My children are hard workers, but they’re still children. That means that sometimes chores don’t necessarily get done as quickly as they should. Let’s talk about laundry. For the longest time Greyden did all the laundry in our house. Then he graduated to dishes and Hewitt inherited the laundry. But a few months ago […]
When our family left New Jersey to move to Indiana, we had to say good-bye to our church family. Our last Sunday in New Jersey, at the end of the service, we were invited to the front of the church and the Pastor wished us well and prayed for us. Then everyone in the church […]
When I was a teenager, I remember somebody telling me that many people quit right before they are about to succeed. I was told that if you could just hang on (and outlast everyone else), success was almost always guaranteed. I recently came across this sentiment again in the book “Platform” by Michael Hyatt. I’ve […]
As part of my never-ending education, I am currently reading the book, “Generation Text: Raising Well-Adjusted Kids in an Age of Instant Everything*” by Dr. Michael Osit. I’m only on chapter three, but I’ve found it well written thus far. It’s on my iPad, so I’ve been reading it on the treadmill. One of the […]
As I look out the window, I see corn fields rolling by as far as I can see. The endless rows are broken up by the occasional silo and farm house. We’ve just left our destination – a dairy goat farm in the middle of Illinois. We are now several hundred dollars poorer and one […]
For years I prayed for a successful home business so that Jim could work from home and we could raise and homeschool the children together. I thought it would make me happy. And do you know what happened? We now have a successful home business. And Jim works from home. And we raise and homeschool the children together. […]
When people hear the word ‘bacteria’, most people immediately think of a menacing threat to their health. The news is often full of outbreaks of food that is sickening people because it is infected with bacteria such as e-coli or salmonella. Occasional reports of people contracting the flesh-eating bacteria make national headlines. Because bacteria has […]
I have very mixed feelings when it comes to my children and technology. On the one hand, I believe that they have to be proficient at technology to succeed as entrepreneurs. On the other hand, I want them to exercise their imaginations and learn interpersonal skills that technology can inhibit them from learning. Let’s talk […]
One of the best parts about having a large family, is that there are multiple opportunities throughout each and every day to help other people. For some of my children, helping others is second nature. For some of them, it’s something that they’re happy to do once you draw their attention to the fact that […]
I spend a lot of time making sure that my family lives a pretty healthy lifestyle. We try to eat right, sleep well, and get lots of exercise and fresh air. Because of this I am frequently asked, “How do I make the change to healthy eating and stick with it?” My answer is pretty […]
I think most of us want to be successful at what we do. Whether it’s being an amazing wife or a wonderful mother or a successful professional, we don’t just want to be mediocre. We want to be the best. And for those of us who are competitive, not just the best we can be, […]
In 1997, I began listening on the radio to Larry Burkett speak about living debt free. Knowing that we were starting our family (Brett was a baby) and that I wanted to stay at home, a lot of what he said resonated very strongly with me. I knew that if we lived above our means […]
I have two exciting things to announce that I’ve been working hard on. First… I am about to launch a new version of my blog. Currently, I have two blogs – Goat Milk Soapers and The Goat Milk Stuff Blog These two blogs are going to be merged into one new format that will have […]
My goal as a mother is to raise my children to be wonderful adults that are hard-working, kind, and loving. I expect them to admit their mistakes and try to correct them. I expect them to reach out and help others. I expect them to exercise self-control when appropriate. I don’t expect perfection from them, […]
Right now the Jonas Family is even busier than usual. We’re entering kidding season (which means less sleep for everyone), we’re building at the new property (which means more traveling to check on progress), and we’re losing our employee (which means more work for all). This can cause everyone to be more stressed and less […]