I can’t help but crack up (haha) every time I look at that book cover. Kathryn, sitting at her computer, holding the burned meatloaf. Ooh … I can relate. I once put cookies in the oven, then thought I’d run up to the attic REAL quick to find something. And of course when I got up there, I totally forgot I had cookies in the oven. Oops.

So, I gotta ask Kathryn. What’s with the burnt meatloaf?

The burnt meatloaf reference was just a phrase that made me laugh, but it also refers to those moments in our life when we make silly mistakes, like burning the meatloaf, and instead of crying about it, we should just laugh at ourselves. It makes life a lot more fun!

Tell us about your new book. Why is it called Cracked at Birth?

Well, when I first started writing my column, the editor asked me to come up with a column name. My husband actually came up with “Sunny Side Up” because the columns really just try to get people to laugh at all the strange and unexplained phenomena in life and not take life too seriously. Then, when I was developing my Web site, I recognized that sunny side up is also a way to cook eggs and I just started brainstorming along the whole egg theme. When I came up with “Cracked at Birth,” it just sounded funny to me and also kind of explained my slightly cracked view of life — so I went with it.

Fun! Hey, I saw that your website was one of the top 10 in the Writer’s Digest Best Website competition in 2003. Congratulations! So, what’s it like running a business from home?

Well, like anything, it’s got its plusses and minuses. It’s nice to be able to work from home and contribute to our family’s bottom line, but it’s also challenging because you have to work around your child’s schedule. I learned early on that I could only juggle so much and that has helped save my sanity.

I think it’s important for each mother to determine her comfort zone. How much can you handle? Do you like to be busy all of the time? Do you mind working at night after the kids go to bed? How much money do you want your business to make? These are all important questions you need to consider before you just dive in and start a business.

Can you tell us a little more about your marketing communications business?

Originally, I started out doing both the writing and designing of marketing communications materials, like brochures, fliers, direct mail pieces, etc. I quickly learned that I got flustered trying to handle the whole project, so I decided to focus my efforts on the writing and now outsource the design. This has worked out really well for me.

The percentage of moms working from home continues to grow every year. Do you have any suggestions for women who need to help out with their family income and want to try to work from home?

Just to try and determine what YOU need to make it work. Everyone has different needs, goals, time constraints, and stress tolerance levels. I think a job should be fun and fulfilling. If you find yourself working into the wee hours of the night, not enjoying the work, and most importantly neglecting your kids on a regular basis to get the job done, then I think you need to reassess the situation and come up with
a better balance.

I’m constantly reminding myself that my decision to stay home was to be with my kids and that is the most important thing, so when they get off the bus, I get off the computer and totally engage in being a mom. Raising those little human beings to be successful and happy is our main job and we need to keep sight of that.

Someone once said to me, “You’re only as happy as your unhappiest child,” and I totally believe that to be true. So I try to have fun with my kids, make them laugh, and if they’re happy…I’m happy!

That’s so true! Thanks, Kathryn! This has been such a refreshing experience to talk to someone with such a great outlook. I really enjoyed your book, and I wish you all the best as you continue seeing the Sunny Side Up of life.

P.S. Don’t forget to stop in Kathryn’s website and drop her a note! 🙂

My daughters and I were just enjoying some shortbread cookies they made at their grandmother’s yesterday. Mine was shaped like a pineapple, but there are also hearts and circles. I wish you could taste them — can I hand one to you in cyberspace? Here ya go … we’re moms … we’re good at pretending.

I thank God for grandmothers who are good cooks and pass this skill on down to their grandchildren. I asked the girls if they’d share with you here how they made them. Here’s what they said:

“You put a half-cup of sugar and two sticks of butter in a bowl. Then you stir it around really good. Then you get a measuring cup and you pour flour halfway to the top. Not all the way to the top. Then you stir it around. You mash it up really good with your hands. Then when it’s real stiff, you lay it out on a tray. But first you put some flour on the tray. Then you roll it out with a rolling pin and then you get cookie cutters and you cut it into shapes. Then you put it in the oven. After they’re done, you have to wait 15 minutes for them to cool. Then you can eat them.”

