Musings from a Mom on a Mission

So about this time, many of people are in the throes of meal planning for the big dinner on Thursday. Or if you’re lucky like me, you're skating by with just easy apps and successfully avoiding all major forms of cooking. (Lucky for me and likely for them as well, I think!). Regardless of our contributions, many of us also look forward to consuming our favorite dishes be it green bean casserole (and for the record, I do NOT believe that post about it being the least favorite dish btw), Mom’s buttery smooth and creamy mashed potatoes, Grandma’s pumpkin pie, Aunt Nancy's artichoke dip or one of my personal favorites, cranberries sauce straight from the can (don’t hate, you know you love it!).  And if you're like my husband and brother, likely you don't just dream about these foods in the days leading up to big event but live in mouth-watering anticipation all year long!  But one thing that many, many, many of us end up consuming a whole lot of on Thanksgi...

Okay, so if you read some of my old posts you know that we had contemplated downsizing and moving last year but ended up needing to cancel that first sale due to a whole host of things not working out. It was absolutely the right decision and we enjoyed a quiet few months just enjoying the Fall/Winter holidays in our own home. It felt good to put up our Christmas decorations, settle in and relax again. But the stirring and prompting was still there. My work also began to pick-up towards the end of the year and after some contemplation, Matt came to me with the decision that he was leaving the fire department. At first I was shocked as I thought that was a non-negotiable in his life but after listening to his reasoning, which included freeing up more time for our family and to pursue some of our side passions, including our non-profit. I really respected the careful thought that he has given this and although it was a very hard decision for both of us, we both know it was the righ...

So apparently today was hat day at Brinley's school. They are doing a read-a-thon fundraiser and as a reward for reaching certain milestones, the kids get to participate in fun things like pajama day, hat day and the cherry on top is having the principal serve them lunch in full construction gear (I know, I don't get it either). Of course we were already running late and as I'm signing her into the log at the before-school daycare program I look up to see her eyes filling with tears as she takes in all the hat clod children. No of course I had a meeting in exactly 47 minutes and I had a 45 minute drive ahead of me but I immediately booked it out to my car as fast as my stiletto ankle boots (let's pause her a sec as these are basically the only non-Mom shoes that I own) would allow to go back and retrieve her unicorn hat from where she'd discarded it earlier that morning at the top of our entryway stairs even though I'd insisted on her taking it in her back-pac...

Well, I'm not sure if it's technically cross-fit but we do use kettle bells (bells or balls?!) on occasion and this thing called AMRAPs (which stands for as many reps as possible but I've affectionately dubbed "am really about to puke"). And the other day, we did hero workouts and the instructor referenced "cross-fit" so I think it counts. The point is, I've started to attend a 5 a.m. workout class and since I've lost track of the number of times I've actually gone, I think it's officially a "thing" that I'm doing. Having my alarm go off at 4:25 a.m. and doing burpees by 5:10 a.m. sounds like a pretty insane thing and in some ways it is. When I first told Matt about wanting to sign up for the class my thrifty husband was skeptical. "Isn't that like going from zero to 60?" he said. "You're not working out at all right now and all of the sudden you're going to start attending a 5 a.m. class?...

As I write this it is 6:50 a.m. and I have exactly 20 minutes to get my 2 year-old ready to go out the door with my husband. So of course that means I have at least 6 minutes for this blog post. Blame it on Rachel Hollis, but I have been inspired to re-launch this blog as a way to express my thoughts and more importantly learnings, on some topics that are near and dear to my heart. I am typing this on the 4th blog that I have started. Life with the Leibrocks is the only one that has survived with any sort of regularity and that one is just my online (private) family photo album that is my lazy way of scrapbooking/desperate attempt to document my family's life in this digital age. I upload a bunch of photos on a monthly basis and occasionally write some commentary. Dreaming of the day when the girls will pull out these books and remember fondly their childhood and how much their mom loved them, taking all of this time to document our lives! I have had Chemical Free Mom, when I...

So how did it go??? Did you stick to the $100 budget? My honest answer is that I tried. At first I looked at this as a challenge, thought long and hard on gifts, did my research and then created a very detailed spreadsheet to track my exact spending. I also went on Facebook buy/sell groups and found some used items that would be "new to us." I was thoughtful about what I asked for from family so that big items would be covered by those who really, really wanted to give. In the end though, we were over the initial $100 total and ended up more like this: - $100-$150 for giving gifts to others in need (giving tree, outside of friends/family). I figured if there was a category to overspend, it was on this. I also got a great deal with some Kohl's coupons/cash so was super happy with the things I was able to get. Pretty shirt, slipper socks, cross-necklace, those were just a few of the items we bought to be donated. I loved imagining the delight on the faces of the preci...