Rachel Banning
Originally from the Wichita area, Rachel’s greatest adventure began 20 years ago when she married her husband. Together, they have one living child with Asperger’s (Dylan, ‘03) and one heavenly daughter with cerebral palsy (Mia, 2000-2013). She is a homeschool mom and business owner. Rachel is an unapologetic advocate for children of all abilities, a bookworm, and she will find any excuse to use her Kitchen Aid and wear Junior League red.
Surviving Your Child’s Hospital Stay
Having a daughter with cerebral palsy and a son with special needs has earned us frequent flyers status at hospitals. As some point, I quit counting the number of hospitalizations, and I quit worrying...
Teen Vaping :: What Every Parent Needs to Know
In October, I had an opportunity to attend the Sedgwick County Drug Summit hosted by the Wichita Crime Commission. What I received that day was a very harsh slap of reality of what teens...
Hosting the Holidays
I love a full house during the holidays. Family, friends, neighbors, overnight house guests, come and go guests--each person we welcome into our home during the holiday season offers a unique and intimate opportunity...
Compost 101: How to Get Started
Did you know that Americans generate 4.40 pounds of waste per person per day?
Food and lawn waste accounts for 25% of waste in landfills! Early in our homeschool lives, our son did a project...
A Woman’s Best Kept Secret (Everything You’re Afraid to Ask About the Cup)
One thing women don’t often talk about much is actually being a woman and the monthly authority that comes along with this reality. Although I consider myself to be a traditionally formal and private...
How to Work (Professionally) with Your Spouse & Survive
Marriage is hard. Working with your spouse in a professional capacity does not make this any easier - it simply makes it hard more often. Next January, my husband and I will celebrate 20...
Lose the Training Wheels :: Teaching Kids How to Ride A Bike
Next to potty training and teaching our son how to tie his shoes, teaching him to ride a bike was the hardest thing for me as a mom to accomplish. I remember thinking that...
Father’s Day Gift Giving – Shop Local for Wichita Dads
What do you buy for the dad who has everything? Doubly stressing about what to get my husband AND my father for Father's Day can be overwhelming. My husband is an excellent gift giver....
Surviving Home Improvements
It’s 9 o’clock at night. My husband is hiding his tools as I’m frantically vacuuming this room, affectionately known as the FOREVER FIXER UPPER GUEST ROOM. The room still doesn't have paint on the...
The Reluctant Gardener
I’m a city girl through and through, so when my husband suggested we begin growing our own food, I knew I'd be completely out of my element. I had never even been able to...
Best Tacos in Wichita: 5 Amazing Local (and Almost Local) Eats
Here are a few things you should understand about tacos: Kids love them! Men love them! Women love them! It doesn’t matter what kind of taco it is - fried, soft, street, or Indian...
Raising the Barre :: 5 Barre Myths (From a Skeptic)
Less than a year after opening their first Wichita location, Barre Forte is happy to announce a second Wichita location on the east side. Now you can “Meet Your Best,” east or west!
They will be offering preview...
Finding Strength in #MeToo
"….me too."
Those two words broke my heart for a week solid after Alyssa Milano took to social media in October with Tarana Burke’s phrase #metoo that raised our society’s awareness to the prevalence of...
Our Life without TV
A little over ten years ago, when we moved into our new home, we made a conscious decision not to put a television in our living room. Up to that point, our TV had...