Here I am at 2 am and I can not sleep. The number one thing on my mind is my daughter and JRA juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis. My oldest has Aspergers and therapies have helped us deal with the emotional tolls and strains. JRA is killing me. I love my kids with all my heart! But to see my daughter so sick has be painful this year. She will be fine one day and then the next is a total crash. You can see it in her eyes and her face is so pale. Then the pain! She will drag herself a crossed the…

Most of the time, I speak before I think.  More often, I cringe after I say something out loud because I've spoken, either too soon, too late, over someone or as someone is turning to leave.  Timing has never been my strong suit, but I talk anyway...a lot.

I have two boys, Gregory, 3 and Patrick, 2.  They are awesome.  I mean…

As moms we think are kids are flawless! But sometimes we start comparing our children with others. Johnny has straight A's and is the captain of the football team. We pressure our kids so much sometimes to be something we think they should be. We fail to see the uniqueness and gift they bring. Sure we all like to brag about how brilliant our little monsters are. I have learned a BIG lesson…

“I believe in…

Ive been thinking about a person I met a couple of weeks ago.  She was diagnosed recently with Alzheimer's Disease.  She appears to be in her early 50's, HAS NO FAMILY AND IS NOT MARRIED.  In her words, she is "terrified" of the future.  I cannot stop thinking about her.  She met her now care partner in a library somewhat recently.  What a wonderful soul he is - but how will they cope long term?  This is a huge social problem.  She has attended the last several meetings of JAYS Group.  In…

A lot of bloggers have been sharing lists of their favorite or most popular posts from the year. I liked the idea of taking a look back, for myself more than anything. It was nice to review my posts and see what all I have been writing about this year; it brought me a nice sense of accomplishment.

One of the reasons I picked the posts I did was because I felt they give the reader a sense of who I am - and share important information about my family. If all you were to read…

It's tempting to see a moment of quiet as a waste of time.

As moms we're given an impossible job description, whether we work outside of the home or not. The training for this job is a jumble of fantasy, others' expectations, competition, and role models like June Cleaver and Claire Huxtable.

We're told- in fact we tell ourselves- that there is always work to be done. Crumbs to be swept off kitchen floors. Little faces that need to be wiped. Meals to…

Good big brothers don't expose the Santa lie to little brothers.

I spoke last year about the difficulty of…

With only TWO days until Christmas, here are a few final stress-busting sanity savers.  Think of it as your holiday survival guide courtesy of the Lyons Den… where every day is an exercise in survival!

1. Drink. A lot.  Though it's tempting to toss back the eggnog and mulled wine, I'm actually referring to copious amounts of…

The conversation happened much sooner than I had hoped.  It wasn’t that I was afraid, anxious, or unsure of what to say.  I worked all of that out long ago.  But in my mind, the mind of a mother who wants nothing but happiness for her children at all times, I wanted it to wait.  I wanted them to hold on to the…

Hi, my name is Melanie Biehle and I write the blog Inward Facing Girl. Yesterday I had a yucky experience when I picked up my son at day care. I wrote about it on my blog today but wanted to post in this community too, in case you guys had any words of wisdom or might find it helpful. Here it is.

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On a recent family visit to our local library, hubby came across a copy of DVD for Charlotte's Web. It made both of us feel nostalgic. It has been years since we had seen the movie, so we wanted to check it out.

We weren't sure, however, if SB is old enough, or how she would react to it. My suspicion was that she would enjoy the talking animals and songs, and the climactic event would sail over her head.

We decided to get it. And SB did enjoy watching…

I…

Hey everyone,

I am so truly grateful for all of your support on my journey this past year.  It has been an amazing 2011 and one of my greatest adventures has been my work with JP/HRO. The Haitian culture and people are some of the most incredible individuals that I have ever met and I feel truly blessed to be working with this fantastic non-profit. Please help me to spread the word and raise awareness for their incredible efforts. Here is the PSA I directed and produced with my big…

I'll set the scene. It's closing in on 4pm.

A four year old is struggling to stay awake. He runs from room to room, trailed by the sounds of his own high-pitched screech. He has dumped out all of his brother's Pokemon cards and I say a prayer that I can gather them up before the eight year old grows wise.

There is a two year old standing on the bottom shelf…

The other day I came across this video from last December:

There were several moments this week when I knew the Christmas spirit had officially entered the Lyons Den.  If you go by the store windows, the Christmas season actually started the day after Halloween but, we like to take things a bit more slowly around here... or, perhaps better put, we have…