I made a lot of plans for the blog and the 2017 reading challenge last fall. Turns out, I spent winter and through the summer growing a new addition to our family instead. Hyperemesis gravidarum might sound like just a fancy way to say “morning sickness”, but if you’ve experienced it you will know it…
Surviving Unemployment by Making Frugal Choices
Extended unemployment is one of the more challenging things that life can throw at anyone. Six months after we married, Scott and I found ourselves facing just that. The aircraft company we worked for in Northern Idaho was hit hard by the tanking economy. Along with dozens of other employees, suddenly we both were unemployed. Neither…
Itsy Bitsy Christmas and Other Christmas Books for Young Children
I don’t collect many things, but I am unashamed of my love for collecting Christmas stories. I love Christmas time. The twinkle of lights and the triumphant words of Christmas hymns are a fitting light in the middle of the darkest time of the year. And Christmas stories are often filled with stories of trust,…
Looking Ahead to Fall ( Plus a book review)
The air always makes a subtle change just before the season changes. I noticed it the other day when I stepped outside in the morning, and I knew that summer was quietly wrapping up. A few days later, a summer storm came and with it a swirl of early falling leaves. It was a gorgeous hint…
Coloring Turned Patriotic Passtime
Reading stories isn’t the only thing that I’ve picked up again this year. Partly because I’ve always loved coloring, and partly because I now have a child who colors through a coloring book almost every single week, I decided to take a second glance at the trendy adult coloring book world. And I was pretty…
Night, Night Farm {a book review}
It’s been less than 24 hours since Night, Night Farm showed up on my doorstep, and it has already moved up to the top of Charlotte’s favorite stack. With the winning combination of being written by the author of one of her other top favorite books (Night, Night Prayer) and being about farm animals, it isn’t much…
The Life Changing Magic of Tiding Up
Last summer, I did something I had never done before. I hauled all of my books into the living room and put them on the floor. I unloaded books I hadn’t touched since I packed them when we moved from Alaska more than twelve years ago. Piles turned into stacks, which turned into heaps, which…
The Homemade Kitchen {a book review}
One of my favorite things in the whole world is cooking. There are few things I find more satisfying personally than preparing a delicious meal for my family and making the plates as pretty as I can. To me, food is art. It takes skill to prepare a good meal. It takes something special to appreciate…
Goodnight, Little Love –a book review
If there ever was a child who loved her books, it would be mine. If there ever were a child who wasn’t really great at sleeping, it would be mine. So…bedtime books? I think they should come with some sleep inducing magic that would make sleep a little easier. A mom can wish, right? We…
Thank You, Lord, For Everything — a book review
It’s Thanksgiving season. That means that for me, I like to spend a little extra time refocusing on gratitude and being intentional about telling God “Thank you” for all the little things in my life. One of the things I’m really thankful for is how much Charlotte loves books. And now that she is a…
