family life

Simple Versus Easy: Which Do You Prefer?

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Modern life is supposed to be better, isn’t it? We’re more productive, faster, more efficient due to technological advances. Aren’t we?

Exhibit A. Turning on the TV

It used to be that I pulled a switch and turned a dial. Now, we have live streaming video – Netflix, Amazon Video, Verizon FIOS. Recently, it took my husband and I twenty-five minutes to cue up the end of a movie because the “Smart” TV kept hiccupping. After resetting the router and starting and re-starting several times, then finally accessing the video via the PlayStation, we were able to watch the brilliant end to Bigfoot: The Movie.

Smart TV simple versus easy

“Smart” is relative.

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Slowly Learning to Accept Little Blessings

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For the past several weeks, despite soaring, unseasonable temperatures, it seems that everybody is sick. Stomach bugs, flu, bacterial infections, etc. Each time I hear or read someone bemoan the sickness in their home or complain of this winter as the worst ever for illness, I internally cringe. Because our family has enjoyed what is probably our healthiest winter ever. (Don’t get me wrong, there’s been migraines and sinus headaches, sniffles and coughs, an injured knee, recovery from oral surgery, and an epic and ongoing battle with warts. But all in all, super healthy.)

Now, I don’t consider myself a superstitious person, but I’m summoning all sorts of courage to type this. It feels like an invitation for a variety of degenerating, lingering, maleficent ailments to descend upon our home and ravage our bodies.

Why can’t I simply enjoy this unexpected winter free from the minor suffering sickness brings? Why do I sit and wait with worry for the proverbial shoe to drop?

Trusting God Continue reading →

#5Faves: Parental Uses for a Timer

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My mom had a simple timer that she used exclusively for cooking and baking. Whether it was lasagna in the oven or her frequent batches of chocolate chip cookies, the timer’s use was exclusively in the kitchen. I recall an egg timer or two as well, the old-fashioned sand-filled kind, which were used for my play.

chick timer

Our beloved chick timer.

The myriad uses for the timer are yet to be explored in our house, but since joining 10 Minute Novelists several years ago, I’ve discovered more “grown up” uses for the timer that I should be employing more frequently to keep on task with both writing and household chores. Continue reading →

Shrinking in the Distance: My Kids Are Growing Up and Away

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The day after Christmas, we enjoyed a short winter reprieve. Temperatures soared. With my 13-year-old’s brand-new drone fully charged, we headed to the park, where he could fly it in wide open spaces without worrying about entangling his new toy in wires or treetops. All of the pre-Christmas bustle had ceased and for once, we didn’t have holiday travel plans. Our visit to the park was sheer fun.

I took this picture of my children chasing after the drone in the distance. From our vantage atop a hill (at this time of year, it could as easily be the sled riding hill), they seemed so small. My oldest is only a few inches shorter than me, but in this picture, he might as well be the size of his three-year-old brother. Continue reading →

Seven Quick Takes

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7 Quick Takes

Resumption of Camping Edition

My husband and I began tent camping together before we had children and continued with regularity for years with our young children. We toted babies and toddlers. We relished the outdoors. And then, around the time we had an infant and a toddler in addition to our two older children, it became a bit much. My husband feared an unknown woodsy calamity. I’ll admit, our last excursion, with only three of the children, was a bit challenging. My sole recollection is my toddling 10-month-old stretching out of her Bumbo seat to gather dead leaves from the forest floor to stuff into her mouth while we wrestled with tent setup. So, we took a break. Our youngest is now three, so on Labor Day weekend, we gave camping another shot. Here’s what I learned.

–1–

All Pit Toilets Are Not Created Equal

We’ve camped in state park campgrounds with pit toilets before. Not recently and not often, but we’ve done it. My boy scout has done it fairly often. It’s not a big deal. At least it hadn’t been. The pit toilets at this particular Pennsylvania state park stunk. Sure, you say, pit toilets stink. No, I don’t mean “stink.” I mean eye-watering, gagging, covering-my-mouth-and-nose-with-my-shirt stink. Putrescence. Is that a word? I think that’s a word. Lesson learned: If you’ve smelled one pit toilet, you’ve smelled one pit toilet. (Since we like this park, I was relieved to learn they are installing flush toilets over the winter! Yay!)

Michael State Forest

Michaux State Forest

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In the Blink of An Eye

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I had just (narrowly) survived what I described to my husband as the most infuriating grocery shopping trip of my life. My three- and four-year-olds touched at least 3,567,492 items in the supermarket. Plastic-wrapped mushrooms were poked, signage was damaged, candy bars were fondled, and bags of rice were shaken. To the other shoppers, I must’ve appeared as a harried harpy incessantly reeling my little monkeys in. “Get down.” “Don’t touch.” “Get off.” “Come back.”

Groceries and children safely stowed in the minivan, we set off for home. The one-hit-wonders station played “Happy Days,” and I bopped along to the music. (Did you know it was a full song and not just the musical accompaniment to the TV show’s title sequence? Me either.)

Then there was the thud to the right front fender. I glimpsed a mottled brown creature being flung to the side of the road. Ugh. A groundhog? A rabbit? Uncertain, I found a place to turn around and doubled back. Though I’m not a hundred percent certain, I believe I hit a long-haired cat. Continue reading →

Seven Quick Takes

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Seven Quick Takes Friday

Surviving Busy Sports Seasons Edition

This may be the most advice-y thing I’ve written, which is funny considering how we scramble to keep things together this time of year. These are things I’ve noticed work for our family when I do them. They may or may not be of any use to you. You may sit down to a gourmet meal together with ample time for travel and arrive at your activities on time. (And if so, I may wonder if you possess alien DNA.) Continue reading →

Suffering From Spring Fever

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Is spring fever a real thing? Can I claim it as an excuse for my scattered brain, my rapidly-multiplying to-do list, and my tardy #MondayBlog? Desperation, despite a half-dozen half-written posts, led me to search the Internet for “what to blog about today.”

SPRING FEVER:

A lazy or restless feeling often associated with the onset of spring. (Merriam-Webster)

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