Posts Tagged ‘learning’

Hey, Remember Me?

Posted: August 21, 2011 in Family Life Learning, Preschool Years, Reading Methods and Ideas, Schooling at Different Ages
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Hey everyone! Sorry I have not been on in a while – I see Mama Rose has not filled you in on why I mysteriously disappeared, so allow me to clear the air. I recently went on a homeschooling vision quest where I reconnected with my inner child, and through an intensive re-developmental process that involved an obscene amount of baby food and crying for my mommy, I have subsequently had my eyes opened to the secrets of optimized developmental teaching. It was a wild ride, but I am happy to announce I am valiantly returning with all, yes, count them, ALL of the answers to the fool proof way to home school/teach your kids.

Ok, the truth is I went backpacking in the Smokey Mountains for three days and then returned to prepare, pack, and depart for our trip to Canada, BUT, Mama Rose and I have definitely had some fantastic realizations about how to teach our kids.

I want to echo my thoughts on Mama Rose’s post regarding the revelation of how to teach reading skills to Ladybug Girl. I think that one of the biggest fears for parents who want to teach their kids these skills is the fear of doing it wrong. Many times when we are faced with the overwhelming task of teaching our kids the fundamentals of reading, for example, we often go and over-think the entire process.

Kids are naturally curious and have a hunger to understand how things work. As the parent/teacher, we desire to maximize this trait by breaking down, over defining, over explaining, and generally end up making the entire process as boring as humanly possible. Then your child, head spinning, says to themselves, “What the heck is Daddy talking about? These letters can’t make up their mind on what they want to sound like. I just wanted to know more about ‘One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.’”

The fundamentals of what my Aunt Kathy teaches is to understand how a story works, understand how a story sounds, and more importantly understand how fun a story can be. We get so wrapped up in the details that we miss the forest for the trees, and often times give up, because the beauty of the story has been phonetically stripped from the page.

My way to combat this is pretty simply. Live. Appreciate the story, celebrate the beauty, enjoy the process, ask questions! I think that it has become fairly epidemic in our culture to strip down the learning process into tiny confusing details we end up trying to memorize, all in the name of having a better understanding. The result is we over-complicate a process that I am confident will be learned/discovered through natural curiosity and creativity, something that I am sad to report, seems to be in short supply.

So in closing, throw away your flash cards, grab a book, and read. Talk about how the words relate to the pictures, how the story flows, and how beautiful the story is. You might find that the appreciation for the story teaches us more then we could ever imagine.

MamaRose Shares Her Story

Posted: July 12, 2011 in Family Life Learning, What does "Education" Look Like?
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Well, well, well.  One week into a new site and I get the opportunity to do an hour-long video interview with The Homeschool Netcast Network!  Oh so coincidentally, Gerald interviewed my father, Dan Miller, the week before, so he got the perspective of a “retired” homeschool dad, so his goal was to interview me as a homeschool-ee.  However, little did he know at the time that I was embarking on a whole new endeavor with this site!

Here is the video in its entirety.  I hope it sheds some light on where we came from and what the heck we’re thinking now.  I love that Gerald asked me some hard questions not only about how/why I want to teach my kids, but threw the words the naysayers are whispering about us not knowing what we’re doing.  I love it – questions and challenges?  BRING ‘EM ON! 

And yes, you get to see Papa Gray make his grand debut by crawling in at the side around 28 minutes in.  Yes, I said crawling. Seriously – you have to watch it.

Finally, check out the “Free Stuff” page on his site.  I haven’t made it to all the links yet, but it looks like I’ll have plenty of info to get started.  Let me know what you think!

What is Education? Mama Rose

Posted: July 6, 2011 in What does "Education" Look Like?
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What are we doing, you ask? Heck if we know! Seriously, this is the deal: We know what we don’t want for our children:

  • have a 40-hour work-week
  • require them to memorize merely for the sake of passing a test
  • force them to choose their friends based on the grade/age/zoning they are in
  • give them a black and white process of learning
  • create a resentment or aversion to education

I can’t knock any one educational system.  There are pros and cons to each.  It’s easy to point out the bad (public school kids can get lost in the crowd, private school is too expensive, homeschoolers are lost in the Little House on the Prairie).  However, I don’t want to lay the groundwork that we’re choosing a new path because everyone else is wrong.  This is exactly the message I’d be mortified for my kids to think. Let me tell you this – education is NOT the bad guy.

