The Sibling Whisperer

That’s right. We have the “Sibling Whisperer” right here in our home.

We have known for a long time just how special Liam is to us. But his abilities, or gifts we should say, never cease to amaze us.

As we enter the third year of blending our family, many challenges remain. We have written quite a bit about the difficulty in bringing four very different kids together to live and love in one family unit.

However, we had a breakthrough during our summer vacation. And that breakthrough was led by our very own “Sibling Whisperer”.

Let us tell you a little more about Liam. He was born with Down syndrome. Continue reading “The Sibling Whisperer” →

Remember The Newlywed Game?

How many of you remember this game show? If you’re from a younger generation, probably not so much. But our generation witnessed it’s second release in the late 80’s and there was a third release in the mid 90’s after a very successful initial period from 1966-1974.

By the way, if you want to laugh – go to youtube and watch some funny moments from the old Newlywed Game. There are some hilarious ones there. Remember the term: “makin’ whoopee”?

Anyway, the purpose of the show is based on how well newlyweds know each other. However, a few times Bob Eubanks opened the show with a letter from a viewer who said they have been married 10 years, ask themselves the same questions and only get 20% right. That led to a game with “old-timers”. Continue reading “Remember The Newlywed Game?” →

June 3, 2019 0

Hooky For Adults

Doesn’t everyone love the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? It was a huge hit in 1986 and it seems like people talked about it for at least a decade after. Young kids may not know about it today – but you can bet they will watch it sometime in their lives!

The movie is a classic about a kid in high school who went to amazing extremes just to skip school and enjoy the day with his friends. If you haven’t seen it – rent it!

We are NOT writing this to suggest that kids play hooky in an effort to skip school to enjoy the day with friends.

However, we ARE writing this to suggest – if you and your spouse haven’t recently spent some quality time alone – that you play hooky from work! Because – rather than the movie’s slogan “Leisure Rules”, we believe that “Love Rules” and it needs to be acted on – even if it means skipping work together!

Earlier this year, we desperately needed some time to ourselves so we escaped to the mountains up north and did basically nothing but be together – on a MONDAY! We relaxed in front of a wood fireplace, stayed in our pajamas, fell asleep on the couch, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery outside.

Continue reading “Hooky For Adults” →

April 17, 2019 0

Fun Fact Friday! 83% and 72%

So we have been going through the Love and Respect video series. If you haven’t done it, it’s worth taking a look or reading the book. So good.

Here is a couple of pretty unbelievable statistics. 7,000 people were asked this question – yes 7,000! – When you are in conflict with your spouse or significant other, do you feel unloved at that moment or disrespected.

83% of the men said they feel disrespected. 72% of the women said they feel unloved.

Those are some pretty heavy stats! They are important to know, because, while men and women both need love and respect equally, during conflict a wife leans toward love and a husband toward respect.

This continues to show how different men and women are and how we can often be misunderstood.

“God made us male and female. Thus, a husband is not wrong for needing respect, just different from his wife. A wife is not wrong for needing love, just different from her husband. A wise person sees the differences and celebrates them.”

– Emerson Eggerichs

Have a great weekend!

April 12, 2019 0

A couple that does yard work together…

How does that old saying go? “A couple that does yard work together…stays together.” Or maybe we are remembering a twist on an old saying. Anyway, last week we had to have our two last trees in the front yard taken down because of the dreaded Ash Bore which is destroying Ash trees all over New Hampshire. They were once beautiful trees, and after counting the rings on the stump they were exactly 80 years old.

As we all know taking trees down isn’t cheap. We were fortunate to find a wonderful father and father-in-law team to taken them down the old fashioned way and at an extremely reasonable price. But to save some money, and some firewood, we asked them to stack the logs in 10 foot sections and pile up the brush for us to take care of ourselves. They did an amazing job doing that for us. There are two more brush piles in not in the picture below.

The picture really doesn’t do the task ahead justice. Continue reading “A couple that does yard work together…” →

April 8, 2019 2

FUN FACT FRIDAY! The happiest year of marriage is…

Today, we are starting Fun Fact Friday!

There are so many facts out there on marriage it is hard to sift through and consume them all. So we want to make it easier for you! These Fun Fact Friday posts are meant to be educational, inspirational, informational, and…well…FUN!

Our first fun fact is from a study of 2,000 people that found couples are happiest in their – wait for it – THIRD YEAR OF MARRIAGE!

The study says:

The third year marks the point when couples begin to settle into comfortable co-existence, having come to terms with each other’s imperfections.

Of course, we all can change statistics and Continue reading “FUN FACT FRIDAY! The happiest year of marriage is…” →

April 5, 2019 0

Marriage is about getting naked.

(This post was first published on the in-between adventures)

If you’re married and you haven’t sat next to your spouse with no pants on, watching Brooklyn 99, then you’re missing out. But really.

A few weeks ago Jacob and I were sitting on our couch watching Wall-E and eating snacks. Our window was open and we heard some friends in the parking lot. They yelled up to our second floor apartment asking if we wanted to join them for half-off apps at Applebee’s. We looked at each other, decided it’d be fun, and then yelled back down. ‘Yes, we’ll be there in two minutes! We need to put clothes on.’ Continue reading “Marriage is about getting naked.” →

April 3, 2019 0