This is the second time I’ve enjoyed cookies today. Wanna hear more? Well, this morning was my last Beth Moore study — we finished up Believing God. Wow. Have any of you done this one? I wish I could say that I was perfectly consistent and could report to you week by week what I learned, but the truth is, I missed several weeks.

I don’t know if y’all were around when I started this blog last October, but here’s a post where I told you how hard it was for me to get out the door. Well, it got harder. Impossible, even. I had several writing assignments come in that just kept me busy every minute while my kids were at school. Funny thing — I was writing about spiritual topics, yet I was having to stay home and miss my fellowship group to write.

The women in this group are awesome — I love each and every one of them. They kept up with me, telling me they missed me, and keeping me in the email loop. So I’ve been back and they let me borrow the DVDs to get caught up.

Back to the cookies.

Today, I was a little closer to heaven while I sat in a group of ladies, eating chocolate chip cookies and watching Beth Moore. I can honestly say, this is just the beginnning for me to explore all the incredible things I’ve learned in the past few months. And I can’t wait to start the next study, Living Beyond Yourself, with my new cyber-group. YEA.

Here’s what’s truly amazing, and here’s why I had to take a minute to sit down and write to you. Beth Moore is teaching by video (excuse me, DVD) to all these thousands of women, but each one of us will go back out into the world, armed with our deeper understanding of scripture and love of Christ, and share what we’ve learned.

Well, one lady was bursting at the seams to tell us that she shared the Gospel with her 80-something-year-old grandfather. He’s been a bitter man for most of his life and has never believed the Bible, even though his wife went to church without him. She knew God wanted her to share her faith with her grandfather, but she wasn’t looking forward to it. Yet she did it anyway. And you know what? After an hour of peppering her with questions, he finally realized he was missing something … he wanted the peace in his life that she has. The assurance that when he died, he’d go to heaven. So, he prayed to accept Christ. Right there on the spot, with his granddaughter.

I was boo-hooing, let me tell you. That’s the impact of studying the Bible together. If you’ve done this study, then you know what I mean when I say I can’t wait to see how God is going to fulfill Hebrews 11:41. (Check your Bible — it’s not there. It’s not written yet because you fill in your name. By faith, (Heather)…”

I’m. Believing. God. (with the hand motions, if you know them.)

Today, we have a guest visiting us here at Mom 2 Mom Connection. I’d like you to meet Kathryn Mahoney, a mom of two boys who started her own humor newspaper column. I feel like I know Kathryn because I’ve read her hilarious stories in her new book, Cracked at Birth: One Madcap Mom’s Thoughts on Motherhood, Marriage & Burnt Meatloaf.

If there are any of you out there who have ever thought of turning your family stories or blog into a column, here’s what Kathryn says about it:

Welcome, Kathryn! Can you tell us how you got started writing a column in the newspaper?

Well, it all started when I met a fellow writer named Gina. We met through a printer who we both used when we were working for different financial institutions. He hooked us up because he knew we had a lot in common. We had both left our jobs to take care of our children and we both started our own marketing communications business. One day when we got together with our kids, we were talking about how much we identified with Erma Bombeck.

Oh, yes! I grew up reading Erma Bombeck! She wrote If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? So, did she give you the idea to start your humor column?

Well, Gina mentioned that she would like to try writing a humor column for a newspaper some day and even though that thought had never crossed my mind before, I decided to give it a try. I submitted a couple of columns to my local newspaper, and the editor asked if I wanted to write a biweekly column. That was in 2001, and I am still writing for them today.

Wow! So you’ve been writing a column for five years! Is it hard thinking of ideas every week?

I must admit, I haven’t been writing as regularly as I was when I first started my column. When I made the decision to write my book, the column kind of got put on the back burner because of time constraints and fortunately the editor of the newspaper has been very understanding. Now that my book is out, I really need to get back to writing my column on a regular basis.

What do you like to write about?

