To say these things are saving my life might be a bit dramatic, but… 🙂 Here’s what’s making a big difference in my summer days! ☀️ AM SUNSHINE ☀️ Y’all. It’s hot in the South. And humid. It’s ridiculous. BUT, when I get morning sunlight in my eyeballs, I have a better day! There’s all… [ read more ]

You may have noticed that it’s been a little quiet around here. Here’s why . . . Summer 2013 by the numbers: Number of days spent away from home … 25+ Number of trips to the pool … 15+ Number of playdates … 15+ Number of books read to the kids … 100+ Number of… [ read more ]

I’ve had so many conversations with friends recently about how tired we are of perfect moms. You know who I’m talking about. If Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram are any judge, they never have anything go wrong. Their kids never drive them crazy or make a mess or say a bad word. Ever. I try to… [ read more ]

Whoever ** said, “Summertime, and the living is easy” lied through his teeth. I say, “Summertime is kicking my rear!” Emma has school Monday – Thursday and gymnastics on Friday. Next week, James has T-ball camp from 10-12. We always have speech therapy on Thursdays. And we are slap in the middle of a two-week stretch… [ read more ]

My two-year-old learned a hard lesson this week. The iPod doesn’t work unless it’s been charged. He doesn’t care that it has a cracked screen or that the operating system is so old we can’t download new apps to it—he loves to push the buttons and find the pictures and listen to the music. But… [ read more ]

It’s Summertime! When summer rolls around, I start thinking of things like watermelon, chilled in a river. Or my mom’s pasta salad. Or hamburgers sizzling on a charcoal grill. All key ingredients to a perfect summer cookout. Or just a regular summer day. I’m not picky. This summer, I’ve added something new to my “It… [ read more ]

Can you believe it’s July? How did that happen?! I hope you are in the midst of a fun and fabulous summer. Here at Out of the Boat, I’m scaling back a little for July. I’ll be posting once a week this month so I can spend some time focusing on my fiction writing (yeah, I’m… [ read more ]

I was the kind of kid who loved school. Loved it! I didn’t want to see it end and couldn’t wait for it to start again. But, summer had one huge thing going for it. Virtually unlimited reading time! And a steady supply of books thanks to a mom who took me to the library… [ read more ]

A few weeks ago, I asked what you were planning to do to grow closer to God this summer. Remember? (If not, click here! ) I know that many of us participate in Bible studies during the school year, but we usually take the summer off. Which makes perfect sense. It’s hard to schedule group sessions around vacations… [ read more ]