The End...

     As I anxiously hit the send button, I took a quick inventory of myself. My hair was oily and frazzled, I hadn't put make-up on for days, I was wearing my baggy blue sweat pants and had emptied two bottles of Nutella by the spoonful. I was locked away in the corner of my bedroom ignoring everything around me and was a total disaster.
     When I started writing Family Ever After, I spent hours pouring over books about writing. I was assured that I didn't need to be the crazy cook, with tousled hair, living off of cappuccinos, alone in some remote corner, in order to be a writer. It was a lie. I didn't even know it was happening until the transformation was complete. I became the epitome of a crazy cook author. I debated on taking a picture but some things just shouldn't be recorded. After all, I am trying to sell the book.
     The good news is that Family Ever After has been sent to the publisher for editing. To all you authors out there, kudos. I never imagined it would be so difficult. I truly couldn't have done it without my mom who made a special trip to watch the kids so I could evolve into a crazy and unkempt person alone in my bedroom. A special thanks to James and Jodi for their hours of editing and critical thinking, and to Marquie and Patrick for sticking with me until the end. Thank you to many friends and family who have shared personal stories and have taught me what happily ever after really means, and thank you to my kids for their patience and love. Extra gratitude to my husband for giving me his time when he had none to give. I have enjoyed the journey.

Christmas Concludes

After our last holiday house guest departed my husband and I agreed that the holidays had truly concluded and that we had better get back reality. There were to be no more cheesy high calorie dips, pajama days, chocolaty nuts, hours of Just Dance, and late night card games. It was a sad moment for me as I recalled a recent interaction with a friend while shopping the Christmas clearance sales. As she spoke, she admitted she was not prepared to return back to her job as a school teacher. I sighed in agreement, saying that I was not yet ready for my kids to go back to school. Taken by surprise she said, “You’re a mother; you should be ready for your kids to go back to school.” I laughed, as I am usually overly eager to usher my kids off to school and let their teachers listen to their whining, but this time it was different.


I found solace having family sleepovers in the living room, painting nails with my girls, playing bey blades with the boys, attending extended family get togethers with silly white elephant games, shopping with my sisters, singing with the family, and sharing gifts of love. I realized I had so much fun, because I made my family my focus—as our patient house guests noticed. They really did notice my utter lack of attention to the surmounting laundry pile, and slightly cluttered living space, but it did not deter my resolve to enjoy the people I was with. The holidays were wonderful this year because I gave my time to the people I love the most and they shared their time with me.

Tomorrow as my kids go back to school, my husband returns to work, our good friends settle back into their cozy Texas home, and my sister flies home to her oasis in Florida, I will enjoy scrubbing the candy off the floors, finding lost pieces to the many games floating around my house, packing away Christmas decorations and finding homes for our Christmas treasures. I will enjoy it because every second of it will be a reminder of the wonderful memories I made with friends and family.

Looking For Your Opinion

Okay family, friends and followers...I am having a hard time deciding on a subtitle for "Family Ever After," and am looking for your honest opinions. Below is the cover to my book and four subtitle options. Let me know which is your favorite, or if you think of something better. Thanks!

Apparently Spider Man is Important

     Friday morning, I was banging together medal bowls, with the intent of getting my kids out of bed. I could see my Daniel stirring. In hopes that my noisy breakfast preparation was working, I pressed on. Jackson was already awake and running around in his diaper.  Ella wandered in looking less than amused and made it to the cushy chair in the kitchen to lay back down. Julia followed, booking it to the bathroom...luckily she made it. Daniel however had no intention of getting out of bed, and no amount of coercion could do the trick. I began to lose patience in my children's inability to get up and get ready for school. The smell of breakfast finally convinced Daniel to end his slumber, and just as I was about to give him a piece of my mind, he began to share his dream.

     With all the wonder and excitement of a six year old he said, "Mom, I was dreaming that I was Spiderman and I just didn't want the dream to end." He threw out his arm as if to throw a web. With fascinating animation he continued, "I could climb walls, jump off buildings and throw my own web. It was so AWESOME!"

Now I understood, and I was grateful I didn't destroy his excitement in my impatience.

