My Husband is NOT a "legal stranger"!! A Mother's Rant...

I published an article tonight. I meant to publish it 3 days ago, but as I dug deeper into my topic, I got angry. Then sad. Then angry again. The thought that my husband - who has provided for, supported, encouraged, loved and hugged my children for the majority of their lives - is seen as any type of stranger in the eyes of the law is sickening to me. Sickening.
That's not to say that I want to diminish the rights or relationship that they have with their biological father. I don't. I simply want my husband to be recognized as the loving parent he is. And for God's sake, I want him to be able to sign a field trip waiver for my daughter, or be able to seek medical care for one of his stepdaughters if I'm at work and one of them breaks their arm!

I will end this post by inviting you to read my article: http://www.examiner.com/article/stepparents-afforded-few-legal-rights-with-respect-to-their-stepchildren

This isn't the end of this topic for me. I plan to continue to highlight this issue as I become more educated about it in the very near future.

If life hands you (gobs of now in mid-April) make (a snowman)!!

photo courtesy of mobile.duluthnewstribune.com .

April 18th, 6:44pm CST and we have roughly 4-5" of heavy, wet, slushy snow on the ground. It's coming down just as hard now as it was at 2:00 and it is supposed to continue until mid morning tomorrow.  Even us crazy Minnesotans are getting a bit edgy. We endured our winter, now COME ON ALREADY!!! This is seriously cutting into the few precious months of nice weather we get around here!

But - I suppose if it has to be cold and wet, I'd prefer we have a nice thick blanket of the white stuff down to play on. Sledding, snowmen, snow angels and hot chocolate... all things that make being in a winter storm in the middle of April bearable. Tolerable. 

So here's to lots of hot chocolate and time spent outside with rosey cheeks and big smiles as we make snowmen with the lemons we've been handed :)

Boston, Cocoa Beach and other thoughts.

I am still in complete disbelief about the events that transpired at the Boston Marathon. It's one of those terrible, horrific events that will cause you to both curse and admire mankind. I had friends at the marathon who both finished and were both unharmed. One of them finished just 28 minutes before the first explosion. Sobering. I've seen carnage from the day that I wish I could unsee, but it sure has given me a grateful heart again. Grateful for health and safety. Of my family and of that of my friends. This is just the beginning for those injured and affected by these events. It will be such a long road. Such a terrible tragedy. Such needless loss of life. Ef. It is my prayer that every single person affected by this bombing is covered with a a blanket of peace and hope as they move through the coming days and weeks. God Bless Them.

We are all looking forward to leaving for sunnier skies in a couple of weeks. Our family will have time to breathe deeply, relax often and spend time without the distractions of everyday life in our world. Of course, I have been scouring the internet for travel advice, tips for flying with toddlers (it's been A LONG time since we've flown with a toddler!), suitcase packing tutorials etc.. The ocean is such a great place for renewing the spirit and recharging the mind. There is something about sunrise on the beach, looking for seashells in the quiet with only the sounds of the waves breaking onto the beach. I'll never forget a morning we had on the beach with the girls once. I remember them holding hands, running in and out with the waves, each carrying a pail to collect their treasures. It was a most precious morning that I will carry with me always. I'm so looking forward to making more memories like that on this next trip.

I recently went to a bible study with a few other moms. We sat at Panera in front of the fire (yes, it's April, but until today, there was a good 6" of snow on the ground!) and just talked about our faith and praying over our families; our children. It was so good for my heart to have that fellowship with them. So important that I keep making the effort to be a part of it.

This week is the hubster's week for business travel, so that means that I get the bed all to myself! Hooray! I'll welcome him back into the bed tomorrow (snoring and all), but for tonight, I will enjoy the silence and the space!!

New Article Published

Please take a moment to have a look at these 5 famous families who seem to have figured out what works for them in raising a blended family!

5 Celebrity step families that make it work.

Spring, Revoked

Life in MN carries with it a lot of uncertainty with respect to the weather. Yard work one day can move to snow plowing the next.

Last week, I finally allowed myself to switch into a Spring state of mind. I saw the weather warming, the snow receding and the birds singing. I mistakenly let my winter guard down, packed away our snow boots and jackets and spent a couple hours in the yard clearing away brush and preparing the flower beds for Spring.

BIG MISTAKE.

After several glorious days spent outdoors with the kids it happened. There were the familiar colors of snow appearing on the radar map on the news. Winter Storm Warning. And just like that - we are thrust back into winter. Spring feels so far away again and there is snow as far as my eyes can see. Boo.

So again we hunker down for hopefully what will be one last winter hurrah before being able to switch to our Spring mindset... for good this time!

The things we bought to grill last week will have to get comfy in the freezer until enough snow has melted off the deck to make it possible (and safe) to be out firing up the grill again!

I've made a new rule that will take the guesswork out of when our family should pack up our winter gear. Our winter bin stays accessible until after the first swim of the year! I think that'll be a safe bet. Probably....

MANIC MONDAY

Mondays. Whew!

Instead of talking about all of the LAME things that went on today, I'd like to keep it positive.

The cutest thing happened at dinner tonight. Our 3 year old, Nate, was talking very sternly to his sister Jennah about her being mean and how she had run out of chances to be nice. He was making ALL of us laugh with how serious he was and how much he sounded like a little, mini parent. I can't remember EXACTLY what was said at the first part of the sentence, but Nate said the funniest thing I've heard in A LONNGGG time! The exchange went a little like this:
NATE: "Nennah (his way of saying the name of his sister, Jennah), you have been SO naughty. You are being mean and I don't like."
JENNAH: "I am not being mean"
NATE: "THAT'S IT! I'm not being your best friend ANY more (through clenched teeth).
JENNAH: "uh huh"
NATE: "Nennah, you keep bossing me and bossing me and I don't like.... HEY, LOOK AT THAT BIRD!!"

The entire family erupted in laughter at the dinner table! And with that, everyone's day had been made.

Spring is just beginning here in MN, so the birds are coming back after a long hiatus and it's kind of a big deal to see a big fat Robin in the crab tree outside our dining room window! This particular Robin has been visiting us often this week. He (could be "she", I guess) pecks at the remaining berries on the tree while we marvel at his size and how the feathers on his bum look like they are falling out!

Spring around here is fabulous! It's muddy and warm and sunshiney and bird singy and it is the absolute awakening you would expect it to be! I love it because we are outside every day, our neighborhood comes alive again with kids running around (we had a pack of 14 little ones in our back yard yesterday!) and people exercising and the smell of grilled chicken or brats can be smelled at dinner time nearly every sunny day!

I am working hard to put winter behind us and move as a family into this new season of hope and warmth! I'm looking forward to longer days, sunnier skies and warmer weather as we move from Winter to Spring in the Northland!

God Bless!

Great Article on Effective Stepparenting:

Blended Family? The 5 Secrets of Effective Stepparenting

I found this article pretty interesting with respect to the Step Parent relationship with the children in a blended family situation. John and I have learned most of these things the hard way over the years, so it was nice to see them all gathered, prioritized and explained in detail.

I highly recommend the Empowering Parents Website. It is loaded with good articles and resources for parents of blended and traditional families alike!

Getting Connected....

Well, I can't say what attempt this is at trying to keep a blog going for more than a month. At some point, if I ever want to journey outside of Corporate America, I'm going to have to get this going, keep it going, and be super awesome at it!

So here's to another try, another chance and another step!!!

Check back often, or better yet, sign up to get email updates whenever a post is published!

Much Love!!

Examiner.com - New Article Published

Check out my newest article about blended families on Examiner.com.

My Examiner.com article on Ron Deal and blended families.