Am I really doing a whole post about this electronic device? Yes, yes I am. I am not on the Echo advertising team (although I should be...I tell everyone about this!). I just had to share. I'm always looking for ways to simplify so I can have more reserves for creativity. This little device really has helped in that department. The day "Alexa" (this is the Echo's name...kind of like Apple's "Siri") arrived, I inwardly ...
Parenting and Kids
8 Ways Service Can Help Your Kids Become Awesome Adults
I'm always looking for ways to reverse the damage I'm pretty sure I'm doing on a daily basis over here (kidding...kind of). I talk a lot about creativity and nature and how both of these things have really made my job as a parent easier. But, did you ever stop and think that regular, consistent service can make a huge difference in the development of kids? After a bit of research, I found some pretty incredible ways service (at home or in the ...
Teaching Our Children To See Goodness and to Love
In a world full of half-truths about what it means to be successful and happy; It's natural to want our children to be equipped with a deep knowledge that they have value and that they are loved. We want them to be kind and to see the needs of others. To be helpers. I think back on my own upbringing and realize that this was an outlook my parents tried to give me every day in a way that I am just now discovering. There is one memory in ...
How Community Service Changed Our Homeschool
My parents tried to teach me that service to those in my congregation and community is at the heart of a happy life. I have been lucky to have that example and habit in my life from the beginning. And although we are not always the best at it, Jeff and I are trying to do the same for our kids. We want them to have eyes to look outside of themselves, to see, and to bless others. We also want to celebrate their creativity and natural artistic ...
Keep Little Hands Busy With This Simple Puzzle Craft
I'm reposting this from years ago. It's reminding me of how desperate I was for things to keep my kids busy during the early stage of parenting. My kids are now 10,9 and 7. I just want to say to you (as I'm sure you are searching for the same thing I was years ago - anything to keep your kids happy and engaged in creativity) that you are doing an amazing job. Keep at it! Soon they will be able to entertain themselves for hours and you will ...
I don’t want to forget….
From The Archives: July 2010 These cheeks and those eye lashes and this beautiful mess and that smile and this face her determination and focus and those little, busy hands and that sometimes I wish I had more hands that confidence and this joy her care free love for life her sense of style how she doesn't care who's around...she WILL dance and those ...
The Days are Long – Video From Gretchen at The Happiness Project…
The Days are Long But the Years are Short. I loved this reminder from Gretchen Rubin. ...
So Much Stuff! The Day Getting Rid of It Became Really Hard
From the Archives: June 2010 This is from a series of blog posts I asked my wise and wonderful cousins to do years ago. Enjoy! So Much Stuff Lots of stuff seems to come with having a family. With six children in ours, we have plenty of it! Some of it seems to multiply on its own. I could swear our stuffed animals have their own breeding program. A Buy Back Program One day I decided I'd had enough of errant Legos, mismatched toy ...
How Much Is Enough to Require Honesty?
This is the first of a handful of guest posts from almost ten years ago. Time flies. This is from my dear cousin (and former college roommate) Olivia Cobian. You can read about her inspiring life HERE . Now on to the post: Drive-Thru Test At the Wendy's drive thru on Friday, they gave us back an extra nickel. Five cents. I hesitated for a moment. Does it really matter? Will anybody care if I return the money that doesn't belong ...
Audrey Hepburn’s Secrets to Great Beauty…
Audrey Hepburn's Secrets to Great Beauty I found this years ago and just loved it. Audrey Hepburn often quoted this during interviews and lectures. She also read it to her children on the last Christmas before she died in 1993. For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a ...
Just a Day in March -Scavenger Hunt Idea
"It was on of those March days, when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." - Charles Dickens Some drawing time... [mailerlite_form form_id=4] Time for a scavenger hunt! Ah, March! [mailerlite_form form_id=4] ...
All Great Changes are Preceded by Chaos…
From The Archives: August 2012 Isn't parenthood one of the most humbling, tiring, exasperating, patience promoting experiences ever?! The other evening our sweet, little Laurel decided she would play hairdresser. And here are the results... Zap! Bam! Pow! I posted about it on my personal Facebook page feeling sheepish but needing support and I'm so glad I did. Within the day I received over 50 comments from friends and family ...