Mosaic Momma

Pinterest has struck again! I know that it's easy to get sucked into browsing and repinning -- only to realize an hour has gone by. However, tonight I redeemed some of that time. I actually put one of the pins into practice. Tonight was a rough dinner night. My plans to roast a lovely pork tenderloin in the oven fell apart when I realized that my intention to clean the oven earlier in the day was never fulfilled. I had an oven full of sprayed on oven cleaner and no amount of scrubbing and wiping down could make it stop smelling like chemical. Opting not to subject my family to chemi-loin, I went to my clutch dinner option -- pancakes! While I was whipping up a batch of from scratch pancake batter (courtesy of my friend, Deborah), I realized -- "hey, since I'm taking the time to make this stuff from scratch, I should utilize the time and make a DOUBLE batch for breakfast this week." And I knew I could not only do that, but store it in a convenient and eas

A few days ago, I ran in what was my sixth official race...and the fourth time that I have done this particular local event here in my hometown. This year, however, was the first time that I did not run the half-marathon event. Instead, I ran the two-person relay with my friend, Gina. This was due to a variety of reasons including an injury (mine), not loving the current course, gearing up for another half mara in a few weeks in Vegas, etc. But, none of these reasons could keep us from participating in the race in some way and the relay was the best of both worlds. Yet...somehow it felt a bit like cheating -- knowing we have done the the full 13.1 before, but chose this time to halve that distance. However, as relay participants, we got all the swag associated with the event, got to share the road with thousands of other runners -- some competitive, some walkers, and even some friends and family. It was too good to pass up. So, once again, a group of us were out there excited,

I'm a firm believer that a person's name is important. We put a lot of thought into our four children's names. We went through baby books and picked out top choices and then tried them out loud, wrote them on paper and made sure their three initials didn't form an embarrassing word or anything like that. We test drove every possible nickname to make sure they wouldn't one day reach a certain age and demand to know what on earth had possessed to name them what we did. Their names are fairly unique. And mostly, I'd say that's a good thing. However, we have spent a fair amount of time spelling our children's names or correcting pronunciations. Undoubtedly, we have had to do this the most for our third child (and oldest son), Declan. I adore his name! I first heard it when I lived in Belgium for a year after college. One of the t.v. programs they showed over there called Heartbreak High , was imported from Australia -- their version of   90210 . Cr

I have to admit to being a little cranky the last couple of days. Some of it has to do with days getting shorter and darker earlier (I love the long days of summer!), some has to do with the never-ending cleaning and organizational projects I seem to have on my plate (my clean house on Saturday no longer looks that way), but the biggest thing that is yanking my chain is the advent of Christmas. I'm a scrooge. Bah Humbug! Why, you ask? I really despise/loathe/dislike all the Christmas paraphernalia, decoration, merchandise, music, and yes, even Starbucks holiday drinks (c'mon...has the pumpkin latte even been on the menu for that long?). I mean, I don't in theory. I really do love all of those things....come the day after Thanksgiving! But it really irritates me to no end to see stores (yes, even my beloved Target) putting this stuff out earlier and earlier every year. (I think I spied Christmas stuff at Target at the start of October after they clearanced out &q