“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” —Norman Vincent Peale
Tag Archives: family
Sophie’s Purple Party
December 12, 2014 – 7:33 pm
Late 2013, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Sophie decided to have a Purple Party. This meant she spent an afternoon taking every single thing out of her room that wasn’t purple, filling the upstairs hallway. You had to wear purple to attend … and you were only allowed to eat purple treats. We played purple games, […]
Kyle’s 30th Birthday (2013)
December 12, 2014 – 7:25 pm
“Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.” —Larry Lorenzoni
Colleen + Sophie
December 12, 2014 – 7:16 pm
November 2013 “In my cousin, I find a second self.” —Isabel Norton
Late Summer 2013
October 12, 2014 – 3:24 pm
A catch-up. The boys developed a love of washing windows, which I hope remains with them always. A pool party, with dear friends. To celebrate the end of summer we took the kids to Coney Island. It was terribly hot … and so much fun. Sophie and Andy rode the ferris wheel … while the […]
The Dinner Table
January 17, 2014 – 6:28 pm
It’s nothing new to say that dinners with toddlers can be frustrating. See this post and this post and this post and this post and this post. But sometimes (dare I say, lately, often) it can be lovely. I grew up eating as a family around the table, and since our children have been in […]
Our 2,371-mile Summer Vacation
December 7, 2013 – 12:30 am
It’s snowing and almost Christmas so, basically, the perfect time to post about our summer vacation, no? When we learned that Andy’s cousin, Julie, had gotten engaged, Andy and I talked about flying out, just the two of us, to attend her wedding. But then she sweetly asked Sophie to be a flower girl, and […]
My Dad’s Retirement
October 17, 2013 – 10:44 pm
Work, for my dad, started early—in life and in the day. He grew up on a hog farm in Lewisburg, Ohio. He helped with the hard work of the farm, and my grandparents paid him and his siblings for the work that they did. He went to college, taught, got a master’s degree and taught […]
Your Fifth Birthday
April 1, 2013 – 10:44 pm
Dear Sophie, This year, your birthday celebration started with your preschool celebration. First, you sat on Mrs. Richter’s lap and shared a book you made about your life. Then you walked around the sun, carrying a small world, five times—representing your five times around the sun. As you walked, the children sang: The earth goes […]
Solo Parenting
March 25, 2013 – 11:53 pm
I took the kids to Skyline for dinner tonight. Randomly Owen and James started yelling out Reds baseball player names, including Jay Bruce and Johnny Cueto, with great gusto. For Christmas, my dad gave James framed pictures of baseball players to hang in his room. My dad often reminds Owen and James the names of […]
