• Family - Fun - Parenting

    In the Blink of an Eye

    March 28, 2023 - By 

    I touched on this the other day, when I wrote: Time flies slowly then disappears in the blink of an eye. In our family, we are at that cusp. That age when you recognize that your kids are Big Kids. Just a few years away from Teenagers. That every moment they are still a Little Kid – you should cherish that. It’s almost a part of your past. They are almost too grown for those midnight nightmares and impromptu hugs and can-you-cut-the-crusts-off-my-bread. Which is why, as a grown woman of over 40 years old, for the last two nights I…

  • Family - Parenting

    The Cup Half-Full

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    Today’s homeschool lesson was: how to fill each other’s cups. Also known as “Why mom has always lost her marbles by the end of the day.” I put together a little practical demonstration for the boys. I placed a jar of marbles on the table. Surrounding it, some empty cupcake liners. I explained that the glass jar of marbles represented me: both my physical and emotional energy throughout the day. I then gave them a run-through of what I do, and had the boys select marbles from the jar and place them in the corresponding cupcake liners each time a…

  • Family - Food

    Lucky Charms

    January 11, 2018 - By 

    Another cold winter day means school starting time is delayed 2 hours. I decided to take advantage of this and sleep until the boys woke up. Around 8 am, I heard Aiden in the living room, but he was being quiet and not demanding anything of me, so I proceeded to lay in bed for a while before deciding to get up.  After almost 30 minutes of this, I began to get suspicious. He had to be up to something. “Hi mom!” he chirped when I entered the kitchen. “I made breakfast for me and Connor.” And sure enough, he…

  • Family - Fun

    A Parent’s Summer Bucket List

    July 18, 2017 - By 

    Apparently, some teenager wrote down her summer bucket list and then forgot it in an Urban Outfitters dressing room.  The bad news is now all the internets knows that she wants to pet a giraffe and other, less-PG things, although the good news is all she has to do is log on to Twitter to remember what she wrote. While I can identify with some of the things on her list (binge new Netflix series? check.  eat cotton candy? check), there are some that, sadly, as a thirty-something mother of two I just do not identify with.  (have a super…

  • Family

    Cupcakes and Confessions

    June 23, 2017 - By 

    I made cupcakes using a generic store-bought mix and frosting out of a can.  Instead of making them from scratch using one of the many Pinterest recipes I’ve saved. And something else: They were pretty darn tasty. This is not because I have excellent culinary skills. I mean, I’d like to think that they’re halfway decent these days, but that’s not why the cupcakes were tasty. I’m going to guess it had more to do with these three things: Sugar Oil (aka FAT mmmmm) Years of product testing and research Okay, so yeah I’m sure my $1.99 cake mix is…

  • Family

    Father’s Day

    June 19, 2017 - By 

    A few days ago, my son asked me: “Mom, is it almost the day that we love daddy?”  (pause)  “You know, like Mother’s Day for dads?” “Well yes it is almost that day,” I explained to him, “and we call it Father’s Day.” The day was simple, but wonderful:  bacon and coffee, kid giggles, a bike ride, lunch and soft serve ice cream, naps, and finally, fishing on the dock.  We even caught a fish with our fancy and sophisticated fishing pole: Oh, and something more amazing?  After seeing the fish caught, filleted, and cooked, (getting a brief lesson in…

  • Family

    Strawberry Fields

    June 14, 2017 - By 

    The weather was beautiful (if a little windy) and it is strawberry season around here, so I took the boys to go pick strawberries. Well, I took Aiden to go pick strawberries.  Apparently, I took Connor to teach him not to pick the green ones. Aiden already knew not to pick the green ones because of a discussion we had about my tomato plant last week.  I had scolded them for picking the ripe tomatoes before we were ready to eat them.  (This is mostly because they use them as small flying objects, rather than food).  So when I saw…