When the Book You've Been Waiting for Arrives....

Look what just arrived!!! My daughter told me, "Go curl up in a corner mom. I call dibs when you are done." Ha ha! This girl knows me all too well. #Dragonwatch #Fablehaven #BrandonMull #LoveToRead

Meeting Richard Paul Evans

I was humbled to be able to participate in Richard Paul Evan's Author Mentoring this weekend. It was an experience I will never forget! He is indeed kind and is a powerful speaker and motivator. I am so thankful for all that he taught us!

I feel like I came into the training as a “toddler" in my knowledge of publishing. This had me feeling as though I was looking up at a giant mountain, overwhelmed about where to start or even how to navigate my uphill climb. This training not only showed me the map for the trail to traverse this publishing mountain, but it gave me a network of friends and professionals to journey with. I am no longer alone as I climb step by step up my mountain of writing and publishing. Was it worth it? Yes! A million times over—YES. For now I know the path that I need to trod and I have a map to follow. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Richard Paul Evans. You are an answer to prayer. I no longer feel intimidated by the journey in front of me—only empowered to go forward and write my life’s work.

An Organizing Project

For the past week and a half I decided to spend my spare time organizing my craft closet--mostly so I could access/find my material and make quilts (to donate). Anyway, I ended up repurposing some old dressers and I did get to build some shelves from scratch--but it was fun, creative work (and I got to use my new saw:). Now my closet is organized and my mind is already piecing together some quilts. Now I better get sewing:). Here are the before, during, and after pictures.

Hanging with The Wiggles

When I hang with my buddy Nathan, you never know what we will end up doing. Last week we took a walk down memory lane and sang and danced with "The Wiggles." I love my perpetual 3-year-old and his sweet innocence! #Autism

Spontaneity and Autism

On Valentine's Day I surprised the kids by taking them right out the door the second they got home from school to the movies. We saw the new Lego Batman movie and it was fun. The kids were hilarious though—they were like, “We can’t go to the movies, we need to do our homework first.” I told them that we could do homework later. They are so used to their schedule that they have a hard time when I change it (even for something fun). I later asked Jacob if he enjoyed mom being spontaneous and just taking him to a movie after school. He said, “No. I need to do my homework first. But if I have to go to a movie you need to let me know before.” Yup—autism and sticking to the schedule. That is pretty important. Parenting kids on the spectrum makes me giggle sometimes.

Gratitude for Founding Fathers

Yesterday I was working with Jacob on his Citizenship in the Nation merit badge for scouting. As we talked about the different branches of government and their functions and then the system of checks and balances I realized that we had a perfect example of that this week in politics--the Trump's ban and then the judge ruling that it was unconstitutional. No matter what side of the issue you are on, be thankful that our founding fathers set up this system of checks and balances so that no branch of our government can overstep its bounds without another branch checking it. I am glad to be an American and am thankful for our founding fathers! Glad to see the process still working.

Birthday Boy

Nathan turned 18 this week! Happy Birthday to my boy. I can honestly say I am so thankful that God sent us this wonderful son. Although having a child with autism was never on my agenda, it is a journey I am so thankful to have taken.