We are choosing a lifestyle that works for us.  I think, ultimately, we’d all like to have this for our kids.  This is what we do want for our girls:

  • an ability to think outside of the box
  • a desire to learn, always
  • understanding on how to find an answer for themselves
  • ease in interacting with people of all ages/creed/ability/ethnicity
  • confidence in who they are and who they aspire to be

For us, the path is clear.  We’re forging our own path.  We’re not sure where it’s going to take us, but we want to learn with our children.  We want to give them the tools to live up to everything they want to, and we want to teach them not merely for the sake of education, but because learning is fun and makes life sweeter. This is what it’s all about.  Welcome to our journey – we’ll all learn along the way!

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Posted: June 2, 2011 in Mama Says Namaste
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>So now we know the strength in Family, and that we are powerful beyond measure.  So next is, be happy!  My sis-in-love wrote a great post on it in her blog, Everyday Experiments.  A short quote from it:

Happiness is power. Happiness is carbonated consciousness. It wants to spill out and radiate and be articulated. And every time we downplay our joy we confuse our synapses. Our brain is firing smiley neurons and our mouth is short-circuiting them. Repeated happiness muffling numbs our senses. If you keep it under the surface too long, it just might stay there – a light under a bushel.
So do us all a favour. No matter what the weather, the odds, the circumstances, the company, if you’re happy and you know it, by all means, say so!  If You’re Happy and You Know It

Today I am happy.  Thirty years ago today my world started, and every day has been a new adventure.  Not every moment has been perfect, but it’s been a wild ride and I’ve loved living and learning through it. We took a bike ride this morning as a family, and I was once again reminded at how genuinely happy I am with life.  Just like riding a bike, it’s tough sometimes and kicks my butt, I get tired, hot, hungry, and ready to give up, but it’s so worth it.  Life is good.  Life is challenging.  And every challenge is met with an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to truly relish the happiness when it comes.  

And it always will, so be ready for it!

In Celebrating Together…our Traditions

Posted: February 23, 2011 in Mama Says Namaste
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Line #3 of our Family Creed is “We believe in celebrating together–our faith, our heritage, our traditions.”
This is such a complex line that it’s too much for one blog.  I started writing and saw that I would never make it past the first comma without the need for another blog.  So, line #3 is divided even more, down to the key points–Faith, Heritage, and Tradition.

Traditions are those valuable things that make us feel at home. Going back to faith, I feel that the times that I question the most are the times that I hold closer to those traditional aspects of religion–the recitation and traditions of the Eucharist, Holy Communion…  When kids are young and learning their boundaries, the consistency of a daily schedule–naptime, when we eat, etc–tend to be the “home” that balances them and keeps them from freaking out.  When we are older and we are stressed, we tend to go to the habits and traditions that give us that same feeling of peace…going for a run, baking bread, meditation…whatever makes you feel at peace.

I think traditions are like that.  A tradition becomes more than a one-time occurrence when it we associate it with a good feeling.  I like to think of that feeling as home.  It’s easy to pull out the traditions around the holidays…and if you think about it, that is the time we are typically surrounded by family, and reminiscing on the comforts we remembered as home when we were children.

During Christmas time when I was young, every year Mom would read the story of “Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect.”  Every Mom and Dad would put the angel on the top of the tree last, together, and pose for a picture while they kiss…making for many near-tree-toppling experiences, but lots of fun and laughter.  Every Christmas Eve, my middle brother and I would camp out in Mom and Dad’s room, making pallets on the floor and straining to hear Santa (Dad’s, don’t “ho, ho, ho” when kids are still up–we know your voice).  We always baked the traditional pumpkin pie for a meal, and my famous apple pie.

We’ve added in some new traditions now in our family–Christmas Eve we open up a gift with the girls that is a family game–no batteries allowed.  The girls get new matching pajamas every year.  Christmas Eve is with my in-laws, and I make a pumpkin roll…and Christmas morning at our house is a big breakfast and everyone is invited, then down to my parent’s for the afternoon.  On Thanksgiving, we all write down the things we are most thankful for that year–once we have a few years to choose from, we’ll then pull out past ones to read about what was important from the year before.

