• First Cereal

    I loved how his eyes were so very wide when I stuffed the first bite of rice cereal in his mouth. This is my fourth child, and I’ve watched a lot of other people take care of their babies and feed them.  I still can’t figure out how to spoon…

  • Bentleyville

    On Tuesday night, near the end of a snow storm, we headed down to Bentleyville, an enormous Christmas light display down near the harbor.  The kidlets and Dr. Peds had gone last year, but I stayed home in my gestating state to take a nap.  This year we met up…

  • Hilarious Cookies

    Our Star Wars appreciating neighbors brought over these gingerbread cookies for Dr. Peds.  I knew he was going to flip when he saw them, and he did!  The cookies were so inspiring that Dr. Peds couldn’t resist flying them around a little bit before they met their doomsday when they…

  • Squirmy at Five Months: A Jumpy Boy

    With each of the last three babies I’ve had, I’ve looked at this gigantic jumper, which takes up a lot of real estate, and asked myself quietly whether it is really worth it.  With each baby I decide it is, and about three days later I wonder why I didn’t…

  • Mr. SP Cooks Lunch

    Last Friday I picked up Mr. SP from kindergarten and he enthusiastically told me that he would be in charge of making his own lunch.  “Really?”  I asked.  “What are you going to make?” “Oh, I’ll just look around the refrigerator and find my own ingredients.  Don’t worry about me…

  • Neighborhood Caroling and Household Cookie Baking

    I’ve been wanting to go Christmas caroling up and down my street for years.  Dr. Peds put the kabosh on it.  He believes Christmas caroling is stressful, awkward and just plain wrong! Of course, I disagree.  Christmas caroling is actually one of the very few things about Christmas I actually…

  • Mama Concerts

    It’s Christmas concert weekend for the Arrowhead Chorale.  The music will be beautiful, and I will have a fantastic time personality-watching.  I’m convinced that the most interesting places to personality-watch are middle schools and choirs.  Both places have such an eclectic assortment of people.  I have all my babysitters lined…

  • Caroling Indoors

    On Tuesday at noon I was in tears, trying to wrap up Christmas presents to mail and fit them into oversize boxes for my husband to take to the post office.  It’s not that I don’t like giving people presents.  That’s hardly the case at all.  I’m happy to give…

  • Where in the World are Ya Ya and Mr. SP?

    Our Christmas tree is not up.  Most of our Christmas decorations are still in the attic.  It’s just how this holiday season is going.  We missed getting a tree from the forest we usually go to each December when we were in North Dakota.  We’ve been looking at several different…

  • Glasses

    We recently read the book Clementine by Sara Pennypacker.  I think it is the second or maybe even the third time I’ve read the book out loud to the kidlets, and Ya Ya has read it a few times more to herself.  It’s a great book.  We really love Sara…