I‘ve studied Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages (separate link for children) enough to know that my 10-year-old son’s primary language is Quality Time. He wants to run errands with me—even boring ones. Last week he surprised me in such a sweet way.

I’d said goodbye to the kids when I said goodnight, since I had to get up at 4:15 a.m. for an early morning flight. Nobody gets up that early unless they have to, right? In the morning when I tried to open our bedroom door, at first it wouldn’t give. I pushed it open and found a rope tied around the knob. I followed the rope across our living room and over the couch until it ended in the floor.

A couple of minutes later my 10-year-old son walked into the kitchen. Apparently there was string tied to the end of that rope, which continued through the hall and into his bedroom, where he’d tied it to his hand.

That sweet boy concocted an elaborate scheme so that he’d wake up when I did and we could spend some time together before I left.

Teen boys can be difficult, but it can also be a sweet time for a mother and son. The birth order of our children goes like this: boy, boy, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl; someday the other boys will be gone and this one will be here with just a bunch of sisters.

I look forward to seeing what kind of young man he’ll become.

My Quality Time Lovin’ 10-Year-Old Son is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I‘ve found that although memory is increasingly splotchy, I rarely forget a photo, the cement that holds moments and memories together. On this last day of 2011, I’m strolling through the year in images and revisiting the posts that illuminate them. I hope you enjoy it, too.

January

SNOW! (That’s big stuff in Georgia.)

Snow Ice Cream made me popular with my kids and the neighbors, too. (Click that link to learn how to make it.)

(in)courage gals at Blissdom

The BlissDom Flashmob (I cannot believe I was in not one, but two flashmobs this year!)

Facing Fiona (the healing is in the comments).

February

Father/Daughter Dance

March

Baseball Season Begins

Striking a Pose at the High Museum

April

Spring

Enjoying my New Lens

Field Day

Easter

May

A Baptism on Mother’s Day

A Team that Prays

Spring Concert

Strawberry Picking

Memorial Day

June

Year End Carnival with Homeschool Group

A Graduation

The Instagallery (in 5 1/2 years of blogging, this is currently my most popular post ever)

Blood, Sweat, and Song in Alabama (part 1 & part 2)

July

Homegating

Homeschool Heroes at the Southeast Homeschool Expo

August

Lake Time

Family Time and Meeting a New Cousin

Disney Summer Social

September

The Hubs (and three friends) Ordained as Deacons

(in)courage Girls in Hilton Head

Mother/Son Outing

Worldwide Photo Walk

October

Disney on Ice

The Relevant Conference

November

Veterans’ Day

Thanksgiving

December

Straight No Chaser Concert

Christmas

The Defense of the Faith Seminar at Church

If you made it this far, you’re probably a member of my family thanks for hanging in there with me! Going through my flickr stream made me realize how much I love seeing the Instagram (camera phone) photos from the year, too. They’re less a record of the big events and more of the day-to-day.

Can you believe tomorrow is a new year? Did you capture this one in photos?

2011: A Year in Pictures is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:
for he shall save his people from their sins.
~Matthew 1:21

It’s not about wrapped presents, decorated trees, or how much shopping and baking you’ve done. This is what it’s all about.

A Sunday Scripture (What Christmas is All About) is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Today I feel a little bit like Santa. Or at least an elf. I’m an affiliate with DaySpring, and last month they asked if I had favorite items that I would like to offer to My Home Sweet Home readers at a heavy discount in December.

I chose items that I personally enjoy and would make meaningful gifts: the By Grace Alone Pendant and the He Fills My Life With Good Things Mug. I’m wearing the necklace and drinking out of the mug as I type this!

The By Grace Alone Pendant is a little bit like Amish Friendship Bread but you don’t have to feed a bread starter or figure out what to do with all those loaves and you certainly won’t gain any weight. It works like this: a friend compliments you on your necklace; you order one as a gift for her; another friend compliments her on her necklace; she orders one as a gift for that friend; and the chain continues.

This story is based on personal experience.

The necklace normally sells for $19.99, but right now you can get it for $7.99, no promo code needed. Actually, the entire Necklaces and Pendants collection is seriously discounted!

I use DaySpring mugs daily. Our cabinets are full of them and I give away a lot as teacher, birthday, and Christmas gifts (and later I smile seeing them in friends’ homes, in use). The He Fills My Life With Good Things Mug is my favorite new design: I love the shape, color, and happy blue bird waiting for me at the bottom of my hot tea.

The mug lists for $9.99 on the site, but if you enter promo code Mug75 at checkout you can buy it for $2.50—that’s a stock-up price for sure! You MUST enter the promo code for this deal.

This sale ends on the 16th, the last day to order for Christmas delivery. Happy shopping!

Last-Minute DaySpring Deals for Christmas! is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

This Thursday, December 8, three of my kids and I will be there when The Story Tour: A Christmas Spectacular hits Philips Arena here in Atlanta.

The Story is an unparalleled project from the best-known artists in Christian music that tells the story of God’s love and redemption from Genesis to Revelation in 18 songs.  The Story Tour : A Christmas Spectacular features Max Lucado and Randy Frazee along with a stellar musical cast including Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, Francesca Battistelli, Natalie Grant, Selah and Anthem Lights.  The tour will be a fully produced multi-media experience with the artists performing The Story album in its entirety, in addition to favorite Christmas classics.  Complete with stunning visuals projected on a massive screen encompassing the entire stage, The Story Tour: A Christmas Spectacular is a spectacular Christmas celebration perfect for audiences of all ages.

Selah’s Todd Smith wrote a guest post this week at (in)courage about The Story Tour that I encourage you to read for additional background on the show.

The Story Tour looks like a great way to celebrate the Christmas season with your family, and I’ve got discounts to help you do that more economically. First is the Family 4 Pack, which gets you 4 lower-level tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 Coca-Cola products for $100 (a savings of $34).

Click the graphic below for a half-price sale on other ticket options.

{Disclosure: Tickets were provided to me in exchange for sharing the news about this event. Opinions expressed are my own.}

The Story Tour: A Christmas Spectacular Live this Thursday at Philips Arena is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Admittedly, I enjoy a brief foray into the maddening crowds of Christmas shoppers—after all, we did roll out of bed at 5 a.m. and hit one store on Black Friday—but for the most part I’d rather shop from home. Here are some Cyber Monday deals that you might want to catch.

 DaySpring is running an incredible deal through today: 30% off of the entire store (excluding buy 1 get 1 free totes and 14 super specials, which I’ll tell you about in a minute) when you entire code code SUPER30 at checkout. There are other sales this month, like 30% off on all canvases, so you can combine the deals.

The 14 Super Specials sale also ends today. Links and sale prices for individual items are listed below.

Here are the deals:

1. Love Came Down – Tea Towels – Set of 2 $12.99 $5
2. Love Came Down – Names of Jesus – Reversible Table Runner $24.99 $9.99
3. Christmas Carol Tree $49.99 $20
4. Nativity – Trio Tea Light Holder $24.99 $9.99
5. God Sees the Real Me – Sculpted Art Panel $40 $10
6. Rejoice in Him – Sculpted Art Panel $48 $18
7. Wonderful Grace Serving Tray $48 $18
8. God’s Heart for You – Sterling Silver Necklace $49.99 $20
9. God’s Heart for You – Rhodium Plated Necklace $34.99 $11.99
10. Message Block Set $49.99 $15
11. God Will Be With You – Mirror $59.99 $19.99
12. Nativity Hurricane Candle Holder Trio $59.99 $23.99
13. Ever Grateful Trivet $9.99 $4

NAPP is also running some great deals today on NAPP memberships, KelbyTraining subscriptions, Photoshop World conference passes, and books, DVDs, and bundles from KelbyTraining.com.

This post contains affiliate links.

Cyber Monday Deals You Won’t Want to Miss is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I started this blog 5 1/2 years ago on the weekend of my mother’s birthday, two years after she passed away. I missed her wit and wisdom—her words—and wished they’d been recorded in more than recipe cards and stray notes. Blogging provides a means of capturing my family’s history in both word and image, something I hope my kids will appreciate some day.

Still, it’s impossible to document everything here. Many moments are stored only in our memories and the external hard drives that hold my images. The kids love to sit in front of my computer and scour the photo library, laughing and remembering, but with nearly 50,000 images (not including our pre- and early-digital days) I feel guilty about all that they miss.

With a new website called LiveOn, we’re creating a family timeline of words and images that will stretch as far into the past or the future as we have content to fill. Using a free LiveOn account, I’m currently starting at the present and working backwards, clicking “Create a Memory” and then uploading photos and describing family events.

Interview questions like “Of all the cities where you have lived, which is your favorite and why?” appear under your timeline, to answer either with a typed response or a video recorded with your webcam. Another interesting feature is called “Narrate a Person,” which allows you to start a timeline for a young child (who can later assume control of it); an older person; or a deceased ancestor. I would love to see my kids and relatives use the site, too, painting a broader picture of our family.

It’s a powerful thing, this storing of memories for the future.

The LiveOn promise:

We promise to keep your memories forever. Not 100 years, not 500 years, but forever. We have an intricate backup system of servers that will act as your personal vault, ensuring your stories are here for all future generations to enjoy. This promise of memory preservation is the number one focus of our company and we will do everything in our power to keep this promise to you.

Click over to LiveOn and watch the video describing their philosophy of preserving memories for generations to come and a tutorial on how to use the site. Use coupon code cgc49 for 20% off LiveOn Rewind, a service that converts your old photos to digital.

Thank you to LiveOn for this sponsored opportunity to blog about storing and sharing my most important memories with those closest to me. Although story ideas were provided, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Please click here to learn more about storing and sharing your most special memories. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Create a Timeline of Your Family’s Memories with LiveOn is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

My bunch absolutely cannot do without community. We love family time, but getting together with friends—where the moms can share, the kids can play, and the dads can bond—is a must. Hanging with our Moe’s gang on Kids Eat Free night gets me through the hump in the middle of the week.

