tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90247547618354370372026-04-18T03:30:51.101-04:00Thoughts on Family, Faith, Writing and LivingLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.comBlogger490125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-90356060490014218622021-06-16T15:29:00.108-04:002021-06-17T10:05:30.124-04:00

We are currently living in a sea of packing boxes and bubble wrap against the backdrop of bare walls and bookshelves, with smudged scratches and nail marks on the wall where the pictures used to be. It’s a strange sight—well, it’s actually a messy sight at the moment, all of the boxes and piles of papers and bits of life that still need to be packed, and then to see Aubrey start to play house and

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-14053357454840414692021-06-06T17:31:00.004-04:002021-06-06T20:15:06.857-04:00

As I was walked through Michaels a couple of week ago I passed a display of cute farmhouse décor—it reminded me of the Pioneer Lady stuff, with whimsically painted flowers in reds, yellows and turquoise, framed in rustic wooden and metal frames. I picked up a sign that said “Kitchen” and another that said “Home Sweet Home”, realizing that I didn’t really need either, but was enjoying the browsing

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-81159790326674286722021-03-30T16:31:00.007-04:002021-03-30T19:00:31.032-04:00

Our family is in a waiting season right now. We're waiting for wisdom about some big decisions, waiting for answers about some confusing (though not especially serious) health questions, waiting to figure out if and when we're moving out of the house we have been in for 11 years. It's a lot of unanswered questions all up in the air. I'm realizing I don't particularly like unanswered

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-52879946818089950342020-11-19T08:28:00.003-05:002020-11-19T08:28:55.803-05:00

Hello Again. I felt like I needed to say that seeing as it’s been 125 days since the last time I posted here. It is 2020 after all, a year when 125 days may have felt like an eternity or the blink of an eye depending on what has happened within them for you. Many of you have lost jobs, had to close businesses, are currently either home-schooling for the first time or managing a

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-238629468042936192020-07-24T10:08:00.001-04:002020-07-24T10:16:41.153-04:00

These are strange times, aren’t they friends?  It's times like these that I'm grateful I left most of my Type A, need-to-get-things-done attitude at the door years ago when things like major diaper blowouts would happen on a regular basis just about the time we were all ready to leave for church, or a family gathering, or even just to the grocery store,  and next thing I knew my

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-12392853117808788472020-07-13T18:28:00.000-04:002020-07-13T18:34:03.051-04:00

Hi Friends! Sorry for my absence here... This crazy thing called COVID-19 happened and it threw me off my writing/blogging rhythm for a while. But just last week I attended this FABULOUS online writing conference called Speak Up and it re-inspired, re-encouraged and renewed my passion for sharing words with others. If you'd like to learn more about SpeakUp so that it's on your radar for next

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-38826969624817882462020-04-21T07:31:00.006-04:002020-04-24T10:53:28.968-04:00

"Therefore we do not lose heart..." (2 Corinthians 4:16)  If you came here looking for an answer to what "thriving" looks like right now, you might be disappointed.  I don't have clear answers or easy tips-- I'm not sure those exist at the moment. What I do have are questions, and faith that God is at work no matter what is happening around us, so if you're in need of some

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-14101011754629005702020-04-17T08:27:00.001-04:002020-04-17T08:27:22.543-04:00

Being a full-time stay at home mom for 10 years (a decade!), while a  privilege, was also one of the hardest things I've ever done-- one of the hardest jobs I've ever done. The days were long, the needs unending, the tasks mundane. There were some days, and weeks, that it all felt like the grandest version of Bill Murray's experience in Groundhog's Day that ever existed.  I often

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-567571974684729932020-04-10T12:39:00.000-04:002020-04-10T12:39:23.671-04:00

Happy Good Friday, Friends! We made it through the week! Many of us have now made it through 4 weeks of quarantine/schooling/full-time-at-home-life with kids! Congratulations! Seriously. One of the highlights of my day yesterday was facilitating a Zoom call with some of my momma friends from our church (theWELL Buffalo). There were babies running around, toddlers screaming and older

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-61367924135623536942020-04-09T09:04:00.002-04:002020-04-09T09:04:36.206-04:00

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day, so much so that I never made it over here to post. Sorry about that. Though I have a feeling that many of you, like me, are finding your days so full with meals, and groceries and navigating the kid's school work that finding time for other things that you hope to get to (crafts, blogging, reading, whatever-you-like-doing) is proving challenging.  It

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-69468317856719156572020-04-07T09:07:00.001-04:002020-04-07T09:09:34.902-04:00

Good Morning Sweet Friends! It's going to be a beautiful day here in Buffalo today (sunny and 60!) and that is a very good thing when you're home with kids. I suppose it's a very good thing for anyone who is home (which is EVERYONE right now), but when you're cooped up in the house with three kids and your husband is trying to work from the basement it's a whole different level of crazy.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-79636909038599178982020-04-06T09:42:00.002-04:002020-04-06T09:54:11.259-04:00

Happy Monday Morning Friends!  It honestly feels like a strange Monday morning-- it's foggy here, and Mondays feel a little bit, hmmm...what's the right word right now? Ambiguous? Monday's feel a little bit ambiguous these days. Where are we going (with school work)? What are we doing (with school work and around the house)? Who needs my laptop at which hour of the day for which

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-11534429460058870902020-04-05T07:52:00.002-04:002020-04-05T07:52:42.223-04:00

