Once Upon A Family

Today I attended a blogger luncheon hosted by Once Upon A Family

Who are they? Their website said that they are a company that makes products that to add joy, closeness and meaning to every family's story.  

And it's true. I had a chance to check out some of their stuff, and I was impressed!

They had holiday themed items, like a Santa Pillow, to help celebrate traditions.

To treasure the passing on of life's lessons, they had things like value lessons box

And, they had products like the love notes box to help build and maintain loving relationships.

They fed us lunch. Yum!

They sent us home with goody bags that had the Santa Pillow, a box of holiday cards and a box of conversation starter cards that I can't wait to open!

If you have a minute or need some great gift ideas, check out the Once Upon a Family online store. 

Which one of their products could you see yourself using?

I was not paid to write this post about Once Upon a Family. They did treat me to lunch and gave me some swag, but all opinions here are definitely my own. 

Math Wizard

Tonight was Math Night at the elementary school.

And, so, even though I'd been up since 5am, driven two hours in commute to and from work and worked a full day, I made sure we went to Math Night.

Math is a noble creature.

It deserves its own night of celebration.

I used to like math.

I was even kind of good at it.

My boys, they both love math.

And at Math Night you get to play games, earn star stickers and collect a prize and a bag of popcorn at the end.

Here's Remy playing a few math games tonight.

And he even got his older brother to play a few games.

And then, a genuine, Math Wizard snuck up on them. 

Unfortuneately, the popcorn burned and set off all the extremely loud fire alarm and flashing lights, causing our well-trained children to file outside immediately...

We rocked Math Night.

Duct Taped Weaponry

I think the shiny silver and gold duct tape was originally 

to keep the gun from falling apart...

and then progressed into a fashion statement.

Frustrations

My broken vacuum cleaner apparently uses belts that are NOT easy to find. Anywhere.
The high school off-season football program may take up more time than actual football did.
This means getting my son to the high school before 6:30am every morning because no bus will get him there in time.
This also means he may not be able to take the bus after school due to weight lifting.
And I'm trying to figure out how to get him home if he can't take the bus.
Which makes me angry that their dad doesn't live close enough to help with the daily parenting.

Christmas is now less than a month away, and I have no idea how I'm going to afford it.
Life is so complicated.

But, I'm thankful for the roof over my head,
the food on my table,
the car that transports me,
my job that supports me,
my family who loves me,
and my amazing children.

Thank you for listening. I just needed to vent.

Thankful

I took my dog on a walk this morning and admired the changing colors on our trees.
This is my favorite time of year.

This Thanksgiving weekend has been a very calm and relaxing holiday.
With my older son recovering from knee surgery...and my younger son out of town with his father...
it's been quiet and restful.

I've had time to make pancake breakfasts for my older son and his friends.
I've been able to walk the dog in the morning.
I've been able to lie on the couch and read all day.

It's been wonderful, calm & restful, and for that I'm very thankful. 

Sea Change

People write for so many different reasons.

I write to express my creativity and have fun.
I write to tell a story.
I write for therapy.

I just finished reading a novel called Sea Change by Jeremy Page for BlogHer Book Club.
It's about a man who experiences a terrible tragedy and then spends five years on a boat, writing an alternate ending to his life.





He literally journals how he thought his life would continue on as if the tragedy had never occurred.

It was fascinating...and sad.
I can't imagine his mental state to carry on like that.
To live in almost complete isolation on his boat.
And to live in a made up world most of the time.

But, it was an intriguing read, and the writing was beautiful.
It's not a book I would have picked up to read on my own, that's part of what I love about the BlogHer Book Club...it's discovering writing gems that I might never have found on my own.

Join in on our discussion about Sea Change over at BlogHer Books!

I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

Not the Usual Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving has been a little different.
My son and my mother had surgery two days ago, so they're both recouperating.

We ended up ordering Thanksgiving meal, instead of cooking, to make things easier this year.

And while, the meal was good, it wasn't the same.
The process of cooking, the usual smells, the coming together in preparation....

that was all missing.

But, I'm thankful.

Thankful my mom and son are healing so well.
Thankful we were able to make the holiday a little easier this year.
I'm thankful I was able to spend time with my family.

And at the end of the meal, we played a rousing game of Blokus.
4 generations of family.






I'm thankful for that and so much more.