Lent starts in just a few days, and I still haven’t figured out exactly how I’m going to personally observe the season. As a mom with a lot of little kids, I don’t like to put major restrictions on vices. I give myself a lot of grace when it comes to things like hiding in
A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2019. We took a mid-week trip to Franklin County. Playing hooky on Tuesday and Wednesday throws your whole week off because Tuesday feels like Saturday and Wednesday feels like Sunday. Then Thursday feels like Monday, so I got to be disappointed that I don’t
Mary has been wanting to do the monkey bars at school. She never mentioned it to me, she kept it to herself. It was her own, personal, quiet goal. She had wanted to try, but she hadn’t tried yet. She hadn’t even climbed the ladder. There were plenty of very valid excuses — David broke his
The 52 Project – A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2019. David / Just prepare now for an entire year of pictures of David reading. And eating apples. And sitting symmetrically on the couch. (He’s reading Prince Caspian here. Since I took this photo he moved on to Voyage of the
At Anna’s 15-month well-visit last week, the nurse let me know that my happy, smiling, gurgling baby had a low grade fever. Um, excuse me, what? A few minutes later we had a diagnosis of two bulging ear infections, one emerging molar, and an otherwise growing, healthy bald baby girl. Happy 15 months, Anna! I
Last weekend we celebrated David’s half birthday. Seven AND A HALF years old, this one. Seven and a half years is also how long it took me to come up with the tradition of putting a few pieces of birthday cake in the freezer a la the first anniversary wedding cake tradition. The white chocolate
A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2019. David / This weekend we celebrated David’s half birthday with cupcakes and a round of “happy half-birthday to you.” Mary / A few weeks ago Tom’s mom gave us the desk she used when she was a little girl. We took
What’s a little girl’s favorite part of a father-daughter dance? Gloating to her brothers that she’s going to a dance and they aren’t Fighting with Mommy about what makeup is appropriate for a 5-year old (Answer: no makeup. Be glad that you’re getting lip gloss. ) Having a special night with your daddy. We’ll never
A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2019. The four of them / Here’s a quick photography tip: a well-composed photograph should be free of clutter. Remove items in the foreground and background that are busy and distracting. Unless your four children are playing (sort of) together. In that instance, run into
All of my toddlers have gone through this phase — the “outside” phase. It’s the phase when they want to be outside more than they want to be anywhere else, when they bang on the door to go outside regardless of the weather or time of day. And when it’s time to go inside for