I want better relationships, don't you? Sometimes I feel like I spend more time thinking (or writing) about changing the way I interact with people than I actually spend changing the way I interact with people. I think some of you can relate. Change needs two things...ideas followed by actions. Our example of the balance [...]
Category: Home
Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
For years I have enjoyed my grandmother's banana nut bread. She always has a loaf waiting when we come to visit. My kids, one of whom claims to not like nuts, devour this nutty bread every time. Over the years, I have substituted a few healthier ingredients to make this recipe even better for you. [...]
Homemade Buttermilk in 4 Simple Steps
Buttermilk is one of those ingredients that I LOVE to use in baking for the moistness it brings. (In cake recipes I often substitute buttermilk for part of the milk) But I would always forget to buy it on my shopping trips. So I would inevitably use the old vinegar and milk trick, but it's just not [...]
Don’t Speak
If your childhood was anything like mine you would have heard the phrase "You need to earn my respect" many times. It seems like most of the people I speak to had similar experiences growing up. But as my own kids have grown I have had to fight the urge to just go with what [...]
Summer School has Started
Now that my kids have been out of school for a few weeks, we are starting to get into our summer routine. That routine includes daily reading and math fact review, and of course lots of fun and exploration. One website I have found extremely helpful in keeping me and my kids accountable for doing [...]
My Daddy is Only a Picture
Ahh June, the month we celebrate father's day. I started thinking about what it means to be a dad and I realized that most of the foster placements we've had over the years had one thing in common; they grew up in a home without a father. I don't know what the percentage of kids [...]
Paper or Laundry?
I'll be the first to admit that I hate laundry. I have complained to anyone that will listen how much I hate the close to 15 loads of laundry I do each week for our family of 8. So why would I choose to do something that adds more laundry each week? Because it just [...]
Take me to the Other Side
Sometimes we feel like we have to be superhuman. You know what I mean, you can't say no to anything, it always has to be yes. Soccer, baseball, football, tennis, dance, gymnastics, play dates, etc. added to the therapies, appointments and all the rest. If you're like us you feel like saying no is a [...]
Can I Say a Bad Word?
One of the interesting things about fostering is that some of the kids who come to us have, shall we say, "spicy" vocabularies. They know and use words that our kids don't know and use. They know and use words that we don't use. They know and use words that 4 year olds shouldn't know [...]
What do you Remember?
Today we celebrate Memorial Day. Our nation has set aside the last Monday of May to remember those who have given their lives in defense of their country. This national day of remembrance got me thinking about all of the things we remember as a family. I remember the night we met Tori. I remember [...]