I like to write about my family and just the funny things that happen in everyday life that I know many of us can relate to. It’s the best feeling when I receive e-mails from readers who say, “I can totally relate to that” or “my husband does the same thing.” I think most people want to feel that they’re not the “only one” feeling a certain way about things. There is comfort in knowing “you’re not alone.”

Yes, that’s true. So, what would you say to a mom who’s considering starting a newspaper column?

I’d say … GO FOR IT! Like I said, I had no humor writing experience and in fact I was never the class clown or anything. I made my immediate friends laugh, but I always knew that I was funnier on paper than in person so I thought I would give it a whirl. If you think about it, you have nothing to lose by trying, so why not give it a shot?

Is there a certain way to approach an editor?

I think my case was unique because the newspaper I approached is relatively small. There are about 8,000 readers. I think it’s important to know how the editor likes to be approached and you can find that out by either sending an e-mail query or calling them on the phone and asking them a few questions. Is the paper looking to fill a certain need? Could you submit some samples for consideration? What word count do they prefer? Do they prefer e-mail or postal mail? Will they accept e-mail attachments? And then once you send this information, it’s important to follow-up in a couple weeks to discuss the situation. The key is, if you really want it, don’t give up.

That’s great advice for us, Kathryn. Now, I love your sense of humor — you seem to find the most hilarious ways of describing things that can almost drive moms crazy! Do you think it’s important for moms to keep a sense of humor in raising children?

Absolutely! If you don’t, you’ll go out of your ever lovin’ mind. Raising children in the world today is stressful and if we don’t try to approach it with humor and a good attitude I think our children are the ones who ultimately suffer.

OK, so how do we do we keep a sense of humor?

I think you have to learn to let the little things go. I went to a seminar once and the speaker referred to “the little things” as the “C” basket. Baskets A & B are things that might affect your child or other children’s well being and these are things that we should focus on. The “C” basket contains things like what clothes they wear, whether or not they brush their hair in the morning, whether they put their clothes in the hamper, etc. If you stress about the little things every day, you and your children are both going to be stressed out on a regular basis and it won’t be much fun at home.

My husband and I often remind each other about the “C” basket. If I hear him harping on the kids about something I consider a minor infraction, I’ll yell to him, “C basket.” He realizes I’m right and then everybody relaxes and we get on with life.

Wow — that’s a great idea. I’ll have to give the “C” basket a try around my house. What do you think are the really important things we should focus on instead?

I’d say always keep your eye on the big picture. Do your kids have good values? Do they use good judgment? Are they doing well at school? If all of these are true than you’re probably doing a pretty good job as a parent. So what if their hair is pink and their pants drag on the floor. It’s a passing phase and it doesn’t affect who they truly are inside. As they say in all of the parenting books…you’ve got to pick your battles.

A lot of us here are moms who like to write about our families in our blog or other places. Why do you think it’s important for moms to write down stories like you’ve done with your columns and now book?

I just think it’s a great history to have of your child’s life. I don’t know about other moms, but I have a lousy memory, so I knew that if I wrote these stories down as they happened my kids and I would have this history to share together forever. The key is to log these memories so you don’t forget them. Then when you’re older and your children have left the nest you’ll have all of these precious moments to relive in your mind and in your heart when they are out starting their careers and families. Even now I go back and read what I wrote a few years ago, and it puts a smile on my face.

Any more advice on helping us get started?

Just start writing, and don’t edit your words. Let it flow. You’ll be amazed at how just writing the words down on the paper is very cathartic.

Thanks so much Kathryn. You’ve been so helpful! I’m sure there are some aspiring newspaper columnists and essayists out there, and you’ve given us some great tips!

You’re welcome.

************************************************************

Tomorrow, Kathryn will be back visiting with us here to tell us more about her new book, Cracked at Birth: One Madcap Mom’s Thoughts on Motherhood, Marriage & Burnt Meatloaf. She’ll also be here to give us some tips on how to juggle a home business with keeping up with family responsibilities. You can read some of Kathryn’s writing here on Sanity Central and on her website.

I’m posting this here because I’ve looked all over the internet and can’t find out who wrote this. Does anybody know?

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn’t even include college tuition.

