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It’s August. Can y’all believe it? It’s the month with the dog days of summer. (The reported heat index for Dallas tomorrow is 109 degrees! Yes, that is ONE-OH-NINE!! Ouch) It’s a month of birthdays (or more accurately, a summer full of birthdays), and within two weeks my oldest child will be in first grade.
Pardon me while I cry a little.
I remember when she looked like this:
I …

Well, after much deliberation, we have decided to get a dog. There are a myriad of reasons for this, listed here in no particular order:

We promised the kids.
We don’t have enough living creatures in this household to feed and take care of.
We are just itching for new additions to the family.
We love dogs.
Looking at the shelter-bound dogs is just heartbreaking.
Oh, and we promised the kids. (Did I already mention that?)

Well we have it narrowed down to two dogs.  Help us decide which to pick!
Dog #1, Taylor Sky

Look at those …

A few weeks ago, one of my Facebook friends asked me what exactly I was doing to lose nearly 30 pounds this spring. Specifically, she wanted to know what I ate.
I have been thinking and racking my brains for the past few weeks, and the best thing I can come up with is “whatever I want!” To be honest, I don’t make ‘special’ diet meals for myself. I have learned to eat less of the foods I normally make for the family, or make little changes to …

A few months ago, I joined Weight Watchers for the third time in four years.  I love the plan for many reasons; it’s easy, I can eat what I want, and I am held accountable.  On a whim, this time I started posting my weight loss each week to my personal Facebook page.  After my most recent post, my friend Haley (from the fantastic fashion blog Cardigan Junkie) asked me to share my secrets.  Though I don’t feel like I have any groundbreaking secrets to share, I’m going to write …

My stomach is in knots, my heart is racing, and I feel a headache coming on. Why, you ask?
We are taking the kids swimming tomorrow, and today is the day I shop for a swimsuit so that we may all swim together.
Other people will see me in this. They will see my jiggles and wiggles and florescent skin. Yes, I said florescent. I am that pale.
Never mind the fact that I have lost over 25 lbs since February, when I started Weight Watchers. Never mind …

Oh, I had such big plans this week! I was going to set aside some time over the weekend to write some fantastic and inspirational and prayerful posts regarding the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Now I am resorting to jotting down a quick post during nap time (when I would just LOVE to be able to nap myself!). God sure does have an excellent sense of humor, and picked a prime target for a scheduling disaster! (Because we all know how “scheduled” and regimented I am–ha!)
I wonder …

Since I didn’t have time to participate in Writer’s Workshop yesterday (though if you want to read posts from those who did, go to Mama Kat’s link up), and I honestly don’t have a ton of time to sit and write a well-thought out post today, I’m going to do a 7 Quick Takes post and link it up to Conversion Diary.

1~ I mentioned yesterday that today marks the start of the Novena to the Holy Spirit.  Jen linked up to YouTube videos of the daily prayers.  I haven’t watched …

Our Internet and tv is out! A tech is coming by to fix today…so that is why I’ve been MIA. (because I forgot to schedule my posts this week!! Oops!)

On this fun-filled “freeing myself from clutter” Friday, I thought I would keep y’all entertained with a couple of my favorite songs. One definitely reminds me of motherhood and the other one does in a more round-about way.
First, one of my favorite Jamie O’Neal songs (the video disabled embedding):
"Somebody's Hero" by Jamie O'Neal
I could listen to this song over and over. I hope all of my children feel this way about me when they grow up! (Some company at the nursing home wouldn’t be bad either!!)
Now, I want …

It’s been a while since I participated in Mama Kat‘s Writers Workshop. What the heck, I’ll do it this week again. What can I say? I like the prompts!
So…here goes.
Dear new mom,
You will never be the same again. Your body will be different, your hair will be different, you probably won’t sleep ever again (or at least not really good sleep), and guess what?
You won’t care. (I promise!)
And you forget about how awful labor is. And it really isn’t as bad as …