Me: Why do you want Red Boy?
R: Because in the video we watched it looked like he got electrocuted {he was stretching :-D}
Me: {lauging} Okay, why do you want Blue Boy?
R: Because he looks like a police dog and I like police dogs
We talked about how police dogs are German Shepherds and that this dog is not a GS…but he was not swayed.
Then we talked about how he could only pick ONE puppy. Red boy or Blue boy. Eliza Jane piped in a few times about how she wanted Pink girl or Flower girl or Teal girl…but knowing that this dog is primarily going to be R’s responsibility, we gave him the choice.

ONE choice.
Red boy or Blue boy.

Who did he pick?

He surprised us all and chose BLUE BOY! We are so excited! We are going to call him Bleu {French for ‘Blue’…I know, we are SO fancy.} I mean, that was better than ‘Police Dog’ which was an actual suggestion by one of the kids…

Eliza Jane was not thrilled with the decision to get a BOY dog…but she will live.

Bless her heart…sweet girl…I’m sure once she holds Bleu she will be just as smitten with him as we are.

Okay…so switching gears for a moment. Y’all know about the 40 day Sugar Fast I did last year and this year. If you didn’t know about that, read this post from last year about it. This year I wasn’t as strict on myself, and I probably didn’t do as well, but I still survived!

Well, in January or so I had been thinking about doing a social media fast during Lent. Then Wendy Speake – brain child of the 40 day sugar fast – announced that she would be doing a Social Media Fast during Lent!

Y’all…it just has to be. How many days do you/we get on Facebook, Instagram or whatever and just scroll? Every time I get in the car {when I’m not driving of course}, I open up something and just start scrolling. It’s ridiculous. My kids are calling my name, and I’m all like, “hold on a sec…” because whatever it is I’m looking at is somehow so much more important. How about all the things I could be doing that are more productive in my home, my quiet time, my time with my husband/kids/friends. I’m telling you. My life is a giant scroll and I don’t want it to be that way.

So I’m doing it. Starting tomorrow, March 6th, my social media time is going to be seriously limited. Unless there’s a purpose {which, if I’m completely honest, how often is there a REAL purpose?}, I’m not getting on. No more looking to see what’s going on in the world, when there’s a world right in front of my face. Waiting for me to behold.

If you’re following me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll see much less from me over the coming weeks {maybe you’re happy about that? haha. I hope not!}. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you or want to know what’s going on in your life, because I do. But I want my contact with you and others to be outside of social media. I want it to be REAL. So, if you don’t know how to reach me – email, text, phone {do people call each other anymore, anyway?}, let me know and I’ll get you my info.

My deepest desire over the next 40 days is to be present. Present with my family, my friends, whomever it is I am with in the moment. And to draw closer to my Lord, the lover of my soul.
If you want to join the Social Media fast with me, click here to find out more from Wendy: The 40 Day Social Media Fast.

I’m excited to see what happens over the next 40 days. Of course I’ll be writing, maybe even more with all my new-found time!
Today I’ll leave you with a little quote from my Birthday Card Book: You are worth celebrating. A masterpiece created to do great things.
Until next time…

We’re Getting a Puppy!

February 26, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Life Leave a Comment

Y’all, Andrew and I are SO very excited to share with you that WE ARE GETTING A PUPPY!! It’s been almost 4 years since we lost our sweet Lil-bug. We still miss her so much and Reynolds says that he still remembers her…and LEGIT prays for her almost every night {along with my mom}.

Several months ago, maybe even a year ago {or more? I lost track of time!} we started talking about getting a new dog for our family. Emory loves every dog he sees and Reynolds needs a four-legged friend, and I think a little responsibility. And in all of our conversations about dogs, what kind, how big, etc., we settled on a Goldendoodle and started our journey to finding our new family member.

Fast forward to just a couple of months ago, when we found a breeder in Pickens, SC {near Greenville, for my non-SC friends} that would have a litter sometime early February. We inquired about the litter and were told then that they wouldn’t know until closer to the due date how many puppies there would be, but that we could of course get on their waiting list. We jumped in, last on the list, but expectant.

The puppies were born on 2/1 and a few days after that we received an email from the owner with some details and information. They had more deposits than puppies, so they opted to give up a boy puppy from a December litter that they originally had wanted to keep. Thankfully, someone opted for this cute little guy, which meant, WE would now get a puppy!

At this point I started stalking these sweet babies on their Facebook page – Double U Doodles. First a few pictures, then videos, we were all immediately and completely smitten by these sweet little faces. Reynolds even saw a video and announced that he wanted “Red Boy”.