We have more traditions beyond just holidays, though.  Almost every meal we eat as a family, and Ladybug Girl starts us off with her prayer song:

We tuck each girl in every night with their own special lullaby, followed by lots of hugs and kisses, and in the mornings the girls pile in our bed for some quality time before we get started for the day.  I’m sure this is a tradition that won’t be as popular when they are teenagers, but for now I cherish these special times with them.

I hope to add in more and more traditions not merely to the holidays, but in our daily life.  To me, these traditions create home, and I love starting new ones and remembering the old ones, even if it was merely for a season.

What are some traditions in your home?  During the holidays?  In your daily life?

We Believe…In Celebrating Together…our Heritage…

Posted: February 18, 2011 in Mama Says Namaste
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Line #3 of our Family Creed is “We believe in celebrating together–our faith, our heritage, our traditions.”
This is such a complex line that it’s too much for one blog.  I started writing and saw that I would never make it past the first comma without the need for another blog.  So, line #3 is divided even more, down to the key points–Faith, Heritage, and Tradition.

Celebrating our heritage comes through in so many ways–we are who we somewhat because of where we come from.  Although our past doesn’t define us, our perspective of the world can largely be shaped by the faith, heritage and traditions we choose to hold on to.

We have a rich heritage that includes Amish, Native Americans, and confederate soldiers.  My grandparents on my father’s side were raised Amish–horses and buggies, no electricity, thirteen and sixteen children, the whole caboodle.  My mother’s side of the family brought the Welsh and the Native Americans…the story goes that an Englishman came and swept a Native American squaw off her feet and they lived happily ever after. We still carry the olive skin and dark hair and eyes from this branch of the family tree.

My husband’s history is the deep South.  His grandmother can trace their descendants back to the Mayflower.  There are colonels and belles and even Thomas Edison in his family tree.  His relatives had a love for education and nature, and there are many foresters and naturalists in his family tree.   On his father’s side, there is a hard work ethic that came from starting from nothing and creating a family, and although the history isn’t as known on this side, the heritage they’ve passed down is still just as rich.

So what does this heritage imply for our children?  My husband brings a love of history and a passion for the South…not the “redneck” stereotype, but the true Southern gentleman.  He shares with his children all of the names of the native Southern plants; what they are, what they do, how you can survive off the wilderness…  His grandfathers taught him the importance of hard work and doing things right so that working, in my husband’s mind, is second nature.  He brings work and play together as he truly enjoys what he does, whether it’s his work with 48 Days or playing “Mr. Fix-it” around the house.  His parents fostered his imagination in a way where I am continually amazed by his creativity and the amazing things he comes up with–his time on the floor with our girls in creative play is incredible to watch.

The greatest thing from my heritage is from my Amish grandparents…this was what we carried on the most, and made the greatest impact on our whole family.  My father’s parents taught us the “best of” the Amish, in my mind.  We learned how to do things from scratch…sew, bake, grow a garden and take it from a seed to canning, applesauce, or a fresh rhubarb crisp.  I learned about farming on my uncle’s farm, and learned about flowers from following my grandpa around.  Grandma taught me how to make a perfect stitch, and that if it’s not done right, it’s not done at all.

My grandparents instilled a heritage that, although they chose to leave the Amish ways when they married, the core values and ethics flowed over to their children, their children’s children, and now on to their great-grandchildren.  I could go on and on about the people they were and the impression the made on our whole family.  They welcomed my mother, a naive “worldly” fashion model, and embraced her as one of their own…and in doing so exemplified the love and openness I admire so much as a reflection of the faith we celebrate as well.  My grandmother made such an impact on me I named my daughter after her–not only are we passing on the heritage of our family, we are passing on the family names.  (My paternal grandparents’ engagement picture)

Both of our girls are named after our grandmothers–three grandmas honored, and eight legacies in that generation that we have to thank for the heritage we know now.  We celebrate the history that is in our childhood hearts–the elements of our past and our ancestor’s past that has been stored in our souls and passed down to each generation.  We remember and relish certain things from childhood that become etched in our memory as important…and then we pass it on to our own children.

A Princeton definition of heritage is “practices that are handed down from the past by tradition”…  The practices and stories I learned from my grandparents and my husband did from his have created the crucial foundation for our own definition of family.  We are blessed to have our heritage, and the next post will go further into the traditions we’ve brought into our own home because of it.

What is your heritage?  How do you pass that down in your family?

