In our enthusiasm to celebrate children (a good thing), we are sometimes tempted to overlook the key Christian doctrine of original sin. A child can be raised by godly parents, yet still choose to live an ungodly life: A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke. —Proverbs 13:1…
How to Set Family Goals: Becoming a Family with Purpose
Have you set any family goals or resolutions for the new year? I like the word goals better than resolutions. New Year’s resolutions always seem doomed to fail, and if you don’t start on January 1 or fall off the bandwagon by January 3, you feel defeated. But goals? Goals can be set anytime, and…
New Year, New Family Routine
As families with growing children, we often have to evaluate the family routine. Our children change fast, and as parents, we have to navigate and set the pace for our families. It can feel tricky, but as my family has rolled through quite a bit of different seasons, there’s a few questions that I ask…
Say Goodbye to The Pit of Family Pileups
Pileups happen. Especially in families. That’s what happened to mine. That’s what happened to Keith’s. That’s the nature of family. The ties are so close that the same cord that hangs one tangles all. They say alcoholism is a family disease, but it’s not the only one. Both of my girls experienced some second-hand effects from…
10 Fun Fall Kids Activities and Crafts
I really love the fall. I suppose all of the seasons lend themselves to nature-study activities and crafts, but fall seems to be especially rich to me. My kids and I do fall crafts and art projects every single day – sometimes to the detriment of our homeschool lessons! Nearly every one of our fall…
5 Ways to Enjoy Fall with the Whole Family
Fall is one of my favorite seasons! The cooler temperatures (here in Texas we experience some pretty extreme summer heat), the golden colors, the animals getting their winter coats… it is spectacular! But with all of the busyness of life and back-to-school activities, we might miss the pleasures of fall if we aren’t purposeful about…
Connect With and Enjoy Your Kids This Summer
When my kids were little, and I’d be walking the whole group of them through the narrow aisles of the grocery store, I always attracted a lot of attention. Strangers would often smile at my crew as they tried to dodge around us. There was the drooling baby, just learning to sit up in the…
Talking to Kids about the Importance of Independence Day
Independence Day with our family is about as cliché as cliché gets! It’s family, food and fireworks. In typical Texas fashion, the weather will be scorching hot. We will head over to my in-law’s home and the older kids will immediately run into the backyard and jump in the swimming pool. The toddlers will beg for…
8 Tips for Maintaining a Family Summer Schedule
Keeping a family summer schedule can be sanity-saving and yet tough to maintain at the same time. Summer is a wonderful break from academic routines and along with the warmer weather and more hours of sunlight each day comes the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors more frequently. If you are like our family, much of…
4 Fun Ideas for Summer Bucket Lists
Tomorrow, June 21, marks the first day of summer (for those of us here in the United States and the rest of the northern hemisphere), and this year we will be celebrating with a Summer Bucket List pajama party! We will be wearing our PJ’s all day and sleeping in after the rooster crows (hopefully…