Get in the Blender, Kids!

I’ve talked a little bit about some of the challenges of second marriage (Chapter Two). I’ve talked about the challenges of parenting frequently. But what about blended parenting? My friends, it is the biggest blessing and the biggest challenge. I don’t even know how to start writing about it! When my husband and I started […]

“I don’t want to be good.” (The Great Homeschool Experiment: Weeks 4 & 5)

If you’ve been watching closely, you’ll notice that there was no The Great Homeschool Experiment: Week 4 post. That’s because we only had a half week of school last week. My sister got married and we had an absolute blast getting her ready, getting her married, and then enjoying some family time post wedding. That’s […]

Little Red Riding Hood and Other Precocious Daughters

I have a very precocious daughter. I love her deeply. She is like a little mirror and sometimes that mirror shows good things. Other times it reminds me of the utter torment I put my mother through as a precocious daughter once upon a time. She is smart, sharp as a whip and often times […]

Teaching from a Place of Rest (The Great Homeschool Experiment: Week 3)

This week started out horrible. Not just cutesy “oh we got off on the wrong foot, but muddled through!” horrible. I’m talking “mind-blowing, gut puking, insomnia inducing, we’re never going to recover, all our attitudes need major readjustment” horrible. My kids have their own unique sets of issues. One has anxiety. One has ADHD and […]

Crushing Fear, Worry, and Anxiety

I cried myself to sleep last night, my body too exhausted to feel anything and my brain too racked with worry to think rationally. Everything was a swirling, dark spiral of fear, worry, and anxiety. What if I’m not enough? What if I’m a bad mom? What if I’m a bad wife? What if I’m […]

Grading, or The Great Homeschool Experiment: Week 2

Ready for more reflections? Week 2 is done and I’ve made some administrative changes! I entered this experiment thinking I didn’t need grades. How inhumane to grade a kindergartener! This period is just about learning to love learning! There’s no possible way to put that on a graded scale! Turns out it is possible to […]

The Great Homeschool Experiment: Week 1

Week One of the Great Homeschool Experiment has been completed! There were ups and downs, but I ended every day feeling triumphant and exhausted. Here are some of my take-aways from the week. 1. Kids need routine, but readjusting to routine is brutal. My husband warned me of this. He’s a “real” teacher (I put […]

Showing Kids the Kingdom: Thoughts on Children’s Church

Today at lunch, my girls asked me some very serious questions about something they saw on Sunday. “Mommy, why did you drink God’s blood?” “Why did you and Daddy eat that cracker?” “Why didn’t we eat it?” “Why was everyone so quiet?” “Is It because Jesus died? Why?” We had a great conversation over mac […]

At The Appointed Time: Christmas Lessons on Trust

There are a few things my daughter is absolutely obsessed with… Elsa and horses are two of them. So when Disney decided to create the Water Nøkk in Frozen II, my kid lost her entire mind. All she would talk about was “the water horse.” All she wanted was the water horse. When she wasn’t […]

5 Steps to a Happier, Healthier You in 2018

The new year is fast upon us! Every year I see posts bearing the hashtag “new year, new me,” which I always think is good advice since we are called in Ephesians 4 to put off the old self and our former manner of life and put on the new self and live in the […]