3 Ways to Pursue What You Value

One of my favorite cartoons is the perfect example of perspective. The guy stranded on the island is thrilled to see an approaching boat. The guy in the boat is thrilled to finally reach land. Everything depends on our perspective. How we view family, it’s function, purpose and how we interact makes a vital difference […]

Hang On To Hope

I Survived! I did. I survived. As I shared in an earlier post, this is a year of “lasts.” It is my last year as a homeschooling mom. It is my last year as a mom to kids who are not adults. It is my last year that I am guaranteed that my twins will […]

The Very Best Reasons to Read Aloud

“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild to pick up a book and read to a child.” Dr. Seuss Memories are made on a mother’s lap. Intelligence and wisdom are formed on her tongue. Love flows from the arms that hold a child and a book. Parents, put your phones down. The very best […]

Time Travel and Tradititions

The aroma of burning campfires is my portal to time travel.  Yes, time travel is possible. I slip through the space time continuum every third weekend in September.     I close my eyes and take a deep breath. As I open my eyes I gaze through the lingering haze of encampment smoke being pressed […]

The Last School Bell

23 years! I barely remember the time in my life when I wasn’t homeschooling. 23 years is a long time and its all about to end. At the end of this 24th year my twin daughters will graduate and so will I. No longer will I search each fall for the best curriculum. No longer […]

10 Things to do Before School Starts

The new school year is just ahead. It will be a busy time filled with studies and extra curricular activities.  Take these last days of your summer vacation and prepare to face the new school year. 1.       Prepare a Back to School dinner. Be sure everyone in the family attends. Make their favorite dishes and […]

10 Amazing Memories to Make Before Summer Ends!

“Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of                            June and August.” Jenny Han The start of school is right around the corner, but wait! There’s still time to make some lasting memories with your kids. Before you begin packing up those […]

Let There be Mess

Are you wading through a room of toys?  If not there might be a problem.  In her book Six Ways to keep the “Little” in Your Girl, Dannah Gresh states, “Time spent playing make-believe, dress-up and building things with sticks, twigs and blocks actually helps children develop a critical skill called executive function.  Executive function […]

Share the Magic

There’s a magical spot in my yard. It’s a swing that sits on the edge of a creek. It is perfectly perched on a lip of land that offers a view of the meandering water as it slowing slips into the darkness of the woods behind our home. It is here on the swing that […]

Spend Your Life Living

I was on the verge of tears, right there at the salad bar. Something was empty and it wasn’t the bacon bits. Walking past the salad bar, I ran into a friend who mentioned an article I had shared on Facebook. He proceeded to share his story of sitting in the post office parking lot […]