This weekend we participated in “Homer Sea Week” with our children’s school community. It was a 3-day family field trip, and nearly all of our kids’ classmates made the 5-hour trek to Homer to explore tidepools, observe shorebirds, and connect with other families. The teachers put together an amazing activity booklet to entertain kids on the long drive to Homer. It was decorated with student … Continue reading Homer Sea Week: The Prelude
Maggie loves to help out in the kitchen, and has been our enthusiastic cooking sidekick since her wee days. When she turned 4, we decided to celebrate this passion with a cooking-themed birthday party. As usual, designing the invitation was one of my favorite pre-party tasks: (If you like this invitation, it is available for $10 in my Etsy store. I will customize it … Continue reading Cooking-Themed Birthday Party
My birthday party posts get a lot of views, so I thought I’d go back in time and write up the parties the kids had in the pre-blog days. Back when Maggie turned 5, she requested a princess party. I swore I would never allow such a thing, but when your little princess wants to be a princess it is tough to say no. As usual, it … Continue reading Princess Party
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
We all get 24 precious hours each day. A full 168 hours a week. So why does there never seem to be enough time? Granted, work and sleep can eat up half our daily allotment. Throw in time spent commuting, preparing meals, running errands, and racing through household chores and I don’t even want to do the math. Who has enough time to chase their … Continue reading Astounding Yourself
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, thanks in part to a week of toxic technology. My laptop was the first thing to go, crashing and burning and refusing to let me open a single file. It’s currently over at Alaska Computer Geeks, and I have my fingers crossed that the technician over there can recover everything, especially the seven months of photos that piled … Continue reading Staycation 2013
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
Every year we make homemade Valentine cards, and now that the kids are getting older they are capable of craftier creations. This year we thought about their current interests, and then scrounged around Pinterest for matching Valentine’s ideas. There are plenty of creative people out there, and we are grateful that so many are willing to share!
Our son is obsessed with geography. Looking back, I think it started with a road trip between Nebraska and Missouri the summer before he entered kindergarten. He was contained in a car seat for seven straight hours, but thanks to a few road maps and a U.S. atlas he was as happy as tourist with a shiny new Canon. He spent the entire drive quizzing … Continue reading Part 2: Or Not To Bee
Profoundly Ordinary 