• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Monica Swanson

the grommom

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Blog
    • Parenting and Family
    • Health/Fitness
    • Encouragement and faith
    • Home School
    • Surf
    • Recipes
      • Breakfasts
      • Snacks and Smoothies
      • Lunches and Dinners
      • Desserts
      • Gluten Free
  • About Monica
  • Contact

Miscellaneous

Favorite Pumpkin Granola

by Monica Leave a Comment

Sharing our favorite pumpkin granola recipe below.  But first:You guys.  I have a son in college.  Does anyone else feel weird about that?No, this has nothing to do with my Pumpkin Granola recipe (except that maybe I should be sending some to him in a care package?)  I guess I just needed to get it off my chest.  Truth is, I just sat down at a coffee shop to put this post together, and got side tracked on Instagram (it happens.)  When I saw that my college son, who has not posted any

Read More

Categories: Breakfasts, Gluten Free, Miscellaneous, Parenting and Family, Recipes, Snacks and Smoothies

Six Things To Do Every Day–Especially When You’re Busy.

by Monica 9 Comments

6 Important things to do, especially during busy seasons. {**Be sure to scroll down and read a little note in my PS at the end! :) }It's that time of the year again, when everyone seems to be running in different directions.  School.  Work.  Sports.  Activities.  Sometimes it feels like we're a bunch of ships passing in the night.  These are the days we tend to skip workouts, eat meals on-the-go, and fall asleep saying our prayers.  I have personally ended more days than I care to admit

Read More

Categories: Encouragement and faith, Miscellaneous, Parenting and Family

A Year of Island Inspirations! (Sign up below!)

by Monica 6 Comments

Add inspiration to your days...all year long.  (scroll down to sign up!)There is no doubt, Hawaii is a special place.  I know many of you have visited the islands, and have told me you immediately felt a connection.  Some of you say you feel more at home in Hawaii than anywhere else, or that a visit to the islands changed you in some way...maybe profoundly.  Some of you live here, and -- like me, you're still discovering this magical place.  Others of you, from all over the world, tell me

Read More

Categories: Encouragement and faith, Home & Country, Miscellaneous, Travel

The New Blog is Live!!!

by Monica 16 Comments

Hi Friends!Ok, I am waaaay too excited about this news: The blog is all fresh and new! I mean, design-wise -- it has all been remade...re-did, re-done (?)...MADE-OVER!!I've been dreaming of a new look for, um, years!...and I am so excited with how it has all come together!  While spending way-to-many-hours working on everything this week (I told Gretchen, my tech wizard, we could win an email-speed contest for how quickly we could shoot messages back and forth as she worked on

Read More

Categories: Home & Country, Miscellaneous, Parenting and Family

Kale, Pear, Gorgonzola Salad: Fall is in the Air.

by Monica 5 Comments

Well Hello, and Happy September! September is so great because it is the lead-in to autumn.  Fall! And fall...whether real, or (in my case) only imaginary, is the best!! If you've been around a while you know that I am a big fan of fall.  I always have been.  In my dream life I spend every September through November somewhere with crisp autumn air and falling leaves... (it's only fair that the tables are turned and I get to be jealous of some of you for a few months a year, right?...)

Read More

Categories: Gluten Free, Health/Fitness, Lunches and Dinners, Miscellaneous, Recipes

How to Launch Well: 7 Things to do Now to Successfully Launch your Kids when it’s Time

by Monica 9 Comments

The launch.  Sending our precious kids off - whether to college or the military, a new job,  or any other adventure, is a huge milestone in our parenting journey.  Just the mention of the launch can put a lump in a mom's throat and a knot in her stomach, no matter how old her kids are.  Funny how our children can drive us crazy all day long, but the simple mention of  them ever leaving us can turn us into a puddle of emotions in a heartbeat.And really:  the whole idea of launching our kids

Read More

Categories: Miscellaneous, Parenting and Family

Coffee Date: Back to School, My Son is Going to College, and I-could-use-a-hug-Edition.

by Monica 18 Comments

Aloha Friends!Man, did summer fly by or what!?And how are you?  Refreshed? Worn out?  Ready for a new season ahead?  I want to hear, so please don't forget to make it to the bottom and leave me a little update!  (That's part of the deal with coffee dates! )I'm excited to catch up on things...So grab a seat (and your favorite beverage!) and let's dive in! First, let's get the painful exciting part over with:  By the time this goes live I will be in California, getting Josiah

Read More

Categories: Miscellaneous, Parenting and Family

Helping Our Kids Through Lonely Seasons

by Monica 14 Comments

I'll never forget a certain car ride when my boys were much younger.  One of my sons was asking me a series of questions that I honestly wasn't following well.  Obviously I wasn't giving him very good responses, because finally, with a very teary voice he just blurted out: "I guess I just wanted some advice on how to make friends, but never mind!"Oh...my heart.  We've all been lonely at one time or another.  And we can all agree loneliness is brutal.  Yet there is one thing that may be

Read More

Categories: Miscellaneous, Parenting and Family

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Parenting and Family
  • Health/Fitness
  • Encouragement and faith
  • Home School
  • Recipes
  • Surf
  • Travel
  • Miscellaneous

Recent Posts

  • The Very Best 5-Minute Gluten Free Bread
  • The Biggest Goal I have this Year
  • Health or Weight-Loss Goals in the New Year? Something for Everyone Here!
  • Happy New Year!  Guess What’s Coming in 2019?!
  • Merry Christmas from Hawaii {greetings, photos, and a note to read before the New Year!}
Load More...Follow on Instagram

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Most Popular

  • What a Teenage Boy Needs Most from his Mom
    What a Teenage Boy Needs Most from his Mom
  • What A Middle School Boy Needs Most from His Parents.
    What A Middle School Boy Needs Most from His Parents.
  • HE>i.   (and the story behind the brand)
    HE>i. (and the story behind the brand)
  • 8 Things Teenagers Will Appreciate (even if they don't admit it)
    8 Things Teenagers Will Appreciate (even if they don't admit it)

Copyright © 2019 Monica Swanson · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy