Sure, one winter storm was fun, but then we had another, and an hour before I sat down to write this I got a text from my county alerting me that another ice storm is on its way. The text said to have EMERGENCY SUPPLIES READY! What are the odds that that was a prank
Back in September, around the time school was starting, I had a lot of conversations about kindergarten. When I told people that I wasn’t sending Thomas, they would inevitably say, “What are you doing?” “Nothing,” I’d respond. Preschool? No. Home school? Nope. And then there would be this awkward silence where they’d try to compute what I
Shout out to everyone who lives in a moderate climate, waking up to a blanket of snow, beginning the early morning chore of unearthing snow bibs and waterproof gloves for children who CANNOTWAITANOTHERSECOND to go outside. Since it only occasionally snows, all the snow gear is scattered here and there. Half of it is outgrown
Behold! The virtual learner in its natural habitat… Careful to not disturb her. (Or at least not before making sure her camera isn’t on. No one needs to see Mom walk by in her PJs at 1 p.m.) We’re halfway through the year, and I had been planning on writing about how virtual school is
We aren’t a condiment family. Did you know that? Nearly 10 years of blogging and I’ve never mentioned it. Tom doesn’t like mayonnaise — that’s generally well-known. But neither Tom nor I like ketchup, and we could take or leave most everything else. Tom doesn’t even use salad dressing. (As with everything, I’m much less
When my kids see that I titled this post “Humpster” they’re going to be so mad. Sorry kids, my blog, my post titles. Depending on who you ask, this is either Humpster or Licorice. (Guess which name I’m pulling for.) I never ever in a million years thought we would get a hamster. But, turns
Every Christmas I make loaves and loaves and loaves of cinnamon bread. The first time I make it, the kids run to the kitchen like they just heard that Shawn Mendes was playing a concert in my stand mixer. (JK, my kids don’t know who Shawn Mendes is. But now that I think about it,
Last Saturday morning after breakfast we all piled on the couch to watch the end of Christmas Vacation, which we had started the night before. Anna got bored (sorry, Chevy Chase!) and wandered into the playroom. I glanced at her as she meandered over to a little set of blocks and started stacking them. She
One morning after breakfast, I was standing at the counter washing dishes and Anna crawled under the kitchen table. She looked up at the underside of the table and asked, “What’s this, Mommy?” I answered her broadly, not sure if she was asking about the base of the table or pointing at a screw or
When school started in September, Tom sat down with the kids and created a schedule for them. The hope was to reclaim some of the structure that had been lost in the floundering, chaotic months of the quarantine. The schedule includes a mandatory hour of outside time each day. Being the supportive spouse I am,