But $160,140 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month
* $171.08 a week.
* That’s a mere $24.24 a day, just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don’t have children if you want to be “rich.” Actually, it is just the opposite. What you get for your $160,140:

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last,
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:

* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal boo-boos, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so that one day they will like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!

So love and enjoy your children and grandchildren!

I want to say hello to my reader(s) from New Zealand! I know you’re out there. Thanks for stopping in! There’s a little dot on my map that shows me SOMEbody is coming to read my blog from New Zealand, and that’s very fun!

My husband and I went to New Zealand years ago, as chaperones with a group of high school students who were studying marine biology. I have to say New Zealand is one of the most beautiful, pastoral places I’ve ever seen in the world. There were fields dotted with sheep at nearly every turn. Is it still that way? I hope so.

Today’s Carnival of Beauty is being hosted by Sallie of Two Talent Living, so click over to her place to see what 13 lady bloggers contributed on the topic of The Beauty of My Life.

BETH MOORE! We’re going to be up and running soon — we’ll probably start Monday, March 27. If you’re at all remotely interested in joining our Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit online study or being a faithful weekly lurker observer, then leave Lauren a comment here, and she’ll add you to our list. There are 14 of us signed up right now. Isn’t that fun? Not only us ladies, we also had a visit from Paul of Hill Country Thoughts blog who said he’ll be praying for our group. (I met Paul in person last fall at a writers’ conference — recognized the white cowboy hat and said, “Hey, you’re the Hill Country Thoughts guy!” He’s very nice and a gifted spiritual writer.)

OK, now onto to some other exciting news. It looks like our post Teens in the Blogosphere has captured the interest of USA Weekend Magazine, which is a little insert that comes in your weekend newspaper. It has a modest circulation of 47.5 million readers. (I did say million, ladies!!) Their ParentSmart columnist, Pat Olsen, is doing an upcoming series called “A Parent’s Guide to Blogging.” If you’d like to have some input in this story, here’s the address to contact USA Weekend Columnists. And if you haven’t had a chance to contribute your input into our Mom 2 Mom post here, please do. (The truth is — I did send them an email, but they wrote back and said they were VERY interested in our input. You just never know … This columnist may end up expanding the topic into a book someday.)

One more interesting tidbit: I got a note from Agent Tim yesterday — he thinks his mom wouldn’t mind my asking her some questions about raising teenagers. Does anyone have any questions for her? Her son is the 16-year-old visionary behind the new organization, Regenerate Our Culture.

P.S. If you’re going to be in the Beth Moore study, I found this Lifeway site has several sizes of online banners and graphics. Just click on it, save it, and upload it to your sidebar. Then you could link it to Lauren’s Created for HIS Glory site where we’re all “gathering.”

Our Carnival of Beauty topic this week is “The Beauty of My Life,” hosted by Sallie of Two Talent Living.

Since so much of my life right now revolves around my family and our children’s schooling, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you our educational journey.

It’s funny how the topics that interest me as a parent have changed over the years. Before I had children, there were ISSUES that I thought were truly life-and-death matters. Can you relate?

During pregnancy, I discussed with great passion these topics: will I use a midwife or doctor? Have a homebirth or hospital birth? Prepare for natural labor, epidural, or C-section? Breastfeed or bottle? Feed on demand or feed on a schedule?

Next, I headed into the baby development milestones and toddler years, which is where I still am with some of my children: bedtimes and discipline, what to eat and when, potty training, breaking habits like pacifiers or thumb-sucking, early educational ideas, etc.

Now, I’m deep in the trenches of this issue: how to educate our children. This is a HUGE topic of course — as it covers the ages of at least 3 to 18 for each child. Will we homeschool? Send them to a private school? Send them to a public school?

These are the years we have to do something … to make sure our children are raised to grow in wisdom which comes from fear of the Lord — and also to have the skills and knowledge they’ll need to get along on their own someday.

It used to be easy. There were fewer options. People let their kids all walk to the same school, which was down the street. Now the vast array of options is overwhelming.

