Foods 
This sugar-free orange creamsicle ice cream will make the kids happy all summer long. And, of course, it's the perfect adult guilt-free dessert, too! Ice cream is the perfect summer treat. Well, ice cream is really the perfect any-time-of-year treat (right? I'm right, and you know it). But I like using summer as a good excuse to make creamy, homemade ice cream. And if I can make that treat reminiscent of one of my favorite treats as a kiddo (and be sugar-free), you better watch out...this might be dangerous folks! Making sugar-free ice cream, my friend, is oh so easy! You're not going to believe something that tastes ...Read More
Modern Sex Ed Gone Crazy (and how Christian parents should respond)
Just how explicit should sex education be? The other day I was reading through a sermon transcript of a well-known preacher. (If I said his name, you would recognize it.) In his lengthy message, he addressed a vast number of topics, and among those topics was the issue of sex ed. His advice to parents was far from reserved. He told parents they needed to teach their children diligently, not just about sexual morality in general, but about specific sexual topics. He mentioned sins like adultery, rape, lusting after someone else's wife, prostitution, and the devastating consequences of "whoring." He ...Read More
Easy Gluten-Free Mini Pizzas
Need a quick and easy swap for regular pizzas? These grain- and gluten-free mini pizzas are for you! No need to give up a favorite (and easy) meal just because you're avoiding grains and gluten. It is possible to make a delicious pizza that's grain-free too. And these mini ones are perfect for each member of the family to make their favorite way! Are you looking for more tips for going gluten free? I’ve gathered them all together, along with dozens of recipes, in this Everything Gluten Free page. Family Night Ever since my husband and I started having kids, we set aside a night for family each week. And we keep it ...Read More
Homeschooling Learning to Write Papers: the perfect program for reluctant writers
Some kid love to write—and it comes naturally to them. They just seem to be able to put words to paper without much difficulty, and they never seem to run out of stuff to write about. Then there are the rest of our kids. My kids don't really enjoy writing at this point in their lives—and I don't mean they don't just like writing assignments. I mean they just don't like writing. It is not at all natural to them. Thanks to the Institute for Excellence in Writing, I'm seeing a change. Getting Started with IEW The core of the curriculum from Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) is Teaching Writing: ...Read More
Tired of the Tedious? Try This No-Nonsense Spelling Curriculum
One of the more tedious subject in our house has been spelling. It has often been accompanied by much unhappiness—whining, complaining, and yes, even tears. And can I really blame them? Spelling can be terribly boring. I've written of my second-born's struggle with spelling and how we overcame that, but with my older son we found another program that worked great (and cut down on all the complaining). In fact, it worked so well, once second-born progresses a bit further, I'm planning to move him to this curriculum too. Bradley (my oldest) has now completed the entire spelling curriculum from the Institute for ...Read More
No more tears! A spelling curriculum your kids will actually like.
The tears flowed freely as my son declared he hated language arts. He hadn't ever spoken like that about any of his school subjects. It broke his mama's heart: instead of finding joy from his learning, he was beginning to despise it (well, at least in this subject). I knew something had to change. Spelling was ruining our school days. What went wrong? I decided to go with an all-in-one language arts curriculum—little bit of grammar, little bit of writing, and the spelling. While he didn't particularly like any of it, it was really the spelling portion that put the nail in that curriculum's coffin. We trudged ...Read More
No Diffuser? 7 Ways You Can Still Enjoy Essential Oils!
I love diffusers. Like really love them. It's almost embarrassing the number of diffusers I own. Each of my dear diffusers is placed strategically around my home, so...well, so I can be lazy and don't have to move them. While it's true diffusers are one of my favorite ways to use oils, there are many more ways to use those little bottles of goodness. Learn more about my favorite essential oils in this post. 7 Ways to Use Essential Oils without a Diffuser Whether you’re looking to introduce variety to your essential oil routine, gain more hands on experience with oils, or simply looking for creative diffuser ...Read More
Hate Grammar? This Curriculum Makes It Easy.
"Arguments over grammar and style are often as fierce as those over IBM versus Mac, and as fruitless as Coke versus Pepsi and boxers versus briefs." – Jack Lynch I love the em dash. It's probably my favorite piece of punctuation. Just look at it—not like those wimpy little hyphens or scrawny parentheses. That's a solid punctuation mark. Beyond the em dash, I'm not that passionate about English grammar. Come to think of it, I can confidently say grammar bores me. All that business about coordinating conjunctions, dependent clauses, prepositions, and predicates? No thanks. Still, at some point, kids have to ...Read More
