Category: The Home
Dolphin Tale 2 Homeschool Curriculum (Review)
Homeschool Day is September 12, and to mark the occasion, Dolphin Tale 2 opened in theaters. I had heard of Dolphin Tale, but had no idea there was a homeschool connection with it. It turns out that the people who run Winter’s aquarium are a homeschooling family!
Friends & Heroes Homeschool Unit Study #1 (Review)
Disclosure: I did receive a complimentary copy of this unit study / curriculum, in exchange for an honest review. We are a homeschooling family consisting of Mama, Papa, 4th-almost-5th grade boy (Jeremiah/Jerem/JT/J1), 2nd-almost-3rd grade boy (Josiah/Joe/JB/J2), Kindergartner (Jamin/J-bug/JZ/J3), and preschooler (Jace/Jacey/JIP/J4). The big boys and I have recently been using the first …
10 FREE Things to Do on an Unplugged Staycation (Summer Ideas)
What do you do when you want to have some fun family time, but you’re strapped for cash and need to stay close to home? Sometimes just seeing things written down in list form can give me ideas, so I hope this little list is helpful to you in spending …
10 FREE Things to Do on an Unplugged Staycation (Summer Ideas)Read More
Teaching Kids to Save Money
Most parents know that they need to teach their children how to manage their money. Perhaps it’s because they have had to learn the hard way through their own mistakes because their parents did not pass on the information to them. Maybe it’s because they have struggled financially for a …
Movie Review: Gifted Hands
Jerry and I stayed up too late last night to watch Gifted Hands. I’d planned to go to bed when he turned it on, but it pulled me in and I watched the whole thing. I feel glad that I did, because I have to say, it was probably one …
Healthy Tips Thursday: Homemade Sunscreen
Thanks to my sweet and beautiful sister-in-law for this tip! This is the recipe she uses and said it works great. It was originally found on an image on Pinterest, with no credit. I tried a google images search and came up with nothing. What do you say about an …
Wisdom from my boys: Playing war
Sometimes (a lot!) it’s the kids who teach a lesson. My boys give me ideas often, and this is the most recent. Boys are something else. No matter where they are, they can turn playtime into a game of war. Have you caught your boys playing war lately? Today we …
Book Review: Just 18 Summers by Michelle Cox and Rene Gutteridge
I was blessed to receive a copy of the book Just 18 Summers by Michelle Cox and Rene Gutteridge. From the back cover: “After the tragic death of Butch Browning’s wife, Jenny, four families begin to realize how precious—and fleeting—their time together is. Each is at a different stage in …
Book Review: Just 18 Summers by Michelle Cox and Rene GutteridgeRead More
Finally Facing Facts
I have been in denial for a few days. It just doesn’t seem real to me…I have been waiting to see an ultrasound to know for sure. Somehow I’ve been holding out hope that the baby is still there…I’ve seen and heard a few stories of pregnancies that continued just …
What is Your Child’s Talent?
What is your Child’s Learning Talent? Jeremiah (almost 3): Your child has exceptional linguistic ability. Your child could be the next president. Also, your child may be the next Dale Carnegie, Dr. Suess, or JK Rowland. Your child can hear things and remember them easily. They are often advanced readers …
5 Things NOT to Say to Someone Experiencing Infertility
hello. a fellow infertility struggler manda linked to this on her site. i feel i should do the same. what not to say to an infertile couple. even if you think you’re being kind and sensitive, some things come out wrong, or are at least received wrong!!!!!!!
i found out the pregnant woman who works in the infant room (next door to me in the toddler room) tried a whole year before she got pregnant. wow. i never knew. i just thought it just happened. sometimes i get so caught up in myself i forget that i’m not the only one who has the problem of infertility.
manda also had a few questions that i’d like to answer – replying to people’s insensitive (or just plain ignorant) comments.
1. “I wouldn’t give up my twenties for ANYTHING. I can’t believe you are stressing about infertility at 25 (a few years ago)! What if God wants you to wait until you are twenty-eight?”
first of all, i have always wanted to be a mother. i wanted to begin my family when we first got married. for a while after we COULDN’t get pregnant, i thought God was punishing us for not trusting in Him to plan our family. i have since reconciled this. anyway, children are blessings from the Lord. why would i not want to be blessed????
2. “Be glad you don’t have kids right now. Kids can be such MONSTERS.” or “You’ll never want kids again, after watching mine.” or this is what i get all the time: “You can have my kids if you want some so badly.”
as if kids are always perfect, and i should expect perfection. no, kids are humans, just like us. and NO i don’t want YOUR child, i want MY child, from an infant, to love and teach as i want him to be raised!
3. “If you stop trying, you’ll get pregnant right away.”
that is NOT how infertility works!!!! trying too hard causes stress, which can’t help, but it won’t change infertility. infertility is just like cancer or a sickness – it has to be treated, not ignored!!
—–
well enough of that for now. i need to be going.
God’s blessings unto you,
jenn