Family Musings

Today, you can find me bragging on my wonderful hometown in Family Friendly Places in Lakeland , published on Lakeland Local . I didn't even scratch the surface of family things to do in Lakeland and hope that this is the first of many articles about this awesome family friendly town. Please take a moment to hop over and check it out! Thanks.

I hadn't expected to post again so quickly, but my friend Brandy shared a story that is too heartbreaking to not share with others. Ashley is a surrogate who is 21 1/2 weeks pregnant. An ultrasound revealed a cleft lip and palate . These are conditions easily fixed with surgery however, the intended parents want her to terminate the pregnancy. I don't understand all of the legal ins and outs of how surrogacy works, but how can it be right for them to force her into having an abortion? I am sure there has to be a way to get out of this situation. It might even cost this family thousands of dollars to repay her fees to the intended parents. Does any one know how to help her? Either to get out of the contract, to convince the intended parents to change their mind, or to meet the financial needs this family will surely have if she breaks the contract and is sued? Please pray for intended parents up that they might reconsider and make a different choice. Please pray for t...

Does your dryer take extra long to dry? Like more than 30 minutes to dry a regular load? Mine used to. In fact, sometimes it would take nearly 2 hours my dryer to get the job done. Finally, I decided to do something about it. I called a local dryer vent cleaning service and this picture shows just a small part of what they found at the top of my dryer vent. Apparently, the builder of our 2-story town home added these metal shields to prevent debris from falling into the vent. Well, guess what? It also prevented proper venting. Before I was a mom and before I was a teacher, I was a claims adjuster. I knew before I was even a home owner that clogged dryer vents are one of the leading causes of home fires. You'd think I'd know better. Apparently I didn't. Please, please, please call and have your dryer vents cleaned. You can just google it with your city name and it will probably find several choices for you. Mine cost $89, though they offered discounts if neighbo...

I offer this conversation as evidence of Mary's on going improvement in the area of speech. Me: Mary, don't pick your nose. Mary: Me no pick my nose? Me: That's right. Mary: Me pick Mommy nose? Happy Valentine's Day to all of you.  I hope you made a good pick! (PS. You still have time to finish The Husband Project . Be sure to comment and enter to win one of the great prizes!)

Y'all are amazing. I can't even begin to tell you how blessed I have been by reading your comments and seeing how you are expressing your love for your husbands. If you've been doing the project with us, but not commenting, take time now to do so. Not only will you encourage other wives, but you'll also be able to enter the drawing for all the great prizes listed below. In case you missed it, here are links to the rest of the Husband Project assignments:  Day 1     Day 2     Day 3     Day 4 . Also, if you want more Husband Project inspiration, check out Kathi Lipp's blog , or buy her book . For the last day of our short blog project, I want you to let your husband know directly what you think of him. You remember what flirting is, right? Even if you've been married a really long time, you should still flirt with your husband. So, today, send him an email or text message saying something nice and, if maybe a little saucy. For the more adventu...

On a typical night, dinner is a pretty casual affair. I make something. We eat it. The mess gets cleaned up (eventually). And it is typically over in about fifteen to twenty minutes. About as long as it takes me prep and make dinner most nights. Sometimes, I like to make dinner time more special by making fancy food. You know, things that require sauteing and deglazing and stuff. But I don't always have time for all that. Other times, it is easier to make a simple meal, and dress it up. That is what I did for a recent dinner. In this case, I took a simple meal of soup, salad, and warm bread and treated it like a restaurant meal. When the family came home I immediately welcomed them to the "Sabin Restaurant" and led them to their seats. I used a cheery, over the top greeter voice to set the tone. I also let the girls use my Fiestaware and cups without lids (BIG deal in my house!). I busted out my Crate & Barrel cloth napkins and my favorite Pandora jazz channel was...

It's been 3 days since we started this project together. Isn't Kathi Lipp amazing for coming up with such simple ways for us to connect with our husbands? In her book, the full project is 21 days plus bonus projects that will really blow your husband out of the water. Trust me, even if you have a good marriage, it can always be better. I highly recommend you consider buying the book even if you don't win the giveaway. Someone once asked me if this was similar to The Love Dare. I haven't read that book, but based on what I saw in the movie, I'd have to say yes, but... The Husband Project is much simpler. There is no need for dramatic moves like spending your life savings. Almost all of the projects can be done without spending any more money than you might normally do in the course of serving dinner to your family. Plus, The Husband Project is hilarious. Kathi Lipp is truly one of the funniest people I know. Today's project is meant to remind you that sometim...

