Brayden and I were sitting around yesterday afternoon (last night?  Who knows?  Summer vacation …. its all a blur ….) and as she was flipping channels on the tv we ran across Jaws 3.  For whatever reason (perhaps because we’ve seen every single solitary episode of iCarly and Suite Life and True Jackson and Drake [...]

**Naturally**, when the bad weather blew through here this evening, with high winds and thunderstorm warnings and the tornado sirens eventually going off, I was not at home.  In fact, the two oldest were here by themselves.  Not only was I *not* at home, but I was in a location that didn’t have cell service, [...]

You know what I was saying yesterday, about how I’ve got this new project and I’m having trouble juggling my schedule and getting it all done?  Well, strike that!  I was a test monitor at the school yesterday (oh, state-mandated tests, how we all love you so …..) and I was there for almost five hours, so, [...]

Birthdays are fun.  Even belated ones. They are more fun with friends. They are the most fun when violent athletics are not only included, but encouraged. Because really, show me a world where 12 yr old boys (and even one 40 year old man) don’t enjoy whacking each other with dodgeballs. Then we move on to [...]

and not one of them was an April Fools jokes, which makes it a bit worse.  The wind has blown here for the past four days, without ceasing, at about 183 billion miles per hour.  I’m not exaggerating.   Not one tiny bit.   Animals and small children have been blown away from their families.  We watched a soccer game [...]

A few weeks ago, my mom, Kellen and I attended a local concert, celebrating our school’s 100 year anniversary.  Performers were all school students, or alumni of the school, and I think there were over 200 people in the various choirs and band that took turns performing.  It was held in our church and was [...]

Thanks so much, truly, for the personal stories and suggestions regarding kids and banking accounts.  I think this upcoming Spring Break, when we have some spare time on our hands, we’ll all mosey on over to the local bank (yes, the one that gives out warm Otis Spunkmeyer cookies on Fridays, I’m not stupid) and [...]

yep, I know, time for me to once again shamefully pump the peoples of the internets for their opinion.  You guys helped me through handling my daughter’s steroid rages, naming our new dog, what kind of doorbell to buy for upstairs, when and under what guidelines my children should get cell phones, and …….. other [...]

What is …. when the kid who wins the “guess how many gumballs are in this jar” game at her class Valentines Party (357, in case you were wondering) is the same kid who has braces and can’t even chew a single one  ………..  not that you can even SEE the braces because that would mean [...]

Or whatever the title of that book is.  Ours actually started out as a no good, very bad evening last night.  Putting it into perspective, I *get* that a grumpy child is not a catastrophe, but wow, was Kendrie ever in a cranky mood.  Blaine wasn’t feeling well, so the two of them stayed home [...]