We Believe…In Celebrating Together…Our Faith….

Posted: February 12, 2011 in Mama Says Namaste
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Line #3 of our Family Creed is “We believe in celebrating together–our faith, our heritage, our traditions.”
This is such a complex line that it’s too much for one blog.  I started writing and saw that I would never make it past the first comma without the need for another blog.  So, line #3 is divided even more, down to the key points–Faith, Heritage, and Tradition.

Faith is such a hot topic, and it tends to either bring great controversy or get tiptoed around.  Whenever “faith” is brought into play, it instantly takes one to the theological debate not only on “what do I believe,” but “what religion do I follow?”  Religion is that hairy issue that unfortunately tends to divide us all instead of unite us.  Typically the next question following the religion one is to explain why that religion (or denomination) is “right” and the rest is therefore “wrong.”  Nathan and I have spent a lot of time studying and questioning why we believe what we do.  I love to have theological debates with people of other viewpoints (as long as the goal is open discussion vs. converting to one mind).  I don’t believe we live in a black and white world, and although my faith in God has never faltered, I’ve definitely had times of questioning my affiliation with a specific denomination (or religion, for that matter) throughout my life.

I know I will never have all the answers on what I believe; the more I experience and mature in life, the more it’s going to reflect in my understanding of our Creator.  I’m pushing myself to stay challenged, however, I’m also satisfied in being “gray.”  In other words, I don’t need the why for everything I believe–and I definitely have a lot of open-ended viewpoints that don’t fall in line with where I live in the conservative buckle of the Bible Belt.   So how do I share my faith with my family, when I myself cringe at the fire-and-brimstone black and white mentality I see in many of the institutions around us?  (I say “institution” because my understanding of God’s “church” is the people, not the place…at least that’s what I hope it is!)

Now, before I go any further (and I’ll go ahead and put the disclaimer out here that discussions, I love…conversion missions to get me to “see the light” are another ballgame)…my belief in God is sound.  I want my children to know this, and it’s important in our marriage.  But the hows to pass it on are tough.  In the black and white understanding of a child, how do I celebrate the “gray” that I love?

It’s an amazing ride, being a parent, and I know my kids are going to question these things–like why do we celebrate our faith?  What do we believe (and ultimately, what do I believe)?  Why does God allow bad things?  Who is Jesus?  How is God three people?  Who, what, where, how, why, why, why?  My hope is that I can give my kids the reasons I celebrate what I believe–that we can grow together in our faith, and that I can instill in them a joy and desire to learn all they can in everything, especially their faith.  I want them to know faith like they know love in our home.  Faith, peace, hope, compassion, love…these encompass my viewpoint of God, and beyond my words, I hope our children celebrate it by the things that we do–the times we spend in nature “talking with the trees” and feeding the ducks, playing in the huge forsythia in the back that has become the “zookeeper’s house”, the “fairy house”, the “kitty-cat bed,” etc…

In one of Dad’s blogs, he talks about our daughter’s Talks with Jesus.  When we celebrate our faith with our children, it doesn’t mean I sit them down for a lesson in what to believe or think.  Although I want to be continually learning in our family, it’s more than just in a book–it’s celebrating our faith through all elements of our lives–not just in our minds, but in our hearts and in the emotions we go through.  It’s through play and work, joy and tears, confidence and lack thereof.  It means that we celebrate it all–together.  The questions, the awe, the beauty, the doubts, the peace in faith, etc.  And I know that it’s not a one-way street.  I’m eager to discover what my children will teach me when it comes to reminding me why I  celebrate faith.

We Believe…In living deeply, laughing often, and loving always.

Posted: January 27, 2011 in Mama Says Namaste
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Each week I want to address one line from our Family Creed.  The first line states “We believe in living deeply, laughing often, and loving always.”  The key element to me in this post is that second action–laughing often.  Laughter does so much more than just feel good on the inside.  It lifts any heaviness in the air, it allows you to reset your attitude, and it’s just plain fun to do.

When you live life full of passion–when you truly “live deeply”, you embrace the moment.  Back in college I read Eckhardt Tolle’s The Power of Now.  It talked about savoring the moment–truly living in the present and not wallowing in the past, or spending so much time focusing on the future that we forget about today.  It’s easy to do, especially with kids…you spend so much time planning…what to cook for dinner, where do kids need to go tomorrow, what work project is due next, what vacations are we going to do and what can we budget to handle next month, etc., etc.  Why is it that we only allow ourselves to live deeply and savor the moment when we’re on a scheduled vacation? What if we took a “mini vacation” every day…taking a moment to breathe deeply…and truly live deeply.

