Category: 31 Days of Instant Motherhood

The other night I got to go to a book signing where Ann Voskamp was speaking and kicking off her tour with her brand new book, "The Broken Way." The day was packed... get Elisa up and out the door, get myself out the door, a busy morning at work, an awesome afternoon of ministry… Continue reading A deep breath

So I'm so glad that Sundays are for pancakes and games and hanging out because Mondays are often for not really seeing each other at all.  Today I dropped Elisa off at school at 7:40 this morning and just saw her for the first time since then when I peeked in her room to say hi… Continue reading Mondays are for… 

Forced family fun... Maybe that was/is a thing in your house and maybe not, but whoever first made it up: I think you're brilliant.  Thankfully not much "forcing" is necessary when implementing this in the Freed/Heldarskard home.  The fact that there are so many "American" things to explore and do with Elisa makes this a… Continue reading Sundays are for pancakes…

Last night Elisa was telling me about her psychology class.  At some point this week they got in a conversation about times that people wake up.  The teacher said, "So for school days many of you maybe get up at 6 or 6:30 or for some of you 7 or later.  But we don't typically… Continue reading “Don’t wake me up”

More (better) pictures to come once we actually get them from the coach but here are a few from Senior night at Volleyball... I love this girl so much and have loved watching her play!  And now... some preparation for the next sports seasons...  ​​ ​​ ... or maybe she should just do track?!?  P.S.… Continue reading Senior Night!

One of the greatest joys of this whole host family process has been the chance to serve someone else daily, perhaps multiple times a day.  For example, while Elisa is perfectly capable of packing her own lunch, and some days does, I enjoy serving her in this small way.   It also is a way… Continue reading What being a mom has taught me about serving others

At our host family orientation for AFS, one of the activities involved looking at a bunch of small plants and describing all the difference.  The cacti ware different than the leafy plants different still from the flowering ones. And even within a variety of categories each plant on the table was still unique... different colors,… Continue reading On Plants and Parenting

At the church where I work, we strongly believe that children and youth ministry is not just for children and youth, but also about equipping parents.  At the top of our resource page online we simply have these words:  Parenting is Hard.  For years I have known this fact.  I truly respect parents for all… Continue reading Parenting is Hard. 

I'm all for being as efficient as possible and often think through a day or tasks to see what might be the best game plan for getting everything done.  This skill has become extremely useful as a mom and I've even managed to be even more resourceful with my time.  An example was Wednesday night.… Continue reading On Mom Time – Efficency 

Many of the questions I get (and I'm sure Elisa gets even more of) all revolve around where she is from.  One of the reasons I even signed up for this host parent gig was because of my love for travel and exploring the world and cultures.  This provided a chance for me to give… Continue reading A little about the Faroe Islands