Several people have asked me lately about why we homeschooled, and why we’re not now. Well, I don’t want to go into all that in such a public forum, so I’ll just say a few things. From the day our first child was born, I was drawn to homeschooling. I was surrounded by wise, godly families in our church and neighborhood who homeschooled. I hung out in their homes and knew that’s what I wanted for our family.

I read a million books about homeschooling. Well, not a million. But several dozen at least. I went to conferences when our oldest was only four years old! We joined a great local support group, and I went to all the meetings. So, we homeschooled for three wonderful years. But then I needed a break. I’ll spare you the details, but I had a lot of stress going on in my life, and I needed someone to help me out during school hours. The Proverbs 31 woman didn’t do it all either, you see. Our best option was public school, unless I went to work full-time to earn private school tuition, which we didn’t want me to have to do.

Our kids have wonderful teachers, many of whom read my blog, and I’m so appreciative of their sincere commitment to love our children and be a light in the world. I know many of them have strong Christian faith and do the best they can within the parameters of the system to teach our children God’s ways.

Yet … we still take things year by year. Child by child. I miss so many things about pouring my time and energy into homeschooling, and I miss being part of our homeschool group. I really, really, really want our children to have time to take music lessons and play instruments … and I love the Sonlight curriculum. But home educating is a consuming full-time job for me. If we ever did go back to it, I know without a doubt that I would not have time to do any writing from home. And maybe that would be fine. I’ve so enjoyed all the online friendships I’ve made in the past couple of years and working with editors and other writers … but we may be entering another season of change. I don’t know.

I try to think long-term, surround myself with positive people, and take it all step by step. That’s what we do every year. I have a ton more to say, but I’d rather not say it all here in my blog.

Raising children who want to serve God is a serious calling, one that takes constant thought and prayer. As parents, we want to do all we can … but ultimately we have to leave the results up to God and pray for His blessings upon our educational journey.

I was listening to “Good Morning America” while I fed my younger children breakfast, and I heard the familiar voice of former President Jimmy Carter. Since the interview was being broadcast from Plains, Georgia, in my home state, I couldn’t help but become intrigued with what he was talking about.

I kept hearing the name Mattie, and the two people being interviewed were Mattie’s mother and Jimmy Carter. Who’s Mattie? They were talking about a new book called Just Peace, written by young author Mattie Stepanek.

Actually, I found out that Mattie Stepanek passed away two years ago, in 2004, and some of his last words were, “Did I do enough on the book?” He had a rare form of muscular dystrophy that finally took his life at the age of 13.

Maybe all of you already know this but me. Mattie Stepanek was a poet and New York Times bestselling author for his Heartsongs series of poetry books. You can read more about him and his book on his website. Here’s what I found out about his book, Just Peace, that is being released today:

“Just Peace offers a collection of essays and e-mail correspondence between Mattie and Former President Jimmy Carter, as these two peacemakers work together to realize their vision of a peaceful world. The book also contains many photographs, along with selections of Mattie’s artwork and peace poetry … A portion of the proceeds of this book go to the MDA Mattie Fund.”

Here is a brief excerpt from one of his poems. You can read the rest of the poem on his website here:

FOR OUR WORLD

We need to stop.
Just stop.
Stop for a moment.
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else.
We need to be silent.
Just silent.
Silent for a moment.
Before we forever lose
The blessing of songs
That grow in our hearts…

I just found out that Mattie’s mother, Jeni, will be starting an official book tour today telling the world about her son’s last book, Just Peace. Jeni also has the adult-onset form of this disease, and the website says that Mattie had a sister, Katie, and two brothers, Stevie and Jamie, who each died during early childhood from this same infant-onset disease that affected Mattie. How can one woman go through so much?

Yet today, she was on “Good Morning America” with Jimmy Carter. And here’s an example of a very busy man who took the time to correspond with a boy who had a big heart and big dreams to further a message of hope.

Now I know some of you are probably getting caught up in the Democrat/Liberal thing when I mention Carter. But I say let’s put that aside and think of the big picture of what Mattie dreamed for the world: peace. It’s the message Jesus shared when He stood on top of the Mount of Olives and proclaimed, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9 KJV).