So, going back to laughing often.  If we are living deeply…with passion and gusto, if we allow ourselves to feel the present moment, we then have a choice.  How are those moments going to affect us?  When the kids are cranky, the bills are stacked up, and there are 300 emails to answer (maybe this is just me), how can we cope and actually enjoy ourselves?  It’s the old cliche- when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.  If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  Whatever you want to say, the bottom line is, give a little.  Figure out how to make yourself laugh.  When I have the days where kids basically prevent me from accomplishing anything else, I figure “what the heck- let’s have some fun.”  And those are days I choose to laugh.  Often.  About anything.  Even if I have to force it at first, I need to let go and understand that some days you just have to let things slide.  Sometimes it’s not worth the battle.  Sometimes you have to remember that living deeply isn’t always about cramming everything into every moment…sometimes it’s about letting some stuff slide so you can truly enjoy the things that matter.  The things you love.  The people you love.  The people, that no matter what, you choose to love always.  So embrace them, both literally and figuratively.  Let go of the nit-picky details, order a pizza, laugh a lot, and go back to the family you love.  Always.

Our Family Creed

Posted: January 18, 2011 in Mama Says Namaste
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Growing up with the family I have, having basic rules for the house just weren’t enough.  Time-outs included listening to motivational tapes by Zig Ziglar (I know his voice in my sleep now) and laying out goals for the future.  Mom’s top priority was to create a “haven of peace” in our home.  Going with the 48 Days philosophy that to truly succeed you must first know yourself and know your mission, our family had a mission statement we taped on the wall:

In a safe place, people are kind.  Sarcasm, fighting, back-biting and name-calling were exceptions.  Kindness, consideration and forgiveness are the way of life.

In a safe place there is laughter.  Not just the canned laughter of television, but real laughter that comes from sharing meaningful work and play.

In a safe place there are rules.  The rules are few and fair and are made by the people who live and work there, including the children.

In a safe place people listen to one another.  They care about one another and show that they do. 

Please God, make this a safe place. ~Mary MacCracken

What wall, you wonder? The bathroom one, of course!  Where else do you go several times daily and sit/stand still without anything else to do but read something?  If you ever want your family to memorize something, I’m telling you, this is the way to do it!  (And yes, I wrote the above from memory).

Now that my girls are getting older (1 and 3), it’s time that we start really laying out the principles we want to live by.  Although I cherish the mission statement I grew up with, I was eager to find our own.  We do have our basic rules laid out by Ladybug Girl:

But a mission statement is more than that–it’s not just going over all of the “no’s”….it’s about addressing the “yeses”  the things that are most important to us as a family.  I was browsing through a random magazine one day and found it–I don’t know who to trace this to, but this is the essence of what I desire for our home, and what we have chosen to capture as our “family creed.”  This is not only in our bathroom, but on the fridge and in my wallet.

Here is what it says:

Over the next few blogs, I want to hash out each one of these statements above–to address why we chose to have them in our creed and what it means to me.  I’m excited about this and I’m eager to hear about yours.

Do you have a family mission statement (or creed)?

Train Up a Child…

Posted: June 28, 2010 in Mama Says Namaste
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How do I condense into a short blog the journey we have been on with our eldest and the long road of discipline?  I’ll give it my best shot here…
As you can see from the last blog, temper tantrums have been my life.  It got to the point of 2-3 hour meltdowns and tantrums at bedtime, us walking on eggshells, not sure when the next tantrum would erupt, and our poor child was just not fun to be around.  Enter me lamenting on Facebook, which led to a comment from my brother, father of seven, which led to many conversations with my brother and sister-in-law on my wonderful, trying, brilliant, and very strong-willed little girl.
They recommended a book, Train Up a Child, by Michael and Debi Pearl.  Now…word of precaution.  This book is incredibly fundamental.  It’s very traditional.  You really, reallyneed to take it with a big grain of salt.  A large, large grain.  Um, so large that I’m nervous recommending it.  But…this book changed our lives.