Although we arrive separately in our own time, we leave en masse and always after closing time. If the weather’s warm the conversation moves outside, where the kids play football, frisbee, or whatever in the parking lot.

Our community at Moe’s grew slowly, week by week. We constantly invite new people, who might come once or occasionally, but there’s a core of us that rarely miss.

Tonight my 6- and 8-year-old daughters sat at a table with a little girl and her mother. When I introduced myself, I found that these were friends made at Moe’s on another evening; the girls didn’t know each other from anywhere else, but they sat together for supper.

Your can build community like this where you live. Find a Moe’s or any restaurant with a family night and invite your friends. If you don’t have local friends, just show up and make them.

No one cooks. No one cleans. Just breathe and let friendships germinate.

Last week my 16-year-old son and I made the 700 mile drive to Harrisburg, PA, for The Relevant Conference largely due to one of our sponsors—you guessed it—Moe’s Southwest Grill.

The manager of our local Moe’s told me he hoped that after visiting restaurants in other parts of the country, we’d return to say that his location—our location—was best. While others may have been bigger or better situated, nothing compares to being where everyone knows your name.

Does your family have community? What can you do to foster it?

Our Road Trip to Relevant was made possible by sponsorship from:

• DaySpring – Home for the Hearts of Women
• Moe’s Southwest Grill – Welcome to Moe’s!
• Amy Bayliss: Cajun joie de vivre
• Kia & DriveSTI

Where Everyone Knows Your Name is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

When Collective Bias asked members if they’d be interested in putting together and mailing a “boo bag”—a gift bag full of Mars candies and decorated for the fall season—to another Collective Bias member, Stacie at The Divine Miss Mommy immediately came to mind. Stacie generously and consistently gives to others and is an asset to the Atlanta blogging community. She has personally blessed my family on more than one occasion.

I love giving cards or other gifts and my kids share the same enthusiasm. On Friday we went to Walmart and found everything we needed to put together our gift bag: mini Snickers; a multi-pack of regular, peanut, and peanut butter M&Ms; Twix; a greeting card; seasonal tissue paper; and silly stickers to decorate the box.

(I wish we’d found the new White Chocolate Candy Corn M&Ms, which I grabbed last week at another Walmart. These are so hot that they sell for $9.49 a bag on Amazon and auction as “limited edition” on Ebay.)

Dramatic and corny, they are.

Some of my kids insisted that they’d never been to the post office and found it quite fascinating, especially the old metal, manual scale. They commandeered control of the boo bag, which we assembled in a Priority Mail box (fixed shipping rate for individual box sizes). They wrapped each bag of candy in tissue paper and added Peanuts stickers all over the outside of the box.

I loved the fact that we drove straight from Walmart to the post office. We used only the self-service area (I’m a self-checkout kind of girl), which means we could pull off a project like this at any time of day, whenever the mood strikes. All you need is an address.

We left our package after 5 p.m. and the post office estimated next day delivery. I would have loved to see Stacie’s kids faces when it arrived!

Who could you surprise and bless in this way?

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. A collage of all of the photos can be found here. Opinions expressed are my own. #DontBeTheDarkHouse #CBias

***

All 31 Days of Real Life posts can be found here. Other 31 Dayers can be found here.

{31 Days of Real Life} The Joy of Surprising a Friend: The Boo Bag is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

When Lionel Richie sang “Easy like Sunday morning,” he obviously wasn’t referring to a typical family getting ready for church. Not ours, at least. Misplaced clothing, lost shoes, sleepy-headed stragglers, flaring tempers: all this and more fight against us on any given Sunday.

This week our 10-year-old son got in the car in dress short in spite of being told multiple times to put on his new khakis; thanks to a misunderstanding, our 6-year-old daughter took off her tights and then we couldn’t find them. After arguing with the son and getting frustrated with the daughter, I slammed the car door in a mommy temper fit.

Sunday mornings have a way of bringing out the ugly in all of us.

Halfway to church I apologized for slamming the door. If I can’t admit my mistakes to my kids, how can I ever expect them to admit theirs to me? Besides, allowing your kids to falsely believe that you’re perfect impedes true communication.

No one wants to confess faults to someone who doesn’t appear to have any.

The devil doesn’t want getting to church to be easy. We’re doing the right thing, and doing the right thing is just plain hard sometimes; however, it’s important for our kids to see that in spite of the obstacles, we just keep plugging away until we get there, week after week. Even if two of the kids aren’t wearing shoes.

What’s your story? Is it “easy like Sunday morning” at your house or a weekly struggle?

***

All 31 Days of Real Life posts can be found here. Other 31 Dayers can be found here.

31 Days of Real Life: Easy Like Sunday Morning (NOT) is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved