The Big M and I had a lovely anniversary trip to Seattle. He may be the gambler on a hot streak lately, but most of the time I feel like the lucky one. Feel free to roll your eyes. Sunday, what was supposed to have been U2 day, we drove down to Mount St. Helens. This May marked the 30th anniversary of the explosion. I was in kindergarten when it […]
Today was the first day of our home summer-school. It’s an annual fantasy for me that I’ll supplement my children’s educations during the summer so that they’ll be fluent in history, conversant in ancient and modern languages, whizzes at math, and just all-around baby geniuses. Annually the fantasy peters out because: a) I am none of these things myself and b) it’s summer and I just want to goof off […]
Until I can locate my camera’s power cord, there will be no vacation photos. Try to restrain your disappointment. ;) While the kids were at Vacation Bible School yesterday (a concept I find simultaneously delightful and mystifying given my secular upbringing — but that’s a whole other post) I spent an hour avoiding cleaning the house and instead watching the first two lectures in a series devoted to the history […]
We made it safely back after putting 3,245 miles on the Family Truckster in a mere 9 days, which averages out to a daily drive from Austin, Texas to Norman, Oklahoma. I can’t believe I’m able to write this truthfully, but the kids were awesome. They were *way* better behaved than I was on family vacations growing up. In fact, I think they were probably better behaved than I was […]
We’ve made it nearly 1,500 miles through five states in five days, and so far the family vacation has been a blast, ticks notwithstanding. I was worried about pulling off this itinerary with two relatively little kids, but they have been awesome. I mean really, truly, exceptional. I’m bragging on them while I can because the trip home — 18 hours of driving in two days — will be brutal. […]
This was the view from the back porch of our cabin near Hot Springs, Arkansas. Those woods are lovely, aren’t they? They totally sucked me in. Daddy suggested that the kids watch a movie in the cabin during our afternoon rest time. Oh no, I insisted. We need to walk on the trail through these lovely woods first. We’re tired, and it’s 95 degrees out, Dad persisted, with maddening rationality. […]
I apologize for being so erratic in posting this month. I haven’t felt like I have much to say. Mostly because I haven’t been doing my brain exercises. I’m reading a lot of novels. School is wrapping up, and I’ve been finalizing summer plans. I like to have plans. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don’t. Take for example, our anniversary plan. The Big M knows I love U2, […]
I checked out some books on tape from the library to try out the concept of listening to family-friendly stories in the car while on road trips. Garrison Keillor told a story of an elderly couple in Lake Wobegon whose arguments over spending money to travel followed a specific form. The argument would leave them satisfied at the end, like playing a Chopin etude. “Why is that funny?” my son […]
Friday morning I made my bleary-eyed zombie walk to the living room to hustle the kids into the car for school. My little Kindergartener was still wearing her p.j.’s, but with a skirt on top. “Baby, why aren’t you dressed?” “Mo-o-om! It’s “O” Day. You know? Crazy Outfit Day?” As the days of school count down, her Kindergarten class is counting down with the alphabet. Each day they do something […]
I like writing down conversations we have in our little family, but I’m getting bored with calling my kids “The Boy” and “The Girl.” I could call them Jacob and Emily* but I thought it’d be more fun to create avatars for all of us. You’ve already seen mine: Now here’s The Boy: And The Girl: And of course, The Big M: I have this fantasy that I can recreate […]
Flabby Brain 