MyLeslieNotebook

our friend Josh and his precious daughter (I feel like the subtitle of this blog should be, "How Shelby's ups and downs can teach us all about walking by faith." She seems to be a recurring example in my posts over the past few years. If you want to read them all, scroll to the top and type "Shelby" in the search bar.) Shelby's had a tough day today. (This isn't the first time I've typed these words.) She's been selfish, moody, bossy, and disobedient. This isn't normally her day-to-day behavior, so I started analyzing what was going on: She destroyed all of us--her older brother, my husband, and me--at our favorite board game (Ticket to Ride) last night.  David (my husband) and Daniel (her brother) were gone all morning; she had my full attention. We did a fun "girl time" of watching a movie they wouldn't like. She turns seven tomorrow. The official Hudson birthday celebration involves choosing all three meals for the...

I have always hated all-nighters. I remember going to sleep-overs in middle school. Everything was fine and good for the pizza and hot chocolate and movies. But when we were all still awake well past midnight, I was so exhausted that I'd call my mom to come get me.  In high school and college, my friends would stay up all night studying for big tests or finishing papers. I, on the other hand, realized that nothing much had changed since middle school: my brain shut down around midnight. If I didn't get it done the night before, I just didn't get it done. Many years later, after devoting my adult life to the healthy habit of at least 8 hours of sleep every night, I had children who didn't sleep for two years. And all-nighters took on a whole new meaning for me. I'd be up multiple times a night, every night , taking care of my babies.  When we started travelling out west every summer, we'd leave mid-afternoon and drive all night to get to Colorado or Uta...