Stoplight Day

My son's high school had spirit week this week in honor of an upcoming rival basketball game. I personally was super disturbed by the theme on Wednesday. It was called Stoplight Day.  In other words, wear green if you are available, yellow if "its complicated" and red if you're taken.

I personally was appalled.

When I mentioned this on Facebook I got scores of comments letting me know it wasn't just me that thought this was ridiculous. However, the school is currently holding an opinion of it being "innocent fun." The principal has agreed to meet with me next week, and I would like to show her the thoughts of the masses.

Would you help me out?

I would love it if you would click over to my website and fill in your thoughts. I'd appreciate it if you'd share your first name, but you can remain as anonymous as you'd like. Your comments will not be visible to others.

CLICK HERE!

The Mom Cave

I’ve heard that some homes have a “man cave.”…you know that place where the man can go to escape  with his remote, his recliner, and whatever else he thinks he needs.

Well, at my house, we don’t need a man cave. The whole house is a man cave. For goodness sake, even our dog and our lizard are boys.

I think I've forgotten to introduce you to our newest family member. Meet Pedro, our bearded dragon....and of course it's a boy!

Pedro was given to us by another family full of boys who had just kind of lost their excitement for our scaly friend. My boys were eager to adopt him. We're learning lots about how to care for a "real" lizard. I mean the ones they catch outside in the summer are never really expected to live that long. But Pedro is a family member, and a spectacular one at that. You can't just pull Pedro's tail off like you can the lizards in the yard. He needs a certain kind of light at night and a certain kind of light during the day. Quite honestly, he's a bit high maintenance for someone who looks so plain.

Pedro recently went to school for show and tell. Mo was delighted to share, and the kids kinda liked him too.

Question of the Week - Dyslexia

We are starting on a new journey with one of our boys. We are discovering the possibility of Dyslexia.

I don't know how things are in your neck of the woods, but in Idaho, Dyslexia is not considered a real learning disability. There is no help through the school system.

Do any of your boys have Dyslexia? What have been your best resources? Have you gotten the help you needed?

I'd love to hear from you!

Movie Picks

One of our favorite activities during Thanksgiving weekend is lots of lazy, snuggle-up, and watch- family-movies time. So I thought I'd introduce some our newer favorites that don't make it to the top of the charts these days.

The Ranger, The Cook, and a Hole in the Sky, starring Sam Elliott,  takes place in 1919. It is about a cocky teenage boy who works for the forest service in the summer and has to learn life the hard way. It is full of action, adventure, good lessons, and lots of boy stuff.     

The Fifth Quarter. I can't believe I hadn't heard about this movie until I saw it in the Redbox. It was phenomenal. ...a tear jerker for sure, but lots of good lessons about boys making bad choices that have permanent costs, becoming a leader, inspiring others. It is a bit of an older movie, enjoyed by teenagers more than little ones.

Empire of the Sun. Remember this one? It's about a boy who loses track of his parents during World War I, and has to make it through the war, growing up in a prison camp. Lots of good lessons and action.

You're the Mom!

"Just say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong," (Matthew 5:37 The Message).


We've been spending a lot of time at appointments lately. MD's. PSR. Therapy. We're working on some diagnosis that will help us better know how to show love to one of our boys.

At our last therapy appointment, the therapist kicked my boy out to just work on me for awhile.

"Put your shoulders back," he said. "Lift your chin up." "Say, I can do this."

"I can do this."

I'm Published!

Are you a mom that wants more of Jesus? Do you hunger for time with Him? A fresh word from Him? Do you wonder how on earth you can find time for that kind of relationship?

Me too! I've had all of those same questions over the years, and I cried out to God for answers in my desperation. God begin to take me on a new kind of journey with Him. He taught me how to have a relationship with Him as a mom that didn't hinge on certain activities, time, or freedom in my schedule.

The stuff He taught me was just too good to keep to myself, so I put it all in a book to share with other moms. Never Go Hungry Again: A Spiritual Nutrition Guide for Moms is now available for moms to download in several different digital file types.

I'm currently giving the book away. I'm not sure how much longer it will remain free, though, so grab a copy as soon as you can. You can get it at www.momsnevergohungry.com.

Also, if you read it, you can leave a review on the website. Also, if you blog about it, send me a link, and I'll link back to you on the book's website.

Blessings!!

Angela

Heroes and Villains of the Bible - Book Review

I was recently given a copy of Heroes and Villains of the Bible to review for BookSneeze®. I really was excited about it because boys LOVE to be heroes and LOVE to fight villains. So really, I can't think of a better way to engage them in God's Word.

It is important to know before you order, though, that it is really straight Scripture from the International Children’s Bible (which is a third grade reading level). So if you are picky about a certain translation being read in your home, or if you are looking for something a little more dramatized, you’ll be disappointed with Heroes and Villains of the Bible. 

There a couple of short sentences and/or questions at the end of each story for you to talk about with your kids. Personally, I wish it contained a bit more of that kind of content. I’m always torn when I look at a book like this because it isn’t a “real” Bible that your kids can look up any passage in, but it isn’t a story book either…..it’s like part of the Bible.

All in all, I’m going to enjoy using it with my kids! :)

Heard of BookSneeze? Want free books to review? Check it out here:

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 

Resume 101

Any moms out there thinking about heading back to work?

I got to spend a joyous 30 minutes at the unemployment office today jumping through some hoops.

No, I'm not unemployed, but my hours have been cut temporarily. In order to draw some unemployment insurance...well....I get to jump through hoops. 

But, hey! I did get some really good resume tutoring, and why waste all that helpful information by keeping it to myself. :)

Want to hear some good tips catered to moms trying to go back to work in today's economy?  Well alright then! Here they are:

1. Try to keep your resume down to one page.
2. Tailor your resume to each job you are applying for.  I learned that many employers these days are simply scanning resumes because they don't have time to read all the ones they get. They run the scanned resumes through software looking for ten key words in your resume. If you have eight of those words, you'rs might get looked at by a real person. Mind blowing. So if they say they want someone that is detail oriented and proficient at Microsoft Excel, and you are, you better mention those things specifically in your resume.
3. Be careful with dates. It seems that though employers shouldn't discriminate against age, they often do. So I was advised to leave certain dates off my resume and keep others. For instance, don't put the year you graduated or your birth date.  Do put the date you were working at your previous jobs.
4. Leave marriage and family off your resume. This is hard for me, personally. The woman I met with this week said my resume should be about who *I* am. Well....my marriage and family influence a lot of who I am. BUT I guess to be all professional-like, you aren't supposed to mention them. This is probably different in ministry situations or jobs that may involve children (such as my current employment at a baby boutique). This is part of tailoring your resume for each prospective employer.
5. Put your family in your cover letter. If you have a gap in employment because of time you were staying home with your children, do explain your gap in your cover letter. You don't want any unexplained holes in your resume.
6. Keep your employment history down to ten years.

Happy resume writing!

How to Get Boys to Flush

Houston, we have a problem.

A stinky, dirty, icky problem.

Boys don't flush toilets.

At least, my boys don't flush toilets.

I'm not sure what happened here. I do remember a time when my mother-in-law complimented the fact that my boys used to flush and wash their hands every time...without being reminded.

But something horrible has happened.

Something has snapped in their brains.

I recently bought one of these, for to make the toilet stay clean and the bathroom smell fresh.

But there is a problem. They don't work unless someone flushes.



So tell me.....how do you get boys to flush the toilet?

I can tell you one thing that doesn't work.