Maggie loves animals more than anything these days, so her party theme was simple: the zoo! She picked a handful of friends, and we all met at the zoo. After a few hours of exploring, we came back to our house for an animal-themed meal, cake, and a sleepover for those who wanted to stay.
The night before Maggie’s birthday, we were more patient than usual with her bedtime shenanigans. No matter when we send her to bed, she always finds a reason to come back downstairs. Oops, she forgot her water. Ooops, she forgot her book. Oooops, she forgot to take her asthma medicine. Her last trek downstairs is always with open arms, simply asking for another goodnight hug … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Maggie Style
It’s not Christmas, but someone in our house is asking for a few front teeth. Both of Maggie’s have fallen out in the past two weeks, and we are embracing her stereotypical 6-year-old grin: I snapped photos of Maggie’s tooth fairy letters before they were whisked away by the little winged creature, but the fairy keeps ignoring her request to leave a picture. Hmph. At … Continue reading Toothless Again
I adore Maggie’s teachers. They are a team of professionals with high expectations of not only themselves, but also the students and families in their classrooms. They have strong opinions about public education and literacy, some of them unconventional but all of them in alignment with my beliefs. Thanks to them, many inquisitive little minds absolutely love coming to school each and every day. Oh, … Continue reading Whoops!
My lack of sewing skills is well-documented, but for some masochistic reason I just keep trying. Before winter break, Maggie came home from school with soaking wet legs thanks to the blown out knees in her snow pants. Look at these little tears: how hard could it be to stitch them closed? Of course I procrastinated through our entire two week break, actually making her … Continue reading Why I Love 6-Year-Olds
Here’s the recap of New Year’s Eve 2012: My 6-year-old daughter made it to midnight. My 41-year-old husband did not. As for my 8 year-old-son… I’m not really sure. He spent the evening at an Alaska Ace’s hockey game followed by a sleepover, and apparently the boys were up far later than the parents. From all accounts they made it well past midnight. So here … Continue reading Cheers to 2013!
I’ve always loved carving pumpkins, stringing spider webs, and checking out the cute ghouls who visit our doorstep on Halloween. In our younger days we attended the occasional Halloween party, most infamously as a pair of dice. I still remember walking into the party and my principal saying, “Oh, look at that… they are in para-dise.” Very funny. In the pre-kid days, our poor dogs … Continue reading Halloween Memory Lane
Back-to-school season has arrived, which explains both my decreased posts and increased moodiness. Target’s back-to-school ads in July make me plain irritable, but by August I am ecstatic to purchase supplies for my own children. What gives? The same goes for clothing: buying new pants in a bigger size on an annual basis is exciting for the kids, but not so much for me. And … Continue reading Back To School
It’s ironic that we live in bear and moose country in Alaska, but the kids’ most scarring animal and insect stories always happen in Nebraska. In 2008 we had our first Nebraska summer trip, and our 4-year-old Sam was terrified through half of it. With his full-blown insect phobia, he wasn’t a happy camper in the tall weeds of Nebraska. I’d hold him on my … Continue reading Nebraska Nightmares
As much as it pains me to watch my children grow so quickly, I must admit that traveling with them has become infinitely easier. See those suitcases packed with ridiculous crap? Who cares! I’m not the one hauling them through the airport anymore! As if that doesn’t make me giddy enough, Humpy’s now has a branch in the airport. (Humpy’s = Very Cool Anchorage Bar … Continue reading Leaving on a Jet Plane…
Profoundly Ordinary 