Our kids don’t go to Sunday School…they go to church with us. I know this is a controversial topic, so this post is not to judge what you do but just to share why we do what we do. Many years ago when my dad was a full-time youth worker at our church, Patrick and I observed how 9 and...
If I had a dollar for every time we’ve been asked, “How is everything going?” we may be able to put our kids through college. Okay, not really, but you get the idea. So how is everything going? I normally answer that we’re doing really well. And we are. On one hand, in the grand scheme...
Bad decision: PJ and Mia decide hitting each other over the head with an empty bottle is a good wait-for-mom-in-the-car-game. Mia cries because she got hurt. Good decision: Mom decides the consequence for poor decision making is the parties involved have to clean the van so there are no longer empty bottles for previously mentioned...
We don’t do cleaning or chores regularly enough to institute a chore chart or schedule, but I was looking for a way to motivate the kids to help out when we did get around to straightening up. I was also looking for a way to take the fight out of school assignments. Most of the...
One definition of a·vail·a·ble according to Webster is “present or ready for immediate use.” The disciples that Jesus called were available. When He called them, they came without reservation or excuse. They followed “immediately” and “at once.” (Matthew 4:18-22). Patrick and I have always claimed that we wanted to be available. We didn’t want to walk...
I think we’ve been over this before but I HATE cleaning. Since we have 3 kids, we use them a lot to help with the cleaning. It’s really a win-win. They learn life skills and I don’t have to clean. The other day on our fourth snow day home in almost as many days, I...
Valentine’s Day approaches. Normally, I try to make a concerted effort to ignore this over-commercialized, Hallmarked holiday. However, this year, I stumbled across an activity I couldn’t pass up and it just so happens to fit February’s love theme. The idea grew from an activity that Focus’ Thriving Family website promoted–LOVE BINGO. They recommended reading...
My mom is a healthnut. For better or worse, I “inherited” her healthnut-mom attitude. In our house that means a lot of whole grains, balanced meals, treats in moderation, occasional uses of super-healthy alternatives like flax meal and wheat germ for eggs and bread crumbs respectively, and frequenty hiding of veggies in meals to boost...