One of the most wonderful things about marrying into a big family has been gaining so many siblings. Mark is the exact middle of the seven, with three older sisters and three younger brothers. His youngest brother, John, is a junior in high school. I have always had a special love for John, probably because … Read more
In a corner of our basement, tucked behind the furnace, sits a big, cozy leather chair. It is my favorite piece of furniture in the house, my place of refuge from the chaos and noise, it is the place in the house that I can stop, quiet myself, and listen to the Lord easily. The … Read more
My mother-in-law has a saying that she often likes to quote, “begin with the end in mind.” This applies to a lot of areas in life, but most recently it has been on my mind regarding my children’s faith. If I am beginning with the end in mind, the end here being their salvation, what … Read more
Daddy at Home Days are what we call Mark’s days off around here. Because of his medical student schedule and the monthly rotation changes that go with it, these are not always on weekends or consecutive days. This is one of the reasons why we are planning on homeschooling- it will allow our family to … Read more
I’ve been musing a lot lately on the fall of man. It is shockingly instinctual for us as humans to run and hide when we’ve done something wrong. Our eldest, now almost 4, is a example of it. Gianna has reached the age where she knows that she has done something wrong when she’s chosen … Read more
Last night I found Gianna in the bathroom filling a candle with my skincare products and toothpaste. In a (rarer than I would like) moment of good parenting, I took a beat before speaking and instead of saying a sharp “Gianna Rose!”, I calmly sat down and said it looked like she was working on … Read more
Last year I was starting to feel very pinched in our little house. I was dying to introduce more Montessori into the kids’ lives, but we just didn’t have the space. One night as I was lamenting about this to Mark, he suggested turning part of our unfinished basement into a classroom. Every night for … Read more
The last few years have been full, to say the least. Writing hasn’t been a part of my schedule for so long, but I’m glad to find that somehow, someway, we have some margins in our life again. Most days, I feel like I can really breathe, feel like myself, the woman I was made … Read more
Because I know you all want to know what we’re eating over here these days. Last week pork butt was on sale at Meijer and so my dear husband picked up almost 10lbs of it. So this has been the week of Pork. And it has been fabulous. Yesterday I made this fabulous Pork Ragu with a … Read more
We are three months into medical school, and its been quite a ride so far. As we all continue to grow into this life, we are learning a lot. Here are some highlights from the past month. Grandma Has learned that some new things can be wonderful. This month we found her a new doctor … Read more