I think the best place we can begin to start living in a world of peace is to start in our own hearts and in our own homes. Hug your kids today. Don’t yell at them when they mess up. Don’t get so down on yourself when you mess up. Just keep going. Keep making the world a better place by spreading the message of peace.

Yes, it’s true.

What’s a mom like me doing reading a 16-year-old young man’s blog? Well, if you’ve noticed that button in my left sidebar, there are only two more days until the launch of Regenerate Our Culture. So I thought I would sneak a peek over at Agent Tim’s blog to see if he’s busy getting prepared for the launch.

Busy is the word. But he’s not sitting around counting the minutes. He’s been joining top teen leaders across America at Teen Pact, which is being held at Patrick Henry College near Washington DC.

Here’s what he says about the week:

Well guys, I have to say the week was awesome. I have learned a lot, not only about government, but also a little bit about campaigning, blogging, writing, speaking, and listening. I’ve learned to speak better in front of large groups, even though I don’t really have a huge problem doing it. I’ve learned that I can get better at what I do, and I need to work a lot harder in my school work so that I can do well in the public arena. I’ve learned the importance of being grounded in what I believe when the issues are thrown in my faith. I’ve learned the importance of Scripture memorization.

OK. Can you say mentor? This is the kind of 16-year-old son I’d like to raise. Where’s this guy’s mom? How’d she do it? I’ve got a few more years between now and then.

I have to also say that I’ve noticed Agent Tim has one of the top-viewed blogs in the “Religion category” at Blog Top Sites. He’s ranked in the Top 20 in this category and has had nearly 50,000 hits since August. He’s blogging about important issues, and to me, he represents a generation of hope.

Now, I often choose guests to come visit my blog. The truth is, I just find successful people who I want to learn from, and ask if I can have a few minutes of their time. I’d love to ask Agent Tim’s mom a few questions about raising teenagers!! I think SHE would definitely have some sage advice.

By the way, Happy Birthday, Tim, and best wishes for your launch success!

Since I joined Women4God Blogs, I’m starting to visit more people’s blogs, and I’m realizing that everybody has a different style of writing and even a different niche. Some people are witty and describe things in a funny way; others are great at expounding on scripture or other deep issues of life.

I’m not exactly sure what my niche is — but it’s pretty obvious I like talking about books and writing. So when you come into my blog, you’ll probably be hit over and over again with my encouragement for you to write down and share your life stories.

In his blog at The Writing Life, Terry Whalin recently wrote about his lifelong habit of capturing memories with words. I thought he offered some great advice — I hope you can click over and read his post on this topic. Sometimes we try to capture our favorite moments with a camera, but it’s also good to jot down a few sentences. Terry described how he wrote down a brief conversation when his family was going through a difficult and sad time (one of their children was dying). But later he was able to go back and write the story up, which was published in Decision Magazine and read by thousands of people.

Now, here’s what we’ve been doing in our house at dinner every night, thanks to learning about this from Mary DeMuth. She shared how her family plays high/ low during their evening meal in France. They go around the table, and each person gets to say what the high point of their day was and the low point.

Before we started doing this, my husband and I were always trying to talk to each other across the table, catching up from our day. We’d tell the kids to be quiet and listen — which of course didn’t work very often. With the age our kids are, someone always needs the ketchup (catsup?), spills something, needs another napkin, is humming or wiggling too much, needs a refill, etc. (You know, right?)

Now I have this little agenda — we take turns and each child gets to share their favorite part of the day, and their least favorite. Even our toddler says things like, “I liked playing in the new sand in my sandbox. I didn’t like when I had to take a nap.” It’s amazing what kids will say. And it makes us all feel closer when we share the low points because it gives us a new perspective. Things aren’t so bad when you can share them with your family. (Even me — having to share my low points about cleaning up some messes you don’t even want to know about!)

Guess what my high point of the day has become? You got it. Playing high/ low. And of course, the busy mom writer that I am, I’m jotting these tidbits down in a little spiral notebook which I keep by the kitchen table. The funny thing is that my girls also bring spiral notebooks to the table now. We just laughed so hard last night because all us girls at the table were busy writing in our notebooks. We of course put them away so we could eat! (Can I just tell you how adorable their writing is? My heart is FULL after a meal now!)

