Teachable {MOM}ents

Today, I am sharing at Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling about learning to be content in your home - whether it is your dream home or not. Plus some tips on how to spruce up your old abode! Many of you know that we recently moved to a new home {which I am loving and will be sharing pictures soon} - however, this post was written while we were still living in our previous home... She huffs and puffs as she scrubs the bathtub – it just never looks clean enough. She arranges the furniture exactly so, to cover up that awful stain on the carpet. She sighs as the utensil drawer falls off the hinges again, spilling silverware across the floor. She internally cringes when her guests bring up the chipping countertop, or sticking doorknobs, or missing siding… So you don’t live in your dream home? I don’t either. My husband is a pastor and we live in a parsonage. In case you aren’t sure what that means – a parsonage is a house that the church provides for their pastor and family. It...

I have been thinking a lot about busyness, lately. We are entering into a time of year when life seems to get busy for most families. Whether you are a homeschool, public school or private school family - school tends to busy our lives. Filling our days with endless lessons, clean-ups, chores, pick-ups and drop-offs, extra curriculars...you get the idea. Throw in church and some meetings and well, there isn't much time left for anything else. I have a constant running to-do list {sometimes written, sometimes in my head} of all of the things I need to accomplish daily, weekly, monthly - and I still usually forget something! Of course, there is no end in sight, with the earlier every year holiday ads and promotions reminding us that dinner parties and family get-togethers and gift shopping is all right around the corner... help! But in truth, as I sit back and observe our culture and societal norms, I see a trend that is threatening to ruin families - busyness. I see the m...

It is time for the final post in my series on birthday parties - how to have super fun and festive parties on a budget. All of the parties I have shared {including this one!} in this series are birthday parties that I have planned for my children and the entire party cost is under $100 {including food}> I love planning parties, but also need to keep my spending to a minimum. With more children and more parties to plan, I now spend even less. The final party I am sharing is my son Beckett's 4th Birthday Party - a Super-Hero Party! We just celebrated this past Saturday :)  I picked up the table cloth, plates, goodie bags & napkins in Walmart's Clearance aisle all for $1.00 each. I got the stickers at Target - they were $1.00 each, and then an additional 30% off (summer sale) The Justice League bags were also a part of the Target sale! The "Super" cake that my mom made :) Props to my husband for the buildings (made out of foam)...

With many of you starting a new school year, I wanted to make you aware of the FREE preschool themes that I offer here on my site. Each theme includes books to read, videos to watch, crafts, science projects and sensory box ideas. I currently have FIVE themes available (more to come in September). Click here to access the themes!  

Here is the fifth week in my series on birthday parties - how to have super fun and festive parties on a budget. All of the parties I will be sharing in this series are birthday parties that I have planned for my children and the entire party cost is under $100 {including food}> I love planning parties, but also need to keep my spending to a minimum. With more children and more parties to plan, I now spend even less. The fifth party I am sharing was a double birthday party for my daughters, Evelyn's 5th and Annabel's 1st birthday - "Sugar & Spice" Baking Theme. My daughter, Evelyn, wants to be a chef when she grows up! I picked up most of the party supplies at Target (Dollar Spot). I used a tablecloth of my mom's and made a cupcake banner out of extra fabric I had. My mom bought the pinata - a little indulgence we wouldn't normally buy - but seriously SO CUTE! I got this Sugar and Spice sign at Home Goods for $6.00! I got t...