• The Tree

    Here it is, in it's decorous glory!  I am so excited about it.  We even splurged and bought special round colored lights for it.  Mr. Sneaky Pants loves colored lights, and he was most excited of all the kidlets to put up the tree.  Everyone helped make a little bit…

  • Big Sister Reads to Little Sister

    Sarah has had an explosion in reading development during the last few weeks, and is feeling comfortable and fluent enough to do some heavy duty reading to her little brother and sister, a scenario that is extremely heartwarming.  The Banana, who has been struggling for the last few days with…

  • I TRIED to Be a Good Sport

    My sister-in-law Dorothy and her husband, Don, live in an apartment building.  The apartment building is visited by squirrels.  Frequently.  And the squirrels have actually been observed doing some structural damage to the building.  My new brother-in-law Don saw fit to take matters into his own hands and hunt the…

  • Celebrating Thanksgiving

    First of all, much like has been the pattern for the last two weeks, Thanksgiving was a dark and dreary day with low, thick clouds blocking out most of the natural light sources in my home.  Therefore, the following photographs are not of stellar quality by any means.  My camera…

  • Mr. Sneaky Pants Turns Four

    For more than six weeks, we've been counting down the days to Mr. Sneaky Pants' birthday.  To make matters all the more exciting, several boxes have been arriving at our doorstep with birthday presents inside, and the suspense was nearly driving the poor child crazy.  In his own words, "I…

  • The Banana: 2.2 Years

    She takes off running in the middle of nearly every parking lot, much to my frustration. Her winter hair is really something to behold . . . sticking out in every direction with jillions of crooked layers. She spills oatmeal or apple sauce on her shirt or pajamas at nearly…

  • Economics Expert

    In her spare time, Sarah's been building magnificent creations with Duplo Lego blocks.  We have some special parts that she uses to create tube slides for the Duplo people.  Yesterday while her siblings were napping, she built a giant swimming pool with three water slides.  Right next door there was…

  • Culinary Drama

    For the last few days my culinary-wise husband has been experimenting in our kitchen, trying out all kinds of recipes for some kind of Chinese noodle. I think the noodle is Chinese, anyway.  I'm not really sure.  Apparently there is some secret way to make these Chinese noodles that no…

  • Book Friends: An Updated Sidebar Again

    I updated the sidebar for current and recent reads again.  I'm sorry I get so behind on adding things over there!  Check it out if you are looking for reading material, especially for kids.  We have had some really great reads lately.