Zehlahlum Family

Weight Watchers Weekly Check-In 5

2012-02-08T12:25:00.001-05:00

Maybe, I should title this week, Welcome to Reality. (scowl) I still haven’t been feeling great because I can’t shake this head cold and so my eating habits are still a bit off. I don’t think that I’ve been eating poorly, in fact, more days than not last week I didn’t eat all my points. However, I’ve also felt totally exhausted and so I suspect I’m burning about zero calories an hour. Maybe next

Speaking of Attachment Problems

2012-02-07T23:18:00.001-05:00

I haven’t talked a lot about attachment problems for awhile, which is kind of funny because I’ve found the less I talk about our problems with attachment the less my blog is read. Regardless of whether I’m posting regularly or not there seems to be a large percent of my used-to-be-readers who liked our trainwreck. My thanks to the rest of you who read and comment and apparently enjoy the rest of

The Weekend That Wasn’t

2012-02-06T09:34:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was sitting on my couch, eating lunch, and watching tv. I saw a preview for a movie that was coming out that is a book series. It’s been a series that I enjoyed for a very long time, before I had kids, even. One of my sisters, let’s call her Berry, introduced me to them because she enjoyed them and thought I would, and I did. We’ve read them over the years as they’ve continued

Weight Watchers Weekly Check-In 4

2012-02-01T15:29:00.001-05:00

Overview: There was nothing overly dramatic one way or another that happened this week. The only unevent, lol, was that we had was that we started cultivating our first Family Germ of the winter. Luckily, it is just a head cold, mild cough, make you very tired kind of bug. The kids had it first and it hit me on Saturday, but still isn’t gone yet. With the kids drooping throughout the week,

Smaller Casualties

2012-01-31T00:03:00.000-05:00

In our epic struggle with life post adoption there have been lots of things that have slipped through our fingers. Some of those things I've scrambled to catch before they hit the floor and shatter and some of them I don't spare a second glance. It's kind of like decluttering...you decide what important and you let the rest go. Here is my list of my 10 Most Unmissed Casualties Due to Much Recent

Say It’s Not So

2012-01-27T22:33:00.001-05:00

The time in my Mother Life has come when I cannot reasonably be sure that my children will all sleep at naptime. I now approach naptime with anxiety, dread, and fury and we all know the right combination is fury, anticipation, and relief. I don’t care who you are, how your child has never napped, or that your Angel napped every day since he was delivered from your womb and until you

You Can’t Make Me Fail

2012-01-26T10:43:00.001-05:00

Let’s be honest with each other and if you know me in real life, you’re not going to have any problem with this statement. Logic is not my strong suit. It’s just not. There’s no shame in that (there was for awhile, but I’m over it) because I have other strong suits (better ones that are much more fun). I had “perfectly acceptable” logic that told me that since I was about to turn 30 (that

Weight Watchers Weekly Check-In 3

2012-01-25T13:22:00.003-05:00

I’ve been doing Weight Watchers for three weeks now. You can read about why I joined Weight Watchers and my thoughts and results of my first and second weigh ins. I’m starting my 4th week now and usually this is about the time I’d be sick of whatever program I was doing and I’d taper off and quit. But guess what? (a: I paid for three months) I don’t want to quit! And it’s not because I’m losing

Stolen Fun

2012-01-24T13:45:00.001-05:00

I stole these four questions from SimpleMom’s blog where she was introducing her yearly contributors. Have you read her site? I’m sure you have! It’s one of my go-to sites. Fabulous! (I’m sure it was just oversight that kept her from asking me to be a contributor. lol) I was going to answer the questions there, but then I thought about all of you people my dear readers and I wanted to hear your

Faithful and not Finished

2012-01-23T01:30:00.001-05:00

Right now my youngest child is three years old and there are two older siblings. When we came home with Boohoo my oldest child was three and a half and there are two younger siblings. I know that six months is a big age difference in a kid’s life, but really. Let’s just stop and say “WOW!” together. That’s a lot o’ little kids. And I believe that in another year I’m going to look back to now