Happy Sunday, everyone. It's Palm Sunday, Holy Sunday, one week before Easter Sunday, which seems like an ironic and beautiful thing in the midst of a worldwide crises. Churches across the country are streaming services live today, some are even handing out palm leaves via drive-thru pick-up. Hopefully you were able to find a Palm Sunday service that was streaming live this morning. If you

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-63054546038497561332020-04-04T15:56:00.001-04:002020-04-10T11:47:19.444-04:00

This past week the girls and I started talking about how Easter is next weekend and everything feels so, well, different.  So much has changed in such a short period of time.  So much.  The conversation revolved around how we'll be cooking a ham and potatoes at home...alone. No grandmas and grandpas. No aunts or cousins. No dressing up for church and hugging our

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-50696405423579437902020-03-30T17:59:00.002-04:002020-03-30T18:52:47.989-04:00

Greetings from rainy, dreary, Buffalo NY on this Monday that feels like a…well, I’m not sure what day it feels like anymore. It kind of feels like a getting-back-into the swing-of-things Monday after a long vacation, except that everyday right now feels like Monday after a long vacation.  And I’m not sure there is a really a swing of things to get back into for

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-3711433300343611152020-03-23T08:21:00.000-04:002020-03-23T08:21:19.766-04:00

Hi Friends! I hope you are all well. That you're finding a new rhythm with your family in these strange times, as awkward and unfamiliar as it all may feel.  We're falling into a new homeschooling rhythm, a new dinner rhythm, a new bedtime rhythm. We're watching church online, and went rollerblading yesterday, which we probably wouldn't have done without the 'stay in place' mandates.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-57050027212511842512020-03-17T08:20:00.001-04:002020-03-17T11:13:26.765-04:00

Dear Sweet Momma,  The one suddenly home with her kids all day, every day—home schooling, making meals, trying to keep the peace, wondering what in the WORLD is going on. The one whose whole world suddenly feels inside out and upside down.  The one who was supposed to go to work this week, and is trying to figure out  what to do, how to do it, and who is going to

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-40364166701387201362020-03-09T12:16:00.002-04:002020-03-09T12:16:47.226-04:00

I’ve been in search of quiet lately, and it isn’t easy to find. Three busy and creative kids make for a noisy living space…more noise—physically and figuratively—than my poor momma brain can handle sometimes. It’s not that I don’t want them to be creative; as a matter of fact I’ve encouraged it. And I certainly don’t want them to be quiet (well, not all the time anyways)- that would be

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-66855961436648956822020-03-07T09:30:00.000-05:002020-03-07T09:30:01.470-05:00

Wow! I blink and three months go by lately.  Does anyone else feel that way? Sorry for my absence here…Hello again.  I could go into all the reasons for my absence, but honestly it was nothing major. Just life…lots and lots of life. Good life. Busy life. Fun life. #Momlife.  It was post Christmas clean up and recovery, birthdays, potlucks, my part-time job at the big girls

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-88501161127964440312019-12-23T08:36:00.002-05:002019-12-23T08:36:14.129-05:00

Hi Sweet Friends, How are you today? How are you holding up? Today is Monday, December 23rd and that means so many things. So. Many. Things. I'm a highly sensitive person with a measure of ADD (legitimately on both of those things), so this time of year can leave me extra overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted if I'm not intentional about making space for my soul to breathe-- even small

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-17496506809979766612019-12-10T13:15:00.000-05:002019-12-10T13:15:01.550-05:00

If you're anything like me, and I have a feeling at least some of you are, then you may have found yourself smack dab in the middle of the Christmas planning/shopping/party/school concert/decorating/cookie making season with everything going whirly twirly all around you while you try to hold it all together (and wondering if you're ready!). I don't mean hold it together like you're going to

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-60169979854968296052019-11-25T20:33:00.003-05:002019-11-25T20:33:45.743-05:00

Ah, friends. How is it the end of November already? How?! Earlier today, while I was at Panera,  an older woman stopped to ask me the time. I was sitting at a table eating lunch and writing this post so my computer was open. I looked at the clock, then looked up at her,  "2:21," I said. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, eyes wide like she was late for something, "Time waits

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-25600755036620872902019-11-18T10:48:00.002-05:002019-11-18T10:56:40.352-05:00

It's been a full and busy week in our house. All the normal stuff. You know how that goes, right?  Sometimes, when you’re a family of five the normal stuff can feel a little like a 5-ring circus—full, colorful, and noisy, with a little bit of chaos and mess thrown in for good measure.  I’ve had bronchitis, which has slowed me down a bit, and then Ella got sick later in the

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-76392519811013728462019-11-12T15:24:00.000-05:002019-11-12T15:24:06.304-05:00

"When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around."   ~Willie Nelson If you are one of my Facebook friends (Hi friends!), you know that I've been writing a gratitude post on FB each day this month. I hope I'm not driving ya'll crazy with my daily posts...as much as I enjoy social media it can drive me a little crazy sometimes too. That said, it has been such an

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9024754761835437037.post-47257334974818606422019-11-04T13:38:00.001-05:002019-11-04T14:02:22.349-05:00

     I don’t know about the weather where you all live, but here in Buffalo there is a sudden chill in the air. It feels like it happens over night, literally, every year. I’ll be outside on a day in late October when the sun is shining, it’s 60 degrees, and I’m taking my coat off and leaving it in the car as I run errands. The trees are glorious shades of deep reds,

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14643542809590522666noreply@blogger.com0