We had just a few things left to move to our new house from North Dakota: our dining room table, a bed for Ms. Crazy Preschooler, and a set of bight pink dressers that Auntie Amy gave Ms. CP and The Banana. We decided to rent a uhaul to bring…

We love her that Auntie Dot, who reads books in with a tantalizing narrative voice, who picks small people up and swings them around, who splashes in the swimming pool, who tromps out to the barn with a parade of preschoolers behind to feed horses. We loved seeing Auntie Dot…

Walking out her house to get her mail, my grandmother, age 82, spiffed up in the darkest glasses she could find, shouted over to where my aunties and I were standing, “Don’t I look just like Tom Cruise!”

These images are from just a hair up the road north of my parents’ farm in North Dakota. When we visit, I love seeing unobstructed rolling hills, and brown-eyed-Susan flowers grace the edges of the road in abundance during late July and August.

We arrived back from vacation just in time for the release of the last Harry Potter book. Harry Potter is a VERY big deal in our house, and I had never been to a Harry Potter Release party before, so at 10:30 p.m. last night I zipped off in my…

I’ll be away from my computer for the next week, so posting may be sporatic! Here are some quick photographs I took tonight when I went for a walk on my favorite hiking trail. Nature photographs do not come easy to me! I need eyeballs and a nose to make…

The most historical replica of Christopher Columbus’ favorite ship, the Nina is docked at our port this week. When I first heard that it would arrive several weeks back, I was bound and determined to not only pay the admission fee and hop aboard to check out its nooks and…

Having an artist for a great grandmother, who painted nice scenery but seriously enjoyed a wicked abstract painting, and growing up next door to my grandmother who paints amazing artwork that is, well, down right strange by conventional standards, I have a healthy appreciation for abstract art. I really enjoy…

I have a cookbook that a friend from Wisconsin gave me before we moved with all the recipes my favorite restaurant in town used. I have been so excited about finally knowing how to make his amazing granola! Interestingly enough, all the recipes in the book are written for restaurant…

Yesterday Dr. Peds was playing ball in the front yard with Mr. Perpetual Mess. He kicked the ball, and it soared up into one of our very aged pine trees and stayed there. He retrieved a second ball and threw it up in the tree to knock down the first…