How many couples truly put their marriage first? In a world where 50% of marriages end in divorce (and the other 50% in death Quoted from Justice League), it is easier to just make excuses as to why marriage doesn't work rather than face the fact that most people just don't try. I used to think that I was just being selfish or even a bad mother when considering going out with my husband more often. Now I know that it is the best thing we can do for our family. Life zings by at an alarmin...

I have to giggle at ads that say "Don't slave over an oven all Thanksgiving". They want you to order one of their turkeys to be delivered. With modern technology, you can hardly go wrong with a turkey these days. Buy a good turkey (I recommend Butterball) with a pop-up timer, set your oven for the recommended temp (they give directions on the packaging) and roast for the recommended amount of time per pound. They self baste. All you have to do is wait for the popper to pop. Oh, the most ...

When I was growing up (born in 1970) I knew only a couple of families that had 3 or more kids. My parents were both from bigger families but I have only one sister. Lately I have been meeting a lot of big families. My husband's cousin, for instance, has 5 kids. I met a family this evening with 5. Most of the families I see when picking my son up from school have at least 3. We have 2 and have been debating a 3rd. My baby is growing up (just turned 3) and I am heartbroken at the thought ...

We got a gas log set for our two way fireplace yesterday. I just can't believe how real it looks! I grew up with wood burning stoves and fireplaces. I remember seeing gas logs and thinking how incredibly fake they looked. This new one has a regular grate, "magic embers" that burn just like wood embers, about 7 very real looking logs. The boys are mesmerized by the fire. The 3yr old has to point it out to everyone that comes over. I really enjoyed sitting near it and watching it during t...

I am a person that hates clutter in the kitchen. I love to cook but require lots of counter space and organization. I get frustrated with cookbooks because they take up so much space but usually only contain a couple of recipes I really use more than once a year. I have an organizer full of irreplacable recipes like old family recipes. I also have the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that I will never get rid of. For anything else, I just hop on the internet. I love that my husband can ...

I just had to write about this because it is in my face every day. Too many parents let their kids walk all over them these days! A prime example is played out in a commercial that irks me every time I see it. It is the one about which is more frustrating, sharing a phone with a teen or dealing with dial up. Whenever the snotty teen says, "I'm on the phone!" I think, that parent should say, "Are you paying the phone bill? Until you do, you will use the phone when I say you can." How is ...

I am getting a little discouraged with some family members (I won't name any names because they may read this) who make gift exchanging almost not worth it. Personally, I enjoy getting stuff that people thought of for me. I really don't like it when I have to give them a list to go buy. I truly believe it is the thought that counts. So many people now seem to think of holiday shopping as such a chore. They have all of these people they "have" to buy for. Personally, if I don't have some...

Now that my oldest is 7, I know how quickly you can forget the little things. I have been writing things down and taking pictures and video as often as I can to help my memory. On that note, I wanted to share a couple of cute things my 3yr old has said recently: Look at my musmels = look at my muscles I want a bread, bread, turkey = I want a turkey sandwich He is in a regular bed and has been for over a year now but still bellows to me in the morning "Mommy! I want to get up!" A...

My top most wish for this holiday season is for the family to stay healthy so we can visit everyone that we have missed the passed few years. We have cousins that we didn't get to see for the last three years so far due to either our ailments or theirs. The usual culprit being the flu. This year we only had one pre-Christmas get together which involved being exposed to only one other child. We figured that would be a safe bet for a germ free holiday start....wrong! This one child ended up...

My now 7yr old was so easy to potty train. At about 2yrs old we bought a couple of potties and he started playing with them. We then got the "Once Upon a Potty" video. He loved the song and just took to it over night. Our 3yr old is a whole other story. He is hit and miss in a very literal sense. Just the other day he pooped on the floor about 3ft from the potty and said "I missed." I laughed and said "Wow! I guess you did." I was reading one of my parenting magazines and there wa...

I was flicking through our local news channels and heard one of them say they were going to have a story about soccer moms that don't like soccer. Imagine that! My oldest is turning 7 and I have been told I am already behind on getting him into soccer. Does he want to play soccer? No. Do I want to spend the money, force him to go and live in my car? No. I spoke to a mom in the neighborhood that said she spends about $5k a year on soccer for 2 kids...yikes! She was complaining that they...