In our family, we LOVE LOVE LOVE books. Very often, you will find all of us together in the living room drinking tea, as my husband reads aloud. Our current read aloud is Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings . It is such great fun!  My husband and I go to great lengths to find books that are well-made, well written, fun to read and wonderful to view. This morning my toddler and I were curled up on the couch with a pile of his favorite books, at least, his favorite at the moment...

Postpartum depression… It's no joke. I had no idea how bad postpartum depression could be until I experienced it for the first time. It usually hits me around two months postpartum, the same time that my hair begins to fall out. I know the timeline for postpartum depression can vary from woman to woman. But, this is just the way that it typically goes for me. The first time I went through PPD, I remember thinking that the struggles of postpartum depression should be talked ab

The other day, I was listening to a podcast on the bible, Bible in a Year by Fr. Mike Shmitz. The topic was the story of the brothers, Cain and Abel. If you do not know the story, the story goes as follows:  Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain was a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd. Both of the brothers offered gifts to God. Abel offered the best of his flock, while Cain offered fruits from his farm. God was pleased with Abel's offering, while Cain’s offering left s

For years I have looked for the perfect lotion recipe. I have made many bad batches; batches that I had to chisel off and melt before I...

Benjamin Franklin has a wonderful saying, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." There are so many things that some parents think that their child will just "learn" or "pick up" as they grow. I think that there are many things that we should be teaching our children, but just never think of them. Money management is definitely one of those things, and who doesn't want to teach their child how to manage money well? When should I start teaching my child how to man

How many times a day does your child ask for help to do something? How many times a day do you jump to assist your child when you think they need help? These are very, VERY important questions to know the answers to if you want to raise capable, independent children. When I first became a parent, I was often afraid of my child getting hurt, and I definitely assisted them with more things than I should have... I was a bit of a control freak, I admit. Then, I stumbled upon a wo

Are you having trouble getting your baby to sleep through the night? Are they older than six months? It may be time to consider sleep training. Although I fought the idea of it for a little while, in order to bring some peace to the home, I eventually went the sleep training route. You can read about my sleep training system here . Today I wanted to share with you my top must-haves for sleep training. These are tried and true products that have worked for all five of my child

I had never experienced the pain of sciatica until I became pregnant. During my third pregnancy, I experienced it for the first time and the pain was so intense that I could hardly walk. What is sciatica?

Does your toddler follow you EVERYWHERE? Does this drive you crazy? Recently, I was in this phase with my fourth child. No matter how hard I tried to set him up with an activity, the moment I walked away, he followed me. I reminded myself that, as his mother, I am his world, I am his favorite person. Most toddlers do this because they love their mom, not because they are trying to frustrate her. However, this can be quite frustrating and make it difficult to get anything done

My mother's scone recipe is simple, delicious and so indulgent! This is truly my family's favorite recipe for that perfect Sunday treat. Have a delicious breakfast dessert coming out of the oven in under 30 minutes! Ready in under 30 minutes Makes 8 scones Ingredients 2 1/2 cups of flour (Spelt or Einkorn is recommended for the nutrients) 1/2 tsp of salt 1 tbsp of baking powder 1/3 cup of coconut sugar (or sugar of preference) 3/4 cup of cold unsalted butter 1 egg 1/2 cup of