Simple Pleasures…Even When Life’s Hard

Another mom asked me last week how I could possibly have any margin for helping other moms when I’m living in the same chaos. Good question. I’ve been thinking about it ever since she asked. On a practical level, I have the best husband E.V.E.R. who is doing a lot of the practical things such […]

special needs, adoption, foster care, thanksgiving

When Giving Real Thanks Is Hard

When you’re raising a child with extremely challenging behaviors, it can be hard to face a holiday all about giving thanks. Sure, we can all find small gratitudes each day. We have food to eat. We only called the police once last week.  The sun came out today. But what about deep gratitude for the […]

How to keep your family happy even when you’re slacking

The Operations Feed the Family and Keep the Family Happy reached an all-time low over the past few weeks. I literally was stopping by the grocery store daily to pick up a bag of some variety of frozen, pre-cooked chicken product because there was literally nothing else in the house that Ty was supposed to […]

seder christian interactive family

60 Minute Interactive Seder for the Christian Family

If you’ve been hanging out with me for any length of time, you know we stink at holiday traditions. However, one Lenten season tradition that we’ve managed to keep up is celebrating a Seder meal together. Sometimes we can barely pull together just our family, and sometimes it’s quite the affair. This year we had […]

{Friday Favorites} podcasts and snow

You know that time when you repainted the living room with a paint sprayer and then had to repaint a bunch of other things because paint sprayers don’t obey the best laid plans of tape and plastic? Kind of like Winter didn’t get the memo about Spring being here? And then you were hosting 20 […]

save 5 cents a gallon on gas

{Favorite Things} Save money on gas

Despite the NBC Sports app, I didn’t watch nearly enough Olympics. However, I did catch some mass start speed skating. It was complicated yet edgy. Sorry. Couldn’t resist. This weekend we’re in for an entire 3 days of sustained winds in the 30-50 mph range with crazier gusts. Schools are closed. Bridges are closed. Trees […]

parkland gun control

How to have a conversation after a school shooting

The day after the Parkland, FL school shooting, I started a blog post. I’ve spent hours poring over articles with the facts and with opinions about everything from gun control to mental health to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). I got curious what the statistics actually were on mental health and violence and the effectiveness of […]

{Favorite Things} more food, a book, and discounted gas

Okay, quick survey…who felt extra crazy on Tuesday and Wednesday during that blue, supermoon, eclipse situation? I had a friend tell me that it is all a crock, but I really need a good excuse for how bad of a parent I was during those two days. So this Friday’s favorites: Baking Bacon We (I […]