Every kid of mine on their birthday (through age 18) gets a birthday letter on the blog, from me. At first, it started out as something fun to do, but it has transformed into one of my favorite things I do on my kids' birthdays. The written word is powerful. It is forever. So, without any further delay, here's my letter to John Paul in celebration of his 17th birthday! Dear John Paul, You are the kid that brings the ...

Anybody else drowning in clutter? Do you have a closet or a junk drawer (or five) that need purging? Feel like you keep things for no real reason except you can't part with them? Several years ago, I embarked on a 10-day whole house purge using the book by Tsh Oxenreider, Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-free Approach to Intentional Living as a guide. I wrote about my first experience with the purge in my book, but the super short story is: ...

In the book, The Five Love Languages, one of them is gift giving. But, truth be told, it's not my primary love language. With six kids and a lot of birthday and holidays, I'm getting better, though! At Casa Whitaker we have a mish-mash of family traditions. Scott grew up Catholic and I grew up Protestant and had never heard of St. Nicholas. Well, technically I had, but that's a story for radio. I had no idea that guy was ...

I love the holidays. And, good Lord do we need some joy in 2020. The past three years (2017, 2018 and 2019), I put together gift guides in hopes that it would inspire you with finding a meaningful gift for someone you love. This year's was so much fun to put together. Curating these guide reminded me of two important things: If I had a guide for everything I loved, we'd be here a while. I limit myself to 30ish ...

It's Election Day and I'm betting you're feeling a little hopeful, a little exhausted, a little frustrated and a little anxious. It's the day after an election we all fear a bit, right? And because of that, I'd like to offer an alternate narrative. Most of us have spent 2020 just trying to survive - emotionally, physically and/or financially. We are fatigued and worn out, even if we don't want to admit it. Then, we threw in a contentious and ...

We just can't quit Harry Potter. All of our children (minus the 6yo!) have read and loved the entire series. The themes of friendship, goodness and a little mischief have certainly been a joy to read. Also, this isn't our first HP party, check this one and this one. I hope you love this nod to Hagrid's first cake to Harry and that butter beer (are those labels killer or what?). When Master Luke asked for a Harry Potter party, ...