Archive for 'Life With Ladybug' Category
Life With Ladybug: Coupon craze
By Shannon Magsam Well, some of you probably heard my big talk on Magic 107.9 last week about getting into couponing. Well, the truth is, so far I suck. Maybe that’s too strong a word, but I’m not exactly walking up to the checkout counter with $248 worth of groceries and paying only – gasp! [...]
Life With Ladybug: Deep blue
By Shannon Magsam, mama to ladybug My intentions were good. I’d remove the dead fish, Mrs. Sassypants, from the tank and replace her with a new Betta. Ladybug would be none the wiser and the crisis could be averted. I’d seen Mrs. Sassypants — a Siamese Fighting Fish — was dead that morning before school. [...]
Life with Ladybug: The seesaw of motherhood
As Ladybug and I were sitting on the stage in the Barnes & Noble children’s section, she asked if we could buy the book we were looking at together. The cheap side of me was all, “Let’s just read the good parts here and we won’t have to buy it”. We did a few of [...]
Life with Ladybug: Genetic messiness
By Shannon Magsam, Ladybug’s mama She can’t find her shoes and we’re already about to be tardy for school. I’m getting angry as she finally spots them in the bathroom where she took them off to get into the shower last night. “I’m ready!” she shouts and runs back into the living room to grab [...]
Life with Ladybug: A good call
By Shannon Magsam Ring. Ring. Ringgggggg. My cell phone is brr-ringing that “old-fashioned telephone” tune. My fingers itch to grab it from my purse and see who’s calling. I keep my hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road. As of yesterday, I gave up talking on the cell phone while driving. It’s [...]
Life with Ladybug: Fortunate
By Shannon Magsam I still can’t believe I’ll have to get my kid up on Saturday morning for SCHOOL. Ladybug was not amused when she found out one of the snow days would be made up on a Saturday. Outrage might be a good word to describe her opinion. “You need to write a letter!” [...]
Life With Ladybug: Happy birth day!
By Shannon Magsam My brand new nephew, Hudson, was born Friday at 1:58 p.m. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces and is simply a doll (see picture at right for proof). The delivery room got pretty tense when my sister, Gena, was trying to bring him into this world. Her husband, friend Tammy and I were the only ones left in the room [...]
Life with Ladybug: Lady in waiting
By Shannon Magsam I spent last weekend nesting. I know that’s usually reserved for someone expecting a baby and I’m not. But my sister is. It’s the only explanation I can come up with for all the time I spent ripping out closets, sorting through the garage wreckage and un-cluttering under beds. I’m a little [...]
Life with Ladybug: What a trip
By Shannon Magsam I’m reminded of our recent trip to Philadelphia every time I sit down. Or back up against a counter. Or sleep on my back. That’s because I have a vivid bruise on my left butt cheek the size of a softball. And it HURTS. I’d like to say I got this bruise [...]
Life with Ladybug: To-do list for 2011
By Shannon Magsam I know it’s not even Christmas Day yet, but I’m already thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. Instead of resolving NOT to do something, this year I thought I’d resolve to DO some of my favorite things more often. What’s on your list? The top 25 things that make me giddy with pleasure, [...]
Life with Ladybug: Cranberry Christmas
By Shannon Magsam In between working, mothering, wife-ing, shopping for Christmas gifts and trying to appreciate “merry and bright” — I’ve also been searching for cranberry-colored ornaments. For some reason this year, I wanted a “pretty” tree. Ladybug decorated the hot pink desk tree in her bedroom with all the sentimental ornaments, so when it [...]
Life with Ladybug: Scenes from a shopping spree
By Shannon Magsam I call Gwen’s cell phone from the wrapping paper aisle: “I need help”. I quickly tell her why, so she doesn’t envision me in a gutter somewhere with a broken leg (we’re both prone to worst-case-scenario thinking). “I’m in Target and I’ve got that rug in my cart.” She knows perfectly well [...]
Life with Ladybug: Meeting snark with love
By Shannon Magsam She’s almost 9. That means some snarky attitude is creeping into my daughter’s speech (Disney Channel? No, ma’am, you are cut off). She’s trying on her older self for size and I have to keep handing her the smaller britches. I also have to keep reminding myself of all the things that [...]
Life with Ladybug
By Shannon Magsam In the middle of the night, it started pouring rain. When I heard the deluge, I immediately thought of Velvet, the gigantic mechanical horse Ladybug got for Christmas when she was 4. I looked out the window and sure enough, Velvet was on the front lawn getting soaked. I fretted over what [...]
Life with Ladybug: Thankful
By Shannon Magsam At our house, we talk about “Roses and Thorns” after school or at dinner. I believe it was Michelle Obama who said that’s what they call the ritual at their house and I thought it was the perfect mental picture. Happy things = roses. Not-so-happy-things = thorns. Before we started roses, I [...]
Life with Ladybug: Probing questions
By Shannon Magsam My husband and I have some of the best conversations while we’re driving. There’s just something about being trapped in a car together to get you to Talksville. On one long trip to Texas while we were dating, I made up scenarios about our future life together (God forbid on pretty much [...]
Life with Ladybug: My first marriage
By Shannon Magsam I had lunch last week with my first husband. We sat in a booth at Chick-fil-A and talked about how much time had passed since we last saw each other. We reminisced fondly about our wedding day. It was during the Fall Festival at our elementary school. We were in the fifth [...]
Life with Ladybug: Do kids make you (un)happier?
By Shannon Magsam At the library the other day, I was looking for an article in Time Magaine about only children (since I’ve got one, I’m always drawn to conversations on the topic) when the headline splashed across another magazine cover caught my eye. It said: “I love my children. I hate my life”. You [...]
Life with Ladybug: NuvaRing freak-out
By Shannon Magsam My frequent trips to Dr. Google’s private office started when I was pregnant with Ladybug. I could visit him day or night, no restrictions. Most often I chose the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep and my mind wouldn’t get quiet. My OB eventually banned me from the Internet. Well, [...]
Life with Ladybug: First job
By Shannon Magsam It was a red-letter day. “Today was great,” Ladybug gushed recently. “I got extra chocolate and a job!” We had been to Target (where my treats were popcorn and a Dr. Pepper) and Ladybug requested we stop by next door at PetsMart. She loves to visit the cats who are being adopted [...]