She’s frantically working on her History Day project. He’s reading the Sunday Comics dated December 27 from the Minneapolis Star Tribune which appeared in the mudroom, but I’m not sure from where it came.

His sister dressed up to go on a little Father-Daughter date last Friday, so he dressed up to beat me at chess. “I like playing with you, Mom,” he tells me. “It’s really impossible to predict what you might do next.” Mmmmmmhhhhmm. My favorite strategy is to make a really…

Mr. Trouble on Feet asked Dr. Peds if he would build a chess board, since our wooden chessboard, which was a kind of thin portable grid backed with stiff fabric, was slowly breaking apart. Dr. Peds totally delivered! The new chessboard is beautiful, and believe it or not, along with…

“It’s OK to just cook, when you are cooking, you know,” my husband tells me. “Cooking is a worthy activity, and it might be helpful to just concentrate on cooking while you cook.” Except that I don’t really enjoy cooking that much. So, while I’m waiting for the water to…

“Mom, I really have an undying appreciation for everything you do for this family. Mostly I appreciate that you do the laundry.”

My learning buddy and I learned all about the game of cesta punta (or jai alai). At the piano I learned two movements of a Beethoven sonata and began working on the third movement. It’s been a fun winter musical project. I still have a lot polishing to do. I…

Although it has recently been quite cold, the Friday before last my learning buddy and I headed to the forest on a drizzly, soggy afternoon. We talked to the forest on a quiet gravel road, really there was no traffic, just a few people out walking or running. Still, there…

Me: Put your thinking cap on and see if you can figure that out. Mr. TOF: But my thinking cap is so itchy.

These days there are multiple chess games every day. Mr. TOF has been learning to play, and his siblings are happy to oblige him in matches. In fact, the chess board sometimes gets to be a distraction and I have to momentarily “misplace” it until some things are checked off…