One of my personal flaws is that I under-react.  When Hurricane Rita was heading our way a couple of years ago, I was not prepared at all.  Luckily, we only got a little taste of a storm.  When Hurricane Ike was rolling toward us like a freight train, I begrudgingly went out to the store and tried to purchase a... »

Just the other day, I watched a documentary called, "The Last Beekeeper."  I had heard about the declining population of honeybees, but did not know the reason.  It seems that neither do scientists.  They are calling the sudden and unexplained death of hives "Colony Collapse Disorder"... »

In 2007, my mother got married and moved to Hawaii from her home-state of Texas.  Having either lived with her or near her my entire life, it took some major adjustments to get used to being apart.  Of course, we speak on the phone many times a week and occasionally converse via Skype. ... »

I learned Spanish in Junior High, High School, College, and most importantly through mission trips to Mexico.  Spanish came fairly easy to me.  My minor from Texas A&M University is Spanish.  For four of the five years I taught in the public school system, I taught Spanish.  I currently tutor in Spanish from my home once a week.  In addition,... »

The other day a good friend of mine and I were talking.  She revealed to me that she had made laundry detergent from the recipe on my site.  She also was concerned by the minimal amount of suds in the washing machine and thought that perhaps she was not using enough soap.  We discussed several different possibilities to the lack... »

A poem about autumn called "The Mist and All" begins, "I like the fall, The mist and all."  That is exactly how the weather has been lately.  After an extremely dry and hot summer, I am so excited that fall is almost here.  Rain started falling last week.  It was not hard and was not accompanied by thunder and lightning,... »

Charlotte Mason believed that young people should spend as much time as possible enjoying nature.  It was not until I read The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola that I completely grasped the idea of keeping a nature notebook or journal. Inspired, we began keeping one.  I say "we" because I have one as well... »

As a home-schooling mom of five children, I find a large portion of my day in the kitchen, especially since we eat wheat-free foods because of allergies in the family.  I make breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the occasional dessert.  It can be exhausting and frustrating at times.  If I am not cooking, it seems then I must be doing dishes... »

If "pears are the poor man's apple," how happy am I not to be rich.  I absolutely love pears.  They grow very well in my part of Texas.  Apples do not do near as well.  One mature pear tree can supply a family with all the pears they could ever want.  We have one pear... »

One of the great things about living in the country is that you can throw together camping trips easily.  You do not have to make reservations.  There is always availability, and it is free.  My father owns a ranch nearby and we can use the property as if we owned it ourselves. As... »

Read "Six Tips for Raising Good Eaters, Part One" to get the first three tips.  We all know a child who is picky.  One that makes everyone miserable at the dinner table whining about what is on his/her plate.  As a young mother many years ago, I knew that I only wanted good eaters.  The following are my tips. Involve your... »

As a mother of five, it is important to me that my children are good eaters.  I have successfully raised kids that will eat most anything.  The following are my tips. Your children MUST understand that you are not a restaurant. You are NOT a short-order cook.  Therefore, whatever you cook is what’s for dinner... »