Knowing how to prepare real, whole foods is an absolutely necessary life skill that every child should learn. Children who are not taught the basics of food preparation will end up defaulting to processed, packaged foods, simply because they haven’t learned to make anything better. If we don’t take the time to teach them, how …
How a Visual Schedule is Bringing Order to Our Home
Inspired by Simple Homeschool’s article on Creating a Visual Schedule for Kids, I realized that this was exactly what our home needed to bring some much-desired peace and order to our days. Too many times each day, I was being asked “when are we eating lunch?” or “why can’t I watch a movie right now?” …
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Winner of the Cloth Diaper Gift Certificate!
Apparently, my readers love cloth diapering! This giveaway went crazy, with 1363 entries. And now, the winner of a $75 gift certificate to Sweet Little Blessings (a wonderful source for all of your cloth diapering needs): Shannon ([email protected]) Congratulations, Shannon! For those who didn’t win, you can still grab a 10% discount from Sweet Little Blessings …
How to Swish a Diaper in the Toilet and Your Other Cloth Diapering Questions Answered
This post marks the end of our short, but hopefully helpful, series on dispelling some myths about why cloth diapering is actually easier than you think. I asked you for your cloth diapering questions, and you really let me have it! I couldn’t answer every single question, but I tried my best to make sure …
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Homeschooling Throughout the Summer
Written by Beth Corcoran, Contributing Writer When I tell people that we homeschool year round, I usually get one of two responses. I often hear from homeschooling families, “Oh, we try to do that, too.” And then I often hear, “Why on earth would you do that to yourself and your poor kids?” Well, don’t …
Feeding Babies: A Relaxed, Common Sense Approach
This post was originally published over a year ago, but I continue to find questions on feeding babies and introducing solids in my inbox, so I thought that this was worth re-posting. And with another year to see how Johanna has responded to this style of feeding, I can say with even more certainty that …
Sunburn Soothers: Herbal Remedies for Summer’s Ailments
Once your skin is burned and there’s no turning back (or when your skin has been overexposed to hot, drying sun and wind or chlorinated swimming pools), use the same herbs, essential oils and vitamins (this link actually gives new customers a $10 credit!) recommended to treat any injured skin. Herbal Remedies for Sunburn My first choices …
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3 More Reasons That Cloth Diapering is Easier Than You Think
Last week, I began to dispel some commonly held myths about cloth diapering. I began with two of the biggest myths, that cloth diapering is more expensive and that it is more disgusting. The reader response was fantastic and I think that you will find the comments section extremely valuable to take a read through. {As well, …
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The Friends and Foes of Motherhood
Motherhood isn’t easy. There are many ways to describe motherhood – joyful, challenging, unique, consuming, wonderful, exhausting, humbling, rewarding – but easy isn’t one of them. As mothers, our greatest privileges and our greatest joys in life also happen to be some of our greatest challenges. There are things we can do to help make …
Giveaway: Win a $75 Gift Certificate to Spend on Cloth Diapers & Supplies!
Note: Giveaway has now ended. Winner will be announced shortly. Considering the popularity of the cloth diapering series that I began on Monday, where I am dispelling common myths about cloth diapering and sharing just how easy it really is, this should prove to be a very popular giveaway as well! Sweet Little Blessings is …
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Winners of Berkey and NaturoKits Giveaways and a Chance to Win a Lacto-Fermentation Course!
Summer is a time for days at the park, kids running through sprinklers, and long days spent with good friends and family. In the midst of enjoying these summer days, hosting homestay students, beginning to preserve (strawberries yesterday, more to come, then raspberries next), and something else I’ve got up my sleeve, the computer has …
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Rising Above Food Wars: Eat for God’s Glory
Written by Sharon Kaufman, Contributing Writer A question – “How do I keep the issue of personal food choices in godly perspective?” A few weeks ago, I received an email from a young woman asking me how to avoid alienating people who choose not to eat a diet of whole foods. Here, in part, is her email …
Dispelling the Myths: Why Cloth Diapering is Truly Easier Than it Seems
I’ve been cloth diapering for over 6 years, but I still sometimes find myself surprised by the strange looks and the mistaken opinions that most people have when the topic arises. I want to dispel some myths in what will be a short but hopefully clarifying series on cloth diapering. In my experience I have …
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Planning What to Preserve
Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer Are you new to preserving food — or maybe just curious about it? Maybe you’d like to give it a shot, but don’t really know where to start. I was in your shoes last year! It was my very first year preserving food for my family. I had no …
The State of My Garden So Far (Challenges, Mistakes, Pests and All)
Challenges or not, I couldn’t give up gardening if I tried. Watching my plants grow, from a tiny seed into delicious food is just so rewarding (like this brand new broccoli head above, which we’ll be eating in a another week or two). This marks our first full summer in our current home, and so …
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Cool Meal Ideas for Hot Days
By Emily McClements, Contributing Writer It’s 90 degrees outside and the last thing that’s on your mind is cooking, much less turning on the oven! As summer kicks in full time, I find myself less and less motivated to spend time cooking, and working, in the kitchen. I’d rather be spending time outside – gardening, …
Compassion & Tanzanian Children
Almost one year ago, my husband and I travelled to the Philippines with Compassion International and our lives were forever changed. We were deeply moved by the people we met and the needs that we saw, and equally touched by the work being done by this upright, passionate and skilled organization. Since that time, our …
5 Ways to Use Blueberries this Season
Full of flavor, sweet and nutritious, a blueberry in season is one of summers greatest pleasures. Fresh blueberries are delicious on their own and need no special preparation. However, they do go bad quickly, so it’s important to have a plan for using and storing them in order to minimize waste. Below are 5 simple …