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This is our favorite time of the year!  We are sharing some of our best tips for making the holidays special and minimizing stress!

In this episode, we talk about why perspective is important to us, how we try to expand our kids' perspective (it's wide-reaching!), and what we are still working on.  There's a lot in this episode, so we will have additional posts with more detail on several subjects that were discussed in this podcast.

In this episode we give an update on how our summer turned out, how we are approaching the colder months, and how it's been with the kids back to (virtual) school!  We are sharing tips on what's working and talking through what we've struggled with.  Enjoy!

It is very important to us to incorporate the arts into our family.  In this episode we explain why, how we weave it into our day-to-day, and how the pandemic has impacted our approach.

So many of our conversations as parents, and certainly now through the pandemic, have been sparked by things we are worried about.  Here's a glimpse into how we are tackling it.  We hope you enjoy this episode!

We share our philosophy on the subject and discuss how we go about living it out.  Our approach certainly isn't the only way to go about it, so we'd love to hear your take as well!

Having a good ole fashioned summer - What it means, why it's important to us, and how we are going to make it a reality.  Having zero plans never looked so good!

Four months into the pandemic and we're tackling a topic that's been a big conversation for us.

School's out for the summer and with so many restrictions on activities, we've been having a lot of chats about screen time!  In this episode, we discuss the positives and negatives of devices (especially during these times), we dig into our thoughts on the "right" amount of screen time, and we share some tools and hacks that we have found helpful along the way. Google WiFi Mesh System: https://store.google.com/product/nest_wifi YouTube Kids Facebook Messenger

This is a regular topic of discussion for us as we raise our 3 daughters.  In this episode, we explore the behaviors that we try to model for our kids, the conversations that we have with them to attempt to shift the narrative from societal norms, and the specific strategies that we use to raise the next generation.

We love camping and have begun planning for our next adventure in the wilderness.  In this episode, we share the beauty and deep connection we have found in camping, plus some tricks on how to do it with young kids.  Let us know if you have suggestions on great spots to try out!

In this episode, we explore Gary Chapman's 5 Love Languages... what they are, how to find yours, and how to incorporate this tool as a way to improve your marriage.  We also discuss how the topic has relevance with your kids as well as the rest of your network!  Check the show notes for links to the quizzes and additional background information! Links from this episode: 5 Love Languages - http://www.5lovelanguages.com DISC - https://discpersonalitytesting.com/free-disc-test/ Enneagrams - https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test

We've been surprised by how well the kids have adjusted the past few weeks, so in this episode, we discuss how we think they are embracing all the changes so well, what we as adults can learn from them, and then we bring our two oldest on the mics to get their perspective!  Hope you enjoy!

**Special COVID-19 Series** Episode 10: Q&A With An Experienced Work From Home Professional Learn how to avoid distractions, structure your day, and manage a team remotely!  Nick Perri shares some fantastic advice on how he has perfected the art of working from home for nearly his entire career.  Take a listen and let us know what you think! Thank you to everyone who has joined us in this series!

**Special COVID-19 Series** Episode 9: COVID-19 Q&A With A High School Teacher. In this episode we interview a high school teacher, Katie Komarnicki, to learn how our educators are feeling during these uncertain times, what they are up against with eLearning, what our responsibilities are as parents in the new virtual classroom, advice on device usage, and recommendations on educational resources.  Take a listen and let us know your thoughts! Resources from this episode: Freckle - http://www.freckle.com Prodigy - http://www.prodigygame.com Epic Reading - http://www.getepic.com A to Z Kids - http://www.kidsa-z.com Reading Eggs - http://www.readingeggs.com Wonderopolis - http://www.wonderopolis.org Ted Eds - http://www.ed.ted.com  Khan Academy - http://www.khanacademy.org 

**Special COVID-19 Series** In this episode, we interview a physician in Pennsylvania to learn about what he is seeing, how we can support the teams at the front lines, what we can do to protect our families, and more.  Let us know what you think of the episode and look for 2 more interviews to be released Friday and Saturday.  We'd love to know if you found this helpful and if you'd like us to continue the series!   All episodes can be found under The Somerstime Podcast on any podcast platform. Resources from this episode:  http://www.cdc.gov                                             http://www.who.int 

This episode is dedicated to our sister and brother-in-law who had their first baby, Roy Douglas, on March 13th!  We've had this episode in the queue for a while, so this will be a bit of a departure from current events, but it was a fun topic for us as we reflected back on what worked (and what didn't work!) when we had our 4 kids.  We hope it's helpful for all of you!

We're sharing how our first week of social isolation has gone - the highs, the lows, and some tips on how to stay optimistic during these times!

Episode 5 is up early: Finding The Silver Linings During Coronavirus.  In this episode, we share how we are approaching coronavirus restrictions as opportunities and keeping our optimism throughout the craziness.  We'd love to hear from you!  What are some of the things you are doing?

Episode 4 is up!!  This week we wrapped up our 11th year of an annual financial reset that has saved us thousands of dollars.  Hope it's a strategy that you may also find useful!   Subscribe to our channel, The Somerstime Podcast, on any podcast platform!