life. faithful.

I was at our kids' athletic banquet the other night when a fellow mom of a senior asked me if I cried when my first graduated last year. I'm guessing she had noticed that I wasn't getting teary at our son's last athletic banquet, and that I had nothing but smiles the night before at his graduation. The short answer I gave her was that I'm really not a very emotional person (though it's more accurate to say that I don't let people see my emotions...). If I'm being honest, though? The idea of my kids graduating doesn't make me sad. Sure, there are lots of things I miss about my kids being younger. And when my daughter moved out for college, it was strange not to have her there at home every day. I'm sure the same will be true of my son when he heads to college in the fall. But if I'm honest? I'm not sad about my kids graduating high school. I'm excited about them growing up, moving on to the next phase of life as they make their way int...

Motherhood is a lot of things. It has good and bad, ups and downs...and no shortage of people telling you all the things that you need to know to be a good mom. If you're a mom, you've thought all of these at some point--I know I have. I'm far from perfect as a mom, and I still have a ton to learn. But as of today, we officially have 5 teenagers so I thought it would be a good time to share some of what I've learned in the past 18 years of motherhood...or rather, some of the things I've unlearned. 1. You'll fall in love with your child at first sight. I've become a mother in two different ways, through giving birth and through adoption, and I'll be completely honest. My first reaction when my tiny daughter was placed in my arms the first time wasn't a whole lot different from when we brought the three we adopted into our home: "What in the world am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to know how to be a mom?" Yes, I'm sure there are w...

    It's hard to believe, but my oldest daughter just finished high school. I'm incredibly proud of her accomplishments, but I'm more proud of the young woman she is becoming. I've written a short book for her, but if you have a senior in your life, you might consider this as a gift: