I’m going to try something new this month:

This post includes the original tl;dr post complete with the cliff notes version of what happened in my life and on this blog during the past month. BUT WAIT. THERE’S MORE! By reading now, you will also get the added bonus of blog post ideas for the upcoming month – absolutely free!

Stop me.

So, the gist is…

1. link up your tl;dr below
2. feel free to link up any post you’ve written using my prompt ideas – or just a post of yours you think I should have read…be shameless.
3. comment on or share the post linked up before you – we all need some love

my tl;dr

• Theo turned one month old
• My site got a face lift – click over to see it if you’re reading this mobile
• Theo was Baptized at the church Mike and I were married in
• I added some new designs to the shop
• I attended an embroidery exhibition
• I was honored to have a three-page feature in Hoop-la Magazine
• I tried cross stitching for the first time
• Mike finished our basement with my dad – before and afters coming

prompts for April

• Write a fake post for April Fools’ Day…like this one – I didn’t have the energy to fool you this year, so lay your best on me.
• Interview members of your family during your Easter celebration. What are their favorite memories of family gatherings?
• Put together a guide for locals: what are the “must see” outdoor spots in your town?
• Go to the library and pick out your five favorite children’s books. Write a review and link it up!
• Do a Chopped challenge in your own kitchen. Blog about the results.

I think February could be summed up by two obvious things: bitter, nasty cold and sweet, mushy Theo. But, I’m going to grace you with some tl;dr anyway. Because it’s the first of the month, and that’s what I do.

• Sam fell in love with Paw Patrol and Ellen with the Reading Rainbow app for the iPad
• Clearly we didn’t do a lot of productive activity
• Theo graced us with his quick and easy delivery on Feb. 18 – Ash Wednesday
• My site got a gorgeous facelift from Lauren
• We learned how to live Lent as a busy mom with a newborn
• We also learned about some great ideas for postpartum moms
• I read a ton of books, but my favorite lately has been the Flavia de Luce series
• Drops of Joy is giving away a beautiful diffuser necklace to one of you! Enter here.

What about you? Link up below, por favor.

Up at 3am with Sambone the Hambone because he craves some midnight oil in his cereal just like his mama. And, I know you’re all, “I’m going to read blogs while the game is on and just watch the commercials.” But then the commercials come on, and you’re like, “Wait, I have children and these commercials are all naked,” so you just keep reading blogs.

I’m right. I’m right, right?

So, at 5am (yes, we had our cereal and browsed FB for pictures of Dada, and we’re still awake), I tapped out a little tl;dr just for you. You specifically.

Go team! Be aggressive! And don’t forget to link up your tl;dr below-oh oh oh.

• 37.5 weeks today. Nutso Dunzo.
• The kids got the plague so we sat in the house this month. Not that I wouldn’t have anyway at this point, amiright?
• Sam got himself a big-guy bed, so we are just basking in the aftermath of that.
• I taught you how to take a pregnant selfie, gave you some ideas for Friday abstinence, shared my favorite essential oil tricks and makeup tips, helped you beat the winter blues, recommended some Netflix documentaries, and got you thinking about Lent. This girl is on fiiiiiire.
• I read five whole books this past month, and I started anudder last night. Hoping to just plow through exactly one million before baby 3 comes crashing in.
  • The Remedy for Love
  • The Rosie Project
  • Hands Free Mama
  • Station Eleven
  • The Expats

Happy New Year! We’re over here like:

Even though we partied like:

Because the holidays be like-be like exhausting, and sitting around the house sounds rill good. So, what did the end of 2014 bring for the Hines brood? tl;dr away!

• I spent Advent journaling with Blessed is She
• My mom, Ellen and I made 144 cookies in one hour at a Pampered Chef workshop
• I stitched MAD amounts of necklaces for Christmas – thank you!!
• Tomorrow, I will be 33 weeks pregnant with this nameless little guy
• My brother flew in from California to celebrate Christmas with us
• I attended (and really enjoyed!) my 10 year class reunion
• We went to the vigil mass to honor the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God which is today. Holy Day of Obligation – now you knowwwww

And you, dear one. What did December 2014 hold for you? Link up your tl;dr below.

I’m really digging all of your tl;dr posts. It’s the lazy in me. Here is what we have been up to lately.

• 20 weeks tomorrow. Cue up the Bon Jovi.
• We will find out the gender of the baby, but we are waiting to do a reveal party on my birthday – November 2 aka Dia de los Muertos.
• I am seriously considering getting a certificate in makeup application. I don’t really want the full esthetician license because, well, I can’t afford that. If you know of a good certificate program by me (mid-MI), hollah.
• We’re doing all the Fall things like baking pies and going to apple orchards.
• Haven’t added any new designs to the shop lately. Anything you’d like to see?

You know the drill.

I was going to write this whole What I Did on My Blogging Break post for you, but I thought I would try to salvage the few of y’all who’ve stuck around since my abrupt hiatus. Instead, I will tl;dr it for you even though there was nothing to r so it couldn’t have been tl.

• I’m, like, 16ish weeks pregs with this kid.
• Sam had salmonella poisoning, and I got to chat for a nice many moons with CDC about not eating raw chicken or licking turtles.
• Ellen is potty trained which means she is currently pooping in the corner because that be the curse of speaking it aloud.
• I did NOT end up going to Edel. I stayed true to my blogging break to the extreme.
• I’ve been trying to add a healthy dose of daily prayer to my life to help with my anxiety. Daily Mass a couple times a week is included -with both children- by myself.
• Signed Ellen up for preschool one day a week. We’re doing Catechesis of the Good Shepard. Signed her up WELL past the deadline, so still crossing our fingers we’re in. Pretty sure that is just the kind of mom I am.
• Mike and I blew through Entourage which we loved. I did like the finale, but I thought it was a bit rushed.
• We finished the backyard, ate s’mores, went to parades, finger painted, lazed around, and played.
• I learned that my stress level is in direct correlation with the amount of time I spend online.
• I also learned that I compare myself to others online WAY more than I ever thought I did.
• But, I’m back. Slow ride. Take it easy.

Just like always, link ’em up. Don’t leave me in the dark. Either link up a tl;dr or a post of yours that I should have read this summer.

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tl;dr: too long; didn’t read

You know how sometimes you have blogs that you love and blog authors that you love even more, but you also have a family and laundry and meals to cook and etcetera and so forth? So, you end up missing out on parts of your favorite virtual friends’ lives – not by choice, but just by life?

And then you feel terrible when you find out that she is pregnant or going back to work or moving, and you had no idea. Wouldn’t it be nice if bloggers put out a cliff notes version of their lives every once in a while? I thought so.

Here is my tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) of late:

• We’ve been living in Michigan for over a year now after moving back home from Minnesota.
• Sam turned one in May, and Ellen will be three in July.
• I opened an Etsy shop selling embroidered necklaces.
• I’m going to Edel!
• Sam found himself in the ER last week for stepping on a rusty razor blade.
• Ellen hasn’t had anymore of her weird mystery episodes lately, so we are hoping she outgrew them.
• Things I’m into lately: embroidery, essential oils, finding good spiritual reading

Now you knowwwwwwww.

 

Update: Some of you wanted to link up to this party, and because I aim to please, I have granted your wish. Now, don’t make me look like a fool. Link up your tl;dr. If we likey, I will make it a monthly deal. Just link up below and link back here so we can catch up with the lot of you. Feel free to use the tl;dr graphic above. End the guilt associated with #feedbankruptcy!

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