Babies, Brownies and Blessings

Many years ago I said goodbye to my grandparents. All but one left this earth before I was a parent, the last just shortly after. How I wish my children could have known them. There is always a sadness when our loved ones are taken too soon...I, however, was blessed with a new wonderful grandpa, one my children got to know. I married into a family that boasted more longevity than my own. And I said hello to Grandpa Ralph. One of the great things about G'pa Ralph that eased that ache in my soul was that his manner was familiar. He reminded me of my grandpas. Few words but big, back-pounding hugs. His "oh yep, uh huh, sure" was a sufficient response to most questions. Quiet faith. He had a belly laugh that was music to the ears and a commanding presence. And in the end, his stoic demeanor spoke of the quiet inner strength in the midst of the unknown. I had the privilege of helping care for him in the last few weeks, stopping in here and there to change a d...

It's the middle of the night and my man's wacky schedule (and his need to share his sleeplessness with me) has me a wake, hopefully not for long. My brain is full with thought of all the changes this time of year brings. BigBoy #1 finished his last day of Kindergarten! It is truly surprising how quickly the year has gone and overall how well he did. The day was bittersweet for him and he said when he got home that he doesn't like weekends when there's no school after them. :) Nevermind that just yesterday he was fussing about wanting to stay home and play! But it's good for him to be left wanting more and looking forward to 1st grade. And a guinea pig. Yep, for real, he is pining after a guinea pig in the worst way. Being our single-track minded child he has a hard time thinking about anything else when he has something on his mind and right now that's a furry rat-pig. We're talking about it but teaching him to wait for things AND save his money so...

On the heels of my last post about feeling overwhelmed and behind I started thinking of ways to get un-behind ahead at home. About the same time came a good-natured prompting from my husband to do as I challenged all of us to do in Facebook Inferior  and give up FB for a week or two. I wonder if the combination of less time on FB and a more focused plan will result in a cleaner, happier, more-organized Dickman household??? I'm sure going to give it a shot. There are so many cleaning plans and experts out there and I'm NOT pretending to be one. A few years ago I read the FlyLady's book Sink Reflections and got some great tips on how to keep out clutter and cut cleaning into bite-sized chunks. I followed the plan religiously for a while and did enjoy the benefits. It encourages you to get rid of the things you don't need (either toss or donate) and to clean up "hotspots" for junk like the junk drawer (or room, if you're like some of us), coffee tabl...