YOB: #19. Have a Lord of the Rings Marathon

By Lara

As you may remember, I had surgery on my kidney stone in early October. The whole kidney stone experience is really what derailed our original concept of the Year of the Birthday. However, I think it has evolved into something bigger than what we had first anticipated.

When we still thought that we would be able to accomplish all of the items in one year, we knew that we needed to do something low key while I was recovering from my surgery. In early October, we planned to check the Lord of the Rings marathon off the list.

Beth and I both love the Lord of the Rings movies. It's really one of the few movies that lives up to the literature that it reflects. In fact, I may even like the movies just a little bit better, which never happens.

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Works For Me Wednesday: Finding Affordable Prescriptions

By MAD21

I am all for finding easier ways to do things. And saving money is right up there on the list of things I want to do. I stumbled across a website called MedTipster that can give you a list of pharmacies in your area that carry the medications your family takes that may be more affordable.

All you have to do is enter the medication you take, the dosage and your zip code, and it puts together a list of all the pharmacies near you. There is also a lot of other good stuff on the site: a blog; store searches; clinic searches; and immunization/flu shot information.

Every Wednesday, fellow blogger Kristen at We are THAT Family posts clever ideas for getting things done. She calls it, "Works For Me Wednesday" or WFMW. Be sure to go visit her blog to read her post along with links to other blogs who are participating.

One Word At A Time: Grace

By MAD21

Last week was "one of those weeks." My youngest was really struggling with self-control and obedience. Several times I saw the ugly side of lost tempers and bad attitudes, admittedly myself included. My oldest was struggling in her own way, too. Getting on "yellow" three days at school for talking and not controlling herself in class.

When it comes to discipline, I have found that grace is one of those really tricky things when it comes to being a parent. Mercy, too, for that matter. Grace being that thing you give when your kids are just short of reaching the goal, and mercy being what you give when they've missed it altogether.

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Life Is Funny: Interruptions and Bananas

By MAD21

If you have little kids you know that it is nearly impossible to finish anything... the dishes, a book, a phone call... a sentence. We love them like crazy, but our kids just don't seem to understand what it means to not interrupt.

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Fingerprint Friday: Finish Lines

By MAD21

You don't have to be a runner to know the importance of a finish line. But to anyone who runs in organized races the finish line is something you loooong to see, no matter how long the race.

This past Sunday, I was invited to run with a few friends in a Mother's Day 5k. A small race with about 40 other people, who I might add are far better runners than myself. Of course, I had already completed a long run on Saturday by the time I'd heard about this race (10 miles), but I figured, why not. It's just a fun run with some friends.

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