This year the kids received invitations to Hogwarts in their Easter baskets. Visiting a theme park has never topped our list of dream vacations, but our little Harry Potter maniacs made us rethink our priorities. At ages 13 and 11, the kids are the perfect mix of old enough, young enough, and tall enough. They’ve been feverishly re-reading the series all year. They pass time … Continue reading Pure Magic
Clark and the kids gave me a box set of Little House on the Prairie DVD’s on Christmas morning. The entire series came in an adorable little house shaped box, and I absolutely loved it! Sadly, the little house of DVD’s collected dust for a few months, as if our entire family packed up and moved to Mankato or something. I guess real life was a little … Continue reading Christmas in July
Sam is so many things: middle schooler, soccer fanatic, Harry Potter aficionado, and aspiring YouTuber. And now we add teenager to that list. I refuse to let this freak me out. I’ve worked with teens long enough to know that they don’t all turn into eye rolling, surly beasts who despise their parents. I’ve also been a parent long enough to know that sometimes he’s … Continue reading We Have a Teenager in the House!
Maggie’s tenth year was mighty special. She learned to ride a horse, blossomed as a soccer goalie, landed her first sockeye salmon, planted a bountiful garden, and mastered Nestle’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. She snorkeled and skied, hiked and hunted. She devoured several book series: Pegasus, Hunger Games, and Harry Potter (again) were the favorites. Her top TV shows were Supergirl and Little House on the Prairie – … Continue reading Golden Girl
There’s a wee bit of an age difference between my sister and me. And by “wee” I mean 21 years. Truth be told, I’m closer in age to my mother than my sister. Let’s just say our parents had unexpected blessings on both ends of the spectrum. 😉 I was a sophomore in college when the phone rang in my dorm room at 711 Sandoz. … Continue reading An Ode to My Sister
That slogan: Make America Great Again We’ve seen it on everything from bumper stickers to baseball caps. On podiums and podcasts. But have we ever come to a consensus about what makes a “great” nation? Maybe Monaco is great. They have the longest life expectancy of any nation in the world. Denmark was named the happiest country in the world, so that’s pretty great too. Finland’s exemplary … Continue reading Defining Great: 1.0
No matter how busy life gets, our family will always make time for our annual Christmas tree excursion. This December’s weekend commitments included soccer games, horse chores, birthday parties, book club, gobs of homework, a band concert, and a debate tournament. No matter. We blocked out one lone Sunday on the calendar and headed to the woods. Good choice. Sunrise isn’t until 10 AM this time … Continue reading Tree Day 2016
We are shockingly ahead of the game this holiday season. It’s not even December yet, and there’s already a stash of wrapped Christmas gifts hidden in our spare bedroom. Time will tell if we finished our shopping too soon. Mathematically, my concern looks something like this: (Average Age of Children x Number of Children) + Days Until Christmas = Odds That Gifts will be Discovered and … Continue reading Alpha, Bravo, Echo, Foxtrot
For the past eight years the kids have happily dressed up in coordinating Halloween costumes. Eight years of adorableness. Eight years of sibling love. Eight years of sewing and face paint. 2008 – Jack in the Boxes (so stinking adorable) 2009 – Nebraska Cornhuskers 2010 – Tom and Jerry 2011 – Rapunzel and Pascal 2012 – Scary Skeleton and Witch 2013 – Magician and Rabbit 2014 – Harry and … Continue reading I Dream of a Halloween Theme
“The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world. “ ~Max Born Sam chose debate as one of his elective courses this semester. Call me crazy, but this might be one of the most useful classes of his educational career. Pubic speaking. Active listening. Persuasive speech writing. Academic research. What’s … Continue reading The Great Debate
