Decorating at my brother JustIn’s: Part 2
I recently went back to visit my brother Justin and his lovely wife Katsuree and their two cute kids. I took another Uhaul trailer with furniture and decor for them. My neighbors had moved out of state and had given them some things. I also redecorated my guest room...
Our 2019 National Parks Trip
Many people are venturing out in nature these days. National Parks and State Parks are a popular destination because you can get out of the house while still social distancing. In light of the popularity of our National Parks and our family's experience visiting so...
Home Renovations at My Brother’s New Home
My brother Justin and his wife Katsuree purchased a home in a gorgeous neighborhood in Sugar Land, Texas. The streets are lined with mature, lush trees. Across the street from their home is a beautiful lake with a great deal of wildlife thriving there. We fed the...
The Lisa Show: Talking About Discipline
Yesterday morning I had a great conversation on the nationally syndicated program, The Lisa Show, on the Sirius XM's BYU station. The topic was disciplining children. Take a listen on the link below! Thank you to the Lisa Show for asking me to be on their...
LIFEHACK: How to Strengthen Family Bonds When You’re Staying at Home
Now is a perfect time to work on making some memories with your closest family members. When situations call for social distancing outside of our home, we need to do the opposite within home. Now, more than ever, we need to engage with those living in our home. We may...
Monthly Calendar
Below is the printable calendar that you can use for your own purposes. I print one out for each month and then slide it into the magnetic sheet holder that is on our refrigerator. That way our family can view our entire month of activities at a glace. Posting it on...
Tips for a Creating a Great Ladies Cruise Experience with Friends
Tips for a Creating a Great Ladies Cruise Experience with Friends I recently went on a cruise with friends. It was the most fun I have had with friends in years!! It was the planning and awesome ladies that made it such a success. Below I will share my tips so that...
Devotionals for Kids that we play in the car
I decided before we began school this year that we would listen to something meaningful on the way to school. I drive my kids to and from school (not because we don’t choose to use the bus, but because we don’t have that option in our situation). I don’t mind driving...
Make outdoor Furniture and fixtures look new!
A few months ago I saw several ads on Facebook from people who will come to your home and make your light fixtures look new. I thought that it sounded like a nice and useful service. I filed the information away in my mind thinking I would like to have my light...
Tea and Talk with Amber Lia
This past weekend I hosted a “Tea and Talk with Amber Lia” event at my home. I had prayed for this event to go well and to be a blessing to others, as Amber is amazing has been such a blessing to me. My prayers were answered. The event was a success! I was blessed by...
Audio Books Free!
Hello, my name is Magdalena and I am a book addict. I admit it. I probably read too much. It goes in waves for me. Sometimes I have more time to read or listen to books and sometimes I have less. The month of January has been a month of house projects for me, which...
Canyon of the Eagles
We had guests for Christmas, but after they left we had a week with the kids off from school. We decided to go camping. Not tent camping, but camping in our fifth wheel camper. Justin made reservations at Canyon of the Eagle in Burnett, Texas. This is Hill Country...
6 Tips to Create Good Adult Sibling Relationships
Adult sibling relationships are not always easyto navigate. Especially if you didn’t grow up in the same household, there is a significant age gap, or there have been estrangements in the relationship in the past. All hope is not lost though. Even if you grew up in...
10 Years of Marriage
Justin and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this month. We were married on December 13th, 2009 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Our wedding was held at the First Baptist Church in Eau Claire and was officiated by Pastor Wade Duroe. He was, and still is, the...
Merry Christmas 2019
Merry Christmas from the Battles Family. These are our annual Christmas season photos. Thank you Sara Erlinger of SME Photography in Fort Worth for another great set of photos! Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Decorating for Christmas…Early!
I used to commit to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. It was an annual tradition for many years of my life. I changed my mind. Yes, we are all allowed to change our minds and start new traditions. My new tradition (for the past couple of years) is to...
A Yearly Tradition of Giving: Operation Christmas Child
For over 10 years our family has been participating in Operation Christmas Child through the charity Samaritan’s Purse. It is a tradition we do before Christmas to provide gifts to children who may not otherwise get any gifts at Christmastime. What we like to do is...
My Book: Let Them Play
My book is available on Amazon! I am happy to report that within the first month on Amazon it was rated as a #1 New Release! https://amzn.to/36vOPqh If you have children or grand children ages 2-8, then this book is for you. Children need FUN activities that stimulate...
Style- Custom Gowns from China
I have been ordering custom gowns from China for quite a few years. Typically it has been evening gowns. I also had a few cocktail dresses and my wedding gown custom made in China. Why? Because the prices are great, they make the dresses to my exact measurements, and...
Why I Signed the Wait Until Eighth Pledge
The Wait Until Eighth Pledge is not about sexual abstinence, but it could be just as important for your child. Wait Until Eighth is a pledge created by moms for fellow parents to sign as a commitment to wait until at least 8th grade (age 14) to allow their child to...
Play Dough Mats
This play activity comes from my book Let Them Play: The Importance of Play and 100 Child Development Activities. These play dough mats are a wonderful way for children to imagine and create with home-made play dough or Playdoh from the store. Playing with play dough...
Fingerprint Printables
This is a project that you will find in my book "Let Them Play", which will be available on Amazon on Sept. 24th. I am providing the printables on my websites as freebies! The book has over 100 play activities including these shared today. These activities are fun,...
How to Be a Good Parent and Raise Successful Kids
My family is a work in progress. My husband and I am trying our best to be good parents so that we can have successful kids and more importantly, successful adults. We have five-year-old twin boys and a seven-year-old girl. Success to us does not mean great wealth or...
Farming Grace: A Book by My Friend Paula Scott Coming Soon!
Paula Scott is a friend and fellow writer for Moms Encouraging Moms, the Facebook group I started to encourage, inspire, and uplift moms. Paula is a published author, writer, wife, mom of seven, and farmer! She has an amazing memoir being released on Amazon very soon!...
Top 5 Places to See in the Black Hills
The Black Hills is a beautiful area to visit and vacation. We visited the Black Hills in South Dakota. This location was our last stop for National Parks on our 2019 National Parks Trip. There is so much to do and see in this area. Two National Parks, two National...
Style: My Favorite T-Shirt Tunic to Wear With Leggings
It is not easy to find the perfect t-shirt tunic to go with leggings. I want it to be loose enough to be comfortable. However, I don't want it to be so loose that I look chunky or boxy. I ordered this t-shirt tunic on Amazon and I love it so much that I ordered it in...
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
After our stop at Glacier National Park we headed direct East for a ten hour drive to North Dakota. We arrived at Medora, North Dakota for two nights. We visited a fifth National Park on our 2019 National Park trip at this stop. Theodore National Park is located here...
Glacier National Park 2019
The fourth National Park we visited on our 2019 National Parks Trip was Glacier National Park. I actually designed our entire trip around this destination. I have wanted to come here for years. It is gorgeous! This National Park in northern Montana borders Canada. You...
Dirt In My Shoes: The Best National Park Guides
I wrote about the website Dirt in My Shoes in my Yellowstone blog posting. I believe this website and resource is so helpful it is worthy of its own article. I am not compensated in any way for this article, I just like to share helpful information and valuable...
Yellowstone National Park 2019
The third National Park on our 2019 National Parks trip was Yellowstone. What an amazing place! It lived up to its reputation. We had a great experience at this National Park. There is so much to see here, you could stay here for a week and still not see everything....