Our family takes a lot of road trips throughout the year. Central Oregon, Oak Harbor Washington, and Salinas California are our big, annual ones, and since we most often put the miles on our minivan, the rear entertainment system (DVD player) usually keeps the kids busy. However, there are the occasional camping or boat trips we […]
A Hawaiian Family Holiday
With lots of family and friends out of state, most of our big, summer family trips are driving to see them. Once in a while we take off for a few days at the beach, or maybe Sunriver. This year, however, my husband and I decided to splurge. After taxes, we ran the numbers, cashed […]
8 Parenting Hacks From Large Families That ALL Parents Can Use
I wouldn’t consider myself a ‘mom of many,’ but just a few years ago my three kids were all home and I had to keep them busy and alive from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. I can scarcely remember those days, and honesty I’m not exactly sure how I did it. Even today with two of […]
Mad Mama: Taming Adult Temper Tantrums
They say it’s those whom we love the most that are also the ones we hurt. I have found this to be excruciatingly true as a mother who struggles with sometimes uncontrollable anger. And sometimes a lot of it. I have memories as a child of my mother’s similar temper. I loved her so much, […]
Let Them Eat (pan)CAKE: 10 Simple Ways to Bring Joy to Your Kids (and You!)
You know those parents who just gush over their kid’s every moment of every day? They have infinite patience, unending smiles, and all the time (and desire) in the world to play with their little ones. Let’s be honest. I am not one of those mothers. Parenting is tough. Really tough. And sometimes it just […]
When You’ve Got Too Much on Your Plate
School started this week. I have a second grader and a full-day kindergartener in two different schools with one homeschooled preschooler still at home. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for nearly eight years, and I’m now adjusting to the change of mommy seasons. It seemed like not long ago, I had nothing but babies and […]
Moving with Three Kids…Successfully, Part Four: Settling into Our New Home, a Giant Sigh of Relief and a Summary
This is part of the M2M Series, The Big Move from One House to Another with Three Kids…Successfully: A 4 Part Series. To read the other parts, please click here. I feel like I’ve been living this selling/buying/moving chaos for so long, I had to chronicle it for the sake of others…whether it is for sheer comical […]
Living in the Shadow of Being a Birth Mother
In honor of birth mother’s day on 5/9 and Mother’s Day on 5/10, I wrote a guest post for the Portland Moms Blog. I am a wife of ten years, and stay-at-home mother to three little ones under eight. From an outsider’s perspective, I appear to be just an average Christian church-going, minivan-driving, play date-attending […]