Somewhere in Chapter 3: Defining What's Important

     I love it when my husband helps me with my creative projects and he loves it when I go fishing with him. Neither of us in our heart of heart loves the others hobby, but we love each other. We love making each other happy and we love being together. In order to show our loved one’s what is important to them is important to us, we must actually know what is important to them. I know it is important to my four year old to read her stories. I know it is important to my 9 year old to listen, look and help her with creative projects. The only way to know what is important to our loved ones is to pay attention, listen, and inquire. Sometimes it means we have to stop doing what we are doing and refocus our attention towards our family.

*I now know how important Spiderman really is to my Daniel. I'm so glad I listened.

Got Your Ever After?

     Okay, so I know I disappeared for a while. My upcoming book, "Family Ever After" has been consuming my world. We had to push back our deadline, because I am not the oh so speedy writer I thought I was. I am however well on my way into my 10th round of editing . . . that's not a joke. Family Ever After will soon be making its debut in April 2013. My world is consumed with editing, and cleaning up the toilet water Jackson loves to play in. He totally drank it yesterday. I thought about calling poison control, but for some reason I don't think they would have been able to help. Anyway, I thought I might leave you with a tidbit of what I've been working on. Enjoy.

Family Ever After--Somewhere in chapter 1
     As the pace of life quickened, our waistlines began to fill, our hairlines began to recede, and the stress of life began to creep in. As our children joined the ride of our lives, our bed became the communal sleep fortress, and we forgot what it was like to have a solid night of rest. We would blow a kiss and holler an ‘I love you’ as we passed through the portal of our home.  It was as if there was a constant time lapse between us, and we could never land ourselves in the same place at the same time.
     My happily ever after was quickly transforming into a heap of work, and I found myself thinking, “This is not what I signed up for-this is not how I pictured my happily ever after.”  Then I realized, maybe this is what I signed up for and I just don’t know how to make my ever after happy. I began to wonder, maybe it is possible to have a happily ever after even when my white picket fence is broken, my ‘beautiful’ lawn is dead,  and my children are less than angelic.

Something Worth Working For

            I pushed the wires through while the kids pulled off the coating and threw the copper into a pile. We stashed the wire in our giant trash cans then did it over and over and over again. For hours we were sweating, our hands were dirty and we smelled like wire. Did I mention seven hours. The kids were sure they couldn’t finish but despite their complaints I maintained my faith in them. At long last we swept up the last pile and took out the final bag of trash. The kids were tired, I was tired, but we did it.  What did we do it for you ask? Wait for it . . . VACATION! We have not been on a family vacation that did not involve visiting extended family for five years.  To put that into perspective, I only had two kids then, now I have four. An opportunity arose, but we didn’t have it in the budget, so we used our stash of copper (my husband is an electrician-he often comes home with wire scraps which we strip and recycle) to fund our adventure.  

I am now writing this from our hotel room. We have been swimming, kite flying, trail walking and now relaxing. It reminds me of a paper route my family did when I was growing up. I believe our goal was Disney World. I’m sure my parents did not find it as amusing as I did, but for me it is a great memory. I believe it was Gordon B. Hinckley who said, “Life is to be enjoyed not just endured.” Here is to the memories I’m enjoying with my kids, because we endured the work. Some things are worth working for.

Shattered Windows

     Now I love sling shots just as much as the rest of us . . . okay, maybe not as much as my son
who sent a rock flying through the neighbors sliding glass door. Oh yes, you can see where I’m going
with this. There was such fear in his eyes as he raced to inform me of his blunder before the neighbors called to tell me. I think it took all the courage his small frame could muster. My first thought was…poor guy, followed by a sickening how on earth are we going to pay for this. To my surprise however this is not what came out of my mouth. I was very calm. I tried to help him understand why what he did was so wrong, even if it was just an accident. He just wanted to hit the tree but happened to be 75 ft off his target. We talked for a while and then walked to the neighbors to clean up the mess and formulate a repair plan.

     There is something incredible about a shattered window. It is so fragile yet amazing to look at. Once it does tumble down into thousands of tiny shards it takes a long time to clean up and it falls in every crevice. It is dangerous until it has been swept and tossed, and is very expensive to replace.

      Our children, like windows are fragile. Just a tiny rock or demeaning word or accusation aimed just right can shatter their confidence in themselves, in others, and especially in their parents. I can replace the window, but I cannot replace Daniel. It is far easier to buy a new window than piece together the shattered soul of my child. I hope I am teaching him wisely, and treading softly, because he is irreplaceable.