My synopsis of what I learned…raising children isn’t about just disciplining bad behavior–it’s about training and correcting them so they thrive–so I am not merely reactive to my child’s behavior but proactive in promoting the positive behavior that is important in raising future adults that are thoughtful, respectful and a joy to be around.
Spanking gets a bad rap. I completely understand why.  Seeing the parents who react in anger, who swipe up their kid and hit him on the bottom at every wayward behavior, kids that learn that you hit to get your point across…I definitely had reservations on ever spanking, even though I was spanked as a kid.  But then again…I  did get spanked as a kid.  And nope, haven’t been through therapy because of it.  I don’t actually remember anything negative from it, other than me not wanting to get in trouble.
My top tips for effective spanking vs. abuse…they have to know it’s coming.  It sounds awful, but we talk about the spanking and why she’s getting it before it happens–she knows it’s coming and she has to accept her punishment–no kicking and screaming while I hold her down.  Reason for this?  If she can’t accept a consequence for her behavior at three, how can I expect her to accept it when she’s sixteen and I have less control over it?
Next, we use a spoon…dubbed “the long arm of the law”.  Why?  Because it isn’t our hand that does the harm, first off.  It’s also something that causes a sting on the surface without lasting damage.  You don’t hear of trips to the hospital because of a wooden spoon spanking.  Using your hand to spank a bottom can damage a kids’ spine if done too hard, and also, in my opinion, is way too convenient…which means it’s more likely that you will spank in anger.
Which leads me to my biggest point.  A spanking is not to be done in anger.  Never, ever hit when you as the parent are mad.  If you retaliate to their bad behavior by displaying your own, then what you’ve passed on to your child is not the importance of good behavior, but that anything goes–it’s just a matter of who’s bigger (and who wins).
And always end with a positive-because spanking is just a minor part of discipline. We use time outs, breaks in the “reflection chair”, spanking, distractions, incentives and talking things over.  We don’t immediately rush to the spoon if a break from the situation will do. There are certain times when we have to consider that she is three–she doesn’t have a perfect grasp on why she feels the way she does (heck, I have a hard time grasping why I feel certain ways sometimes!)  There are times when lack of sleep, allergies, or high emotions take over and a hug is the best preventative discipline for her.
What it ultimately boils down to is that our goal as parents is to empower Ladybug Girl to be the best person she can be–and that means teaching her to understand her limits and how to cope in this world in a positive way.  As a child getting a grasp on her emotions, we as parents stand as her sounding board and hope to impart what we know and help her to create her own path with a firm foundation.
It’s not about spanking.  It’s not about discipline.  It’s all about training…or the more socially acceptable term–”raising” a child.  I want to be her safe haven–I want to be her listening ear and gentle guide.  I want to be there for her–literally and figuratively.  Most importantly, I want her to know she’s loved.  No matter what, I love her, and I love her enough to push her–to be the best Ladybug Girl she can be–one that has a good grasp of the world and how to be a positive light in it.
I don’t have it all figured out, and I can guarantee that both girls will throw me for a loop countless more times in the next twenty years (and beyond).  But I think all we can do as parents is the best we know at the time.  And right now I feel at peace with where we are at with discipline.  Since Nathan and I “laid down the law,” we have gotten a child that constantly comes and gives us hugs and tells us she loves us, who dances and sings 80% of time, and who is a genuinely happy kid.  The more clear boundaries we’ve laid the more secure she’s become, and I’m amazed at the little girl who’s emerging–she’s not a toddler anymore.  She has a better grasp on things than I give her credit for, and she keeps us laughing most of the time with her funny precociousness.
I feel the weight of parenting–the importance of what we do right now setting patterns for life, and we’re very, very careful about making sure we’re doing what is in Ladybug Girl’s (and now Snugglepuppy’s) best interest.  We all fail, and Nathan and I have our moments of frustrations, but the girls are rich in an abundance of loving support.  We have accountability all around us–we have so much family invested in these children that I’m confident that even if we don’t have it all figured out, we’ll be the best parents we know how to be, and we’ll have plenty of support to keep us in check if it were ever a negative effect on our children.
I’m so thankful for everyone in our lives that invests in our girls-grandparents, uncles and aunts, godparents, teachers and coaches…I’m immensely grateful for every positive influence in my girls’ lives, and I know that regardless of us having this whole parenting thing figured out, my girls will always feel our love.

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