LeighAnne with an E

I often tell people that before I was a mom I was a nurse. I loved being a nurse, but really, really love being able to stay home with my kids. Some people ask if I feel like I am 'wasting' my education or career by staying home. The question always catches me off guard, because I full heartily believe that any time spent on my husband and kids is in no way a wast of time. It's why I have time! It also confuses me because I believe that I gained valuable skills from being a nurse that have helped me make the transition into managing my home and raising our kids. And it may not be in the way you might think. When I tell people I was a nurse, and an ER nurse at that, they usually think that I know exactly why my kid is sick or what they have or when I should or shouldn't take the baby to the pediatrician. Honestly, I don't. I have forgotten some most of the medical side of nursing. Here are the skills that I did learn that are not being wasted: Time Management: ...

I love fall time. I love everything about it. I love the crisp cool air & pumpkin everything (helloooo, pumpkin spice latte)! I love apple picking & the way the horses coats get soft and woolly. I especially love when the trees change colors. It always amazes me how God places the right trees in just the right spot. If you look at a mountain side in the fall, there is never a big clump of red here and yellow there. It's all mixed beautifully together. I love that we serve a God who cares about the small details as much as the big picture!! We had our first apple picking/ fall festival trip this weekend. We went to an orchard near our home and had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa. We picked apples and went on a hay ride. We got lost in the corn maze.  I just doubled us back and went out where we started and then said, "Hey look, we did it!! Great job!" My 3 year old was on to me, but she let it slide. Thank goodness! Apparently God sees fi...

Every Tuesday I go to time-warp-wife blog  and join in on the Titus 2sdays Link Up Party. Here are a few of my favorites from today. Mama Gab: to the discouraging mom Grateful with Two: Lately on My Heart Pleasant Words: My Bible Basket Growing In His Glory: Creating a Library of Good Children's Books Hope you enjoy. There are so many posts on Titus 2sdys Link Up. Hop over and take a look!!

In This House We Will Love  With Our Words,  Our Hands & Our Hearts. I have a passion for motherhood, for wify-hood and for new moms who are in the same boat as me (tired). Being a wife and mom is amazing and hard. I need support. We all do. A speaker I heard at MOPS once said, 'if you want someone to bring you a meal, then cook up some meals and take them to others.' In other words, if you want a friend, you gotta be a friend ! Recently, I have been convicted that I have never been such a good friend.  I am emotional and sensitive and insecure (not a good combo). I wear my heart on my sleeve. If I am feeling down or uncomfortable in a situation, I can not fake it. I talk too much, or not at all. I avoid eye contact. I get weird. Worse, if I am feeling insecure, I get mean. It's not my intention to be mean- but I am. I have had more then one person tell me that I have made them uncomfortable or that they get the feeling that I don't like them. Ouch....

Remember last week when I took the kids to the fair by myself? On the way out of the fair I was stopped by a guy at a booth who asked, "Would you like a chance to win a years supply of organic meat?" What I should have said, "No thanks." What I did say, "Sure, why not?"   I mean who doesn't want to win free food right? Well, they called. Not because I had won the food, but because they want to set up an in home appointment with me. What I should have said, "No thanks." What I did say, "Sure, next Wednesday would be fine." He came to my house and talked me into buying 3 years worth of organic meat people, 3 YEARS! And because we have no where to store all this meat, he conveniently sells a sub zero, best-on-the-market, indoor or outdoor freezer. For only $3,000. At this point he had been in my house for 2 hours, my kids were tired of sitting quietly and it was dinner time. I wanted him out of the house! So, sure ...

"Do you want me to tell you the story about the fourth of July?" "Sure baby, I would love to hear that story."   I have only heard it 1.7 million times since the holiday 6 weeks ago. It always starts the same, "We were at a place and...." The details change a bit here and there, but it is basically the same every time. I have heard it so many times I know just when to say, "oh wow!" or "no way!"  Then she says something new and it catches my ear and my heart off guard: "We were playing with glow sticks  and you have to break them so that they will glow.  And you have to do it in the dark,  because you know mom,  glow sticks wont glow the same in the light." So much insight for such a young girl.    "You have to break them so that they will glow."  So that's it Lord. That's why we bend and break. That's why we are given more then we think we can handle.  So that we can gl...

"How do you ever get a brake?" "Don't you want some 'me time'?" "You are crazy!" "I would drink heavily if I had that many kids." These are all things that people have said to me in the recent past. All in front of my kids by the way. The fact of the matter is that I don't want any 'me time.' I get the primes behind it. I have heard over and over- "you will be a better mom if you get some time away." But the truth is, I just don't agree. Well, I kinda don't agree. OK, hear me out- don't stop reading just yet.  I have taken 'me time' and it just doesn't seem to work out that well. I get away and half the time I don't know what to do with my self. Then, when I do come back to my kids- I am more easily angered by them.  Even though I had a 'break' my heart is not in the right place!  I yell quicker and react harsher. If 'me time' is so great, why doe...