Starting Gate

2012-01-20T20:16:00.001-05:00

I’ve been meaning to write this post for awhile and then tonight I got that extra burst of motivation that I needed to get it done: A chance to actually attend the 2:1 Conference which just jumpstarts me into what I really want to say here. I know I don’t talk a lot about homeschooling yet. There hasn’t been a lot to say. This has been/supposed to have been a preschool year for us. I laid grand

Optimism: Guest Blogger

2012-01-19T01:12:00.000-05:00

This is quite a story that you’re about to read and I’m honored that it was shared with me and that I am able to share it with you. Heather is a reader of Zehlahlum Family (which I totally appreciate!), a mother, an optimist, and a master of understatement. She said she reached out to me because the beginning of her life with her daughter was also “a little more turbulent than she would have

W.W. Weekly Check-In 2

2012-01-18T16:12:00.001-05:00

I completed another week of my Weight Watcher’s journey! (See me sigh and fall down in a heap.) This stuff is hard. And let’s just be honest: I’d totally prefer easy. I’m all for the Effortless Weight Loss Plan. You know, the one where I learn nothing, change nothing, do nothing and reap all the benefits. Instead of that plan though I’m thinking, planning, learning, making choices, being

Christmas Pictures

2012-01-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here is a smattering of Christmas Eve and Christmas pictures. Frankly, you're missing some of the really cute ones, but they inevitably had a present with a tag on it somewhere and in my futile attempt at privacy for my kids I don't put their name on the internet and I'm too lazy to block those out. If you'd like to see more pictures (and hear my thoughts throughout the day!) check out the

Weight Watchers Week One

2012-01-11T22:54:00.001-05:00

I wrote yesterday about why I joined Weight Watchers. To sum up, I want to be healthier. That’s it. Nothing fancy, desperate, or shocking just me gettin' healthy. What are you doing? Because misery loves company I’d love to have you getting healthier right along with me! So, here’s my word for the first week: Eye-opening There were apparently a lot of crossed wires between what I thought I

I joined Weight Watchers

2012-01-10T19:28:00.001-05:00

Oh yes, I did. The subtitle of this post could be: On Being Embarrassed and Getting Over It. Tomorrow will be my first week. I’m doing the online gig because of the whole “I have three kids between the ages of 3-5” thing. So, let’s dissect this. Embarrassed: Don’t you know that SuperMom isn’t fat? I harbor no illusions that I am or ever will be SuperMom because I hate crafts. Still, everyone

Better than a Princess

2012-01-06T14:49:00.001-05:00

Boohoo has hit her princess phase. I’m not totally wigging out. Mostly because she’s not totally obsessed. This is one instance where it certainly helps for her to have two brothers because she says, “Let’s play princess!” which consists of dressing up and then doing…nothing and the boys say, “Let’s play superhero!” which consists of dressing up and then roaring, yelling, running, and jumping all

Book Review: E is for Ethiopia by Ashenafi Gudeta

2012-01-04T14:10:00.001-05:00

Backstory: I feel it a bit unnecessary to explain why we’d happen to buy a book a bout Ethiopia for our house. But, beyond being the country of my daughter’s birth I’m determined that my children know about the rest of the world even if we can never afford to travel it with them. (Is there still time for me to become fabulously wealthy?) On a more specific note, this was a last minute Christmas

I Do Not Resolve

2012-01-02T20:18:00.000-05:00

Everyone else is setting forth in 2012 with shiny hope and sparkly eyes to bettering their lives through self-denial, delusion, and vague goals of changing everything about them from the cellular level on up. Me? Not so much. If you’re a resolution person that’s fine, I don’t mind at all. I’ve made resolutions before and I’m certainly not against goals. I get so much more done when I set goals

2011 Good Posts Not Elsewhere Mentioned

2011-12-31T11:19:00.000-05:00

I’m wrapping up the 2011 repeat posts, but I hope that you’ve found some new content that you missed before or were able to enjoy something again. The next post up will hopefully be some Christmas pictures (better late than never!) and then the first real post of the year will be my Second Annual Installment of Things I Don’t Resolve! 1. Life of a 20 Something: My storybook goodbye to my 20s,

My House

2011-12-30T21:52:00.001-05:00

I read a Bible verse the other day that really struck me. It was short, simple, and illustrative…which is about what something needs to be in order for me to remember it. (So, maybe instead of sending me that long email you should just color me a picture.) Proverbs 14:1 “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” I wrote it down as my memory verse

2011 Top 10 Most Commented Posts

2011-12-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I posted some posts that I really liked that didn’t get much comment-love. Today, we’re going the opposite direction and I’m re-sharing the posts that you guys all commented on the most. I hope you can read something you missed, enjoy a favorite again, or roll your eyes and go read someone with new content. It’s okay. 10 Most Commented Posts of 2011 1. Money & Adoption 2. Caw caw

2011: 10 Neglected Posts

2011-12-28T09:19:00.001-05:00

This is, as you might guess nothing more than a list of 10 posts that I liked that felt a little overlooked when they were published. So posts are just so fragile! 1. Nosy Questions in Adoption: A guest post I did for a friend on better ways for people to ask their questions…or not! 2. Time for a Career Change: The dangers of plumbing and technology. 3. Dueling ABCs: This one was actually

Birth Story

2011-12-24T13:33:00.000-05:00

This is a repost of a Christmas Day birth story. Not Jesus' though. You can check that out starting in the Gospel of Luke, if you're interested. This is for my less-virgin birth of Pickle, who will turn 3 tomorrow. (I plan to spend the day laughing, eating, and crying.) Enjoy! Pickle's Birth Story

10 Lessons in 10 Days

2011-12-23T14:51:00.001-05:00

This blogging thing lately is starting to seem like a dating relationship on again/off again, not speaking to each other, etc. Now, it’s just awkward. We’re seeing each other, but it’s been awhile, we’ve been thinking about dating other people, but we’re giving it another go. And now we don’t know what to say…. How have you been? Good? Good. Did you want an appetizer? No? Me neither. We have

Jesus Did Not Have Blue Eyes but Santa Can Be Black

2011-12-15T00:30:00.001-05:00

Here’s a beef that I have with the church at large. Jesus did not have blue eyes. Jesus did not even have pink might be slightly tan skin. This should be pretty basic. Jesus was not white. I mean, Jesus is never portrayed as a woman so that women can “relate” to him so why do we need to portray him as white so that an eensy minority of the church can relate to him? He was an actual person you

Christmas Playlists

2011-12-06T17:58:00.001-05:00

Our Zehlahlum Family 10 Day Christmas Circus Tour of Trauma Travel involves a 7 hour drive, a 5 hour drive and a 9 hour drive and those times don’t include the requisite stopping. So yeah, we’re talking about 22-24 hours of travel in the best of circumstances (which don’t tend to follow us around). Do you know what you need to travel that far with 3 preschoolers? Especially my three. What’s

Good News/Bad News

2011-12-03T14:51:00.001-05:00

1. Good News: My blog has sounded upbeat lately like a normal person’s / Bad News: It’s mostly because I wasn’t able summon the emotional energy to post crankiness when the blogosphere was viral (viral like sick with smallpox versus viral like trendy popular) with thankfulness. 2. Good News: I love listening to Christmas music / Bad News: It seems like “Santa Baby” is making an unfortunate

Proof of Life

2011-11-28T17:20:00.001-05:00

This work is courtesy of a nice camera, a husband who tosses terms around like “light metering”, and a visiting sister to help out. The less helpful aspects of the event were the children the wind blowing my hair around like a horse’s mane and the fact that by the time we got out there the sun was almost directly overhead. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Under My Tree

2011-11-23T15:32:00.001-05:00

Yesterday’s post was about toys that have already passed the Zehlahlum Test of Time and are played with Every.Day. Today’s post includes some of the things that I’m looking at getting for this Christmas. I know (and you could get verification from my husband) that I’m a little obsessed about picking out gifts for my kids, but I am good at it! (and humble) Many of the gifts that we’re getting

Every Day Toys

2011-11-22T20:00:00.001-05:00

I mentioned back here how I am not anti-presents at Christmas. So, in that vein I thought it would be so nice of me to show you some of our family’s Best Ever Gifts!! What you need to do here is not go “Black Friday” shopping and instead shop like a sane person ONLINE where you will get Ah-MAZ-ing deals from the privacy of your home. My one exception to this don’t-go-to-the-store philosophy is if

