I think it's a little lame to open a post with an apology for not blogging more, so I'll just move straight onto what we've been doing for the last two weeks. We had a lovely time at Yogi Bear campground. There were no illnesses or absenc

Yay I finally got to take my new car home! It's about time, honestly. But I can't be upset because I love my car too much.

On review, that picture still isn't all that great, in terms of showing what their costumes look like. Nick was the Hooded One, from the Bone graphic novels, just like last year. He wanted Zoe to dress as a Rat Creature, but his pleas were ignore

That minivan I was waiting for? Hit by a tornado. Seriously. Before I took possession, fortunately. The dealership it was located in was hit, it was damaged, and that's the end of that. Our dealer has found another, nearly identical vehicle (no c

I have two bits of important news and absolutely no idea how to segue from one to the other. I suppose I could write two separate entries, but that would be too much like work. So you'll just have to bear with me.Up first: we bought a minivan! I

Zoe made the front page! Full color and everything. Very exciting! And yes, if you are one of her grandparents, you will be getting a copy, I'm talking to you, Mom. Oh, and here it is directly stolen borrowed off the website:     In oth

I took the kids to the local pumpkin patch today (technically, it's a church yard with a bunch of pumpkins trucked in, but there are no actual pumpkins growers nearby; this is the best we can do). It's always fun, running around looking at al

It's been raining for days. Yucky. Things have been pretty blah around here in general. Nick had Friday off, for the Parish Fair Holiday. This always-odd holiday turned out to be not much fun for us. I took the kids in for flu shots, which was a

Walking With Dinosaurs was indeed awesome. Rich got home mid-morning today, and after lunch we left him sitting in a chair reading to a sleepy Zoe while Nick and I quietly left. I had forgotten just how bad traffic is when getting into a major event

Rich is out of town for most of the weekend. So far we're doing fine without him. I actually arranged a playdate for Nick. He's reached the age where, once the other kid actually arrives, there is very little need for me to entertain or even

Rich is feeling much better, and we are all happier for it. So yay! He probably won't need surgery after all. At least not right now.

Rich went in to the hospital today for his second try at steroid shots to treat his bulging discs (and resulting back pain). Last time he had a bad reaction to the anesthesia; the doctor solved that problem by not giving him any. He claims it didn

The most momentous event of the weekend began quietly, with a failed nap. We'd gone out Saturday morning, went to a few garage sales, stopped by to say hi to some friends, ate lunch, and by the time we went home Zoe was tired enough to sleep in t

My father gave Nick a fishing pole for his birthday. It's been a month, and he still hadn't had a chance to try it. Rich got around to putting on the hook, line and sinker yesterday, and so, Nick having been reminded of the unused pole, it wa

Zoe has become amazingly verbal. She just learned how to tell a joke (sorta). It goes like this: Knock knock! Who's there? Ba! (Or other random syllable.) Ba who? Peels of laughter from Zoe. When Rich got home today, he tried to elicite this joke

We've been watching a nearby McDonald's* go through the process of gutting and rebuilding for several weeks, culminating in reopening on Tuesday. This has been an exciting process, worthy of comment every time we pass it. Today I gave in to t

I see it's been a week since I've written last. I've been sick most of that week. Feeling better now, thank you; but I was dragging for a few days there. Rich is having health problems of his own. He's been having a lot of back and le

The scouting year started up this Friday, with the cub scout roundup; that's the annual recruiting event. They like to have some current cub scouts there, for the new boys to play with, so we all went off to one of our local school to join the fu

A Friday night out on the town means something different these days then it did pre-children. The kids and I met Rich for dinner at a place that is cheap and child friendly (and, okay, pretty tasty too). Then we met some friends at Barnes and Noble.

Zoe had her two-year checkup yesterday. She's healthy as an ox, which we already knew. She's also 33 pounds and 35 1/2inches. These numbers put her solidly above the 90 percentile for her age, just like she's always been. There was a Hepa

Zoe and I went to the thrift store today. I had some outgrown clothes and stuff to drop off, and then we browsed a little. Our local thrift store no longer carries toys, sadly; I'm guessing it has to do with the worries about lead in children'

Sunday was notable for two things, one of which was that we did not go to the waterpark. Yes, it's a little like the dog that didn't bark in the night. Only less mysterious. We promised Nick that we would go to the waterpark this summer, and

I'd better hurry up and note that hey, Nick turned seven yesterday! Holy cow! And my failure to post this on his actual birthday in no way indicates any favoritism on my part. It's more about this being the weekend and we were really busy. Ni

Zoe turned two today. Let me repeat that. Zoe is now two years old! How could this have happened? I swear it hasn't been two years!And yet, somehow, it has. She had a lovely birthday, I think. Well, it started with me torturing her with cupcakes.

In just a few short days, Nick has started school, we celebrated a double birthday party at the Cheeseter's place, I learned all about the new religious education class system I'll be teaching this year, Nick suffered a nasty allergic reactio