Back to School Basics for Families
If your family is like ours, we have registered the kids for school, we have started back to school shopping and there is mixed emotion in our house of anticipation for the new year and the end of summer. This time of the year can be both exciting and rough for both parents and children....

Hackberry Gall from a Psyllid's Perspective
As you might imagine, my family spends a considerable amount of time out observing the wonders of the natural world, and I am always fascinated by the way my kids view and interpret things in nature. Many times, their straightforward and simple perspective makes me feel like such a dummy. There...

How to Save Money on Food
One thing we all have in common, we need food. Likely, every week you spend money on food. How can you keep your costs down? Planning our food purchases and comparison shopping can help. Planning your meals helps keep food costs down and decreases food wastage as well. Planning includes...

Organic Pest Control
In recent years, as interest in more sustainable agricultural practices has grown among home gardeners, organic pest control options have become widely available in many retail outlets and garden centers.  I use many of these products in my own garden and find their origins in nature and...

Making Meaningful Memory Care Visits
I spent five and half years working on a memory care unit. I have worked with many families through the adjustment phase of moving a loved one into a skilled nursing facility as well as helping them find grace as they continue to try to communicate with their loved one as they progress through...

Stretch Your Dollars in Five Steps
We all know there are only so many dollars in our paycheck and an endless number of opportunities to spend those dollars. We want to get the most bang for our buck from each of our dollars. How can we do this? Being creative and being very conscious of your spending goes a long way to stretching...