Suburban gardening is almost exactly like urban gardening. The only differences are that we don’t keep up with new music and we pay lower taxes. After nearly two years of barely doing anything to take care of our yard, Tom and I devoted several weekends to mulching, weeding, and getting our garden started. We removed
This is Thomas’s birthday week. He turns four on Sunday, and we’ve been building up to his birthday in small, special ways — a happy birthday banner on the mantel, a special “T” balloon on his chair. Almost every day we gently explain to Thomas’s siblings that the reason we have different expectations for him
Anytime an entire week goes by without a new blog post you can assume one of two things: One or all of our kids has a fever, ear infection, an orthopedic injury, is throwing up, or all of the above. I’m fumbling through some sort of craft that requires skills that I’m teaching myself with
A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2019. David and Mary / This week was Teacher Appreciation Week. I sent these two off to school with irises, roses and one peony each, paltry gestures of my overwhelming gratitude for the teachers that care for my kids every day. I read once that
A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2019. David / Last week I promised myself that I wouldn’t post another picture of him with his head down reading or doing a workbook. But besides sleeping, reading is the only thing he does. And the lighting’s not nearly this great when he’s sleeping.
A few weeks ago, before spring break, I got an email from Mary’s teacher. Whenever Mary’s teacher writes us emails she does this thing where the subject line of the email is just the kid’s name. So every now and then I get an email, subject “Mary” and every single time I panic. My blood
Last week my mom asked me if there were any pictures of the week. “What do you mean?” I asked. “You know, on the blog,” she explained. “Are you done with that?” Come on! I’d only missed ONE week, I thought. But then I checked and actually I’d missed two weeks. And now that I
We opened our pool about two weeks ago. It is entirely too cold to be swimming, but that hasn’t stopped any of our kids. And so, even though pool season is over a month away if you ask me, I’m spending my afternoons out by the pool. Having a pool in your backyard is really, really fun.
This Easter I decided to make a scavenger hunt for the kids’ Easter baskets. It was really fun, really easy (thanks to millions of pre-written scavenger hunts on Pinterest), and will likely become a tradition. David read the clues aloud and then he and Mary ran to find the next one. It took Thomas a
I never really talk to my kids in a formal way about the environment. I didn’t even realize it until I sat down to write this. I don’t talk to them about it, even though it’s very important to me to raise kids who respect and enjoy plants, animals, and the great outdoors. Enjoying God’s