When Melissa of Green Owl Art featured the calm down jar on Family Sponge last spring, I was in love. Not only do I love mason jars, but I love new ways to get my wild children under control. We do time outs and talk it outs, but they don’t always work. Nothing always works, [...]
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In her Shoes: When Hope is Taken Away
Guest post written by Arianna Carlson of For the Love of Motherhood From the time we are young we have hopes. We hope we’ll make friends at school. We hope the cute boy will ask us out. We hope to get into college. We hope we’ll get a good job. We hope we’ll fall in love, get [...]
POSTED BY ON August 21, 2012 | Comments { 10 }
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”
As a mom, I find myself trying to rediscover who I was during my pre-mommy days. All though there are pieces that remain, I find it challenging (okay depressing) to keep up with all of my interests while juggling motherhood. And then add in Pinterest, awesome mommy blogs like The Pioneer Woman, and glaring eyes [...]
POSTED BY ON August 3, 2012 | Comments { 2 }
The benefits of cloth diapers
Guest post by Wendie Hays of Simple Urban Living When I was pregnant with my first child, I did quite a bit of research on cloth diapers and decided to use them. Everyone thought I was crazy. I was told “That won’t last! You’ll switch to disposables.” Well, now I’m on the tail end of [...]
POSTED BY ON July 30, 2012 | Comments { 7 }
Taking care of mom
“Remember to secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others with theirs.” That’s the safety protocol on any flight you take. Let’s face it, you aren’t much help in an emergency if you haven’t taken care of yourself first. The same thing applies to parenting. Sure you want your kids to eat healthy, sleep well [...]
POSTED BY ON July 5, 2012 | Comments { 7 }
Stability in Moving with Children
Guest post written by Arianna Carlson of For the Love of Motherhood Moving to me is like having a fresh start. It’s finding a new home, making new friends, embarking on an adventure. Whether you move around the block, several miles away, clear across the country or world, each move offers new opportunities. I grew up [...]
POSTED BY ON July 2, 2012 | Comments { 10 }
In her shoes: Pregnancy Shock
My friend Ozma Bryant is bold and courageous when it comes to raising her five-year-old daughter Olivia. And I just love her to pieces. Ozma wanted to share her journey to becoming a mother. It was not an easy road for little Olivia to come into this world, but she has a dang good mother. [...]
POSTED BY ON June 26, 2012 | Comments { 0 }
10 Ways to Stop Buying and Start Saving
We started on a “simple living” adventure in 2007 and have learned a few things along the way. One is the difference between our wants and our needs– and we began to shop accordingly. We saved an incredible amount of money, paid off our car and college loans and have the freedom to take risks [...]
POSTED BY ON May 16, 2012 | Comments { 5 }
5 Reasons to be a TV-free family
We are a TV-free family. That means we don’t have a single TV in our home. For reals. It was a choice we made seven years ago and you can read all about it here. It is one of the best decisions my husband and I made for our family. Was it easy? No, but [...]
POSTED BY ON April 29, 2012 | Comments { 0 }
Trisomy 21: A Mother’s Journey with Down Syndrome
Kathy Zadak shares her story of having a 2-year old son with Down syndrome. When my son Ryan was three days old, the doctors told my husband and I that our baby boy had been diagnosed with Trisomy 21, Down syndrome. We were crushed. Someone in the genetics lab had made a huge mistake. How [...]
POSTED BY ON April 27, 2012 | Comments { 5 }
The Story of Stuff : Making less mean more
Warning: The Story of Stuff Project could cause you to make a pact with your husband to not buy anything new for a whole year, do your shopping on Craigslist and at thrift stores and to cringe when entering Walmart. Is this a joke? Definitely not. I am here to tell you it happened to [...]
POSTED BY ON April 23, 2012 | Comments { 2 }
Caine’s Arcade : Cardboard box arcade
I just cannot get this story out of my mind! Caine’s Arcade is the creation of 9-year old Caine who spent the summer at his dad’s used auto shop entertaining himself with cardboard boxes. No tv’s, no video games…just scissors, tape and cardboard boxes. It’s a reminder to myself: when we let our kids explore [...]
POSTED BY ON April 11, 2012 | Comments { 1 }
Rock out like a princess and donate your hair to children
Thinking about donating hair to an organization like Locks of Love, Pantene Beautiful Lengths or Children with Hairloss? I donated 13 inches of my hair to Beautiful Lengths, and I think it’s a great experience to donate your hair. I recently found out about Children with Hair Loss, and their focus is to help “Cover Young [...]
POSTED BY ON April 2, 2012 | Comments { 4 }
Peaceful Parenting 101: Raising Your Kids
Do you ever wonder if you could be a full-time peaceful parent? You know, where you don’t yell, scream, say the word “no” and feel mommy guilt like nobody’s business. I’ve read quite a few parenting books and have a lot of parenting tools up my sleeve, but when no one is looking, rage and [...]
POSTED BY ON March 26, 2012 | Comments { 10 }
How to empower young girls: Bald is beautiful on women
Last week, my dear friend Ozma did one of the most bold and courageous acts to help redefine beauty for her daughter Olivia– she cut and shaved her hair off. My husband and I used to work with Ozma in Los Angeles. We even brought newborn Olivia home from the hospital who is just a [...]
POSTED BY ON March 19, 2012 | Comments { 19 }
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HOW TO BE SORTA-CRUNCHY•••
Join our simple living + world-changing journey!
1. Adopt a plant-based diet with green smoothies
2. Start using coconut oil (for almost everything)
3. Ditch the paper towels and use cloth napkins
4. Make Trash to Treasure Art Projects with your kids
5. Unplug the TV and reconnect with your family
6. Furnish your home with second-hand treasures
7. Be the change you wish to see
8. Teach your kids responsibility and effort with important work—chores.
9. Save the world we live in and bike around town
10. Upgrade your kitchen to eco-friendly pots and pans
1. Adopt a plant-based diet with green smoothies
2. Start using coconut oil (for almost everything)
3. Ditch the paper towels and use cloth napkins
4. Make Trash to Treasure Art Projects with your kids
5. Unplug the TV and reconnect with your family
6. Furnish your home with second-hand treasures
7. Be the change you wish to see
8. Teach your kids responsibility and effort with important work—chores.
9. Save the world we live in and bike around town
10. Upgrade your kitchen to eco-friendly pots and pans
