A student gifted me with an amaryllis bulb at Christmas, and I planted it in a pot on the first of January. I always enjoy watching flowers grow in the midwinter. It is fascinating to watch the stem grow out of the bulb, and then observe how the plant develops.…

The weather has been beautiful this week! Despite the fact that no one goes anywhere here, it seems difficult to get outside because there is so, so much work to be done inside. The bigger kidlets have been glued to their screens feverishly working on school the past few weeks.…

We are coming out of a loooooonnnnng cold snap, and it’s that time of year when I just really appreciate all of my house plants because they are green and alive. This lovely plant usually sits on our dining room table. Last spring we began a family writing project when…

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…