• travel_goals
    Travel

    What Next? My New Travel Goals #travel

    September 6, 2016 - By 

    It hit me on the flight back from Martin County, Florida this summer. As accomplished as I feel when I travel, and meet a new challenge and tick something off my list, I sometimes feel a bit directionless afterwards. Do you know the feeling I mean? Kayaking, paddle boarding, surfing, turtle nesting tours…On this one particular trip I did so many awesome activities that I had to stop and ask myself what next? What haven’t I done on a trip? Where haven’t I been? What are my new travel goals? Sitting there on the plane, exhausted from surfing lessons earlier that day,…

  • kids at school
    Parenting

    10 Back to School Crafts

    August 23, 2016 - By 

    Are your kids excited about going back to school? Are you hopping around the house not too subtly singing: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year? Whether they are thrilled or not, here are some great back to school crafts to get them in the mood for back to school! Get Them Geared Up Back to school can be a happy time for many people. Some kids miss school the moment they are out of that routine. Frankly, I look forward to the break. When my one daughter was younger she would play school all year round, which kind…

  • report_card_for_parents
    family - parenting - special needs

    Report Card for Superheroes #specialneeds

    July 1, 2016 - By 

    Congratulations. Give yourself a massive high five. A hug, a pat on the back. You made it. You are superheroes. You deserve an A plus on the only report card that matters. You did it. Another school year down. Another grade gone by. You didn’t break. You deserve A pluses in every subject. Superheroes look like this: You are all heroic. Building exceptional kids with extra human strengths. Your kids are Iron Man and Wonder Woman, Spiderman and Black Widow. They are superheroes. I know them well. Two of the biggest superheroes I know are living here in this house. They have extraordinary…

  • growing_pains
    Parenting - parenting

    Growing Pains and Grace Notes – Raising A Daughter

    June 8, 2016 - By 

    Look away if you aren’t the kind of person who likes sentiment. It’s been a long time since I posted one of these stories about my life, my kids, snapshots of us, the Growing Pains and grace notes inside the nutty every day chaos of parenting, and growing youth, not kids, not toddlers, young adolescents. My girls amaze me more than they know most days. Their strength is apparent to me, their Mom, and yet they very often don’t see it themselves. Some strange warped tween and teen girl mirror only lets them see first the tiny little mistakes, then the itty bitty fleeting…

  • June_gifts
    family - Giveaways

    Ten Cutest Gifts for Dads and Grads #LoveHallmarkCA #giveaways

    June 5, 2016 - By 

    It’s June already and that means chaos. I’m not overstating that one little bit. If you are a parent then you know June is gorgeous and it heralds summer and Father’s Day and graduation. But June you saucy little month you…you also bring a million other things that toss life into complete disarray. You are my Love/Hate month. I know I’m not alone. June is madness. So here’s a little help. PREPARE NOW for the gifting season with these recommendations for Dad and Grad gifts. June is beautiful weather and winding down for summer at school. It is paying for…

  • special_needs_travel
    active family travel - family - parenting - Travel

    I Vote For Special Needs Travel #travel

    May 18, 2016 - By 

    One of the things I love most about travel is that travel is different things to different people and it is what you need it to be. It is slow, or fast, or multigenerational or empty nest, or foodie, or adventure. It can also be special needs travel. There are as many ways to travel as there are travellers. This month I am joining 30 other travel bloggers to celebrate all kinds of travel. It’s my second year doing this travel blogger series. You can read each of the amazing posts about travel on wordtraveling.com.   Special Needs Travel My daughter,…

  • special_needs_parenting
    family - Health - Parenting - parenting - special needs

    When Hard Doesn’t Break – Special Needs Parents

    April 26, 2016 - By 

    Maybe your child has curly hair, or is slightly unique in some other tiny way. Small genetic blessings that somehow will turn to a source of pride. Over time. Maybe you think that parenting is hard, but your hard is a moment. Your hard is a glass of wine, some retail therapy, girl’s night out, and then you move on. Your hard breaks. There’s nothing heartbreakingly extraordinary that impacts the way your child moves throughout their Mondays, or Fridays – the way they approach their school day, year to year. Just a kid, potentially a great kid, maybe even an A student, going…

  • kik
    family - parenting - Technology

    Managing Your Child’s Kik Account

    March 15, 2016 - By 

    If you have a tween or teen, chances are good their phones have a KIK account. KIK is a third party messaging app, that allows users to send texts and pictures outside of their phone’s native messaging system. One of the many problems with a KIK account is that it’s difficult to track messaging by normal means. It is a private texting app that, in my opinion, is not extremely necessary if messaging and texting via the usual channels. What is a KIK Account KIK is an app that allows texting and photo sharing outside of a phone’s stock messaging apparatus. That…

  • Health

    Why Chrissy Teigen’s Gender Selection Choice is None of Your Business

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    Chrissy Teigen has been in the news a lot this past week for telling the world she had a girl embryo transferred after her infertility struggle and her in vitro fertilization treatment. Shortly after she made that seemingly off the cuff statement about her gender selection choice, the conversation deteriorated rapidly on line into something that bordered on bullying and was anything but supportive of someone’s infertility journey. That left me feeling a bit sick. Why Do I Care? You are maybe wondering why I should care. I don’t know Chrissy Teigen. I am not her cheering section, her publicist, her BAE,…

  • flying solo
    Parenting - parenting

    Flying Solo – When Is It Okay to Leave The Kids at Home Alone?

    March 2, 2016 - By 

    Flying solo. It’s a terrifying thought for many moms. The thought of our kids home alone with no adult supervision is frightening, but it has to be done at some point. At a certain age, we parents have to put enough trust in our kids to allow them to go it alone for short periods. But when is flying solo an appropriate option?   Flying Solo Requires Responsibility and Trust Knowing when it’s time to let the kids stay at home a lone is a pure judgement call. It relies on many factors including how responsible your children are, how…