Making the Most of Milwaukee

[Well, I deleted my facebook account around 11pm on Sunday. I've had three full days without it, and I feel great! I've also given myself a rule of no Instagram until after the kids are in bed. I honestly don't miss it much, if at all. I've been making a conscious effort to text and vox my friends everyday, and I will continue to do so. I'm trying to focus on my children more and have more fun with them too. Now that I'm not constantly concerned with what people are posting, commenting. or liking, I actually feel present.   Okay, on to my regular scheduled blog.] ***  One thing I've been thinking a lot about lately is what I say. The Bible talks frequently about how we speak, so I do think it's really important. It's easy to forget that our words matter. Here are a few lessons I'm learning about speaking from the Bible. 1. I need to know when to speak and when to stay silent. In most cases, it is better to stay quiet than to say somet...

Today was one of those "go-go-go!" days. Clothes on. Eat breakfast. Brush teeth. Put on shoes and off to... the dentist! Well, first the park. Deuce and Josie finally had their first dental checkups and cleanings today! Since I didn't want to take all four kids to the dentist's office, I brought Margo and Piper to the park where my friend, Nicole watched them with several other moms and kids. After I dropped the little ones off, I took the older two to the dentist's office. Deuce went first, and he did great! His four front bottom teeth are going to be falling out really soon according to the X-ray. Justin came and picked him up and took him to school while I stayed with Josie for her appointment. The X-rays weren't easy for Josie. She had a mini meltdown, so we decided to give them a try at the end of her checkup. She did great with getting her teeth cleaned, and then finally got the X-rays accomplished at the end. The dentist thinks that Josie will...

[It's been a long time since I've blogged, so "hi!" I know that when I started my blog last year that I'd intended on posting everyday. Obviously, that didn't happen. I'm going to try to blog at least a couple times a week. We'll see!] Several days ago I decided that I was going to completely delete my facebook account on May 31. A few years ago I had deactivated my account for exactly a year, and I loved being off it. It was refreshing to be out of the constant barrage of information. But, after much nagging from my friends, I got back on it. Now that I'm planning to go cold turkey, I am meeting some resistance, as expected. But I want to lay out the reasons that I am quitting facebook. 1. Facebook is a time suck. There are so many much more valuable things I could be doing than checking my newsfeed. Life is so fleeting, and I don't want to waste any more of it looking at social media. You've heard it said, "No one looks back on t...

I'm pretty sure that everyone who reads my blog knows me in real life. Or at the very least, is friends with me on facebook. So, you all know that we moved from a little 1 1/2 story cape cod in Cudahy to a much larger home on Milwaukee's south side. The plan to move came about rather suddenly. Justin and I hadn't really been seriously looking, but when I happened to see this house on realtor.com, I fell in love. And so did Justin after I showed him. On one hand the process of seeing the house, putting an offer on it, waiting for the financing, and closing seemed to take forever. And on the other, it seemed like a whirlwind. It's been exactly six weeks since we closed, and sometimes it still feels surreal that we got it. I felt a little weird the very first time I walked down the stairs from our bedroom, but every subsequent time felt a little more like home. Now it feels totally like home. And it looks like home too - mess and all. This past Sunday we had our offici...