I can’t believe this is my first time posting in three months. How are you? Is anyone there? I’ve missed this place — and you people.

I hope you had a great summer.

Our schools started back last Friday — so we’re slowly adjusting to our new schedule. But preschool here doesn’t begin until after Labor Day (early September), so my posting will still be light for a while.

Although I don’t have kids swinging from the chandeliers, I do have them jumping on my back while I write … which can be hazardous to my productivity.

Yesterday, I actually found myself belting this command: “Stop it! You may NOT swing on the pantry doorknob!” Several times throughout the day, I had to reassure my four-year-old that he’s from earth — not Mars (as his older sister told him.) And yes, he can wear his dinosaur costume when we pick up his brother at football practice, but he can’t wear his Storm Trooper mask in the grocery store — because he KNOWS it makes his baby sister cry. (And no light sabers in the car!)

I do have so much I want to tell you about our summer — but it’s not over yet!

My current most exciting piece of news is that I SAW and HEARD Beth Moore speak in person at Women of Faith last weekend. WOW!!

I really considered quitting blogging until I heard Beth Moore — but she got me so fired up again.

A group of moms at my church will be starting her Daniel study in three weeks — and how in the world can I dig that much into the Word without sharing it here? Every single person who has done that study has told me the same thing: “It changed my life.”

Well! I do miss writing here — but blogging is like eating chocolate for me. I can only indulge in small bites, or it becomes an addiction. My plan is to try to limit myself to posting twice a week, and only when my children are at school.

For now, I hope you’ll check out the new August issue of Christian Women Online — especially if you’re a fan of Mandisa! My last Book Buzz column is here — I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my stint as a reviewer and wish I could do it forever, but someone new will be taking this over — and I pray she’ll be as blessed as I have been. (My shelves overflow!)

For all of you writing parents out there, I hope you’ll check out my “Parent Muse” column at Spirit-Led Writer on how to find time to write while surrounded by kids. I’ve also been posting monthly over at Writer … Interrupted, and my latest tip encourages parent writers to pen a letter to someone who needs a bit of a boost. You can read it here.

I’m off …

(And in case you see a woman in the grocery store followed by a light saber-wielding dinosaur in a Storm Trooper mask asking if he’s from Mars … um, that would be me.)