Maybe it’s because I haven’t had a solid night’s sleep in a week. Maybe it’s because he’s my fourth son, my last baby. I don’t know, but today I dropped JD off at his first day at preschool, and I cried all the way home. He’s three and a half, and he’s ready. We knew he was ready. He knew he was ready. His brothers are even excited for him. And he handled it like a champ. He proudly put […]
» Read moreY’all know it was a rough year for me, physically. Thankfully, everything turned out to be mostly okay. I just have a few chronic conditions to manage, but it’s all under control now, and I have a good outlook. A brilliant thought came to me the other week, as I was putting on my rain boots, Alan’s rain jacket, and heading out to shut the trashcan lid and bring it in from the pouring rain. “What am I doing??? Why […]
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While working on improving the blog and sifting through my old work, I came across this OLD post that I wrote in 2013. I emphasize that it’s from 2013 because I do not want any of you to get all excited and start thinking I’m expecting a baby. There’s no baby. I’m so sorry to disappoint you. Ha! I’m sharing this because I want every pre-school mom I know to read it. Some of you are like me, and you […]
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Happy Mother’s Day! What better to share on this treasured day than some adorable seal mom and pup pairs from my favorite spot in the world, Point Lobos State Park. This particular beach is not a seal hang-out for most of the year. However, when it comes time to birth babies, late winter/early spring, this tiny beach, completely surrounded by rock cliffs, becomes a true seal nursery. This is NOT a zoo. This is the real world, animal style. […]
» Read moreSpring is one of those things you can’t help but notice. That’s the way it is with beauty. It is inspirational. When beauty surrounds you, you can’t help but feel better. It’s funny how on my sick days I often feel too miserable to want to do chores, but I’m rarely feeling bad enough to not want to go out for a walk in the sunshine. It’s positively healing, isn’t it? I think that when you are surrounded by small, […]
» Read moreThere are a few parenting mottos I’ve adopted, for which I do not apologize, not even a little, not even at all: #1. I’m difficult to communicate with/get a hold of. It doesn’t matter whether you email or call. I’m difficult. I’m maybe a little sorry for this one, but what can be done? If JD’s awake, taking care of him is a full-time job in and of itself. When he’s not awake, I must recover from the time that he […]
» Read moreI’ve noticed that I often share my struggles with people rather than my joys. I think it’s more encouraging to hear that other people have a hard time, than to listen to bragging. However, today I don’t want to think about my problems, so I’m just going to share good news, and pretend like the bad things don’t exist. Other people are always doing that, and it gets on my nerves, but I’m going to be THAT Mom today. 😉 […]
» Read moreToday Daniel turned four. I asked him what kind of cake he’d like for his birthday. In the very early years of parenting, I always bought the boys grocery store cakes with characters on them. There were a couple of years I even tried to make super pretty cakes–Caleb had a really impressive train cake two years in a row. But decorating cakes is a giant weakness for me. I’m just not good at it, so I resorted to buying […]
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I have been working all day to clean up. My in-laws are on their way! We are excited, but man, we have gotten MESSY lately. By 5:20, I couldn’t even finish straightening up. I just ran out of steam. I told the boys, “Nonna and DaddyO will be here in 2 hours!” “Yay!!!” they all cheered. I said, “We still need to go upstairs and finish cleaning up, after dinner.” Daniel jumped out of his chair, and said, “Me go […]
» Read moreBOOM!! bounce bounce bounce The school day is done, and I was answering blog comments, and I heard this loud noise. Don’t worry. All is well. I ran to check it out. I scanned the front yard. No one there, but it sounded like someone had hit our house with a basketball! Weird! Just then, Joshua barged in the back door and proudly proclaimed, “I just kicked a soccer ball OVER the roof! I’ll go get it!” Big boys. I […]
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