The weeks and days leading up to Oliver’s birth were a whirlwind. We had only returned from 3 months of traveling/working/living in Europe 8 weeks before. Right on the tails of that, we were trying hard to finish up the homeschool year, do some decluttering around the house, and run two huge work events, right …
A Day in the Life of Stacy: Homeschool Mom Who Asked for Help
By Stacy Karen, Contributing Writer Each year when I start to think about writing a Day in the Life post, I’m a little disappointed that I don’t have my life more together. I keep thinking I’ll be really fancy and organized next time I write one of these, but it hasn’t happened yet! If nothing else, …
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A Day in the Life of Ann: Mom of 6 {3 Boys, 3 Girls, 5 Teens}
By Ann Timm, Contributing Writer To prepare for this post, I read through several of the other writers’ previous Day in the Life posts to get an idea of how they are formatted and written as this is my first of this series. I wasn’t prepared for the flood of emotions that came forth as I …
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Simple Pleasures: A Day in the Life of Elsie, New Mom
By Elsie Callender, Contributing Writer I’m just entering the stage of life I always looked forward to the most: motherhood. I’ve dreamed about these days for a long time, and in April of this year our son was born. Life is so very different now, but it’s beautiful and full of simple abundance. I’ve had to …
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My Top 7 Picks for Raising a Healthy, Happy Family
By Ann, Contributing Writer Raising a healthy family isn’t easy. It takes time, knowledge, work and a bit of patience. How much time and work you put into being healthy and taking care of your family is up to you and your own ability, depending on where you are on your family’s journey to better …
A Day in the Life of Hilary: A Work-At-Home Mom of 2
This month we’re sharing our usual Day in the Life series, where each of our writers let’s you have a peek into their everyday lives. I love these posts, because they help you get to know the team here at KOTH, and to peel back the curtain a bit on our lives, and hopefully show that …
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Struggling to Get Your Kids to Eat Real Food? Here’s How Our Family Did It
By Ann, Contributing Writer Believe me, I know that getting your kids to eat real food is not always easy. For my husband and I, it’s been trial and error… a lot of error on my part, but through grace and patience, together we are getting there. You see, we married almost four years ago, blending two …
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A Day in the Life of Andrea: My Daughter Leaves for College in One Week!
By Andrea Green, Contributing Writer This day in the life took place one week before I leave to take my 18-year-old to college. Of all the contributors here on Keeper of the Home, I think I have the oldest kiddos. So I’ve tried to pack this post with tips I’ve learned about parenting and homemaking when …
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4 Sure-Fire Tips to Help Picky Eaters Actually Eat That Healthy School Lunch
By Kresha Faber, Contributing Writer There’s an unspoken stigma amongst moms these days, namely “picky eaters are created by moms who cater to their kid’s every whim.” Or better said, your kid wouldn’t be a picky eater if you didn’t LET him be. And while an element of this certainly may be true, picky eating …
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10 Ways to Include Toddlers and Preschoolers in the Garden
By Leigh Ann Dutton, Contributing Writer Being in my garden is one of my favorite things to do. I love the smell of fresh dirt and feeling the mist from the water hose as I spray my vegetables on a hot summer evening. I love planning what vegetables to grow and where I will put my …
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15 Tips for a More Enjoyable Pregnancy (from a soon-to-be mom of 5)
In many ways, pregnancy gets easier the more you’ve done it. You learn what works for you, you learn to relax, and perhaps most of all, you learn that it’s just a season and a relatively short one at that. An expert I’m not, but my last pregnancies have been better than my first ones …
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How to Naturally Boost Your Iron Levels
Though I’ve been somewhat low in iron in previous pregnancies, this was the first time I truly felt the physical effects of the deficiency. And in fact, this isn’t only a pregnancy-related issue, but being low in iron be a common struggle for women as we routinely lose blood (and therefore iron) with our monthly …
3 Simple and Healthy At-Home Date Nights
