Syncopated Mama

Project Snapshot - January 2025

Each month, Project Snapshot captures memories from the past weeks - either with a camera, words, or both.

Time passes in the blink of an eye - see which treasured memories will join the year's collection:

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate

commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

My Snapshots

What have we been up to in the past month? Take a look and see:

We never seemed to keep up our weekly game routine in 2024, so we set the goal to start it back up for 2025. We've wanted to play this favorite for a long time, so it was one of the first we chose.

We also never managed to find the chance for Gv to learn to ride a bike last year, but 2025 worked some magic, as it only took about an hour and off she went!

We discovered a sushi happy hour with super-cheap prices, so we splurged on a mid-week treat as a family after G returned to work after the break.

Gv wanted a Mommy-daughter day at Disney, and it was full of fabulous fun! (Plus we got more use out of our passes!)

And that wraps up January! I wonder what next month has in store for us...

What were your favorite memories from this past month? I'd love to hear! Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.

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Project Snapshot - November/December 2024

Each month, Project Snapshot captures memories from the past weeks - either with a camera, words, or both.

Time passes in the blink of an eye - see which treasured memories will join the year's collection:

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate

commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

My Snapshots

What have we been up to in the past month? Take a look and see:

We have a family tradition to attend a nearby town's Pops in the Park event each year and this time, Knuckles joined us! (It was also crazy-windy that night!)

Our standard Sunday night dinner has been pasta for several years, but we have now cemented the habit of always making it from scratch:

Back at the mouse house, continuing to get our money's worth of these one-time passes:

We realized that we'd never gotten around to taking a "beginning of the school year" photo, so we finally checked that off the list. (She said it needed to reflect the Disney theme for the year!)

G's friend from grad school invited us to visit for Thanksgiving and since I found ridiculously-cheap flights, we hopped over for the week:

Our flight home included an overnight layover in this city, which Gv was excited to finally explore:

We hit the ground running the moment we landed, as Gv had Tech Week and her Nutcracker performances in the days that followed:

In between Nutcracker and Christmas, a local pop-up ice rink owner called and asked if Gv could come skate and be interviewed on the evening news. She was happy to oblige (and wearing my skates and an old skating dress of mine - when did she get so big?!):

Christmas was full of family fun, and Gv serenaded us all with some festive songs she'd taught herself as a present to us all:

And that wraps up November & December! I wonder what next month has in store for us...

You Are a Child of God Coloring Book (Review)

A love note to people of all ages that brings together many of the most important messages in the Bible.

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

Disclosure: Many thanks to GoodWorks Mission for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

What immediately attracted me to this title was the rainbow on the cover:

You Are a Child of God Coloring Book

Click here to keep reading!

Grace Bible for Kids Review

Dyslexia shouldn’t keep kids from reading the Bible. And now, it doesn’t have to!

Disclosure: Many thanks to Lifeway Christian Resources for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

Having taught first and second grade for years, I've observed first-hand what the struggle to read can be like for someone with Dyslexia, so I was super-encouraged to hear of this Bible's focus:

Grace Bible for Kids

Click here to keep reading!

Project Snapshot - October 2024

Each month, Project Snapshot captures memories from the past weeks - either with a camera, words, or both.

Time passes in the blink of an eye - see which treasured memories will join the year's collection:

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate

commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

My Snapshots

What have we been up to in the past month? Take a look and see:

Ever wonder what a typical day of school looks like around here? Well, this pretty much sums it up!

If we keep this up, we might have more photos of the 3 of us together this year than any other! (And in case you're wondering why on earth I'd post a photo of G with that expression, let me assure you that he plants these crazy expressions on his face on purpose for these photos!)

See? I told you! He's so silly! (& I also warned you that we'd be getting our $$s worth out of these passes!)

Not even 3 months, and we've been 6 times!

Aside from all things Disney, we were hit with 2 hurricanes. Nothing like a week without power to keep life interesting!

And that wraps up October! I wonder what next month has in store for us...

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Movie Review)

Get ready for Christmas by watching this film with your family -- in theaters everywhere beginning November 8!

Disclosure: Many thanks to Kingdom Faith Marketing Services for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

Gv and I have always enjoyed this bestselling classic Christmas book, so we were both very excited to hear about the release of this movie:

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Click here to keep reading!

Lost on a Mountain in Maine Review

Watch this moving family film in theaters starting November 1st!

Disclosure: Many thanks to WIT PR for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

I added "Hike the AT" to my bucket list after traversing the West Highland Way in Scotland years ago (read snippets here and here for a small taste). Although I'd love to enjoy more long-distance backpacking adventures with G and Gv in the future, I'm not so sure that 2,000+ miles of it is quite so appealing to me today as it was way back then.

We have, however, talked about adding a climb up to the final AT summit of Mt. Katahdin on one of our massive family summer road trips, so we'll see if that satisfies the "AT itch" without the half-a-year time investment.

The interest in that particular mountain is just one reason I was excited to see this movie:

Lost on a Mountain in Maine

Click here to keep reading!

White Bird Review

You forget many things in life. But you never forget kindness. Be Brave. Choose Kind.

Disclosure: Many thanks to Kingdom Faith Marketing Services for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

A deeply moving coming-of-age story and testament to the courage it takes to extend kindness and love during the harshest of times, this movie is the right story at the right time:

White Bird

Click here to keep reading!

Project Snapshot - August & September 2024

Each month, Project Snapshot captures memories from the past weeks - either with a camera, words, or both.

Time passes in the blink of an eye - see which treasured memories will join the year's collection:

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate

commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

My Snapshots

What have we been up to in the past couple months? Take a look and see:

We've always said we'd invest one year of our lives in this place...this is the year!

Gv was nominated for Best Ensemble Actress for her performance in A Christmas Carol. Although she didn't win, it was a fancy, fun night for us all!

I had to miss this year's 4-H Awards banquet to be at work, but Gv picked up my award for me along with the couple she received.

Labor Day weekend with the best of friends

We finally decided on this version of the popular card game and have been playing it since we found it on sale.

Back to sewing at the library

We're getting our $$s worth out of these passes!

Enjoying music and flamenco dancing at a local Hispanic Heritage festival

And that wraps up August & September! I wonder what next month has in store for us...

Project Snapshot - June & July 2024

Each month, Project Snapshot captures memories from the past weeks - either with a camera, words, or both.

Time passes in the blink of an eye - see which treasured memories will join the year's collection:

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate

commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

My Snapshots

What have we been up to? Take a look and see:

This year's annual family road trip was the longest yet! Over 12,000 miles and six weeks and I'm not sure if we'll ever get back into our routine, but here's a tiny taste of the highlights: