So what happens when you come face-to-face with imperfection in your own life? Do you beat yourself up? Grow defensive? Maybe feel insecure? We all have a story, and today I’m excited to share the story of my guest, Cindy Bultema. Once a young mom who suffered...
I’ll never forget the groans I heard from my kids on the “screen-free” days we had while they were growing up. In today’s day and age, it’s no secret that most kids have a lot more screen time than they used to. And even as a result of...
Have you missed the workshops at Hearts at Home Conferences? (For those of you who were part of those!) That’s one thing I hear all the time, and to be honest, I do as well. But friends, today’s conversation will feel like a full-blown parenting workshop...
One of the things I remember about being at my grandpa’s house was a magnifying glass that he kept on the table beside his chair. It was a heavy duty lens and I loved positioning it over different items and looking at them in larger-than-life form. When you...
Today’s guest post is from Dr. Kathy Koch. Dr. Kathy Koch, the founder of Celebrate Kids, Inc., of Fort Worth, Texas, loves helping parents understand children’s uniqueness and how to raise them with that in mind. You can find her online...
Last year I was introduced to the Ultimate Blog Party (UPB) sponsored by 5minutesformom. It was a great online party where I was introduced to some wonderful moms who hang out online! I know there are some of you who hang out on my blog that actually found me at the...
As Mark and I state in the first few sentences of our “College: Higher Education at Lower Cost” chapter in Living With Less So Your Family Has More book…”If you want to know one Savage parenting regret, just ask us about our experience leading...
“Recalculating,” states the voice on the GPS unit. “Recalculating,” she repeats once again as we find ourselves off course on a trip.It’s a scene most of us are familiar with in some way. Even if we don’t have a GPS unit, we’ve likely been around this new technology...
Last week I rented the movie “Brian’s Song” to watch with my boys. As a child I remember watching the show on television and being powerfully moved by the movie. I posted on Facebook that we were watching this classic movie and asked for other...
When Kolya first arrived 7 years ago he spoke no English. We adopted him at the age of 9. He started school one week later. And I started school, too. I started researching what an ESL–English As A Second Language–students (or what...
At 6am this morning we awoke to get our birthday celebration of cake and ice cream for breakfast started! Funny…6am is just about the same time I was awakened by labor pains 14 years ago. In fact, today I was thinking about how birth is an appropriate...
When my kids were little we used chore charts with stars to motivate and hold our kids accountable to carry out their home responsibilities.As they’ve grown older, we found the need for a new strategy. And with our two teens at home, we’ve found that...
Our family is on vacation this week so I’m featuring a guest post by Angie Reedy, a mom of two little ones. Her post perfectly fits the summer challenge I made several weeks ago encouraging us all to do a getaway with our husband of at least 24 hours without the...
Last summer I ran this post on being a “yes” mom. Because I personally need the challenge once again, I’m re-posting it for this July!Last week my boys ran inside and said, “Mom, mom…it’s so hot outside! Can we see if...
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...
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