I got a fantastic question from a mother who is using the 2024 Thriving in Motherhood Planner this year: "I get confused sometimes about the distinction between things like goals  (quarterly vs. yearly) vs. projects vs. habits vs. Big 3 vs. focus vs. tracking.  Should these things all be related or not necessarily?  For example, on page 31, I'm not sure what goals vs projects are.  Do I choose a big goal and then break that down into projects, or are goals and projects different? Should my...

Cleaning my home with my children has always been my number one priority. When they were babies this looked like using cleaning supplies that would be safe while they were in a baby carrier on me. As they were toddlers, it meant they could clean with me, and I wasn't worried about what they were touching. As they get older it means having materials I'm confident they can use safely by themselves.  But knowing that this is what I wanted and executing it were two different things. In this...

When I had three kids, four and under, I learned about Charlotte Mason and her principle of spreading a wide feast of ideas. Practically, this looks like 20 different subjects in a Charlotte Mason classroom that get covered during the week.  Before we were in the formal school years, I got into the habit of discovering where all the different sections of books were at the library so I could just walk the shelves and grab some that covered a wide range of ideas without any preplanning. For...

Synthia Simenson is a mother of five (almost six) children ages 10 and under. She went through the struggles that I think we can all relate to when we first become moms—overwhelm, unsure of where to focus her time and energy, and not even sure what she wanted life to look like. I hope you are as inspired by her journey as I am, from those survival years to making intentional changes that created space for her to dream.  Things like minimum baselines for taking care of herself and her home,...

Have you done those exercises where you write out your priorities or values? It is easy for me to put on paper what I care about, but where are my time and energy really going?  In this season of survival mode for our family, we have really stripped away a lot of what we usually do, and it is easy for me to say that we aren't very consistent in things that I wish we were better at. But as I sat pondering this one morning during my scripture study, I realized that I actually AM consistent at...

When you’ve lost momentum in every area of your life, and it feels overwhelming because there is so much to do, what do you do? Often, the answer is to do a brain dump—write everything you can possibly think of on a piece of paper to clear your head.  The problem is, what do you do after that? How do you actually gain the clarity you need to move forward?  This last week, I sat down and prayerfully asked that question, and a new process unfolded that made it very clear where to put my time...

Last week, we spent a week in Memphis, Tennessee, as a family while Andrew attended a conference. It was a great trip with lots of amazing moments and some really hard ones, too. In this week’s episode, I’m sharing the reflection process that I did after this trip so that we can take in all the data, evaluate the wins, what we loved, and what we would do to make things a little bit better next time.   Some of the specific tips might be applicable to your family and travel situation, and...

When I shared 3 Thriving Thoughts for Hard Days a few weeks ago, we were not at the end of the unexpected and hard around here. The reality is that my capacity and desire for doing things and running the household are shrinking as my energy is being diverted toward the emotional and physical realities and reactions to our circumstances. I’ve also realized that my physical energy and health vary greatly every month, and I have some ongoing health challenges. I want to have a more realistic...

If you’ve been stuck on Exploring on the 5 Step Path from Surviving to Thriving, this week’s episode is for you! Monica Packer shares how a Do Something List can be a powerful tool for exploring and discovering who you are and what you love. It’s a practical push to find fulfillment in your everyday life. It is separate from a goals or resolutions list. It’s more about exploration than competition.  Monica is also no stranger to struggles and survival seasons and you will hear how she has...

We’ve had an intense few months over at our house, and it has taken its toll. But the wonderful thing is that with breakdowns come breakthroughs. Today, I’m sharing three new Thriving Thoughts (what I call the new way of thinking I like to hold onto) I’ve had that are helping me in this season.  Whether these thoughts resonate with you or not, I hope that when you are struggling, you will follow this pattern that allows you to find more empowering and helpful thoughts. Pattern for Creating...

If decorating your home feels overwhelming and you don’t know where to start, this conversation with Myquillyn Smith will bring clarity and hope. We discuss house rules (and how to break them), how to fix things when they don’t look right, how to decorate on a budget, and how to figure out what your next step is when it comes to creating a home that you love being in and feels good. I have personally read and implemented what Myquillyn has taught in her books and community since 2018, and...

I’ve been meal planning for years in pretty much the same way. I’ve put my process into seven steps for today’s episode.  As my 6-year-old said when she sat next to me while I edited this episode, “Mom, just because it works for you doesn’t mean it will work for anyone else.” She’s 100% right. But I hope that seeing my exact process will give you some inspiration and a starting place to figure out a meal planning system that works for you. My 7-Step Weekly Meal Planning System: ...

