We’re getting 12-15 a day now and they are getting huge! I feel like such a good mom for feeding my kids real foods that are not pumped full of steroids, hormones and antibiotics. 12 months ago

They come down every year but this year was the best visit ever. It helped that MM was here for five out of seven day visit and the camping trip helped a lot but it was more than that. There wasn’t the mom vs. mom that there usually is and the kids all got on so well. I’m happy with the way it all turned out. 12 months ago

I’m not quite sure what to do now. I know that anger is not a helpful emotion. In fact, it is quite destructive and steals my inner peace. I am trying hard to let it go. It just hurts so much. 13 months ago

We butchered our first five chickens! It was an adventure too. My 10 year old grandson did two of them himself! I am so proud of him and he is proud of himself. There is something so wonderful about raising your own food, knowing how it was raised, that it was never given any hormones or steroids. I am very happy that the day is over and the chicken stock is simmering on the stove. 14 months ago

It is almost impossible to have two moms under the same roof. There can be only one. I am makeing my stand to be the mom in my home. I understand now why we leave our parents and make homes of our own, lol. I am taking the torch of homeschooling our kids. My mom has done a wonderful job but she has used it as a platform to “teach” them all the things she feels they should do or know that she feels I am not teaching them. Needless to say, that is not cool with me. I have found a wonderful online school, K12.com, with certified teachers! They are mailing us the school materials needed for her courses and a computer. I will be their learning coach. I am starting out with Sarah this year to get my feet wet and then will have both her and Austin next year. I am really looking forward to this time I will have with the kids. 16 months ago

It has been productive and peaceful. The weather is beautiful, the bunnies are fed, the garden is watered and I’m getting ready to head down to get my class materials for my Master Gardener Internship. The weekend was great and I’m headed to the shower. It is very good to be me! 21 months ago

giving up on their child getting out of an abusive relationship to just keep on talking to them about it and praying because I am here to tell you that my prayers have been ANSWERED! After five years of the toughest times you can go through as a parent, not to mention the guilt of knowing that your example led to most of it and prayers that she would get through faster than I did, my second eldest has broken the chain! The sky is the limit for her now. It took me till I was 33 to break the chain. She is only 27. Thank you God! 22 months ago

for some dear friends, family really, of ours that like many of us right now are struggling financially. It has been a real blessing for us as well as them in many ways. My children have patiently shared me with them for many weeks in a row. Today and tomorrow we have taken a little break though and I can tell that my children were a bit relieved for taking the “family days” together. It made me realize how important that family time really is to them. They need the peace and the order that comes with it as well as the one-on-one time with us. It really made me feel quite special to realize how much they need that from me. I must remember that in my effort to be a blessing to others that I do not rob my family of me. 22 months ago