I'm just trying to walk myself home.
We are about halfway through Month 4 of this crazy little mutiny against excess, as Jen Hatmaker calls it in her book. A group of us started strong in February eating only seven foods for one month. (really, really hard) Then we wore seven items of clothing in March. (easy peasy) Then in April we …
A few weeks ago, we took advantage of a school break to go Spring Camping in Missouri. It rained for a lot of the time we were gone, but I still loved getting away. The spring rain has made the flowers and trees sparkle with color this year, and it always makes my heart …
It’s an exciting season at the Chino House, friends. We’ve had a lot going on, so I thought I would do a little re-cap, plus let you know what’s in the pipeline for the rest of this month. We made a Family Cycling Video. Have you seen it! KATV – Breaking News, Weather and Razorback …
It is starting to get hot enough outside that you need a good standby recipe for cole slaw. This recipe is part Ina Garten and part Rhonda Eubanks, my dear friend and catering buddy. Rhonda and I love to cook together! We have a great rhythm in the kitchen, and we freely alter each others’ …
I’m sorry if you don’t live in The South right now because we are having our two weeks of perfect weather. (I exaggerate, but we really only get a few weeks of spring before it becomes brutally hot!) Since our family is on a Media Break (for Seven), we’ve been looking for different ways to …
Having Compassion on Mother’s Day Mother’s Day always sneaks up on me, but it slapped me hard across the face this week when my mom said something about how my Grandmother always would take us all out for pizza on Mother’s Day. While she was talking, I realized that this will be the first …
photo by Jacob Slaton Do you remember the first time you ever flew on an airplane? When you first felt the now everyday miracle of accelerating down the runway and then the nose of the aircraft lifting up into the air? Just like that. All of a sudden, you are flying. Houses below you become …
One of my Grandmother’s favorite local restaurants serves this salad that I find delectable, and since I cannot yet find it in me to go there without her, I have come up with a suitable imitation of this spring garden salad. I used arugula instead of salad mix, because it’s my favorite, but I imagine …
Well, today is the end of Month 3 of Seven. If you’ve been here for a while, you know that I am participating with a group of girls in following Jen Hatmaker’s challenge to take on seven areas of excess in our lives in seven months. This month was Possessions, in which the goal was …
Today I am super excited, because we are introducing our first Chino House Family Video: Family Cycling The Story Behind Our Video Simon and I frequently watch a sweet series of videos that Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom introduced of her family called Olive Us. (If you’ve never seen one, watch How To Visit A …
Last week, I flew to Chicago, where I had the wonderful privilege of spending a few days working with my sister, Anna, in her new restaurant, Blackberry Market. Anna and her husband, Robert, opened Blackberry in December. I spent a harried couple of days there in January and just got a small glimpse of the …
Y’all, this picture was taken ten years ago on a camping trip to Devil’s Den State Park. How is that even possible? For ten years we have been playing with our kids in the woods and streams of Arkansas’ State Parks. Devil’s Den State Park is in Northwest Arkansas, and it is still one of …
Today we are teaming up with Compassion International for World Malaria Day, to bring awareness to the fact that half of the world’s population, 3.3 billion people are at risk for malaria. Ben and Simon got involved to help me create a Diary Of A Mosquito. Some of my kids favorite picture books are the …
For Ten Dollar Tuesday this week, it seems like a good idea to support your favorite runner. I think it takes a lot of courage to run a race. For most of my life, I have admired from a distance those who lace up tennis shoes day after day to hit the pavement. When …
After we made our and ate our yummy gumbo for our fun family photo shoot with Whitney, we made cookies! These are my kids’ favorite sugar cookies! And we made them in the shape of our favorite state! Arkansas sugar cookies with Razorback red icing! Yum! I can remember when the kids were really little, …
photo by Scott Krycia This is a story about learning to wander from one of the most interesting people I have ever met while traveling. My first trip to Europe began in a customs line in Prague, where I met Shep, a tall, dark and handsome fellow who was carrying a backpack and a guitar. …
My kids have been in the middle of standardized testing for the last two weeks, and I am feeling so grateful that today is the last day of it! We are definitely going to have to celebrate! I think a little ice cream party is in order this afternoon. Sprinkles, cones, toppings and the like. …
Making Gumbo Together As A Family I’m continuing today with our family photos that I started posting last week. After we bought our groceries at Argenta Market, our family took our photo shoot to our house, where we made dinner together. Ben is cutting up some Petit Jean Smoked Sausage for Gumbo! I love how …
I have so many pictures from my trip to Europe with my daughter (which we affectionately refer to as Eurocruisazy) that it has been overwhelming to think about printing them. I didn’t think I could begin to choose, so when InstaThis contacted me about reviewing some Instagram prints, I jumped at the chance to choose …
I’ve been super excited about sharing this week’s nonprofit because I’ve been following this organization with some excitement since reading Escape from Camp 14, a true story about a North Korean boy who escaped first from a North Korean prison camp and then later from the country. LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) is …