By Hilary Bernstein, Contributing Writer After years of marriage, date nights have the potential to become a bit humdrum. Especially when a husband and wife are tired from the busyness of daily life – of if they’re spending most at-home hours as dad and mom – date nights may even be pushed aside. Speaking from experience, I know …
How I (Finally) Had A Natural Childbirth
By Jessica Smartt, Contributing Writer I just had my third baby, and I (finally) had a natural childbirth. Induced and with Pitocin, even. Virtual high-five, anyone?? This was not easy, but I had planned it for a long time. I had horrific experiences with my two prior births. There was the emotional disconnection and fallout of the …
Healthy Ways To Handle Seasons of Stress
; By Jessica Smartt, Contributing Writer Are you in a busy or even difficult season of life? Are you looking for healthy ways to survive (and even thrive) during these days? Look no further for help! Maybe, in full disclosure, I should first list all the unhealthy ways of dealing with stress. Because trust me, people, I’ve thoroughly …
Our family’s new addition {and why this was my best first trimester yet}
You’d think by number five I’d have learned how to announce this more creatively, but perhaps it’s that with each child, a smaller percentage of my brain seems to be left with full function. (I’m only half kidding on that.) So I’ll just come right out with it and tell you we’re excited to announce there’s …
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10 Ideas for Celebrating Christ at Christmas with Young Children
This post was originally published in December of 2012 but we find these suggestions to be a great list to revisit each year for inspiration and ideas as to how to introduce the holiday season to your little ones! By Jessica Smartt, Contributing Writer Isn’t Christmas with little ones wonderful? It’s been quite a Christmas here, already. We’ve …
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A Day in the Life: Rebecca {Mom of 2 and Work-at-Home Virtual Assistant}
By Rebecca, Contributing Writer There really is no such thing as a “typical” day in my house. I grew up without a mom, so becoming a mother four years ago was quite challenging to me in that I didn’t have an example of my own to emulate. This resulted in a kind of go-with-my-gut approach to parenting that …
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A Day in the Life: Leigh Ann {A Work-at-Home Mom Relying on Grace}
By;Leigh Ann Dutton, Contributing Writer It had been a long night. I made it 30;years without pulling an all-nighter. But we were down to the wire, and we had to get the Fruit of the Spirit Curriculum for Toddlers to market on time. It was 5:30 a.m. before I crawled into bed for a prayerful …
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Are We Hurting or Helping Our Kids With Overprotective Helicopter Parenting?
I remember the summer I was nine. Living in Maple Ridge, a small suburb of Vancouver, Canada, I had the utmost freedom. My bicycle took me everywhere. It whisked me away to imaginary play as a princess in the woods, or to build forts in a friend’s backyard, or a water fight at the school …
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A Day in the Life: Andrea {Stay-at-Home Mom to Teenagers}
By Andrea Green, Contributing Writer I captured our day in the life on the first day of school for my girls. This first day of school is extra special in our house because my oldest daughter is a senior this year. Just typing that brings me to tears. My goal for this year is to …
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A Back-to-School Change for our Family & How I’m Getting Ready for School Lunches (plus Cinnamon-Raisin Quick Bread)
The school year is upon us. And didn’t it happen so;fast?;Where did the summer go?; For our family, this is a novel year. We’re trying out a special program, just for homeschoolers in our area. It’s called Innovations, and it means that our two biggest (Abbie, 9 1/2 and Caden, 7 years old) will be …
A Totally Overwhelmed Day In The Life: Jessica {Mom of three: 5, 3, and 2-week-old}
By Jessica Smartt, Contributing Writer If you read my title, you might be thinking:;of course;it’s an overwhelming day. She has a 2-week-old baby!! Was she thinking it would be otherwise!? And you’re right! When Stephanie told us that September would be the “day in the life” posts again, I thought about taking the month off, …
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When I’m Caught in the Rip Current of People Pleasing
Today I’m honored to be a part of Lysa TerKeurst’s “The Best Yes” Blog Tour, along with many other fabulous bloggers. Learn more here – http://goo.gl/bQVJW0 Our lives seem to be one bumpy, gravelly mess of road work lately, like we’ve living in a construction zone. It’s this season of transition we’re in– trying to get …
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