I recently had a nice chat with David Ralph on his show, Join Up Dots. It is a podcast inspired by a quote by Steve Jobs, who said, “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” The in-depth conversation I had with David went in a lot of interesting directions, which made it fun. We talked about my partnership with Kim and what it's like working with your spouse. We discussed "spaghetti throwing," and the long and winding road that led us to where we are today. And I shared …
Archives for April 2015
Thou Shalt Always Wear Clean Underpants Upon Leaving Thy House
[ This is an excerpt from Penguins Can’t Fly +39 Other Rules That Don’t Exist, a beautiful and inspiring book that will help you uncover and break the so-called rules that could be holding you back from a life of awesome. Get it here! ] Moms everywhere seem to be united in their desire to make sure that if we leave the house, we do so with clean underpants. In case we get into an accident. Naturally. Because if you get into an accident, and you are rushed to the hospital, and the emergency workers are required to remove your underwear, and they discover that your tighty-whiteys are …
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Saturday Morning Sprinkles: Post-It Note Wallpaper Edition
• This guy had it with the boring office walls. So he bought 9,000 post-it notes, enlisted the help of a few friends, and turned the office from blah to blah-mazing! (Hat tip to Jen De Ridder) • If you have any Peeps left over from Easter, you could always try Peep Jousting. (via Melissa LeFever) • Speaking of those marshmallowy friends, the annual Peeps Diorama contest is always a treat! • Our family is loving this creative short about two dads letting their inner child run wild: Finally, some posts from around here you may have missed: • Thou shalt be realistic • New …
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This Week In Rule Breaking
Rules that don't exist are all around us, and they can keep us from living a life of awesome. In honor of the upcoming release of Penguins Can't Fly, we are posting a different rule every day on our various social media accounts, using the hashtag #notarule. Some are rules we've uncovered, others have been shared with us from people like you. Follow along on Instagram, Tumblr, or Facebook or share your own rule here! Chip Lutz went to the trouble of demonstrating that this is "snot" a rule that doesn't exist. Tinye Harding reminds us that most fashion faux pas are really rules …
Getting Healthy by Getting Rid of Adultitis
I was happy to be a recent guest of Meredith Rhodes Carson on her WebTalkRadio show, The Roots of Health. It was a fun chat, and we talked about a lot of things, including how you can diagnose your own degree of Adultitis, what happened in our lives to infect us with this disease, what could happen to you if you live undiagnosed, and how can we begin to combat Adultitis in our lives. As a veteran of many Jell-O cook-offs, Meredith knows a thing or two about fighting Adultitis herself! You can listen to the interview here. …
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This Is Genius
The reasons we homeschool are legion, but it has nothing to do with teachers. This video resonates big time. Reminds me of the Einstein quote: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." The way we do school in this country is one big #notarule. …
Bankruptcy vs. Bullets: Putting Fear in Perspective
Back in the 1940s and 50s, after the second World War, one of the greatest periods of economic prosperity began. There are a number of reasons for this, but one of the most overlooked is that the people coming home from the war were not afraid to take financial risks in order to pursue their dreams. It would appear that the fear of financial ruin was nothing compared to bullets whizzing past your head. The soldiers saw firsthand just how short life really can be. Coming home alive was a gift, and they were not going to squander one minute of it. I'm afraid we've become sheltered. …
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Saturday Morning Sprinkles: Making Thirft Store Paintings Better Edition
• David Irvine paints random pop culture icons into old thrift store paintings, and they are fantastic. Love his creativity! • Love this list of habits for happy families from Modern Parents Messy Kids. Especially dig the concept of time-ins. • Superhero nerds will like this series from a photographer who documents the secret life of superhero toys. • This is pretty cool - a father and daughter re-create Jurassic Park with Legos in this stop-motion animated film: Finally, some posts from around here you may have missed: • The magical moving sidewalk • How to make spring …
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This Week In Rule Breaking
Rules that don't exist are all around us, and they can keep us from living a life of awesome. In honor of the upcoming release of Penguins Can't Fly, we are posting a different rule every day on our various social media accounts, using the hashtag #notarule. Some are rules we've uncovered, others have been shared with us from people like you. Follow along on Instagram, Tumblr, or Facebook or share your own rule here! Sarah Hinderliter was the winner of the latest #notarule caption contest, taking home a print of her choice for posting the rule for this photo over on Facebook: Not …
10 Non-Evil But Still Excellent April Fools Pranks
We recently hosted a live hangout on Facebook to celebrate the end of winter. It was a fun and frantic online hangout filled with laughter and lively discussion. We invited the partygoers to share their favorite April Fools Day prank. Here are some of the best: My husband moved all of the clocks ahead 5 hours when I fell asleep on the couch. Woke up thinking that to had to get up for work in 45 minutes when it was really only 2:30 in the morning! (Lisa Toli) Mashed potato ice cream cones. (via Sarah Jenkins) At work, put the phone in the ceiling tiles. Or tape down the phone receiver. …
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