Remember hearing the slogan, "Just follow Your Nose, It always knows!"  I do and it has been one that I have repeated throughout my life many times. Little did I realized when I was growing up that that popular slogan would be a important part of the foundation of my life and how I have guided my children to navigate our world.  

I have always encouraged my kids to listen to their inner guidance system or intuition.   We lovingly call it listening to the phone call from God in our home.   My children know that they have a direct communication line with God or what some call the all knowing source of our creation.   

I was raised in a environment where listening to your intuition or inner guidance was not supported by the structured systems where I was educated.   We were encouraged to look outside of ourselves for answers.   Thankfully, God was persistent in an effort to get helpful guidance and messages to me in other ways.  ...

Does it seem like the back to school date comes around sooner each year at your house?  It sure feels that way at our home.  

We have been busy checking the list of all the supplies our kids need for college and middle school.   First up is our college-bound son, Evan as he has to be ready two weeks ahead of our middle school daughter Allie.   

Our list consists of the usual requirements for kids; clothes, school supplies, bedding, computers, refrigerators for dorm rooms, foods that include plenty of healthy snack items that fit easily in a backpack.  

As a parent, I often wonder if my kids are prepared to meet the challenges of the world.   Have we provided them with the tools they need when a new situation arises?

In times like these, when I turn to God and listen, I am gently reminded of the way to be at peace.

We work on creating a firm foundation with our family.   Our foundation is built on God's unconditional love and support...

Good News Flash!!!  Awesome tip for all Moms and Kids too!

The credit card machine was prompting me to input the phone number so I could get our family rewards points credited to our account.  l was in the process of paying at the office supply store and I have entered this number many times at this store. No problem, easy peasy! However on this day I could not for the life of me, remember the number that we use on this particular account.   My mind went totally blank!   Have you every had the same experience where someone ask you something you know by heart and your mind goes blank?

I have to admit I was feeling bit embarrassed.  What was going on?  I know, I know this phone number!  Maybe, I stayed up a little to late reading my book.  The lady who was working at the cash register was so kind. She said, "I totally know how you feel.  I now keep a book in my car with all my important phone numbers written down.  My cell...

Though I love to travel and enjoy the adventure, I must admit that I am not fond of the challenges that can pop up when making the arrangements. It was my 8-year-old daughter, Allie, who had the answer that I needed to solve my dilemma. I was preparing for my pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. I would be walking over 500 miles beginning in the Pyrenees of France and continuing through Spain; but first things first: I had to book my trip.

It was one of those days where the different legs of travel that I needed to coordinate would not fit together. I had spent several hours trying different options and as I let out a sigh of frustration, my daughter Allie walked in and asked, “Mom, what’s wrong?” I shared that I was frustrated because I could not complete my travel plans for my trip on the Camino. Allie looked at me and said, “Mom, try flying to Lourdes, you know, where the young girl lived who saw Mother Mary.” I told Allie that I didn’t think...

Throughout time the age old questions that new parents have had to decide is how are we going to raise and guide our children when it comes to discipline.   Some parents chose to follow the well- worn path of continuing  to raise their children the way their parents chose to  raised  them.   While other couples decide they want to change some things up from the way they were disciplined by their parents.   Still others may decide they are going to raise their children completely opposite of how their parents raised them.

Let's look at the definition of the word discipline as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 

1.  Discipline -

a.  control gained by enforcing obedience or order.

b.  orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior

c.  Self-Control.

My husband Jeff and I were newly married we had not given much thought or conversation to how we were going to discipline our first child Tori.   One day we found...

My daughter, Allie, exclaimed, “No way Mom!”  But I did it anyway!  It was a sunny crisp day in January, and Allie and I were going to take our dog Annie on a walk together.  It was a chilly day and I needed to wrap up so I could enjoy our walk together. Allie warned me that if I was going to do what she thought I was going to do, she would walk ahead of me. We had no idea the surprises that were in store for us that day on our walk.

When its cold outside I like to walk with a hat that will keep my head warm.   I had a feeling that the perfect hat for our walk on this cold day would be my Cool Elf Hat.   This was my favorite hat from the holidays and it always made me smile.   It was red and white striped short stocking hat that had big elf ears on it, and one of the ears even had small gold hoop earrings. Across the front of the hat, written in white letters was Cool Elf.  (Check out my look in the picture to...

As a mother, I am always seeking new ways to encourage my family in this busy world. I discovered that two of my children were being bullied, though they told me they were “fine.” Research shows that over 60 percent of kids who experience bullying never confide in anyone. Where do we start to gain our children’s trust to confide in us when they experience challenges in their lives?

I want this to change for all families, whether their child is the target of bullying, the bully or the bystander who fails to speak up.  When I speak to parents and kids around the country, we talk about how sometimes a cry for love is buried within the bully’s actions.  My son had an incident with a teen who had sprayed a toxic spray into his face. At the exact moment that I was speaking to the principal about this incident, the teen who had sprayed my son was on the football field under the bleachers crying because a group of boys were taunting and teasing him. I later...