Five Minute Friday – Grace

Linking up with Lisa-Jo over on her site today.

It’s Five Minute Friday. The word is grace. Here’s how to play:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back to Lisa-Jo’s post and invite others to join in.
3. And then, absolutely no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community...

GO

Two things collided this morning.

Yesterday, I volunteered at my daughter’s school, which gave me a chance to be with the teachers and the administration and to see the children in the environment in which they spend most of their waking hours absorbing, learning, grasping, growing, and attempting to comprehend their place in our world.

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We made it!

I don’t have much time to write tonight. I am running an event at my church this weekend and I’m just swamped swamped swamped.

But I wanted to reach out to all my readers with a great big THANK YOU for voting and reading my little blog.

I’m so blessed and so honoured and I think it’s just fantastic that you all voted for me in the Circle of Moms Top 25 Canadian Mom Blogs. I landed at 21 and I’m feeling so blessed and filled with so much gratitude. (It really does make you happy to express it.)

So, as soon as my event is over this weekend, I promise to sit down and dedicate some time to my blog and to my readers. I’ve got some pieces in the works. I just need time to polish them off and get them up on the blog. And right now, I’m running a little ragged and having a hard time keeping up…but there again, with this event for my church, I’m full of gratitude for all that has come together to allow me to pull off this event. I faced down fear that it would not be successful, but I’m riding a new high. Much prayer and meditation have shed light on what can only be a success this coming Saturday!

God Bless!

Last day to vote!

The Circle of Moms Top 25 Canadian Mom Blogs list is closing today at 4pm PST (that’s 7pm in Ontario and 8:30 in Newfoundland). You can vote here up until that time.

Before this list closes and we find out the results, I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has voted for Life Takes Over.

I watched a video today over on Upworthy.com about the science of happiness. Great video. It reinforced something for me that I think we all know deep down (or at least have heard or read somewhere; it’s not a new idea).

But it’s so true. Gratitude and the expression of it leads to happiness.

But that’s not why I’m expressing my gratitude to all of you who have been voting for Life Takes Over in these last few weeks. I’m expressing my gratitude to you because, no matter what the results of the voting are, I’m so deeply touched that you made the effort for me. It really means a lot to me. Thank you. (And it does make me happy to express my gratitude to you, so I guess the science is right.)

A Chat with Miriam Laundry

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Miriam Laundry, the author of the I Can book series, to discuss her inspiration and motivation for writing these fantastic children’s books.

My children and I have I Can…Believe in Myself and we read it almost daily (check out our review here). When the opportunity came up to meet her on her promotional tour of her book at the CNE and to spend some time talking to her about her books, I couldn’t pass it up.

The way technology hijacks our brains

I left a note on the counter for my husband last night. I was up late doing stuff (I’m always doing stuff) and he had already gone to bed. I was getting things ready for an event I’m helping with and I couldn’t find our little condiment dishes with tiny spoons.

So, I wrote him a note and left it on the counter (he gets up first in the morning).

When I read the note in the morning, my first instinct was to reply by writing below his comment. And the next thought my brain had was, “He’s probably at work by now, so he should respond fairly quickly.”

It only took my brain another three seconds before realizing that, if I reply to my husband’s comment on this piece of paper, he will not respond until he gets home from work tonight and reads the piece of paper.

I laughed at myself then carried on with the morning routine. What else could I do?

Have you ever caught yourself applying technology habits to old fashion methods?

Five Minute Friday – Listen

Linking up with Lisa-Jo over on her site today.

It’s Five Minute Friday. The word is listen. Here’s how to play:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back to Lisa-Jo’s post and invite others to join in.
3. And then, absolutely no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community...

GO

Thank you

An open letter to my children on this Monday morning.

To my two beautiful children,

Thank you for your happy smiles this morning. Thank you for your tired eyes that opened when I gently shook you awake. Thank you for holding tight to my neck as I carried you each down the stairs to breakfast. Thank you for eating your breakfast and doing so without complaint.

It is Monday morning and I know you are tired. We had another busy weekend and some late nights. But we spent it all together. We watched movies and ate popcorn at home and we took Little Brother to his first movie at a movie theatre. We visited family, we went out for dinner together, we went to the park between rain storms and we played board games at home when the rains came.