The Passionate Writer

Home and family, my passions, swirl through everything I write like a cinnamon ribbon spirals through breakfast bread. I stand at the kitchen sink, my brain ticking off Fifteen After-School Snacks that Spell Love to Your Teenager. I separate the t-shirts from the socks ruminating on Five-Minute Recipes to Romance Your Husband. I walk to [...]

Five Tips for the Writing Dad (or Mom)

My alarm goes off at five. I get up. Flip on the coffee, stumble to the computer, and blink myself awake while the computer hums through its startup. I read a little of my work from the previous day and begin to fall into the clicking rhythm of creation. When the coffee burbles, I go [...]

A stopping place for your child

Early birds and night owls alike can relate. Uninterrupted screen time disappears like my friend Michelle’s whole wheat chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. And whether you rise early and write, or burn the after bedtime hours we all still have to find a good stopping place. Life tends to begin anew at daybreak. Families need [...]

Organized Kids: Five Habits to Cultivate

Get summer off to a great start by helping your kids cultivate some clutter-busting habits. You might learn something too! 1. Teach kids that less is more. The less stuff you have, the easier it is to keep things organized. Encourage kids to ask themselves why they are keeping toys that are broken, missing pieces [...]

Letting My Baby Go

I remember when we sent our oldest daughter, Laura, off to her first day at public school. Memories of her first seven years at home floated through my mind. The “play times” we’d shared. The times when I was home alone with her, playing baby dolls, and she would stop, look at me with her [...]

Life’s Little Interruptions

Almost nine months ago I signed up for a Bible Study with some home schooling friends. I really didn’€™t feel like committing to another night out of the home especially since my family was already over scheduled with activities, but my husband encouraged me to go, and I knew I needed something to help me [...]

The Hike

My son, Nathan, was commenting the other day about his two hamsters. “Mom, they have totally unique personalities. One is calm and likes to be held, the other is wild and always on the go. ” “Just like kids,” I responded. “No two are exactly the same.” Or should I say no “three,” because I [...]

The Orchard Tradition

Nothing says September like our annual fall trips to the orchard. I eye the fruit-laden trees seeing quart jars of chunky applesauce, while my children’s taste buds remember last year’s free-for-all! Between them, they wrestle the long handle of the unwieldy apple picker hoping that this rosy-blushed specimen wins “pick of the day.” Honey-crisp, Macoun, [...]

The Way They Play

Cynthia H. Green @2006 Beneath the Ivy Wreath posted originally Wednesday, July 12th as Just Do It My son has gone nearly seven years without knowing the thrill of computing gaming. That spell was broken by the introduction of Bejeweled. In some ways it has been a great diversion for him when he is sick [...]