In this heart wrenching post, a bio and adoptive mom answers every parent’s question. Do you love your adopted child as much as your biological one? Recently on a Facebook post I received the following comment. I find it difficult to get past the distinctions in your children: my daughter, my grandson (those ones are really yours), my adopted daughter,… Read More
Give Mom the Perfect Gift by using the Five Love Languages
Does anyone else feel like Mother’s Day is the hardest holiday? Especially if you’re the mom! Torn between being celebrated and honoring your own mother if she’s still alive, sometimes Mother’s Day can be a day of conflict. I celebrated my first Mother’s Day 27 years ago. I know it seems like a cliche, but the years have flown by… Read More
What I Really Want for Mother’s Day This Year
Maybe this Mother’s Day you’re feeling a little sentimental like me, or searching for a purpose in those sleepless nights and endless days of diapers and tantrums. Could it be that the teenage years are wearing thin and you’re wondering if anything you’re doing really matters? Totally unprepared for motherhood 27 years ago, I dove in and have been swimming upstream… Read More
Encourage your Kids with Creative Notes
This post was sponsored by Expressionery.com but all opinions are my own. When I became a mom 26 years ago I was determined to greet the teenage years with enthusiasm and a wonderful relationship with my children. I was willing to invest daily in their growing up years through homeschooling and nightly conversations around the dinner table. I knew that the key… Read More
The Truth I’m Afraid to Share
I’m afraid to even put these words to paper. Fear. Shame. Guilt. Confession. I used to be THAT mom. I had it all together. The one with the clean house, the kids that seemed to mostly get along and usually had on clean clothes with their hair brushed. (Still asking for forgiveness for the years with the bowl cut. Sorry, Joshua.)… Read More
Homesick Kids [Encouragement Notes for Camp!]
You can help homesick kids by sending encouragement notes to camp or sleepovers. Simply write love notes for your kids to read when they’re away from home. Some of the best family traditions are often those that happen by accident, like our family blessing jar. What started out as a way to teach our children gratitude is now a deeply… Read More
Advice for New Dads: Cliff Notes Version
Great advice for new dads from a first time father, with everything you need to know to make it through those sleepless first days! Welcome back my daughter Rachel and an especially big welcome to her husband Donny! Let me tell you about my son-in-law. Throughout the courtship/dating process he and Rachel spent a lot of time in our home…. Read More
9 Easy Tools to Help You Survive a Crisis in Your Personal Life
Based on her personal story as an adoptive mom and caregiver, Marty Walden shares 9 easy tools to help you survive a crisis in your personal life. There is hope! Do you remember the movie Groundhog Day? Phil (Bill Murray), a weatherman, is set to cover the yearly emergence of the groundhog from its hole. He gets caught in a… Read More
3 Tools for Organizing Your Life!
Since we’ve just finished celebrating Mother’s Day I’m here to share a few of the tools I’ve used through the years to keep our home running smoothly. Or at least an attempt at order amidst chaos! I remember the day we brought our first child, a daughter, home from the hospital. I looked at this perfect, beautiful baby and wondered… Read More