I don’t know that we’ll do this EVERY SINGLE night, but I’m just imagining what my notebook will look like in five or ten years if I do make a consistent habit of jotting down our highs and lows. Hopefully, someday I’ll be able to go back and write up some stories. It will be fun to see how the kids grow and change every year.

I mean, despite all the cluttery countertops, endless laundry, and fast-paced schedules, being a mom is a joyful role — bringing us closer to the heart of God, who is also a father and loves writing down stories about his children too.

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Don’t forget … tomorrow by 3 pm, post something on the topic of “My Life” and send it to this week’s Carnival of Beauty Host, Sallie of Two Talent Living. Finally! She’s hosting her own Carnival. Now, there’s never been an easier topic, so let’s all send her something!

This week and next: I’ve got two great interviews to share with you from busy moms who’ve done some amazing things. One mom is going to tell us how she started her own newspaper column based on her ability to look for humor in the crazy things of life. She also runs a successful business from her home and will be giving us some tips on working at home — WITH kids.

Another interview is with a mom who didn’t think she was a very good cook, so she decided to start swapping meals with a friend — and the most incredible thing began to happen that led to her being featured on Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s talk radio show. So check back in and visit — I should have these posted soon!

I want to write a quick note to share a few things that are going on in our blogging community. It really is a small world now that we can click over and visit each other. If we met each week in a book club or Bible study, we’d probably go around and ask for prayer requests, right?

So this week, my prayers are with Alyice of The Dabbling Mum. Many of you read her blog or visit her website — I know some of you are her regular columnists. Alyice found out the devastating news that her mother suddenly passed away. Now she will be traveling across several states to be with her family. Even though she’ll probably be off-line for a while, I think it would mean a lot to her if you dropped by her blog and said you were thinking of her.

Also, Carol of She Lives wrote an essay about the death of her father-in-law a couple of days ago. I’m so thankful she took the time to write out some of her special memories and share them with us. We’ll be keeping her family in our prayers as well.

As for me, I’m still not sure what to do about my wrist — I don’t know if it might be broken or just sprained! I wrote the other day about how I fell up our makeshift “porch steps” and felt a really sharp pain. Of course, I ignored it, hoping it would go away. The bruise is gone, but I still feel too much pain to even do simple things like unscrew lids. And I’ve usually got a baby on my left hip while I do everything — so this pain is starting to be a real … pain. I don’t want to have to be billed for an x-ray if it’s one of these things that might heal on its own.

Also, if any of my local friends are reading this, does anyone know a good, reasonable carpenter? We’re in desperate need of getting back steps on our porch built, as well as a railing to protect our newly mobile baby from crawling off the porch. We keep thinking we’ll wait until we can save up … but we can’t wait any longer. This has got to be done! When I blog about things, it seems to move us into action around here. A sprained or broken wrist is nothing like a baby falling off a porch.

Now, for the good news. I discovered that Lauren of Created for HIS Glory is thinking about starting an online study of Beth Moore’s Living Beyond Yourself. She’s suggesting maybe if there are several of us who’d like to sign up for it at the same time, we could post about it once a week in our blogs, then create a blogroll in our sidebar of other participants. This looks like perfect timing for me, since our group here is just finishing up Beth Moore’s Believing God study.

If you’re interested, leave a comment here or at Created for HIS Glory . If you’ve never heard of Beth Moore or done one of her studies, let me just tell you, she will TEAR OPEN the Bible in a fresh way like you’ve never experienced before. She’s the most passionate teacher I’ve ever heard and speaks from such a humble heart. Her studies are intense, but they’re not aimed for scholars; they’re for real people who may need a few extra minutes to look in their index to find the book she’s talking about. So feel free to join us!

Last but not least, there are still a few more days to join into Barbara Curtis’ Love That Laundry Room contest over at Mommy Life. You have until March 15 to enter by sending her a picture of yourself in your laundry room, and you might win a copy of Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room!