One of the questions I hear most often from other families—blog readers and friends alike—is how we handle chores and allowance as a family. There are so many different approaches out there... unpaid chores as a contributing member of the family a regular allowance tied to age rather than chores paid daily chores paid optional jobs…
We’re traveling this week and next, so I’m sharing some of my favorite posts from the archives. This one seemed especially timely with Valentine's Day, and all of it's pink and red food, coming up this weekend. It happens every few months. As our oldest daughter rages and screams, one of our other girls will…
Nothing about Lucas pregnancy or birth was like any of his siblings, and I promise there was one point where I was sure the perinatologist wanted to ask us if we were sure he had the same father as the rest of our kids {yes, absolutely!} because he was measuring so large and all of…
NOTE: As we welcome Lucas Isaiah to our family and adjust to life as a family of eight, I'll share some of my favorite posts from the thousands of posts in our archives. I hope you enjoy these as much as I read back through them again! Can you teach your children to obey your…
“You will never have this day with your child again. Tomorrow they’ll be a little older than they were today. This day is a gift. Breathe and notice. Smell and touch them; study their faces and little feet and pay attention. Relish the charms of the present. Enjoy today, mama. It will be over before…
I've shared a few times on Instagram and Facebook already how spiral notebooks are helping us simplify. It's made such a big difference to our family that I can't help but give it its own blog post. You should know that this is not an original idea of mine, though; I'm really just passing it…
I talk a lot about respectful dialogue, listening to what others have to say, and living in the middle, so the title of this post might surprise you. "Why it's okay to believe your way is the best way" Let me clarify: I think it's okay to believe the decisions you make and the way…
As I type this, I am currently attached to a hospital-grade double breast pump, listening to the rhythmic sounds of the pump as my milk fills the bottles. In some ways, the journey to this place has been a whirlwind, well off the path I planned to take. But in hindsight, I can see the…
I've shared our philosophy about chores and allowance in the past, but I thought I would revisit the topic now that I'm the mom of three -- soon to be four! -- elementary-age kids and not a whole slew of preschoolers. For us, chores and allowance offer opportunities to teach the girls about responsibility, teamwork,…
I shared the girls' birth stories earlier this fall as part of Baby Week, and as promised, here's Jackson's: Jackson's Birth Story {On Prodomal Labor & Castor Oil} I spent most of this pregnancy worried that Jackson was not in the correct position for labor and wouldn't turn in time. I'm not sure why that…