We had girls’ night last night. Always a good time:) Especially after yesterday. We had one of “those” days at our house. Fussy baby, time-out chair was used a couple of times, problems sharing, etc. You can picture it. And you probably also know how I feel. Satan always knows how to push our buttons. He always knows how to steal joy out of a precious situation. Continue Reading…
Stolen Joy
The one thing every guy should buy his wife at Victoria’s Secret
J: A few weeks ago, I thought it would be an awesome idea to buy my wife something at Victoria’s Secret. For the uninitiated, this seems like it would be a lot of fun! If you’ve ever been shopping there, you know the reality is quite different!
From the moment I walked in, it was complete sensory overload: unreal amounts of pink everywhere, giant posters of supermodels and endless amounts of lingerie in varieties that I never even knew existed! I quickly realized that I was totally out of my element. To top it all off, I’m the only guy in the store and there are women from age 12-50 watching me out of the corner of their eye to make sure I’m not some creeper. Very awkward!
Luckily I had a plan before I ever even entered the store. Continue Reading…
6 steps to get more out of Facebook
I’ve been using Facebook since 2005. I was out of college by then so I heard about it from a lot of friends still in college. As soon as it opened to the public, I left Myspace behind and jumped in full speed.
It’s been really interesting to see it progress from college students to young adults to pretty much everyone. Even more interesting is the move from it being an American thing to truly being global.
Still, there are many people who are new to Facebook or may have been using it for a while but still aren’t getting the full experience. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out it. Continue Reading…
Our Schooling Dilemma: To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool?!
That is the question!! Currently we are facing some decisions that will shape our children’s education. Mavis is about to enter Pre-Kindergarten. I have always been an advocate of public schools, having attended them myself. My educational experience was great. I felt prepared for college. I was given ample opportunity. I was exposed to different cultures and challenged to rise up in the face of things this world tempts us to do.
This past year, Mavis attended a private preschool program. It was amazing. Her teacher was wonderful and I felt like she had a well-rounded experience. She had a very diverse class (which I loved) and really broadened her perspective on other children and families.
This next year we are going to explore homeschooling. Partly a financial decision, I also feel like it will be great for me to learn how to better educate my children. I hope that together we can learn about making our home a place of constant learning.The dilemma is making sure she gets enough time to work with other children, share, follow a line leader, etc. All of these things are hard to re-create at home. Continue Reading…
Our Honeymoon Death Wish…
Jake and I have a theory: every good marriage begins with a near-death experience – okay, maybe not every good marriage but at least ours did! It happened just hours after we said “I do” and we will never forget it.
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Love Gives Way
Our friend Andy Brophy of OneNine Images is doing something quite remarkable. We want to highlight it today and we hope you’ll pass it along to your friends as well. It really is quite amazing! I could go on but it’s better to just let Andy tell it in his own words: Continue Reading…
Take steps toward each other
The longer Hannah and I are together and the busier life gets with work, kids, family, friends and everything else, I’m finding out how important it is for us to intentionally take steps toward each other. It doesn’t have to be a huge step. But just consistently taking those steps brings us back together after the busyness has pulled us apart. Continue Reading…
Pinterest! my new addiction…
Well, there’s a new love of my life! It’s Pinterest. I hope you’ve heard of it by now! It is seriously the best thing since sliced bread. Pinterest is a place to organize and display all your “interests.” You have a profile page, on that page you have boards that are divided into subjects (ex. home, kids, food, style, party ideas, etc). You pin pictures and ideas from other websites to your boards as a way of logging all the pictures you find online. OR…you search Pinterest for things that others have posted. Even more amazing, when you see a picture that you love, you can click on that picture and go to the website/blog where it originated. For creatives, crafties, or those just wanting to look at things creative and crafty, Pinterest is heaven! It has a wealth of DIY ideas, decorating tips and tricks, fun ideas for kids, style inspirations, recipes, and so much more.
One of our favorite photos
This has always been one of my favorite pictures of Hannah and I. It’s from our engagement and was taken in downtown Wilmington overlooking the Cape Fear River by Joseph McSpadden. I’ve always felt like it perfectly captured such a special moment in time for us. When Hannah added the photo to that frame, it was complete. Continue Reading…
The purpose of parenting
Last week, I blogged about a struggle I have. I wrestle with the need to be seen as a great parent. Because of this, I find myself parenting for the wrong reasons. Sometimes, especially when around other moms, I parent to have well-behaved children. However, great kids are the by-product of the real purpose of parenting- which is helping my kids look more like Jesus. Continue Reading…
