12 Ways to Reduce Toxins in Your Life

Written by Steph @ Living Surrendered, Contributing Writer Hey everyone! This is my first guest post at Day2DayJoys and I'm really excited for the opportunity to share my thoughts on Rachel's blog! My name is Steph and I write about my quest for a toxin-free, eco-friendly, healthy life at Living Surrendered. Today, I wanted to share my tips for reducing the toxins in your life, including mental & emotional toxins. Whenever I read "toxins" in any headline out there I immediately … [Read more...]

Educating Yourself for a Better Birth

Written by Kristen @ Smithspirations, Contributing Writer Like many moms, I don't think I'll ever forget my first pregnancy. My husband and I were young and utterly unprepared for what laid ahead of us! I was finishing up college, he was in his first year teaching, and neither of us gave much thought to preparing for birth. I decided at some point that I wanted us to go to the childbirth classes held at our local hospital, and my hubby dutifully came along. We listened to the instructor … [Read more...]

Top 7 Benefits to Co-Sleeping with Your Baby

Guest Post by Ashley of Live Essentially Since Rachel just had her third bundle of joy a couple weeks ago, let’s talk babies and co-sleeping! Co-sleeping is far from the norm in modern day parenting here in the United States. In fact it is frowned upon by those who don’t fully understand what it is and how to practice co-sleeping safely. So let’s get a good understanding of what co-sleeping is, how to practice it safely, and the many benefits of co-sleeping with your child. What is … [Read more...]

Birth, Babies, and a VBAC

Written by KT @ One Organic Mama, Contributing Writer In light of Rachel's wonderful news (seriously - check out her ADORABLE new addition!!) - I thought I would share the story of my VBAC.  It has been almost two years since my beautiful E entered the world and we have been blessed every single day since! One reason I think it is important to share this story is because on a few occasions mamas have asked about my VBAC and have mentioned that they don't know anyone who has ever had one. I … [Read more...]

Thank You Notes from Littles

Written by KT @ One Organic Mama, Contributing Writer Want to encourage thankfulness in your little ones? We started writing thank you notes early.  The kids would decorate paper with crayons or finger paint, and I would write the note and talk to them about what they liked about each gift. This year, my 4 year old is ready to contribute (a little) to the writing process!  He is having fun practicing letters and loved writing his own note to Santa this year!  Imagine my surprise when he … [Read more...]

Nature Notebook for Kids

Written by Jenn, Contributing Writer As the summer heat dies down and hints of fall are in the air, exploring the outdoors with the littles again becomes one of my favorite activities. The room to run and endless supply of objects to investigate always makes for a enjoyable outing. In a beloved book on education, the author remarks that as we explore the natural world, "we are observing God's handiwork. And it is spine-chillingly wonderful." This is the perspective I want to cultivate … [Read more...]

Create Your Own Health Arsenal: Build A Strong Immune System & Treat Symptoms Naturally

Written by Kari, Contributing Writer This is a transitional time of year for almost everybody out there. School has started up again, summer is almost over and the cooler months are on the way. All of this means that we are going to have to pay more attention to keeping our immune systems strong so those ever present germs and bugs don’t have a chance to wreak havoc inside our bodies! Even healthy families and houses can experience the sniffles, coughing and that ‘yucky’ feeling, but do we … [Read more...]

Homeschooling Your Preschooler: What Not to Worry About

 Written by Nell, Contributing Writer Our son is three. By most accounts, he's considered a preschooler. That would indicated that he is in a stage before school, and should be prepped for school in the coming year or two, right? That means I should worry and fret, purchase pre-K materials, drill him on his alphabet, numbers, colors, rings around Jupiter, right? For our family, these anxieties are not right. And maybe they're not right for your family, either. After prayerfully considering … [Read more...]

Preschooling at Home: Heart Issues and Practical Matters

Written by Jenn, Contributing Writer Sometimes big milestones just sneak up on me. Case in point: recently, it dawned on me that our little big girl is now old enough to go to preschool. I think that means I have to stop calling her a toddler and start calling her a preschooler. Weird. Then I thought, welp, better do something pre-K-ish this fall. Since we are planning to homeschool her come kindergarten, it didn’t seem to make much sense (to us) to send her someplace else for pre-K. … [Read more...]

A Sneak Peek into How We “Do” School

A lot of the posts here are how-to's, recipes or even encouragement but today I thought I'd give you a sneak peek into our "school-life" since it's back to school time! I know a lot of the contributing writers have written about how they "do" school, I hope you'll check out their blogs too! I grew up going to public school and never even thought about homeschooling my own kids until a couple years ago. I knew I would never want to homeschool totally on my own but I also knew I liked the idea … [Read more...]