A few years ago my husband and I felt more like roommates than we did husband and wife. He was going through a particularly stressful time at work and I was at the height of my busy-ness working two jobs, serving on two boards, and trying to keep my head above water with the kids…
Are you looking for a chore system that actually works? Here’s the secret to finding the perfect chore system for your family—and it isn’t what you think. Ever since my oldest daughter was old enough to do a few small chores I have been looking for the perfect chore system. We started with pictures of…
As a parent, do you often find yourself saying “no” to your kids’ requests? Here’s why you should turn that around and say “yes” as much as you can. “Mom! Can I invite Elizabeth over?”“Mom! Can I make myself a snack?”“Mom! Can I watch a movie on Netflix?”“Mom! Can you please buy me new shoes?”“Mom!…
It is essential for a busy family to use a family calendar. These 4 tips will help you set up a family calendar that helps your household run more smoothly My kids are super busy. It is not uncommon for all three of them to have to be somewhere completely different at the exact same…
I’ve been thinking an awful lot lately about how I can make my home happier. Not that it’s necessarily unhappy, it’s just that it could be happier. Little things like idleness (ahem, electronics), snapping at each other, disobedience, and not enough time spent together as a family make us all a little grumpy. And you…
I love football season. And this fall I’m loving it more than usual because, guess what? We, who have prided ourselves in never paying for cable in our 16 years of marriage, finally got cable. I suppose it was inevitable. Sixteen years is a lot of years to go without being able to watch football…
A back-to-school feast and family theme is a great way to kick off the school year for your kids. This tradition is something they look forward to every year and helps them to be excited to go back to school. Sending my girls back to school each year is always bittersweet for me. Watching them…
Are you ready for your kids to pack their own lunches for school? This free printable will help them to pack healthy lunches that have every food group included. I want my kids to be self reliant. I try hard to give them as many ways to be independent as possible so that they are…
The word “homemaker” gets a bad rap. Somehow it seems to make people think of apron-wearing women who are constantly mopping or folding laundry, and no woman seems to want to be associated with the oppressive images that the word “homemaker” conjures up. When I was a child, it seems that the word was already…
The Visiting Teaching message for September is “Divine Attributes of Jesus Christ: Powerful and Full of Glory.” When I first read the title I thought that the lesson would be something entirely different than it actually was. I figured we would be talking only about the power and glory of Christ himself. While the lesson…
A couple of days ago, my 9-year-old had her very last violin lesson. Yes, you read that right. I let her quit music lessons after four years of sticking it out. It wasn’t an easy decision for me at all and I feel like a great big failure of a music mom. My husband is…
Why is decluttering so hard? Sometimes it’s surprisingly difficult to get rid of the things that clutter our homes and our lives—here’s how to finally let go. I recently went through all of my scrapbooking supplies in an effort to clean up my office before school starts. My two big goals yesterday were to clean…