Grammy Camp and other great ideas!

I received this email last week:Hi, Jill!You’ve asked for fun summer ideas–I want to share this one with you! Each summer, my parents host their grandkids for “cousin camp.” They just go to my parents’ house and have a ton of fun. Right...

Living With Less: Decipher the marketing tricks

I was talking with someone about living with less and they asked me if I’d always been a contrarian.  I laughed because I’ve certainly not ever used that word to describe myself (but I would guess that maybe my parents could have used that to describe...

Marriage Monday: The Three Question Technique

Years ago Mark and I were introduced to the concept of the Three Question Technique.  This communication concept helped us deepen our conversations and get out of the rut of short answers that kept conversation at surface levels. Mark says… When Jill and I were...

Mom…I’m bored.

So have your kids said it yet? You know the phrase.We’ve all heard it a million times.Mom…I’m bored. Yep, I heard it yesterday for the first time. Somewhere around 2:30 in the afternoon it escaped out of my 13-year-old’s mouth. So you want to...

Living With Less: No Cost Exercise

One of the best thing a mom can do for herself and her family is to exercise.  It’s a stress reducer, a health maximizer, and an important part of taking care of me! With a gym membership not in the budget, what’s a mom to do to find no cost...

Parenting Strategies That Work

Mark and I have been working with our teenage sons this summer on the concept of “freedoms.”  We recently sat down with the boys and had a discussion about how we use our time.  We discussed three categories that our activities fall into:Things...

Help Everyone Wants a Piece of Me!

Help! Everyone Wants A Piece of Me!“…a ruler came and knelt before [Jesus] and said, ‘My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.’ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to...

Marriage Monday: You need a date everyday!

Today’s Marriage Monday is about the importance of daily dates. No, we’re not talking about dinner and a movie everyday, we’re just talking about intentional times that we connect everyday with our spouse. Mark says…I can tend to get really...

Friday’s Quote of the Week

“You’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious- the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to...

Living With Less: What’s your reason?

An excited mom caught me after Mark and I finished the Living With Less So Your Family Has More workshop at the Hearts at Home Conference in March.  “I’m so excited,” she said eagerly.  “My husband and I have a comfortable lifestyle. I have never been...