Scattered Thoughts on Adoption

2011-11-17T15:05:00.001-05:00

edited on 11/18/11 because I forgot one of my bullet points, it's the last one in case you just want to see what was so all-fired important I had to come back and add it. In continued blathering about National Adoption Month I have more disjointed thoughts for you. They have to stay disjointed because apparently when I try to make sense I end up going for a week without being able to post

10 Ways to be a Super Adoption Supporter

2011-11-16T13:26:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it's been a solid week since I've posted. I've started writing probably three or four posts, but haven't gotten them finished. Really sorry about that. However, in the meantime, you can check out one of my most requested posts about supporting adoptive families. I'm posting over at All Things For Mom with "10 Ways To Be A Super Adoption Supporter"

Jesus vs Santa…Or Not

2011-11-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

Christmas! Christmas! Christmas! I love Christmas, all of it. I love the Baby Jesus part of it and I love the buying presents part of it. We don’t have that much money to spend on gifts, but if I had more, I’d spend more. Hear that? More presents! I don’t believe that Baby Jesus and Presents for my Babies are mutually exclusive. There’s this new equation going around that (starts to sound like

Sara Groves Sunday Repost But Not On A Sunday

2011-11-07T23:33:00.002-05:00

This originally posted in June (minus the video I included below) so only a few months ago, but I've been on a Sara Groves kick again and this song...well, I've got to quit listening to it in the car because it makes me bawl and then I show up places looking like a fool. I've got a lot of "trauma mamas" on my mind right now and I think this song could be our anthem....try again...try again...

Adoption Grinch

2011-11-06T20:20:00.001-05:00

Maybe my heart is “three sizes too small”. I know that’s what I feel like when people start talking about National Adoption Month and Orphan Sunday. As a mom who has adopted I know that I’m supposed to break out the confetti, get out my bullhorn and start shrieking about the glowing goodness that we call adoption. But confetti makes such a mess and I’m pretty sure that bullhorns give me a

Saturday Morning Detox

2011-11-05T13:43:00.000-04:00

I was recently talking to a new dear friend on the phone, which I love doing. She is always encouraging, but at the same time challenging to my generally dysfunctional way of thinking. During our last phone call we were talking about me being overwhelmed by life. She said something that she’s said to me before and is one of my favorite things to hear. She said, “Parenting (in general, parenting

Random? What?

2011-11-02T23:02:00.001-04:00

I was really hungry by dinnertime. We had fish sticks for dinner. I now feel slightly sick. We got a new kitten. Did I tell you? His name is Boris. He rocks and is healthy. Can I get an “amen”? I started a new exercise dvd set. I’ve been doing thirty minutes three times a week (to re-acclimate myself to exercise) and I’m digging it through vast amounts of muscle pain. I’m planning a

Halloween Schmalloween

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000-04:00

I know most of you are focused on today and the festivities and the sugar highs and the costumes, but I have another focus. I’m focusing on the future. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, National Novel Writing Month begins (NaNoWriMo to it’s friends). And yes, now I’m going to do something very boring and write about writing. It’s not the first time that I’ve done so. If you want to know how many novels I’ve

Exciting as a Thursday Night = Not Exciting

2011-10-27T23:39:00.001-04:00

Did you know I have a blog? Oh that’s right, you knew, I’m the one who has hardly been posting. You’re welcome. You were expecting an apology? Not gonna happen. Things have been a little stark around Zehlahlum House lately and I’d just as soon not be aware of it myself. Ignorance and bliss and all the like. I’ll probably write about it one day when I can begin the story with “Once upon a time”

Quest for a Healthy Cold Season

2011-10-25T09:15:00.001-04:00

Last year we had spring, summer, and then where we expected to have fall and winter we just had Sick season. It was ugly. We were a revolving door of germs. The only one who was not sick was Boohoo. I’ve actually heard this is pretty common in internationally adopted children/kids with attachment issues. I think it’s a combination of her willing herself not to be sick and a Hulk-size immune

Peanut’s Birthday List

2011-10-22T14:12:00.001-04:00

Peanut’s birthday is still a few weeks off, but we’ve been talking about it a lot and he’s VERY excited. I keep asking him not to turn 5 because that’s just way too big, but so far he’s not biting. This is the first time we’ve done a list of things that he wants and I’m not really a fan of “buy me this” lists, but it served a few purposes and hey, it’s funny. So, in case you wanted to buy a

The Babies I Have

2011-10-17T23:35:00.001-04:00

I can’t write this post. I’ve written it and erased it, written and erased it, so many times, for days! This crappy post is days in the making. Scary thought right there! I’m writing this and posting it on “delay”. Who knows if it will make it to publication? It’s a blog-eat-blog world out there. I’m done trying to be poetic coherent. This is what I want to say: I want a baby in a way that

Halloween Preview

2011-10-15T09:44:00.001-04:00

I put this pictures up earlier in the week on my Zehlahlum Family FB page so if you’re not liking my page you are soooo behind the times. Despite my insistence that Halloween is the stupidest, lamest, money-suckingest-for-no-reason excuse for a holiday that is out there, my kids apparently dig it. Last year we’d only been home for five months and things were what we like to call “bad” around

More Than Words

2011-10-13T00:28:00.000-04:00

More than Words… (This is the second post by Julie. Read the first one here) The Empowered to Connect conference gave my husband and I tools and solidified some of the things we were already trying to implement at home. I was so very glad he (Steve) came with me, as he was able to see, digest, and realize for perhaps the first time just how serious our situation is with Benjamin, and how

Fall Books

2011-10-12T13:22:00.001-04:00

I don’t know how or why it happens, but my plans to do book reviews on Wednesdays are almost constantly foiled. I could pull out my “martyr mode” and say that it’s because it’s one of my favorite things to write and after all I never get to do anything that I like! But I have a headache (we’re actually on Day 5, so I guess we’re going to steady now) and I’m not in the mood for whining, even my

In Their Distress

2011-10-11T19:31:00.001-04:00

(This is a guest post by my new friend Julie regarding her thoughts about the Empowered to Connect conference where I had the honor to meet her briefly.) Benjamin was late to school today. Not because he overslept, or because I was running late getting him breakfast. He was late because he broke into a violent rage against my husband that lasted for over an hour, and it took us awhile to get

Different

2011-10-10T00:08:00.000-04:00

Jamey here, I know my blog has been full of guest bloggers lately, hasn’t it been great? I have more coming too. Today’s “guest” is Katy from Diary of Zookeeper. I know you guys are familiar with her because this isn’t her first time here. Are you familiar with the fact that October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month? Click over and read Katy’s post about how this truly came home for her and enter

Pete

2011-10-09T00:34:00.000-04:00

Something that I find myself saying ALL THE TIME, so much so that now each child says it as well of their volition in frustration, “FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!” I don’t say it in a mean way, generally (generally, not always) it’s with a loving air of exasperation. And I don’t actually know who Pete is, but he’s not doing anything to help my kids stop driving me crazy. They say there are seasons of

Empowered to Connect Summary by MRK

2011-10-06T18:52:00.002-04:00

(I’m working at compiling a lot of opinions from people who have attended Empowered to Connect and putting them in one place for others who a) couldn’t go or b) are considering going next time. If you want to share what you thought write it up and email it to me! This one is by a friend, MRK, and she did a great job of capturing the essence of the conference. Next up will be a series by a new and

For Those Who Hurt

2011-10-05T14:11:00.001-04:00

The longer I am a grown-up the more I see the pain and hurting that is everywhere in life. Everywhere. I’ve felt it in our immediate family, our extended family, our friends, and via the internet, emails, and prayer chains in friends of friends. There is suffering, sadness, depression, death, confusion, tragedy, disappointment, betrayal, shock, grieving, anger, loss, and more. I suspect that you

Itsy Bitsy Good

2011-10-04T14:14:00.001-04:00

I’m going to start talking about ETC, hopefully this weekend, but we’re having a lot of fallout here so does anyone have an umbrella because my house is flooding. For now, let’s keep it light like a second date. Coffee. Mmmmmmmmm. I do love coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee. I need coffee. I was going to qualify that by telling you when I need it, but that would get wordy. Let’s just leave it

Trust Based Parenting DVD

2011-10-02T22:44:00.003-04:00

Empowered to Connect….I am still not quite mentally competent enough to talk about it. It was equal parts inspiring/intimidating, encouraging/sobering, philosophy/reality. It was a lot and I have a little brain so you’re just going to have to keep waiting. I also had really bad re-entry problems with all the kids, but starring…wait for it….PICKLE! My sweet little guy went crAzy. The other two

Double Takes

2011-10-01T16:48:00.001-04:00

I usually take turns with what child “gets” to come grocery shopping with me. I am fully capable of taking them all with me, but that calls out everyone’s survival instincts and isn’t much fun. I’ve found that by going when Andrew is available to stay with the other two I get to have some good 1:1 time with each kiddo. It’s also a good time to practice our Appearing In Public Skills individually

The Letter C

2011-09-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

Let’s talk about my friends. I am home and settling into the first excruciating day post Empowered To Connect Conference weekend. My children are extracting their revenge with a vengeance that I’ve never seen the like of. I spent my day whining to Chrissy wishing that I had brought Karyn Purvis home with me to help and being grateful that she wasn’t here to see my train wreck parenting. (This

Take Good Care of Your Family

2011-09-26T07:58:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to Jamey for opening up her blog to the masses. I hope she doesn’t stop blogging after hearing all of our deep, dark secrets. But what better place to start? Thanks also, Jamey, for making it safe for us to speak. You have no idea how important it is to speak. Equally important is being heard… please know we have been listening. I just have to tell you… the first post I EVER

Christmas is Coming

2011-09-23T00:57:00.001-04:00

Wow. I must admit that this is an extreme honor. I have been admiring Jamey and her writing since…well, I think it was the summer before third grade when my family moved to the same town where Jamey grew up. I remember Sundays in church where several of us girls would sit in a row and pass down page after page of whatever story Jamey was working on (sorry Pastor). So, when Jamey asked if I

Coming Home & Leaving Again

2011-09-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

This is a guest post by me, so right...not a guest post. :) The kids and I all made it back to Metropolis from Cow County. My phone broke the night before I needed to drive seven hours so that was a little irritating. My kids (knock on wood) are turning into decent little travelers. We had a really good visit for the most part. It was pretty crazy, always lots of stuff to do and this was our

Becoming a Work-At-Home-Mom

2011-09-20T09:05:00.000-04:00

I got very excited when I read on Zehlahlam Family that Jamey was look for guest bloggers. "I'd love to!" was my instant comment. She gave a great list of suggestions of what to write about - from alien abduction to funny kid stories. My husband desperately wants to be abducted by aliens, but I keep asking him to leave without me if they come for him. My kid is funny, but I write about that

Ask 5 for 5

2011-09-19T00:16:00.001-04:00

Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5 Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography Thank you Zehlahlum Family and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week. A hungry child in East Africa can't wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are

Life Lessons

2011-09-16T13:45:00.000-04:00

I admit it. I fantasize about being a blogger. Thanks Jamey for making my fantasy come true. He’s my background in a really quick version. I teach high school English at a rural midsize school. I love my job, and I have great students. I had each of my sons in April, took 6 weeks or so of paid maternity leave until the end of the school year and then took off the next year on unpaid leave.

Not dead yet

2011-09-16T13:40:00.000-04:00

Hi folks! Did you think that I'd driven us all into a river gotten lost? I didn't...do either. However, my laptop and my dad's internet were not being friends and so my website was off limits. Oh, what's that? No one noticed? Fine. Jerks. Thus starts my guest blogger parade! There is still room for more so don't be shy! Send me an email (zehlahlum @ gmail . com) and attach a post and if you're

Image of my life 2

2011-09-11T22:45:00.001-04:00

Continuing on with the theme of how my head is cracking under the pressure of the last eighteen months of stress, stress, and nothing but stress I'm just going to share my next nutty visual. Forget standing in the dark and screaming, this Jamey is a Jamey of action! Go back with to the time of Early Man. (What? A homeschooler who is Christian and doesn't believe in Young Earth? Break out the

