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Joy's Fun Stuff

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Holidays

For Fun

Gifts

Deep Thoughts

Mom Hacks

Food

How I Only Do a Couple Loads of Laundry a Week (with a family of 7)

Top 4 Tips for Packing School Lunch

Top 4 Tips for Packing School Lunch

Want to know the biggest trick I have up my sleeve for packing school lunches? 1. Make the kids do it. Ha! I come from a family of 8 kids and I never remember packing a single lunch growing up. Seriously, my mom is Super Woman and packed a lunch for all of us and my sweet dad every single day. I have no idea how she did it. Just thinking about it makes me want to order a pizza. That worked for her and I certainly wasn't complaining about that set up as a kid. But after a few

To Everyone with Kids at Church

To Everyone with Kids at Church

So a few weeks back my kids sang in church in front of the whole congregation. It was seriously adorable and sweet and was just one of those happy moments you know you will look back and fondly remember. But in this particular case the nostalgia would not last long as you would then be smacked in the face with the memory of the full-on, soul wrenching, blood curdling death scream immediately coming forth from the small 3 year old on returning to her seat to find her brother h

Moving's the Worst, Part 2

Moving's the Worst, Part 2

I really think it's a testament to how miserable moving truly is that it's taken me like 2 months after we moved to even be able to think about writing about it. It's just the worst. But I have a few tricks/ideas/whatever that I've learned from our 7 moves that I thought I'd pass on. Or at least dictate so that I can remember them myself if Matt ever decides to tear my cold, lifeless fingers from this current home, because it will be over my dead body that we ever move again.

Teaching Kids to Clean, aka The Death of Me

Teaching Kids to Clean, aka The Death of Me

Having a clean house with little kids is like running up a down escalator. Wearing roller skates. But it's a problem, because when my house is a mess I feel crazy. I know of plenty of amazing women who don't feel that way. They are able to happily function in the kicked pathway through the living room. I long to be like that, but stuff everywhere kills my soul. Waking up to a destroyed kitchen tops my list of Things to Put Mom in a Bad Mood. If any of my college roommates are

Moving's the Worst, Part 1

Moving's the Worst, Part 1

The last time we moved I had four kids, ages 9 down to 2 and was a month away from delivering my fifth. It was the worst, although I really shouldn't complain because a few days before my seriously amazing sister, her daughter, and my mom cleaned, packed and unpacked my kitchen for me, which is by far the most time consuming part of moving for a kitchen hoarder like myself. My dad was there too helping out (with vertigo!) and the day of the move we had a ton of friends and fa

Losing a Baby: Looking Back and Moving Forward

Losing a Baby: Looking Back and Moving Forward

11 years ago this week I was in a hospital bed, very near death. After some years of infertility we were finally pregnant. At 33 weeks along, what started as supposed indigestion ended up being a ruptured appendix that almost took my life. The infection overtook the baby and at 5lb 4oz the sweet little boy we had prayed for so long was delivered stillborn. While grateful for my life, my husband and I went home with empty hands and a long recovery, both physically and emotiona

Menu Planning: Let's Get 'er Done

Menu Planning: Let's Get 'er Done

I swear, like 90% of my life is dealing with food: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, meal planning, making grocery lists, grocery shopping, putting away the groceries, feeding the baby, cleaning up the kitchen. And that's not taking into account the Stress Treats I sneak in the pantry when the kids are crazy. I actually do enjoy cooking but dang, it's CONSTANT: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every. Single. Day. They just keep on coming. I guess it's job security? Menu Planning

Messy Room Solution: Grade Them!

Puzzle Motivator aka Cleaning Toilets Happily

Puzzle Motivator aka Cleaning Toilets Happily

We do Saturday chores around these parts. Note I said "Saturday chores," not "Saturday MORNING chores." Chores have been known to take a large portion of our Saturday. Not that the chores themselves are so long or difficult or time consuming. Mostly, it's the idea of doing chores that makes them take so dang long. We've been known to take quite some time to get started. And then we've been known to get "distracted." We've been plugging away with chores, week after week after

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Halloween Gingerbread Houses

Halloween Gingerbread Houses

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Gratitude Turley

Gratitude Turley

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Veteran's Art Surprise

Veteran's Art Surprise

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Turkey Stick Puppet

Turkey Stick Puppet

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Tape Masks

Tape Masks

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