Guest post by Lisa Mullen, author of the recently-released “The Every Mom’s Meal Solution Handbook,” available now!
There are many challenging parts of being a wife, mom, and homemaker, but one of the most difficult can be figuring out what in the world to feed them day after day after day. And feeding them isn’t one of those things you can put off for a few days (or weeks) like laundry or windows, either. Oh no, they’ll hunt you down if you forget for even a few hours!
You may have heard me talk before about the busy bags we take to church. Each and every Saturday night, I fill our busy bag with all kinds of goodies to keep the kids occupied during church. I have a box full of crayons, markers, coloring books, sticker books, activity books, different small crafts and activities that I store in our basement and can choose fun things from.
Since I get asked all the time what’s inside those church busy bags (specifically), I did a quick video on Facebook showing a sneak peek. But I also wanted to share over here since some of you prefer to read instead of watch a video. So…what’s in the busy bags?
I know famous people, y’all. Jessica Smartt is my friend, a fellow blogger, and now, she’s a published author too. She wrote a real live BOOK! So now I am basically friends with a famous celebrity. Well, I mean, not exactly a celebrity, but it’s still kind of a big deal, right?
Before you start going down a bad path…this book is not going to make you feel like a failure as mom. Nope! I’m not about mom guilt and neither is Jessica! Can I tell you something?
I see other moms doing crafts and making teepees from sticks and cutting out cookies in the shapes/sizes of the solar system – you know, all the stuff moms are “supposed to do.” Meanwhile I’m over here like, “So…should we take a bath today?”
This book is not for perfect moms who already have it all together. It’s for moms like me! Jessica has made my job easier by writing a book where I can grab tradition ideas instead of trying to think of them on my own. Like Jessica says in the book,
There’s so much good stuff in this book! You’ll get lots of stories, encouragement, some recipes, and over 200 great memory-making ideas. Jessica is my friend, but I would recommend this book even if she wasn’t. Ok, ok, sales pitch over!
Just make sure to check out Memory-Making Mom. It’s available now at Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million and more. If you get a copy, let me know what you think!
As a family, we do Bible time together. We always have a time that our family comes together to do our family Bible reading and prayer time. Annie is 9, so she does have her own Bible time as do Barry and I. We alternate through the list below and have so many favorites. A good devotional book really can make a big difference for Family Bible Time! So here are ten of our favorites, plus a couple bonus books for moms.
I’ve gotten asked before, Stacy, “How do you approach church involvement and extracurricular activities?” My take on this might be different than yours – but that’s okay! We can have different opinions and still be friends.
We were at our church multiple days a week – I was volunteering and headed up one of the kitchens. I was very, very involved and so was Barry – because we had tons of time. But after kids, even thought we still wanted to be involved, it became much more difficult. Kids needing naps – trying to tote things around and contribute with our hands full most of the time – it was harder than we expected it to be!
If y’all have been following for any amount of time you know that I am a stay-at-home, work-from-home, homeschooling mom. But more importantly than that, I am a wife to Barry. Being a wife is just as much – if not more! – who I am than all those other things. But for some reason, finding time for your marriage is just one of the hardest things to do!
Sometimes my life as a homemaker is so constant and non-stop that it’s easy for it to take over and become my life. Make breakfast, do dishes, sweep, mop, wipe butts, wash hands, make snack, wipe butts, clean up messes, make lunch, wipe butts, wipe snotty nose, repeat. Yes, it seems like a never-ending job. It seems like it is your whole life is tied up in your role as a mom and homemaker. But here’s the thing – your kids are going to grow up and leave one day. When that happens, you want to make sure you still have a (good) relationship with your spouse. I don’t want to feel like an empty shell of a person when the kids are gone! It’s important that I cultivate my relationship with Barry, not just my children. [Read more…]
Kitchen Day saves my behind ALL. THE. TIME. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy! Especially with kids, a productive Kitchen Day sometimes takes longer than normal. Lately, school with Annie is taking more time from me than it use to. So how do I make it work…and can you? I say yes! Let’s talk about how. [Read more…]
This topic was raised by several Facebook followers who asked if we (well, Barry in particular) would talk about safety for the family: including fire safety, bullying, safety on the internet, etc. [Read more…]
Barry and I are not setting resolutions. We don’t have big resolutions for January 1 to change our bodies, to start a new, good habit (or quit an old, bad one!), or to start saving more money. While those aren’t bad things, in the Myers household, we set goals, not resolutions.
Barry and I have been married for over 15 years and it was only in the last few years that we decided to simplify Christmas. When we first got married, I’m not going to lie – Christmas was more than a little stressful! We felt like we needed to give gifts to everyone. We spent a ton of time shopping and wrapping – trying to find the perfect gift for each person. I don’t like to give crap that people don’t want – stuff that people just want to return.
As a result, I found myself not enjoying the Advent season (the days leading up to Christmas) as much as I should! And to top it all off – I don’t like clutter! We would come home from events and gatherings with a car load full of gifts. And as soon as we’d bring it all inside and I would be instantly overwhelmed – so overwhelmed that a lot of times the stuff we got for Christmas would just sit for days or even weeks. I just couldn’t handle all the stuff that kept coming in.
