I should first explain that Rich had a fairly lousy weekend. His birthday was Saturday, which sounds great, right? But he spent most of the day administering and grading a final. Not so great. He did, at least, have a work party in the evening. We al

I do love a good party. They can be way too much work to plan and prepare, especially, oh, I dunno, a double birthday party or something like that. But when it all comes together and my house is full of a chaotic scrum of shouting children and chatte

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

Nick's class had their Easter party today. So, first, all the parents were asked to send in six filled eggs for an egg hunt. Simple enough. Except that nothing about school is ever as simple as you'd think it would be. They were supposed to b

We started our weekend a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Yes, Rich decided Nick was old enough for Star Wars. He got our son all excited about this great movie with robots and sword fighting and spaceships, and we sat down Friday evening to

Thursday was Valentine's Day, as I trust everyone knows already. But did you know it was also Zoe's six-month birthday? Which means the day after was Nick's five-and-a-half year birthday. Exciting!Nick and I made this for his Daddy's

Zoe's three months old now. There was a checkup, so we know she's up to 14 pounds now. She's pushing up on her arms when we put her on her front, and scooting around (slowly) when we put her on her back. Nick spent the last two weeks lear

Nick's family picnic went well. I packed a nice lunch and made sure to feed Zoe beforehand. After the kids collected their bag lunches, we went to the playground to eat. I'd say about a third of the kids in his class had an adult visitor. We

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

On Saturday, we had the brilliant idea of going to the Animal Planet Expo, out at the BR fairgrounds. On the plus side, it was free, and had plenty of fun things to see and do, and was appropriate for all ages. On the negative side, it was hot. I mea

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

Nothing much exciting happened yesterday or today. Which is probably just as well, because I have a lot to write about the weekend, which was action-packed. Saturday morning we all left the house bright and early (by my standards, anyway) to go to Jo

Nick is better again. We'll see if it lasts this time. We got a lot done today, trying to catch up on things. For one thing, we made our Mother's Day gifts for the Grandmas. Which obviously will not be arriving by Mother's Day; sorry Mom.

Ander had a wonderful party to celebrate his first birthday. The guest of honor was a bit sleepy, but basically good natured throughout the afternoon. The crowds didn't phase him at all. And there were crowds: a bunch of his parents' friends with kid

The Mardi Gras parade season kicked off with the Krewe of Jupiter parade on Saturday evening. I kinda didn't want to go - I thought it would be too cold - but Rich talked me into it. He was quite right. Nick, in particular, has reached that age where

Today Nick and I went to the annual chicken roast hosted by the Dean of the economics department. Our presence was a bit ironic, as we were not accompanied by the individual employed by the economics department, ie my husband. That is because Rich ma

When I'm dropping Nick off at daycare, if I don't have pockets I usually just carry my keys in my hand, temporarily setting them down on a shelf while I'm settling him in his room. This is why Nick was able to pick them up, point the keychain lo

Hey, it actually rained! Which is exciting because it's the first time in several weeks. For a bit, it looked like the long-needed rain on Friday would wash out the day care's water play day, but it turned out to just be a sprinkling, so they all wen

My borthday was lovely, thank you. I was fortunately already up when the phone rang at about 7:30 AM. Who would call at such an unreasonable hour? Why, my twin brother, of course, so that we could exchange birthday greetings before he went to bed at

Hey! Did I mention that we had a full weekend even before we left town? On Saturday we went to Jonathan's party. Food, a signing video on the TV, old friends; fun times for the whole family! Oh, and I do believe this was the first time my husband act

Big events never seem to quite live up to my expectations. Mother's Day is no exception. Because Rich is seriously under the weather (still) I didn't get breakfast in bed, or time off by myself to go clothes shopping, and I spent far too much ti

It's time once again for the Order of the Arrow ordeal weekend, when new members are inducted into the prestigious invitation-only Boy Scout group. Hooray. I would be more enthused if this didn't also mean that my husband is going to be out of town t

As you may be vaguely aware, the Tiny Tigers Fest was Saturday. I was certainly aware; it consumed my entire weekend. I showed up at the day care center at 10AM, and didn't leave till almost 7 PM. By the end of the day, I was tired, dehydrated, and s

Nick and I had a busy morning, including RE class at church (theme: imagination) a last-minute trip to Babies R Us for a shower gift, and a brief visit with Beth and Phillip. Jonathan is almost walking, and incredibly adorable and charming. Rich drag