I was grumpy all day Christmas Eve. The kids were acting like children, how dare they. They were overly excited and a little tired and do you know what excited, tired children do? They take the cushions off the couch even though their mother told them not to. They ping pong between being silly and
Playing Santa is, without a doubt, one of the most fun gigs I’ve ever had. Shopping, wrapping, imagining the joy when they open the gift. It is all so very wonderful. Sometime in November, Tom’s mom, Peggy, called me from Costco. She was shopping, and there was one MaryEllen American Girl doll left. Should she
When I first heard the Bible’s story of Anna the prophetess, I was moved to tears. A life of faithfulness, devoted to worship, proclaiming the name of Jesus. I imagine reading the verses to my daughter one day, telling her, “This is the story of Anna, whose life of faith pointed to the faithful One.
To celebrate Anna’s birthday, I got one of those mylar number balloons that I see all over Instagram and blogs. They are completely unoriginal and #basic, but what the heck? They make for an excellent photo, everyone knows it. It was cloudy and rainy on Anna’s birthday, so I set up the balloon near a
I’ve spent the last few weeks feeling a bit sad, a bit in disbelief. Soon my fourth baby will turn one, and then she won’t be a baby anymore. Perhaps it will surprise no one at all to find out that I’m feeling very, very sentimental about this milestone. This time last year I was
Now that I’m an adult, I often think back to events from my childhood and I realize I never had any sort of appreciation for the work my parents did to make them happen. Pumpkin carving fits squarely in that category. Looking back to my own childhood, I do not remember my parents finding time
I’ve been blogging a ton this week — way more than I normally do. It’s because I feel a deadline looming to post everything from vacation, if I don’t do it this week, I never will. This is the last week of summer. In just a few days my two big kids will get on
After writing two kind of complain-y posts about our trip to a beautiful lake in a phenomenal house, I would be remiss if I didn’t say: our vacation was awesome. I love finding humor in mishaps and sleep deprivation, but those moments were honestly the exceptions. There was a lot of work, sure. We were
After our visit with my sister’s family, David stayed an extra week at my mom and dad’s for some extended cousin time. Maybe you read that sentence and thought, “Oh! How wonderful for David!” If that is the case, I need to warn you, you might not relate to the rest of this post. Here’s
Mary is, by far, my busiest child. She is always buzzing about preparing, arranging, collecting, and always, always talking. I cannot keep up. I try, but I have to be honest with myself about my physical limitations. I cannot breathe underwater, I cannot see into the future, I cannot wear my pre-pregnancy jeans. I cannot