by Arlene | Jun 21, 2012 | Parenting, The Latest ...
I was speaking at a church earlier this year where I met the most remarkable woman, Nita Draut. Nita is a beautiful, vibrant 86-year-old who walks 3 miles a day and draws like you can’t believe. She showed me photos of her amazing art – I couldn’t...
by Arlene | May 31, 2012 | Parenting, The Latest ...
Here’s Noelle on her first day of school in kindergarten. So much to learn. New kids to meet. A teacher to get to know. It honestly feels like yesterday that I dropped her off in that kinder classroom. And today, it’s already her last day of...
by Arlene | May 14, 2012 | Parenting, The Latest ...
Wow, the kids really outdid themselves this year for Mother’s Day! Kudos to their wonderful teachers at school and church for helping them make these masterpieces. Look at my beautiful yellow corsage made by Ethan! I wore it to church proudly on...
by Arlene | May 13, 2012 | Parenting, The Latest ...
Happy Mother’s Day dear friends! I must admit I am coming into this Mother’s Day weary. I’m feeling the weight of all those “mommy” “mommy” “mommy”‘s uttered during the week. Parenthood is not for the faint...
by Arlene | Apr 16, 2012 | Health, Parenting, The Latest ...
What is something you can learn to do this spring? Ice skating may not instantly come to mind, but that’s something our kids tried for the first time. They were invited to a birthday party at the ice rink. They were a little bit reluctant but mostly excited to...
by Arlene | Apr 6, 2012 | Parenting, The Latest ...
These are my favorite non-fattening Easter eggs! I bought these a few years ago from Family Life Today. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing the eggs with my kids. Inside each egg, you find an object that has to do with Jesus’ death and resurrection. I shared the...
by Arlene | Mar 8, 2012 | Parenting, The Latest ...
Want to know how to win the battle of what to wear and what NOT to wear with your kids? Sick of flying the flag of surrender to a 2-year-old? Hop on over to Jill Savage’s blog from Hearts at Home. I am so thrilled to guest post for Jill as I am a big fan of...
by Arlene | Feb 17, 2012 | Parenting, The Latest ...
Are you enjoying your present stage in life? Earlier this month, I had the blahs for a few days. I felt discouraged about the daily demands of caring for young kids. My 2 year old Lucy has learned how to say NO! with great conviction and she was wearing me down. ...
by Arlene | Feb 1, 2012 | Parenting, The Latest ...
Part of staying young is having an “I can hardly wait…” to look forward to. Well, for the past year, my husband has been working to have an afterschool Bible club at our kids public school. Thankfully the district approved the request and last...
by Arlene | Nov 22, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
No, Ethan is not the turkey. But he is holding my favorite craft from his elementary school career thus far. Ethan is a 2nd grader in public school. His assignment was to write the things he is grateful for. They’re in Spanish because he’s in a...
by Arlene | Nov 1, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
I must admit. Dressing up and getting candy is a pretty cool combination for a kid (and us as parents!). We’ve had a lot of fun this weekend. Friday morning: Kindergarten costume parade at school. Friday night: Husky Howl – fall festival at school....
by Arlene | Oct 12, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
My youngest daughter Lucy has turned two… Look how far she has come. Here she is at 6 months with hair that any rocker would envy: Her hair doesn’t stick up anymore… I have to put her hair up manually now: We celebrated Lucy’s birthday at...
by Arlene | Sep 22, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
Now that I have your attention…allow me to introduce you to the newest member of the family. This is Bertha from Ecuador and she is my new beautiful World Vision child! She is similar in age to my daughter Lucy. Sitting in the arena at Women of Faith in...
by Arlene | Sep 20, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
My kids attend a dual immersion school in Chula Vista which means the majority of their instruction is in Spanish. Here’s my daughter Noelle and I in her kindergarten classroom. I am so happy to see her thrive in her new environment. She has an oral...
by Arlene | Aug 23, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
I began reading Amish Values for Your Family while waiting for my minivan to get an oil change, which I suppose is ironic. But I certainly did enjoy my wait time! I could relate to many of the values found in the book although I am not Amish. I really enjoyed the...
by Arlene | Aug 5, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
This year I’m doing the story time for kindergarteners and first graders at my church’s VBS. The theme is “Son Surf Beach Bash” and we’re having a blast! Working with kids mostly makes you feel young (they are hilarious!) but sometimes...
by Arlene | Jul 22, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
I know it may be hard to believe but my kiddos are back in school! We attend a year round school so they started on Wednesday. Here’s Noelle beginning kindergarten with her wonderful teacher who we love (she was older brother’s teacher too!). Thank God...
by Arlene | Jul 11, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
We had a great time on the East Coast with James’ family. The kids have conquered their fear of swimming and really enjoyed being in the pool. Last year we had to persuade them to get in the pool, not this year! My kids LOVED being together with their older...
by Arlene | Jun 27, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
You asked about the after shot of Lucy’s haircut and here it is! It’s still long enough that I put it up in her traditional Pebbles look 🙂
by Arlene | Jun 20, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
We had a great Father’s Day yesterday at church and then with friends at a park. Here’s the super daddy himself in all his glory. Check out Ethan’s funny eyes…he thinks his sister is an alien! Here’s what the kids looked like last year...
by Arlene | May 9, 2011 | Parenting, The Latest ...
I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day! My favorite part of the day was going to breakfast and seeing these homemade cards. The one on the left is from 4 year old Noelle. My mom helped both kids make some cards with some beautiful tissue paper flowers! The...
by Arlene | Apr 25, 2011 | Parenting
Happy Easter from my home to yours! Here’s sweet baby Lucy in her new Easter dress (thanks grandma!). She looks rather serious, perhaps she was still thinking of how scary the Easter bunny was to her! We started the day with a giant Easter egg hunt at our...
by Arlene | Apr 22, 2011 | Parenting
My sister-in-law Cindy just spent five days with us. She was visiting from the East Coast and totally blessed our family. First of all, since I’m on crutches, it was so nice to have another adult around to drive (I can’t do that yet), to help with Lucy,...
by Arlene | Apr 14, 2011 | Parenting
My family was hiking in San Diego. I stepped down about two feet, my ankle twisted and before I knew it, I fell forward into this large dirt hole. I flipped over and looked into the big blue sky. My legs were up on the dirt ledge and I couldn’t move my right...