We asked the kids the other night what names they could come up with for a girl or boy dog, and though I can’t remember them, they were all quite silly and unrealistic from a mom’s perspective.

Well, today was the day that Andrew and I got to go visit these sweet puppies so after dropping off all the kids at their respective schools, we hit the road, north. The drive was quick and beautiful. Andrew worked and made phone calls while I listened to the Today show {Hulu is amazing!}. Our visit was limited from 11am-12pm and I wanted every bit of that hour to meet these sweet little pups.

We pulled up to the gate promptly at 11am…no other visitors were there so it was just us and the puppies, all to ourselves. They were fast asleep, in a little puppy clump when we sat down next to their pen.

They were seriously so much cuter in person. The owner/breeder, Rebecca was so sweet – in her email she’d stated that we wouldn’t get to hold these sweet pups because they were still so young, but today she squirted hand-sanitizer on our hands and opened the pen for us to love on them!

I didn’t tell Andrew, but I wanted them ALL. In that very moment.
Rebecca told us that most people wanted a ‘red’ puppy – there are three of those: two girls: Flower Girl and Pink Girl and one boy: Red Boy. Sort of figuring we won’t get one of those {Reynolds may be slightly heart broken…but hopefully not}, we focused first on “Blue Boy” a Sable colored little fella – brown and black and “Turquoise Girl” who is black with little bits of white on her paws.

Blue Boy, asleep on my legs…y’all. so sweet!

Turquoise Girl…who made the sweetest little sounds. She reminded me of Eliza Jane..we call her ‘Squeaker’, and have since the moment she was born. This one could be ‘Squeaker 2’.

This is Pink Girl…she actually came over to me and all but put herself in my arms…and then fell asleep. I may have fallen in love with her.

Me with both Pink Girl and Blue Boy…both asleep.

We had such a fun time holding these sweet puppies; Rebecca was a delight and made my day by letting us play with them. Before we left we gave her our top 4 list, which was actually really hard. I hated having a ‘last’ option, as we will be THRILLED with whichever puppy we end up with. Which, by the way…it will possibly be tomorrow that we know which one will be ours! Of course, it’s a few more weeks before we can bring him/her home to the crazies {our kids}…but that gives us time to figure out a name and get all the fun puppy things. :)
By they by…where’s the best place to go for puppy training?

Oh, and did you know that today is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day? I may be looking for a fairy tale about puppies, to tell at bed time.

Until next time…

The 40-Day Sugar Fast

January 7, 2018 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Food & Drink, Life Leave a Comment

I know you probably read that and chuckled to yourself thinking, “Good luck sister!”

I’m either crazy or determined. And thankfully I’m pretty strong-willed and bullheaded…. So I think I can do this!

I also think I’ve shared with you all before my obsession with sugar {You can read this here post}. And a couple of months ago I made the decision to stop my Starbucks drink {cold turkey!}.

I needed caffeine in the morning so I consulted a co-worker friend who told me about black tea. It’s amazing. I’ve been drinking hot black tea without any sort of sweetener {Tazo’s Berry Trifle and Organic Peach Cobbler are faves!}. Getting rid of my Starbucks Vanilla Latte was a major accomplishment for me.

But then I often find myself throughout the day snacking on sweets and carbs. I grew up in a home with cookies and cakes and all kinds of sweets to it’s just always been part of my life. After every meal I want something sweet. Anyone else?

So when my friend Dana tagged me in a Facebook post about this 40 Day Sugar Fast I thought, “I want to do that…but first let me learn more.”

This is a sugar fast that you can make out of it whatever you want. The basis is to get rid of all added and refined sugars like the donuts, the sweet drinks, the M&M’s or the Snicker bars or the cookies in your pantry, whatever little bit of sweetness you have in your drawer at work or a secret stash at home {you know you have one…the one that no one else knows about…???}. Get rid of those things AND, this is the biggest thing: refocus upon the Lord and go to Him in those moments of desire or craving {desperation? deserving?}. It’s a true fast in the sense of fasting so that we’re focused/desperate for the Lord.

No doubt, by the end of tomorrow I’ll be desperate so we’ll see how this goes.

I’m excited for the scriptures. I’m excited for the desperation. I’m excited for the joy. AND I’m excited for the freedom that this will bring.

This is a FREE group to join…so if you’re ready to put sugar aside and turn your eyes upon Jesus…sign up here!

And as a side, I have nothing to do with this group…only that I’ll be seeking guidance and encouragement, and hopefully BE an encouragement to a few folks!

