PJ Jonas – Page 110 – Teaching Families to Work Hard Together

Watch Your Words

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 017. Words are very powerful and yet most of us use them without much thought. I have been the victim of words that were carelessly spoken and have wounded me deeply. I’m sad to say that I’ve been on the other end as well and have uttered words before…

June 27, 2012

How to Maintain Friendships

When we decided to leave New Jersey, it was easy to leave our house. It was easy to leave our jobs. It was easy to leave our neighborhood. It was NOT easy to leave our friends. I’ve always believed that friendships are very important. When times are good you need friends. And when times…

June 26, 2012

Good Neighbors

I was working on my computer yesterday afternoon when the children came running in. They told me that a large tree had just fallen across the road. They told me that they heard it crack and fall and that the electric wires were shaking. I looked out to where they were pointing. The tree could…

June 25, 2012

When to Discipline and When to Laugh

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…

June 24, 2012

Keeping Your Sibling Humble

Colter is now thirteen and very proud of his muscles and what he is able to accomplish. He regularly carries fifty pound bags of feed out to the goats, so he is actually very strong. The other week he was doing pushups on the dining room bench. It was less of a work-out and more…

June 23, 2012

Why Should You Care?

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…

June 22, 2012

Indigo’s Favorite Soap

We do a lot of videos around here. Sometimes we tell the children what to say, sometimes we just give them a little bit of direction, and sometimes we let them talk and say whatever they want. We filmed several of the “favorite soap” videos in a row. Indigo filmed her video right after…

June 21, 2012

Build Your Platform with Michael Hyatt

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 016. According to Michael Hyatt, the best time to build a platform is five years before you need it. And yet, if you had told me in 2003 that in five years I would launch a successful goat milk soap business and that I would be reaching thousands of…

June 20, 2012

Sneaky Laundry

A couple of weeks ago, I knew that Tuesday was going to be a super busy day for me because I had a bunch of “big” things to do: Ship all the orders (it had been a 3 day weekend, so there were lots!) Make a bunch of lotion sticks and lip balms Prep for…

June 19, 2012

Time to Quit?

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…

June 18, 2012

What a Guy!

Today is Father’s Day and we’re not doing a whole lot to celebrate it. Part of the reason is because we don’t make a big fuss about celebrations. Part of the reason is because we’re super busy. And part of the reason is because Jim is fairly understated and doesn’t require or demand extra attention.…

June 17, 2012

When I Grow Up

We went to the Olive Garden for Emery’s birthday. We don’t go there that often, because it is so expensive. But Emery really loves Italian food, so we decided to splurge and make him really happy. He always gets the Tour of Italy and then brings the leftovers home for lunch the next day. When…

June 16, 2012

Accepting the Word “No”

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…

June 15, 2012

Setting Good Examples

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…

June 14, 2012

Never Stop Learning

Busy Mom’s Survival Guide Podcast Episode 015. I love and value learning. Not just for the children, but for myself as well. A “rusty” brain would prevent me from conversing intelligently with my husband and others about a variety of topics. So I make sure that I am always learning something about being a…

June 13, 2012