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Advantages of Reunion with Birth Family for Child and Teen Adoptees

Many adoptive parents tell their children that they will help them search for their birthparents when they turn eighteen. However, more and more adoptive parents are reaching out to their children’s birth families earlier. Sometimes it is the adoptive parent who desires medical history, information their children may want in the future, or simply a chance to thank the birthmother and reassure her that her child is well and happy. Sometimes a birth parent makes the first contact. In other cases, it is the child or teen adoptee who indicates a strongly felt need or desire for information. Some children … Continue reading →

Beware the Green Eyed Monster: How Jealousy Can Impact Your Blended Family

I tiptoed up to the topic, believing that most of us are pretty sensitive about it: “Sometimes step parents feel…I don’t want to call it jealousy, but…” at which point Kelly, eight years into her step mom experience, interrupted, “Oh, you can call it jealous! I was definitely jealous!—of a six year old, no less!” We were talking about what can often become a defining dynamic between children and step parents, and consequently, a divisive issue for a biological parent and their spouse. It’s not an emotion many of us are willing to cop to, especially if the trigger is … Continue reading →

Home Month in Review: November 2008

Is your home ready for the holidays and winter? Now that November is over, it is time to gear up for the December ahead. Take a look at last months articles and see if there is anything you missed! November 1st Home Blog Month in Review: October As I sit here looking out my window at the backyard, the birds are hovering in the pine tree against a strong wind and steady rain. The temperature is chilly today, and the calendar reminds me that we have left October behind. November 2nd Fall and Holiday Decorating with Nature 2 Isn’t it … Continue reading →

Fun Halloween Games for Kids

If you are hosting a Halloween party for kids this year you don’t want your young guests to be stuck playing musical chairs all afternoon. Instead, get creative and use the holiday theme to your advantage. The following are tried and true party games (courtesy of the folks at Hershey’s) that were a hit at a Halloween playgroup party my daughter attended last year. They are simple, fun, and you can tailor them to suit the age range of the party participants. MUMMY HANDS Object of the Game: Mummified players need to transport goodies out of a crypt (a decorated … Continue reading →

Money in Marriage

The concern for many today is ‘Money, money, money’ to quote the Abba song. Yes we saw Mamma Mia a few weeks back, can you tell? With the current economic situation the way it is a lot of people are worried about money, coping with day to day expenses and the prices of basic items rising all the time, banks looking shaky and the share market in a slump. As well as those struggling to support families, it also affects those with retirement funds and investments as they see what they thought was a retirement nest egg shrinking before their … Continue reading →

5 Fun Scrapbooking Techniques to Try on Your Layouts

There is great satisfaction gained from trying a technique and discovering that it is something that either you are very good at, or that you really enjoy the look of. There are dozens of different techniques available to scrapbookers and other paper crafter’s, but here are five fun techniques to try on your latest scrapbooking projects. 1. Use Brads to decorate or add some festive touches on your layouts. Playing with brads on a scrapbook layout is fun. The two most common uses are to secure a photo or other element in place or to serve as the center of … Continue reading →

4 Simple Ways To Be Creative With Your Layouts

Scrapbooking is all about creativity, which is why often I urge people to use their imaginations and get creative with the things they are designing. There is no right or wrong way to scrapbook, especially if you’re having fun and enjoying the design process. Are you looking to add a little creativity to your layouts? Try something a little different than what you normally do? Well, here are some great ways to be creative with your layouts while providing them with a little extra pizazz. Sequins – Adding sequins to certain elements on your scrapbook page, works almost the same … Continue reading →

How to Develop Your Child’s Full Potential

I am slowly learning that parenting is a lifelong learning process. I do not fully understand everything that my children need at their current unique stage. Therefore I try to continually educate myself through different means such as observing other parents, reading parenting books and taking parenting classes now and then. I am really grateful to currently be taking a parenting class based on Chip Ingram’s course titled “Effective Parenting in a Defective World.” Mr. Ingram uses basic information with personal life experience that make this course easy to follow and desirable to follow up with or practice on my … Continue reading →