I love this season of innocence. Even when it’s not so jolly. This weekend we cut down our Christmas tree and I was reminded of the look on Owen’s face in a picture I took last December, a picture I now love. I was reminded of how hard things were mid-December, last year. How un-jolly […]
Although Kentucky’s election results aren’t proving promising, we were gifted today with the most lovely November weather—75° and sunny. And so, after voting, we did what we love to do but don’t do nearly enough—we hiked. (This time, the Fort Thomas Landmark Tree Trail.) We slid on leaves, observed moss and mushrooms, and stood still […]
Today is Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. It’s a tradition I’ve long been aware of, but only halfheartedly. Recently the children and I have been attending First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati. It’s a good solution for our family. Andy is an atheist. I’m agnostic. I wanted something that exposed my children to […]
Sophie is 7 now, and in the fall she will start second grade. We don’t really talk about Facebook at home but somehow she knows about it (school, friends, the life she’s now living for 6+ hours on her own Monday through Friday) and lately, when something funny or charming or sad or uplifting happens […]
• He discovered he had hair on his arms (Owen). • The framed picture on his bedside table shows him wearing long sleeves and long pants, but he wants to be wearing short sleeves and shorts—in the picture (James). • Snow got into his mitten (Owen). • Only half the puppy tattoo stuck to her hand […]
I find comfort in the cyclical nature of life. I enjoy the changing of the seasons and the familiar promises they bring, the rhythm that accompanies the turning of the calendar page, the knowing that with the unknowing future there will always be some sameness—weather, holidays, birthdays, school seasons, work seasons, sports seasons, the coming […]
We did not walk. “[W]hat a severe yet master artist old Winter is …. No longer the canvas and the pigments, but the marble and the chisel.” John Burroughs
I recently read Maura Quint’s “The Entirety of My Thoughts As I Eat My Son’s Mac and Cheese Dinner,” cleaned my children’s bedrooms and closet-size playroom, and was then inspired to write this: Didn’t 4 year olds work in fields 150 years ago? Probably not. That actually sounds awful. But still, mine should at least […]
It has been so fun to watch two dear friends raise twins. Early 2014 we celebrated their birthdays. Happy 1sts, Anya, Isaac, Colin and Vivienne! “There are two things in life for which we are never truly prepared: twins.” —Josh Billings
