My Best Tips for Taking a Kick Tail Meal to a Friend

With six babies (including a preemie) and a whole slew of major surgeries, we’ve been the beneficiaries of many a meal, brought by friends.  So much generosity! I know how hard it is to cook dinner every night for my brood, so the fact that someone else cooks for us while whipping up something for…

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The 10 Commandments of Family Roadtrips

Taking a family roadtrip this summer for vacation? If you're worried about it being the worst idea ever, I'm here to change your mind. And lend you my earplugs.

We’ve been taking car trips with our kids since birth. Mostly, that makes people question our sanity. Trust me, when we were in hour 36 of last summer’s vacation from Texas to California and back, I thought the same thing. Sometimes we have banner days and sometimes we swear off ever doing another road trip…

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The Best of 2016

I always love the “best of” lists people write: best photos, best blog posts, best recipes, best everything. It’s such a glimpse into life, isn’t it? 2016 was beautiful, and hard, just like most years. With age, I’m starting to truly understand that no year is perfect, rather it’s our perspective that changes. We learn…

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A Sure-Fire Way to Get an Awesome Family Photo

A sure-fire way to get the "perfect" family photo in the Texas bluebonnets.

I do the hard work so you don’t have to. Bluebonnets have been blooming in Central Texas for weeks. And. They. Are. Gorgeous. We tried to take photos a few weeks ago, but we were just too early. Basically, the planner in me planned too early. Hazard of being Type A. I even contemplated taking…

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HDYDI: Wrap a Present Like a Pro

Love to wrap presents for Christmas, birthdays or other celebrations? This easy pictorial step-by-step guide will make you look like a pro!

One of the coolest perks of growing up in a family of jewelers? Learning how to wrap a package like a pro. A few <ahem> decades ago, my grandparents owned a small jewelry store in Pecos, Texas. My uncle now has his own in El Paso. My grandmother taught me how to wrap a present,…

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