Holiday

Black Friday :: When the Magic is Gone There was a time in my life, where Black Friday was my SPORT. Do you remember those Target ads with the lady in the red track suit doing stretches and warm-ups? My sister tried to find me that track suit because she said that lady was ME. And for a long season in life, it was. Early Morning  We would get up at five or six am and head to the corner gas station to get the stack of Black Friday ads stuffed in the Thanksgiving day newspaper. We had our notebooks, highlighters, permanent markers to mark up the ads, and get out our notebooks to make detailed lists of potential gifts to grab....

Christmas time is near! We are beginning to decorate our homes and preparing for Jesus’ birthday! In my house, I have a 12 year old son and 6 year old daughter so their Christmas experiences are a little different. For us, a few of years ago is when the magic of Christmas faded for our son. We began to try and think of ways to keep Christmas fun and magical for him. We are part of the crazy fad of Elf of the Shelf. I get it. It is a lot; there are times people go overboard, and let’s be honest, it is one more thing for us moms to remember to do before we go to bed. There are lots of reasons...

We've been at this special needs parenting thing for 11 years now. It's intense, scary and overwhelming more days than we will tell you about. It's never ever getting to let your hair down, because somebody in your home is counting on you to do CPR, save their life, or monitor their vitals. Even nurses and doctors get time off, but as the parents, we don't. We sometimes get respite in the form of nurse or personal care attendant. And for the really lucky ones, sometimes a family member will step in and step up to help too. But this isn't an overwhelming majority of special needs households.  So how do you give a break to a parent who really can't...

If you are looking to purchase something for the mom friend in your life, here are some things all moms secretly want this holiday season. Power Cords Give a girl a spare phone charger. Maybe one of those traveling battery packs too. Oh, and a phone charger for the car while you’re at it. Make it a three pack. And if she is a mom to anyone 7 years or older, double it. This can help prevent the “talk fast my phones about to die” syndrome. You don’t know what I’m talking about? Call one of your mom friends … Sunglasses Nothing fancy. Think trade show freebies or swag bags from races. No mom ever has sunglasses when they need them WHERE they...

Do you ever feel like you're drowning in stuff? Especially toys? I've always done my best to keep the amount of stuff in our house to a minimum, but it never seems like enough. Christmas makes things particularly complicated. You see, my five year old daughter is an only child. I have one brother who has no children. My husband is an only child. Both of our parents are divorced (Though my mom and his dad have remarried). So, as you can imagine, my daughter gets LOTS of gifts. After her first Christmas, I wished I had bought stock in the company that makes Amazon's gift wrapping. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful that my daughter is surrounded by so...