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Support for married couples, by married couples.

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  • 20 Ways to Become a More Patient Spouse this Week
  • 25 Conversation Starter Questions on Sexuality
  • 50 Questions to ask your spouse besides “How was your day?”
  • 50 Ways to Engage Kids on a Budget
  • 50 Ways to Love Your Lover
  • About
  • At Home Dating
  • BAILEY’S TREE
  • Barriers to Forgiveness and Healing
  • Confronting for the Sake of Our Relationship
  • Conversation Starters
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  • Dialogue
  • Double Chocolate Brownies
  • Emotional Bank Account
  • Feelings Reflect Who I am as a Unique Individual
  • Four Basic Psychological Needs
  • How to Foster Teamwork – A Starter List
  • In Memory of Fr. Tom Ogg
  • Let’s Talk about Sex
  • Making Decisions as a Couple – 10 Steps
  • Marriage Check-up Exercise
  • Our Family Commandments
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  • The Power of Positive: Examples of Converting Negatives about our Relationship to Positives
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  • Children,  Parenting,  Time

    50 Ways to Engage Kids

    January 13, 2020 / No Comments

    Photo Credit: Jahir Martinez on Unsplash.com “A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.”  This anonymous quote (sexist wording and all) caught our eye and caused us to reflect on fun times with our kids.  As wonderful as children are, they add expense to any family budget.  Kids need love and attention; they thrive when you engage with them.  Fortunately engaging  doesn’t have to break the budget.  Engaging also creates screen-free time, lifelong values and memories.  We’ll close with a list of 50 of our favorite ways to engage kids that cost little to nothing and are all screen-free.

    Read More
    Tom and Mary Frances

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  • Children,  Communication,  Parenting

    Parenting 101 – United We Stand

    October 29, 2019 / No Comments

    One of the most challenging things in our marriage was learning to raise responsible, caring, well-adjusted children. Now that our children are adults, we are back to child-rearing mode with our two year old granddaughter who lives with us.  Here are 6 lessons we’ve learned.

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    Paul and Stephanie

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    Kudos To The Tired Dad

    March 24, 2025

    I Married YOU, Not Your Family

    February 24, 2020
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    The Drift 

    August 26, 2024
  • Children,  Communication,  Decision to Love,  Parenting,  Romance,  Time

    Time for a Marriage Getaway? “Here’s Yer Sign”

    October 28, 2019 / No Comments

    You proposed.  She accepted.  White dress, wedding bells.  New house, new bills.  Kids. Jobs. TV. Internet. Full calendar. What happened?  What’s next? Photo by Alyssa Ledesma on Unsplash We thought our marriage was “fine” but we were focused on running from one kid’s sports to the next kid’s music lessons.  There wasn’t time for those long talks about our future.  Even though we thought the honeymoon would last forever…it didn’t.  We were more focused on the kids than on each other.  As the romance faded, we gradually became more aware of each others’ flaws.  We lost sight of  who WE were as a couple.

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    Ken and Janine

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    Kudos To The Tired Dad

    March 24, 2025

    5 Reasons You Need a Getaway Without Kids

    January 8, 2024
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    The Drift 

    August 26, 2024
  • Children,  Communication,  Conflict,  Decision to Love,  Parenting,  Time

    The Happiest Place on Earth – NOT (this time)

    October 7, 2019 / No Comments

    We recently went to Disneyland with our  adult daughter and our 2 year old granddaughter. All three adults had high hopes for a fun-filled family time at the “happiest” place on earth. When naysayers told us we were crazy for taking a two year old to Disneyland, we scoffed at them. We’ve been there, done this before. But we hadn’t been there, done that with a toddler. The crowds, a cranky toddler, and plenty of unmet expectations led to a communication breakdown that was a debacle for all of us. None of us ended up having much fun and we left a day early.

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    Paul and Stephanie

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    The Empty Nest Revisited

    November 28, 2022

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    February 7, 2022

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    December 13, 2021
  • Children,  Decision to Love,  Parenting,  Romance

    Ugh, Mom and Dad, no PDA!

    September 23, 2019 / 1 Comment

    Nick: Call it a “sixth sense,” but I can tell when my kids’ eyes are on Jen and me.  I can practically hear their eyes rolling whenever we touch each other.

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    Nick and Jen

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  • Children,  Parenting,  Time

    Keeping Up with the Jones’s

    August 26, 2019 / No Comments

    Jen: As we approach the craziness of a new school year with our kiddos, I am struck once again by how tempting it is to compete with other parents in comparing kid activities. Even when they were in pre-school, I can remember having conversations about where my kids were developmentally and what their achievements were. I can remember how much angst I felt when I thought someone else’s child was achieving more than mine simply because I hadn’t signed them up for enough extra activities. I found myself doubting that we were doing enough to help our children reach their full potential.

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    Nick and Jen

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    October 8, 2018

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    September 11, 2018
  • Children,  Communication,  Parenting,  Time

    3 Tips to Make Your Marriage Thrive

    August 20, 2019 / No Comments

    Photo Credit:  Estee Janssens We hope this summer found you thriving, with plenty of time in the sun to relax and catch up with family and friends.  As these carefree days come to an end, we have some tips to help you continue to thrive. Fall gets busy —

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    Tom and Mary Frances

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  • Children,  Parenting,  Relatives

    Holiday Traditions

    October 15, 2018 / No Comments

    With the arrival of fall our thoughts turn to spiced cider, hearty soups and gathering of family and friends.  As husband and wife we are often rooted in diverse family traditions.  Deciding how to celebrate the holidays can be a source of stress and conflict.

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    Tom and Mary Frances

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    February 7, 2022

    Ugh, Mom and Dad, no PDA!

    September 23, 2019

    The Empty Nest Repopulated – 4 Ways to make it Great!

    October 26, 2020
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    Leave & Cleave

    October 8, 2018 / No Comments

    Leave & Cleave(adapted from “The Art of Marriage” video series) Most married couples have heard that we must “leave our fathers and mothers and cling to our spouse.” While it’s not easy, it is necessary.

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    Paul and Stephanie

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    June 20, 2022
  • Children,  Decision to Love,  Parenting

    Moving – Marriage Tester or Marriage Bester

    September 11, 2018 / No Comments

    For the fifth time in our 32 year marriage, we recently  packed up our belongings to move to another home. This time, it was to obtain a bit more space for our adult daughter (a single mother) and our 10 month old granddaughter to live with us. While we were perfectly content after having downsized 10 years ago into a smaller space, we found ourselves needing to upsize again. Of course, none of this was in our “plan,” but that’s the way life goes sometimes isn’t it?

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    Paul and Stephanie

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    Time for a Marriage Getaway? “Here’s Yer Sign”

    October 28, 2019

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    Keeping Up with the Jones’s

    August 26, 2019
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