I waited until my first born was the ripe old age of five before I introduced him to any shows with fighting, swords, blasters, guns, or wild play.  What a good Mama, Yes?  Of course that means Brody was three when he first saw Star Wars, and Asher (only one at the time) learned to walk with a Light Saber in each of his sweet little hands.  We called him General Grievous.  So much for sheltering our children from violence.  But with older boy cousins and neighbors who...

Strong 

I'm a natural submitter, if that's a word.  I mean I submit rather easily.  And the fact that my husband is a natural leader makes for a perfectly symbiotic relationship.  At least it did for the first few, child-free years of our lives together.  Then came the stressors that children bring; the house, the kids, the sleepless nights and unending days full of messes to be cleaned and behavior to be corrected.  And what little remained of me after pouring out to ...

Do you have a child who keeps EVERYTHING?  Who's just lousy at throwing junk away?  I do.  My big guy clings when it's time to go through his outgrown clothes and discarded toys, and cries when he finds a stack of old school worksheets in the trash.  But I've come to see his issues run deeper than the worn out blue jeans and Little People farm animals I periodically give away.  My first born son is a collector, which is really just a nice way of saying h...

I know that many of you are blessed to have a group of Ladies you meet with on a consistent basis to study God's Word.  They are like Sisters in this Blessed season of life.  You share your joys and your struggles, you pray faithfully for one another, and you seek God for direction, comfort, and His divine answers in the myriad aspects of your lives.

Oft times you have a leader or a teacher who takes you through a particular study, such as the book of Esther or Eph...

I'm a keepsake fanatic.  On my mantle is a framed picture of my firstborn with his 6 year old hand print and his first sweet love letter to his Dad and me.  Then there's my three year old's framed handprint, made to look like his sweet face.  But long before that I began collecting boxes of memories.  I have broken friendship bracelets from my elementary bf Kerry, every passed note in Jr. High, and...

My husband and I shared a few rare moments alone this morning over breakfast at Panera.  We didn't set out to have a deep, life-assessing conversation, but that's what we got.  We talked about the goals we've spoken of before but not done anything about - both in our marriage and in our parenting.  One of the main things we discussed was Matt's desire to invest in masculine boy-time with our guys each weekend - hiking, camping, working, laughing, swimming,...

I'm writing this post from my son's bedroom floor.  He has been struggling with night terrors and simply can't close his eyes peacefully without one of us by his side.  So here I sit, encouraging him without words... just by my nearness.

Encouragement is such a powerful thing and we all need it.  For us moms it's especially true when times are most challenging; when finances have added stress to an already tense marriage, when sleep deprivation has taken it's ...

I mentioned in yesterday's blog that this is the first year we have intentionally taught all three boys about character traits that are important to our family.  Here are a couple of pictures of the little ones signing (in Asher's case "scribbling") their name to their Family Values Contract (below).