If I receive a product to review that I'm not absolutely thrilled with, I usually beg off the review with a polite email to my contact. Generally speaking, I only share items with you that I really like. But this time, since I had already listed the prize as part of my Husband Project, I felt obligated to carry on with the review. So I started thinking about how I could share this with you in a way that would make you excited to win the prize. So, here's my review of the Tiecoon.com Jon Vandyk striped navy tie and hanky that I received. This tie is great for the following things: kid's dress up (because it's cheap) messy men (because it's polyester) woman's accessory (because you can only pull this look off so many times) photo prop (because who needs a silk photo prop?) So, if you need a tie for any of those reasons, then Tiecoon.com is a reasonable choice. Shipping for 1 tie was about $4 to my house, but your mileage may vary. Plus, the variet...

2 days down ladies! What are your husband's thinking? I've heard from so many of you who said this project came at just the right time. Doesn't it feel good to do things that make our husbands feel good? I'm glad you agree. Let's see what Kathi Lipp has come up with for day 3 of our blog project! Oh, this is an easy one, especially if you are both active on social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Heck, if you have a blog, why not write a post about him and make sure to leave your screen open so he sees it. My husband's love language is words of affirmation so this is a pretty important project for me. I wish I could tell you his love tank is always full because of the loving words I use to and about him. But that isn't the case. The Husband Project is as much for me as it is for any of you.  I know not everyone likes their husband all of the time, but here are Kathi's suggestions for finding something nice to say about him. W...

When I was a little girl, my family experienced the unpleasantness of divorce. As is normal in these situations, every one hurt and mourned for what was lost. Of course,  I can't speak for anyone's experience but my own. And I know that it hurt. It was hard to be separated from one parent or the other on opposite weekends. But I always remember something my mom did to make it a little easier. She gave me a bear. It was a small stuffed bear with rainbow fur. And she told me that the rainbow was a promise that things would get better. My mom has always been a good gift giver. She's thoughtful and likes to think about how the recipient will use the gift. I try to be like her in this way. This month, DaySpring (in)spired Deals helped me give a special gift to my husband. They sent me this set of Mr. & Mrs. mugs. What makes these thoughtful is that the inside rim is printed with "I found the one my heart loves. Song of Solomon 3:4"  We have a lot of...

Let me just say I had fun reading your comments from Day 1 of the Husband Project . I am sure some of your husbands were shocked at the extra 30-minutes they suddenly had on their hands. Of course, some of you are already on this and it is part of your regular family routine. For day 2, we are going to reconnect with something our husband's did before we got married. This might be a tricky one, so if you need all weekend to make it happen, go right ahead. It was mostly easy to figure out how I wanted to do this assignment because my husband loves motorcycles. He has been riding since he was 15 and a motorcycle has been his primary form of transportation for almost our entire marriage.  At least once a year he takes off on his bike for a 2-5 day trip and has been some pretty amazing places. While I am not yet ready for him to go off on a 3-4 week Alaskan motorcycle trip, I do want to make sure he enjoys his motorcycle as a hobby and not just a form of transportation. For th...

I am not a perfect wife. I make mistakes and get selfish. I put my own needs above my husband's needs plenty. Last Spring I was looking for some help in changing this and my friend Shawna Lee suggested The Husband Project. I took her advice and it worked to adjust my attitude towards one of service towards my husband and not one of entitlement. I finally feel ready to share it with all of you and invite you to do it with me. The only reason I feel confident sharing this advice with you is because I know it works. And I know it works because I have done everything I am going to share with you. I've seen the change in my house when I do these things and it was good. We are going to take a 5-day journey together. Five days of loving our husbands intentionally in ways that mean something to them. This won't be about us and our needs, it will be about meeting 1 of his needs each day. Each day I'll share 1 "project" that we will do together. I'll share...

I love this man! And that beard... it makes him look so rugged! But I know that on the inside, he has a soft spot for all the Sabin girls.