This past weekend, I spent a very quick two days in New York City visiting with my nephew and my friend Heather. I was on the East Coast for the Red Letter Christians gathering in Philadelphia, which has become a highlight of my year every year. I will post more about that later. But any time I have the chance to be that close to the city, I feel like I have to make a quick visit. I know this is nothing unique to me, but I am in love with New York City. I would never want to live there, but . . .

This post is sponsored by Savers. We have tried really hard to avoid being too consumerist over the holidays. We attempt to limit the kids' toys, and try really hard to focus on experiences over things. For example, this Christmas, a bulk of our children's presents involve tickets to see some Broadway shows throughout the coming year. However, there will be some new toys and new clothes under the tree this Christmas. A couple of the kids still have Big Ideas about Santa and have made their . . .

This post is sponsored by The Honest Company  My kids are  just turning the corner where their ability to help me clean almost matches their ability to make a mess. They are gaining more autonomy and responsibility, and with the exception of my 5-year-old, I can finally enlist the three older kids to help me out in getting the house back to baseline.  It’s a nice place to be, after several years of feeling like a maid to a four-man wrecking crew. I try to buy cleaning supplies . . .

I saw a screening of the new Annie movie last week, and since it opens this week, I wanted to give a head's up to other families touched by adoption. Most of us are familiar with the Annie story, and that it revolves heavily around her orphan status, her search for her birth family, and relationship with a new father figure. This movie followed the same plotlines, but there were aspects of the retelling that may be more poignant for adopted children. The adoption/abandonment themes were . . .