Image of my life 1

2011-09-10T00:00:00.001-04:00

If I was going to describe the last eighteen months of my life in an image I would tell you about how I was struggling to stand alone under a heavy black sky, unable to see my feet or see where I am, unable to figure out which way to go, scared to move. The weight I'm bearing is oppressive making it difficult to move even if I knew where to go, the wind is blowing and it hurts as though it's

House Envy

2011-09-08T22:51:00.002-04:00

Let's start this post with a multiple choice question: Was the first house that my husband and I lived in was a... a) sweet little love-shack b) adorable white picket fenced cottage c) duplex built out of cinder block in the 50's meant to be a temporary housing unit d) awesome urban loft Did you say c? Duplex built out of cinder block in the 50's meant to be a temporary housing unit. Yes,

Help Me Help You

2011-09-06T23:25:00.001-04:00

I'm looking for a few guest bloggers for the next few weeks. I'll be going home for a week for my Gram's Memorial Service and then I'll be at the Empowered to Connect Conference for a weekend and then I suspect it's going to take me a little bit of time to put my kids back on track and then it will be October! You can blog about most anything that you want...adoption related, not-adoption

Homeschool Panic

2011-09-05T21:50:00.003-04:00

When I talk about homeschooling I'm fairly laid-back. I say to people, "My kids are just preschoolers!" Really, there's not that much I can screw up, especially considering that Peanut can already read, count, write his name, etc. It's not like I can make him dumber. Home preschool is just a little formality to get us into the swing of homeschooling and because the kids like it. No. Big. Deal.

Little Princess Flower Tells All

2011-09-03T22:46:00.004-04:00

Hello to all my most best friends! This is, of course, Little Princess Flower! I could just reach out and give you a chaste kiss right through this silly old computer screen! I am so happy to be here! I just sneaked this blog away from Jamey because Oh Golly Miss Molly, if you'd have seen what she was trying to write...I don't think she mentioned sparkles once! I've been reading through '

Grace-Based Parenting

2011-08-31T00:09:00.001-04:00

This is a very real book review because these are notes that I typed up to HANG ON MY WALL, that's how right on this book is. Here's the story. Right now, at my house...the inmates have taken over the asylum. There are so many reasons for this that it doesn't even matter. We have almost constant chaos the kids are fighting with each other and we're fighting with them. For the record,

Scary Flashback

2011-08-30T00:48:00.000-04:00

I was going through my old posts the other day looking for something and came across this post. I noticed that it had happened almost a year ago and so I decided to re-post it on the One Year Later date, but I've got something else really significant for Wednesday since that's when I do book reviews and ya'll have to read the post tomorrow, promise? and so I'm posting this a day before it

Fight! Fight! Fight!

2011-08-29T00:56:00.001-04:00

‎"Fight bravely, for habit overcomes habit." Thomas A Kempis Here's a truth for you. I haven't been "fighting bravely" recently. I've been giving in to that knot of ugliness inside all of us, particularly it seems, me. It's so deliciously easy to give in, to say it doesn't matter, to justify myself because I could graffiti my

Not Just a Blanket

2011-08-29T00:32:00.016-04:00

** I found this post in my drafts folder. I don't know why I didn't publish it, but I'm going to now. It's a few months old, but the feelings are still there: regret. Regret for the pain of my daughter's story and my inability to fix it for her. But before we dive into that deep pool...I'm having a silly little giveaway on my Zehlahlum Family facebook page! Until 8:30pm (my time) you can "like"

The Inappropriate Post

2011-08-27T00:15:00.010-04:00

Welcome to Diet Zehlahlum! The Saturday feature that from the Zehlahlum Family that you love because it's not your life! Diet Zehlahlum is "lite" on stress, seriousness, and thought. Please note that the title Diet Zehlahlum makes no guarantee that you will lose weight while reading. In fact, we recommend that if you want to lose weight you step away from the computer AFTER reading this post

Tired vs Hungry

2011-08-24T14:30:00.002-04:00

Let me be honest, I get tired of fundraising. Seriously. Ugh. I just think there is so much of it, everywhere. One of the awesome things about the internet is that it shrinks our world and build awareness and connections between people. The downside to that is I am always running into someone who is adopting and selling fantastic fair trade crafts, raffle tickets for a brand new never been seen

Book Review: A Chair for My Mother

2011-08-24T00:11:00.001-04:00