I was going to make this just a post on our current ‘Morning Time’ routine, but when I started fleshing out what I wanted to say, I realized that right now, the thing I love about morning time is actually that it gives me more one on one time with my teens. And that is…
The idea for a post on how to be a minimalist (with a “generous” extended family) has sat in my ideas folder for quite some time, but as Christmas approaches, as well as a move, it seems an especially fitting time to reflect upon all the stuff that has accumulated in our lives, and all…
More than six years ago I started what I though would be a humor / homeschooling / Catholic parenting blog. I didn’t share many photos of myself or my kids in those early months, not wanting to let the obvious fact that two of my sons were physically disabled dominate content or conversation. Sure, we…
It’s SMA awareness month! Time to spread some awareness. Some years I’m more motivated than others, and after several years of blogging about SMA and special needs parenting, I sometimes feel like I have nothing new to say. But, while driving in the car craving Sour Patch Kids, I tried to mentally think of any…
Yesterday Fulton turned 10. T! E! N! Or as he put it, “I’m all ten fingers now!” Every year in June, I can’t help but reflect on Fulton’s diagnosis and his first birthday (which fell a little over a week after we got the news). Addie was six when Fulton turned one. Having a ten-year…
A little while back Christy wrote a great post about her daily routine as a SAHM and how it’s changed, and hasn’t changed, through the years. I’ve been meaning to write my own thoughts on the matter, so here we are, three months after Christy’s post with my Jack Handy deep thoughts. THat in itself…
Last week, Tony and I slipped out for a couple hours alone while the kids watched a movie. As long as Fulton and Teddy are healthy, or at school, we’re comfortable stopping by a nearby restaurant for lunch, dinner, drinks or just uninteruppted adult conversation. Taking a walk after lunch or dinner is also no…
Colleen did a great post recently entitled “The Care and Feeding of A Big Family”. I loved the look inside Colleen’s home and how she makes everything work as a family of nine. Now my family isn’t as big as hers but I thought I would share how my big family makes things work. If…
I’m using my takes this week to tackle a tough reader question: Maintaining a house while homeschooling and dealing with special needs child: can it be done? Personally I think keeping an immaculate house while people are living there 24 hours a day is impossible. – Torey C Yes Tory, you’re right. It is impossible,…
One of the joys of having bigger kids is the many way they can (theoretically) help around the house. Our house still gets messy, but now, I’m not the only one picking up the books and Legos. Same in the kitchen. There are lots of hungry mouths in this house (Byron counts as about three…
The ushers came around and Tony handed Fulton our envelope. Teddy insisted it was his turn to put money in the offering basket, so Tony handed him a dollar to stop the complaints. Both happily put the money in the basket as it passed. But this Sunday for some reason, something clicked. As our older three…
This week, Dr. Kelly is back answering the urgent questions of readers who wanted help weeks ago. Hopefully their problems resolved themselves, but if not, let’s see what this bottle of Pinot Noir / life experience can help me come up with. 1. Why do children always ask “Why?” no less then 1,983 times…
While it seems like a lifetime ago, it wasn’t that far back that I had a three kids, three and under. Then four kids five and under. And six years ago, when Teddy was born, Addie had just turned 8. Things are so different now with no babies in the house it’s almost hard to…