Now that Barnum & Bailey have hung up their hats and all the elephants have gone on to live happier lives doing…whatever elephants do when they’re not balancing on balls and flinging batons, life under the big tent is going to have to come to you. Because everybody needs some popcorn and cotton candy and a ring toss or two in their lives, here’s how to keep the magic of the circus alive and kicking. …

I missed out on Wonder Woman. Having been born just after Linda Carter’s epic series, I wore the outfit once or twice for Halloween, but otherwise left the die-hard fans to themselves. But I never felt at a loss for female heroes. We had our fair share growing up in the ’80s. This was the era when women first began to knock on that “glass ceiling,” when ThunderCats roamed the land, and Oprah began her …

ROMANS 5:12, 18-19 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. …

I love a good game. To a fault. I love Scrabble and Pictionary and chess and checkers and poker. I will play to the death, which is why I usually have to sit out a round or two while the rest of the family continues. They put me in time out. Games are all about connection—with other people, with abstract ideas, with logical thinking. They can teach with fun what often takes years of skill-building …

When you’re a kid, summer means freedom. No alarm clock. No bedtime. No cafeteria lunches. No homework. No rules. No one telling you what to do all the time. Read that list again as the parent and try not to hyperventilate. You want to make the most out of summer and the quality time with your kids, but you also want to survive. You want all those memories of afternoons at the pool, and chasing …

In honor of the post-4th of July cookouts and summer fruits and fresh-squeezed lemonades, I’m bringing you a love-note to fast food. Because it has it’s good points too and Scary Mommy agrees. Click on the picture to read all my feels about the drive-thru kingdom.   Do you eat fast food? Any good fast food memories?

“Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday, America. Happy birthday to us.” This is the holiday that gave us the freedom of speech and a good fighting spirit. Any kid in the world can appreciate the desire to reign sovereign over themselves. So, let freedom ring a little louder for them on this Fourth of July with some hands-on time in the kitchen. You should probably still man the grill, but we’ll …

The farmer’s market is a magical place, full of flowers and beef and freshly snapped green beans. Vendors really want you to eat from the mountain of blueberries and try a sample of that gluten free sourdough and meet the goat that made the cheese. The Saturday morning market will always be sacred because it was the first place we took all our kids as a freshly hatched family of five once our twins finally …

ECCLESIASTES 2:17 & 23 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind…23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. ECCLESIASTES 3:22 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For …

For me, the Fourth of July requires a series of pep talks, deep breathing exercises, and yoga poses that are supposed to open your chi or balance the yin and the yang or whatever. I’d feng shui the house if I thought it’d make a difference. From an outsider’s perspective, this holiday speaks all my love languages: grilling, swimming, setting things on fire. But because I’m not living in a Coca Cola ad, it’s what’s …