Leann_I_Am

My brother and I a loooong time ago. I don't know about you, but some of my fondest childhood memories involve some sort of torment and my older brother.  (Older brothers and torture do go hand-in-hand, don't they?)  Whether he was tormenting me or getting me 'back' for bothering him...those were some good times.  :-) I feel like I learned a lot of life skills and what buttons to push (and not to push) on people from fighting with my brother.  I learned how to be completely... Read Full Story

I have come to realize that I don't talk about my knitting stuff here as much as I would like to.  So, allow me to bore you with a little bit of that!  :-) I started trying to knit some Mystery Socks from a little Knit-A-Long on Ravelry...but that didn't work out so well!  I just don't think I'm ready for knitting socks with a lace pattern!  I was on my umpteenth attempt when I realized how unhappy the pattern was making me.  I quickly remembered some cheap, self-striping sock yarn I... Read Full Story

Thankyouverymuch, Pinterest.com !   Someone had pinned that an standard-sized Mason jar will fit into most blender bases, which in turn makes your blender a homemade version of a Magic Bullet .  You know what?  They were OH-SO-CORRECT.  I had seen the Magic Bullet advertised and, on occasion, had though it might be nice to have one sometime.  Now, I'd like to apologize in advance to the nice people at the Magic Bullet company because they will NEVER be getting any of MY... Read Full Story

5YO is officially a kindergartener.  I mean, I guess you could say she has been one for a week or so now.  She.  Loves.  It. I mean, it helps that both kindergarten teachers at our school are AH-MAZING.  Our school is truly blessed to be able to say that.  In my last post, I was talking about how great it will be to get these kids out of my house for 6 1/2 hours a day.  Just the thought of being alone in my house with no television or other distractions sounded like a dream-come-true... Read Full Story

Yep.  5YO is now officially a kindergartener !  She even woke up bright and early the first day and told her sisters to, "move outta the way, because the kindergartener has to go potty!"  Because she's that grown-up now. Yeah. 8YO is loving the third grade, though she did confess after her first day that she didn't "feel like a third grader yet."   If it makes her feel any better, I don't feel like she should be a third grader either . And then there's 15YO.  She is a sophomore now... Read Full Story

I hear little footsteps outside the bathroom door. "Mom!  Where are you?" "I'm in the bathroom." "What are you doing?" "What do YOU usually do in the bathroom?" To be completely truthful, I was really sort of hiding out in the locked bathroom looking at Facebook on my phone.  They must wonder if I have a stomach bug sometimes, but they don't need to know ALL of my secrets right? It's not as if I'm just avoiding them, really.  I'm also avoiding the Disney Channel and iCarly and the... Read Full Story

Some might say that a home with children and pets in it is very similar to a three-ring circus.  Somedays, I might even say that.   But as much as my home and family may resemble a three-ring circus, they really don't have as much in common as one might think.  For one thing, no matter how many rings a circus might have all of those rings are organized.   They may look like chaos and there may be people and animals alike going in what seems to be every which direction.  What we don't... Read Full Story

I must say, I really do have a love/hate relationship with this thing! WARNING:  Exercising regularly and healthy eating may have certain side effects that you may or may not be ready to deal with. For starters, you will have more energy.  I know they say this.  And the logical part of my brain understands this.  But my inner spoiled brat wants to know how I could possibly get less tired from doing something that makes me SO TIRED.  I am still working on shutting that brat up, but I can... Read Full Story

As I walked into the gym, I had a knot in my stomach.  After all, I was about to unfreeze my forever-frozen gym membership and take a class.  I had never taken a fitness class in my life! A friend of mine goes to three classes a week and she's in great shape.  I want to be in great shape!  (Besides the fluffy, round one I was quickly becoming anyway.)  I want more energy, less jiggle.  I want to feel good in the clothes I actually own, as well as not make myself shudder when I try on... Read Full Story

Some people make being a wife and mother look like one of the most natural processes in the world  We all know the women who played with dolls as girls and always treated them as if they were living, breathing children.  (And not the object used to test out how well the homemade catapult works or something that was shoved naked under their bed for weeks or months on end.)  Don't judge. We all know those women who were meant to be mothers.  Whether they bear children, adopt them, or just... Read Full Story