Before Christmas Gramma and Paw Paw came over to make the cut-out Christmas cookies they make every year. Paw Paw made the dough and cut out the shapes. Dad wore his Christmas apron. Mom tried to put an apron on me. I didn’t like it. Then we made icing! Lemon, orange and almond. While waiting [...]
Lately I’ve been practicing drinking water without a lid. You have to hold on tight, take very small sips (but still remember to breathe) and hold the cup so tight to your face that you leave red marks on your forehead and cheeks. I love it. So much so that I kept asking for more [...]
Now that we know Tucker isn’t going to eat the formal dining room table legs and Sophie knows better than to play with the handmade pottery sitting on the handmade Arts & Crafts bookcase (we hope), we’ve taken down the baby gate that once blocked off entry into the dining room from the kitchen. Sophie [...]
“This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone.” —Taylor Caldwell
Sophie loved decorating the tree this year. She’d pick up an ornament, try to hang it up, hand it to one of us, watch us hang it up and then say “another one, another one” while running back to the ornament box. Often I think, this will be my favorite stage of my child’s life [...]
Everyone has a dish their mom or dad makes that they absolutely love. (One of) mine is my mom’s homemade potato soup. I think it takes her hours to make. I know it involves homemade stock. And I know that I tried it once and it was nothing like my mom’s (in part because I [...]
This is my friend Daileon. You can call him Dai Dai. He was saying “cheese!” for the camera while I was clapping. We’re good friends now. Especially because he shared all his toys with me. And was still nice to me when I cried. (I do that sometimes.) Can’t wait to see you again, Dai [...]
Paw Paw came over the other day and watched me while Mom had a doctor’s appointment. I showed him all my bracelets (including some new ones just my size that Grandma made me!) … put them on … and then sat on Tucker. “It takes all the fun out of a bracelet if you have [...]
“Christmas is for children. But it is for grownups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts.” —Lenora Mattingly Weber
This year we went to a simple tree farm in Lewisburg, Ohio, from which you can see the farm where my dad grew up, and where my grandma still lives. There was hardly anyone there. There was no Santa or free hot cocoa or a tree shaker or wreaths for sale—just a guy and a [...]
