Clutter Free Academy

Expert, Shari Braendel, returns to answer listener fashion questions regarding decluttering our wardrobe. What are some rules for accessorizing for different body types? How to deal with weight fluctuations? How does a Stay-at-Home-Mom plan for having a "Sunday Best" wardrobe? And other questions.......

Kathi and Erin discuss planning hot dates on any budget!

Ever wake up and go to your closet only to find that you can't figure out what to wear? Today we talk with fashion expert Shari Braendel about what we can do with our wardrobe to make our mornings easier.

Let's start this school year on the right foot! What supplies do you already have? Are you ready to keep the best and get rid of the rest? How can you organize tools in a way that works best for your family? Listen as Kathi and Erin discuss tips to Be Clutter Free Before School Starts in this second part of a two part series.  

Set up your family for a successful Back to School season!  What areas of the house are most important for you children's success? How can you teach your children the generosity that comes from decluttering? Today we talk with Erin MacPherson about ways to give your children the tools they need to think through the decluttering process and be clutter free before school starts.

Tired of always wondering, "What should I make for dinner?" Overwhelmed by planning meals week after week? Want to have good friends over this summer but it all seems like too much to plan? Today Erin and I share our quick and easy ideas to have clutter free meal planning and summer entertaining! After listening, share one of your quick summer recipes and be entered to win a FREE book by Susan May Warren!!

Kathi and Erin discuss what is on their bucket list to make this a fun summer. The list includes things they want to do with and without kids.

Kathi and Erin discuss the three different categories of people who criticize others on social media and how to respond to each type.

Rules, Boundaries, Guidelines..... How do we raise our children to be responsible adults? Do you lay down the law or do you let your kids have a say? And have you ever uttered words you never expected to have to say like, "No slugs in bed!" Listen as Kathi and Erin discuss setting rules for kids and then leave comments with your input and advice. [Tweet "Rules, Boundaries, Guidelines...How do we raise our children to be responsible adults? #parenting"]

Kathi and Erin discuss the Austin Floods and what we can learn to help people before, during, and after a disaster. Besides ideas about how to help, they also explain how living a clutter free life prepares us for times of crisis.

For those of you who also struggle with weight, health, and generally feeling defeated with anything in your life that feels like it will never be resolved, this is for you. This is me, at my home church last week, talking about weight (I'd be much more comfortable talking about sex, trust me,) and how I can keep coming back to find hope in what can feel like a hopeless situation. (There may have been a few tears shed...)

Can't find your favorite pair of sandals? Where is that outfit you wanted to wear tonight? Which clothes still fit you and which do not? Going into our closet can be an overwhelming experience. Maybe you just shove things in there and say you'll get to organizing it "later." Today Kathi and Erin discuss how to thin out the items that aren't needed today in order to be able to easily find the wardrobe you enjoy and will be wearing this week.

Where do our daughters find their value in our culture? Their number of Facebook likes Their amount of Twitter Followers The number of boys that like them How do we help our daughters to find their value in the one who created them and loves them, Jesus? Today we talk with Lynn Cowell, author of Magnetic: Becoming the Girl He Wants to learn how we can help our daughters grow up to have a healthy sense of worth.  

But when is weird something that we need to change and when is weird something we need to say, “Maybe this is what God’s done with me and it’s OK?” Today we talk with Laurie Wallin, author of  Why Your Weirdness Is Wonderful: Embrace Your Quirks and Live Your Strengths. She is a life coach who teaches others how their weirdness enables them to love God uniquely and to love others more effectively. Listen to today’s podcast and learn How your weirdness is God’s image in you How to ask questions to check if your weirdness is bringing God glory How you can use something you hadn’t always appreciated about yourself for God’s glory

Today, we’re talking to Deva Dalporto of YouTube fame.  Yes, she’s the real woman behind the series of parody videos that you see on Facebook all the time.  She’s the mom behind What Does the Kid Say?, My Lips are Movin’ and her brand new Back-to-School Rap.  Listen in and find camaraderie in the fact that: Housekeeping is hard. Parenting is hard. Kids are hard. Life balance is hard. But there are millions of other moms out there who feel just like you do right now.  And maybe, just maybe if you step back and allow yourself to find joy in the big and the little, that burden will be eased.

Does your three-year-old know more about your iPhone than you do? Does your ten-year-old spend more time worrying about screen time than family time? Are you ready to throw screens out of your house altogether?  Listen in as Kathi and Erin talk to Arlene Pellicane, the author of Growing Up Social:  Raising Relational Kids in a Screen Driven World about: How to put appropriate boundaries in place with your kids in regards to technology. How to keep your kids relational even when they are inundated with screens and technology. How to teach your kids character and virtue even in a world where screens are so prevalent. Plus, click here to take Arlene's quiz "Is Your Child Getting Too Much Screen Time" and then listen in to find out how you can find the happy middle between our screen-driven world and the relationships that help our kids to thrive.

Have you ever gotten yourself into trouble for something you said? We all have!  Today, our guest Karen Ehman, the author of Keep it Shut:  What to Say it, How to Say it and When to Say Nothing at All, tells us how to keep our words uplifting, fruitful and God-honoring. She shares how we can: Avoid saying painful things to our loved ones that can cause damage when we are in a moment of temporary frustration. Keep our "verbal grenades" of opinion flinging from hurting people on Facebook and Twitter. (And knowing how to pray before we post so we don't say the wrong thing.) Find the fine line between processing and gossip. Be intentional about our communication so that our words can speak truth and life into the lives of the ones we love. Listen in, and then click over to read Karen's website and sign up for Karen's 5-day "Pray before you Pounce" challenge and start practicing your newfound communication skills.

Most little girls grow up dreaming of being a mom, but hardly any of them dream of becoming a stepmom. Nevertheless, approximately one million new stepfamilies are created every year. It’s no secret, being a stepmother can be a living nightmare. But it can also be an enriching and rewarding experience—one that God can use to strengthen you, helping you survive and even thrive in the toughest job you never asked for.