May 17, 2017

10 Lists I Love (None of Which Has Anything to Do With Groceries or Buckets)


If this isn't your first time stopping by Guilty Chocoholic Mama, you've probably figured out that I'm a big fan of list and that most of my posts are lists. (Also: thank you so much for coming back!) 

In fact, if I had to rename this blog, I'd probably call it "I've Got to Make a List."

In the interest of reusing, re-purposing, and recycling, I've put together this list of lists. Okay, fine: this is actually total self-indulgence. Up to this point, these are some of my favorite posts in full-on list form. But it's also time management: I've got a high school graduation party to throw, and that list is titled "101 Things You Absolutely Must Do Before June 23rd and Honey, There is No Way You're Going to Get to All of These." 

Self-indulgence aside, I'd love it if something here somehow made your day a little bit better--if only by giving you a "me, too/I'm not the only one" moment. Which, when it comes down to it, is really item #1 on a theoretical list of why I have a blog in the first place.


1. 20 Classes Moms Would Take If Motherhood Was a PhD Program. Stain identification and removal, maybe? Or how about math for moms?

2. 10 Things I Don't Wish I'd Done Differently as a Mom, Parts 1 & 2. Oh, mama, believe me: I've got plenty of things I DO wish I'd done differently. (Two words: potty training.) But here are a few things I'm grateful to say I wouldn't change, even if God did offer me a maternal do-over.

3. You Might Be the Mom of a Tween Girl If.... "You have accepted that life runs more smoothly if 'it' is clean. Whatever 'it' is." For example.

4. 5 Ways to Feed Your Child's Faith (Without Preaching at Them). My husband and I are far from being the wisest parents ever to be sent home from the hospital with a baby, a bill, a birth certificate, and best wishes for our utterly changed lives. But we've tried to feed our girls' faith, and so we've learned a few things about what's worked for us...and what might work for you, too, while you lead your children along the way home.

5. Dear Children: 25 Things I Think You Need to Know. Some practical (hand sanitizer will get ink and Christmas tree sap off your hands), some preachable (as often as possible, try to "disrupt the world with grace"). 

6. 7 Reasons I Love Being the Mom of a Teenager. Among other things no one ever tells you, having a responsible teen driver on hand is the best thing ever. 


7. Four Kitchen Tool Must-Haves, Plus One I Just Really Like. Don't even talk to me about life without my batter bowl. 

8. These Are a Few of My New Favorite Things. With bonus "how I met Julie Andrews (yes, that Julie Andrews)" story!

9. Chocolate-Covered Popcorn...and 5 Other Habits of a (Mostly) Happy Family. One day, I asked my children a Very Important Question: "do you think we have a happy family?" Here's what they said and why I think they said it.

10. My Top 5 Mom Lessons (So Far). I've been a mom for more than 18 years now, and I'm not sure I could have learned these life lessons any other way.


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Bonus round...or, rather, a roundup of lists from some of my favorite bloggers. These ladies are hilarious and encouraging and you need them--and these practical, purposeful lists--in your life.




Thank you so much for stopping by. 
You're on my list of "people I may not have met but am really, really grateful for."

**This post may have been shared at some of these blog parties.**

May 1, 2017

Chocolate-Chip Cookie S'mores & Other Good Things That Happen at Our Kitchen Table



The table in the kitchen of our 100-year-old farmhouse is square and solid oak and looks like it could provide shelter in a strong storm. 

Which, in fact, it did--in its life before it came to live in our house. 


I'm honored to be a guest over on Welcome Heart, my friend Sue's blog, telling the rest of our table's tale as part of her new series "Every Table Tells a Story."

I know you have a thousand things to do right now, but it would make my day if you'd take a minute to click over to Sue's site and read the rest of this post.

Because our kitchen table is still providing shelter in life's storms--not all of which have anything to do with the weather.




**This post may have been shared at some of these blog link parties.**