That was a mighty good Sunday. Rich wanted to get some writing done, so I took the kids to church and then out to lunch. Then we had to go to Cold Stone Creamery to use their birthday club coupons for free ice cream. That's a Love It size creatio

Zoe had an eating breakthrough while we were in Illinois. Specifically, she figured out how to chew. She's been eating real solids for awhile now, but only soft crackers and rice cakes and such that dissolve in the mouth. Now she can eat basicall

Zoe's been getting into the dog food. She'll make a bee line for Zeus's bowl whenever it comes into her line of sight and start grabbing. This wouldn't be so bad by itself, I suppose. But thanks to the dog's messy eating habits an

As so often happens, my life got in the way of blogging. Let's try to summarize. Nick was completely recovered by Monday. But he didn't go to school anyway. Why? It was kindergarten registration day. Next year's crop was signing up, and a

My day started around five, when Nick woke me up, all concerned. He'd gotten up to use the potty, I suppose, had remembered that it was Easter, and went to see if the Easter bunny had come yet. Well, there was a basket for Zoe...and nobody else.

Technically speaking, nobody got sick this weekend. So we broke our streak! Only not really. We still stayed home from church Sunday, because Nick's legs hurt and he didn't want to move around much that morning. His legs hurt because he had d

Thank you for all the comments on the zoo! We're thinking things through right now, I'll have more to say in a day or two.Speaking of Nick and school, my dad sent him a lunchbox earlier this week. Not a kid's one; it's larger than Ric

Thanksgiving vacation would have gone better if it hadn't been cold and rainy the last few days. We were stuck inside with each other for a little too long. Not to mention, our plan to entertain ourselves with a trip to the Louisiana Renaissance

Zoe slept most of the day. I presume she's coping with all those viruses suddenly injected into her body. I just hope she sleeps most of the night, too. I kinda skipped over it earlier, but Nick and Rich were camping all weekend; it was a Y Guide

My mother arrived last night, a mere two hours past her originally scheduled arrival and one hour past when we reached the airport to wait for her. Not bad, I suppose, considering how bad airline delays have been overall this summer. The wait would h

John, Misty, and sons were in town this weekend. It was delightful - we haven't seen them in about three years. They spent Saturday night at our house, arriving quite late. They poured the kids into bed and we all sat up talking. Henry, incidenta

We're having a garage sale tomorrow. If you live around here, feel free to stop by and, you know, buy some of our junk. Regardless of where you live, spare a moment of sympathy for us as we sit out in the heat and 60% chance of rain, all for the

Nick is chowing down on French bread. He wants more. I tell him he must at least try the split pea soup before he gets another slice. He contemplates the soup, announces that it looks "disgusting". Well, OK, split pea soup does, in fact, lo

Nick has always been a hearty eater. Also, willing to eat a wide variety of foods. I've tried not to be too smug about this, because I understand that this is not the result of my own masterful parenting and in fact, is something I have no real c

Yesterday Nick's dresser was delivered, AND he had an eye exam. Due to a scheduling mistake that was entirely my fault, the dresser was to be delivered between 9 and 1, and the exam was at 1:15 in Baton Rouge. However, I believe it was Murphy'

Nathan and I turned 31 yesterday. I understand he didn't do much to celebrate this momentous occasion. He called me via satellite phone for our annual birthday chat, but that was Monday morning for me, and Tuesday for him. On the plus side (from

We  memorialized two centuries of war dead by inviting friends over and grilling spiedie chicken in the backyard. Yeah, I think that's kinda unrelated too. At some point this weekend we sat down with Nick and had a chat about the meaning of

I finally got together with Leah today. We met at a coffee shop, with our respective progeny in tow. It was a much briefer visit than we had hoped for, because Mason decided to be cranky after about the first fifteen minutes, and eventually Leah deci

This was a good day. There were no diamonds, but a pair of lovely cards started the day right. Rich cooked breakfast, we ate out lunch, and he picked up take-out Chinese for dinner (I am extremely fond of Chinese food). Nick tried to be good, and fre

I served Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup with lunch...and Nick ate it. Including the broth. This is essentially unprecedented; he just doesn't eat soup. What's next, eating the soup hot? Well, no, probably not. But I'll take what I can

Nick checked a book about birthday parties out of the library, a reflection of his mild obsession with his upcoming birthday. Well, upcoming in the sense of being a mere four months away, but that doesn't seem to stop him from engaging me in conv

I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon. Strictly routine. But as long as I had to drive in to Baton Rouge anyway, I wanted to make the trip worth my while. So Nick and I went to the Louisiana Arts and Sciences Museum, aka The Museum (sometim

The Easter Bunny has a problem at our house: if a basket of candy is left sitting out on the coffee table overnight, the odds are good that by morning, the basket will be on the floor and the candy will be inside the dog. So I packed up the Easter ba

This was a crafty day. Nick and I baked a cake yesterday, and today we made frosting and decorated it. As you can probably guess, I applied the frosting and Nick did most of the rest. We also dyed the eggs, something that ideally would have been d

Hey, it's more meal plans! Tomorrow, a Valentine's Day dinner designed to please both the fellows in my life: steak, garlic bread, asparagus, and cupcakes for dessert. You may detect some tension inherent in the meal; it's not easy to simultaneously