Somehow these birthdays just keep coming! I haven’t even posted about Sam’s 10th birthday party yet, and here we are celebrating number 11. It was hard enough last year when he hit double digits, but 11 sounds so old. I remember the day he was born so vividly that it surely can’t be over a decade ago! On the morning of his 11th birthday I dug out … Continue reading We Have a Tweenager!
Today Sam won his school’s Geography Bee. For real! Photo evidence: Some of you will remember when Sam was in second grade, how he so desperately wanted to enter a geography bee that he decided to invent one. If you care to hear the tale of our little boy and his enormous lie, you can read it here. But in a nutshell: he created geography bee … Continue reading Gratitude 12: Watching Your Child’s Dream Come True
Friday, October 24, 2014 Today felt like a gift. Each moment was wrapped in a shiny bow, and I untied every second. Due to a late parent-teacher conference night earlier in the week, I only had to work until 11:00. The kids didn’t have school at all, so Clark took a vacation day. As soon as the work day was done (okay, maybe 10 minutes early) … Continue reading Gratitude #9: Today
Tomorrow Sam turns 10, so this is our last snapshot of his single digit years: I think he looks happy? We’re not messing up too terribly, right? He was still up reading at 11:53 pm, so I yanked him out of bed. It was only seven minutes until his birthday, and I needed to clutch him close and tell him that the past decade has … Continue reading Sam Bam
It was 70 degrees outside this past Friday evening – something almost unheard of in Anchorage. Instead of enjoying the sunshine, our family happily crammed into a narrow church pew at a local Baptist church. Thirty-five little pianists (most under the age of 10) grew increasingly nervous as they sized up the impressive crowd of parents and grandparents, all armed with digital cameras and iPads. It was show … Continue reading Piano Pride
Last night’s opening ceremonies in Sochi brought back memories of a favorite birthday theme: the Olympic party. When Sam turned six he was passionate about both sports and geography. He especially loved to draw flags, so an Olympic-themed party was a perfect fit. The invitation was simple and bold: The cake was a cinch to decorate: five Olympic rings, served with patriotic plates and napkins: … Continue reading An Olympic Birthday Party
This summer my parents introduced us to Chopped, a competitive cooking television show on the Food Network, and it has become an obsession in our family. On family movie nights, we pop a giant bowl of popcorn and huddle under the blanket for a Chopped marathon in lieu of anything Disney. And I hate to reveal this secret, but thanks to Chopped I actually enjoy … Continue reading Unchoppable
My junior high years bordered on miserable. Every day I launched off the school bus, bolted up the driveway, and shed my back brace onto the living room floor. At that age I was allowed to remove my scoliosis contraption for 4 hours each day, and I always spent my first hour of freedom with Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was my daily dose of sanity. … Continue reading Little House, Big Memories
We have catapulted straight out of summer and headfirst into another school year. (This journey actually happened a few weeks ago, but I’m still trying to land on my feet and catch my breath!) The transition for the kids was a simple one: same school, same friends, and even the same teachers as last year. If the kids had their way, they would have returned … Continue reading Back to School: Kids
By now I should be used to our son’s quirky phobias. There have been so may in his 9 short years… First it was the fear of parking lots. Honestly, he refused to walk in parking lots when he was a toddler. It would have been easier to get Maggie, at 3 months, upright and walking than to get our 2-year-old Sam to plant his … Continue reading Dentophobia
Profoundly Ordinary 