I’ve started this year by reading a lot from many different genres and areas of interest. Today, I’m sharing six of the books I read in January and my takeaways from each. How To Grow Your Small Business Awaking Wonder Hidden Potential Habits of the Household The Psychology of Money The Penderwicks on Gram Street  

I’ve had three challenging pregnancies with other kids at home. I was very intentional with the time in between pregnancies to prepare for the next one, figuring it would also be a challenge.    Today, I’m covering what I did, what worked, what didn’t, and tips to help you figure out where to put your time and energy. These are the same tips I’d give you even if you aren’t planning another pregnancy but in a season where things are going well. You can put your efforts to use in a...

Our family has been using audiobooks for years and they have become an integral part of our routines. Today, I’m sharing why we love listening to audiobooks in our home, how we listen, how to develop the skill of listening to audiobooks, and our favorite audiobooks to listen to by age.    Why Audiobooks? Audiobooks have been our trusty companions for years, adding a touch of magic to our quiet time and car rides. Here’s why we love them: A daily break for me. Empowers the kids to...

This is my seventh year creating a vision for my year. It is always a new experience, and I’m amazed at what comes out of this exercise. In today’s episode, I’m sharing what I’ve learned in 2023 and what I’m focusing on, changing, and working toward in 2024. Here are a few areas from my 2024 vision:  Investing More Into What’s Working: Road trips Family adventures (beach, historical sites, new experience) Vegetable gardening Having friends over for dinner Hiking and time...

When it comes to goal setting, moms need different strategies in different seasons of motherhood. In this week’s video, I’ll be sharing what works in setting goals for the pregnancy and baby phase, when you have children under six, when you have school-aged kids and a full schedule, and when your children leave home. There are also principles that apply to all of us, no matter what stage we are in.  Tips for Goal Planning in Every Season of Motherhood: Survival Seasons (pregnancy,...

At the start of this new year, I realized I needed to make some changes to how I’m using my phone. In this week’s episode, I’m outlining the problems I was having with technology and how it impacted my daily life, the parameters I’ve set for myself with my phone, and how I’ve set myself up for success. 5 Reasons to Reduce Phone Usage: Often, when things are out of balance, or we’re not in our usual routines and rhythms, it’s easy to fill the lack of structure and numb our feelings with...

One of the skills in the structure pillar of the Three Pillars of Thriving is automation - making a decision once and having it happen over and over again. We can apply this principle to our weekly schedule. When we sit down and create a template of when we do things every day throughout the week, we can refer back to it with many decisions already made.  Every quarter, I like to sketch out our current weekly rhythm or schedule. For years, I’ve done this on a piece of paper, but now we’ve...

In this week’s episode, I’m sharing the #1 thing moms need to do for 2024 - and I can’t think of any exceptions. In my 10.5 years of motherhood, this is the thing that has helped me in EVERY season, from hard pregnancies where days creep by to full schedules with lots going on in life and business. Every mom needs to create a vision for the year.  There are an almost endless number of paths each day, but with your vision as a guide, you can walk in one direction and get to a destination you...

I have spent a lot of time inside with young kids who have loads of energy (even though we get out as much as we can). We’ve been in tiny grad student apartments and smaller houses without clear places to physically move their bodies for all 10.5 years of motherhood. As we get into winter, I start to feel a sense of panic about what we will do for months with shorter daylight hours, colder temperatures, and lots of need to move our bodies. In this week’s episode, I’m sharing how we’ve set...

If you had told me ten years ago that I could be a full-time stay-at-home mom, living 30 hours away from our family, homeschooling my four children, and running a business in small pockets of time, I wouldn’t have believed you.  In those early years, the days ran together in one big blur, our cinder block student housing had stuff strewn around the floor, and I felt horribly guilty if I put my baby down, let alone did something I was interested in. In this week’s video, I’m sharing my brand...

How do you feel about chore charts? I like the idea of them, and I don’t mind creating them, but when it comes to having a marker or stickers handy to actually fill them out, we drop the ball pretty much every time.  This week, I’m sharing a new discovery I made that is simplifying our family cleaning routine: chore boards. This completely self-contained system allows me to clearly communicate each and every step that needs to be completed in a job, like cleaning the bathroom. In business,...

Every month, I write down the books I read or listened to. Today, I’m sharing my 12 favorites that I read this year from a wide variety of topics and subjects.  Reading lots of books has allowed me to actively learn while being a stay-at-home mom. When designing a planner for my needs, keeping track of the books I read or listened to each month was an essential piece.  Why? Two reasons: it helped me to read more because I wanted to be able to write things down AND to remember all that I’ve...