My Day With Sweet Eliza Jane

January 2, 2018 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom Leave a Comment

Y’all know we spent our fabulous New Year’s celebration hanging out at home, just our wonderful little family, since Eliza Jane had the flu. Her fever finally went away yesterday around lunch time/early afternoon. But since she has to be fever-free for 24 hours before she can go back to school, today was a play day at home for her. Andrew took the morning shift and I got home at lunch time.

After a quick walk/run on the treadmill for me, and a little movie time of Lilo and Stitch for her, we were off to run some errands and get her some fresh {cold!!} air.

She’s my best little girl, so I took the afternoon off, instead of working from home. I wanted to treat her to some fun since she’d been quarantined for a couple of days.

First we went to Target and searched for some storage bins because it seems that my seasonal decor has gotten out of hand…

She didn’t really care for Target..she kept asking for a cookie from Publix… One would think we go there often with as many requests as I get from her and the other big one.

After Target we went to Hobby Lobby because I am wanting one of those super cute pom pom wreaths in all the fun colors for Spring/Summer! AND a friend said her mom could make it for me – SCORE! So we went and picked up all the supplies for my little wreath.

THEN…then we went to Publix and sister got herself a cookie with sprinkles. We also got some items for our supper tonight in case you were wondering if the trip was just for a cookie {I may or may not have ever done that – no comment…and I plead the 5th}.

She’s the cutest thing I know.

Meanwhile, I think my kids could live off of cookies…

Which brings me to a recent question I came across:: What’s your favorite dessert now vs when you were a kid?
As a kid, my favorite was a German Chocolate Cake my Nama made (one day I’ll try to make it myself). These days I love a really good Tiramisu.

That’s it! We came back home, I fixed supper {early because I had a meeting at daycare tonight} and she had an evening with the boys. Daddy said it was wild. haha.
Goodnight friend!

She Hijacked Our New Year’s

December 31, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Life Leave a Comment

I thought it totally fitting when we got home from the doctor’s office this morning and I opened up my January 2018 issue of ‘Real Simple’ to see the article titled, Your Sick Day Survival Guide.

Somehow it knew.

Bless it all y’all. I picked the kids up Friday from daycare and she had a fever. 102ish. Saturday she got down to 99 most of the day…but by night she was back up to around 103. Andrew called the doctor, who told us to bring her in this morning.

I was the second person to walk in… Sometimes I feel like we’ve become regulars since 2013. They know us all by name…

There was another little fella waiting with his daddy that had the same symptoms Eliza Jane did. I hope the outcome for him was different.

We went through the routine of weight check {where she stomped her feet, and screamed “No! No! No!”}. This girl…she has no clue of what weight checks will be in her future, all 35 current pounds of her.

We got into the room and they took her temp that I think he said 98.1, which was totally not right because when I got her back home, she was 101.9…

Anyway, sweet Doc checked her ears, which didn’t go well for the pint-sized spit-fire. She screamed and flopped like a fish out of water. After removing a small ball of wax from each ear, Doc confirmed a slight infection in the right ear. Then said, “I think we should do a flu test, just to be able to rule that out.”

Sadly, we didn’t rule it out. It ruled us.

Once again, she thrashed her head {why does she do this?!}. But the sweet girl in the lab got what she needed to be able to tell us that Eliza Jane has the flu, type A.

Back in the Doctor’s office, he tells me all the things he is going to prescribe, for both flu and the ear infection…and that sweet Eliza Jane needs to “be quarantined as much as possible”.

That.will.never.happen.

Then, when I told him about the other two kids in the house {why the quarantine will never happen}, he said if anyone got a fever to call them and then everyone would get Tamiflu. My fingers are crossed on this, but I’m also not a Pollyanna.

Meanwhile, to today/tonight being New Year’s Eve. The kids asked all day for us to have a party. In thinking we wouldn’t be able to do something so great for and with them, I tried to think of something fun we could do tonight to celebrate New Year’s.

While at Publix this afternoon I grabbed a few minor fireworks and a bottle of Sparkling Grape Juice. I was hoping to make them feel special, that we could have a party, even if a bunch of people weren’t at our home. I mean Andrew and I may not be the most fun people on the planet…but we know how to throw a great party.

After supper, and Emory went to bed {he was rather cranky this evening}, we bundled up and went outside to light up our fireworks.

Now? All the kids are in bed asleep. Daddy and I are working on our laptops, watching Rockin’ New Year’s Eve…and yes, we’ll be asleep when that beautiful crystal ball drops!

Happy 2018 Friends! I hope your new year is everything you hope it to be!

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