If your family is anything like ours, we don’t really need a reason to have a celebration… we celebrate EVERYTHING we can! Recently we celebrated Esther-Faith’s “graduation” from preschool. She has a winter birthday, so, we’ll celebrate again next year. But like I said, we celebrate EVERYTHING… even preschool graduations. When her class made it’s way…

When I was young and dreamed of being a mom, there are some things about parenting that never crossed my mind… 16-camera security systems recording the inside and outside of my home. Meetings (long, contentious meetings) with a middle school principal. Home health care. Entire seasons of “I Love Lucy” with a giggling nine-year-old boy….

Every evening, we gather around the table, eat dinner, talk about our day, and read a little bit. This December, we are reading about the Jesse Tree and each evening after dinner, the kids all get a small gift. By small, I mean, a roll of lifesavers. A pez dispenser. Silly putty. Those sorts of…

I’ve always wondered where the phrase, “The good, the bad, and the ugly” came from. It always seemed negatively skewed to me. I mean, why can’t it be, “The great, the good, and the bad?” Or even, “The great, the good, the bad, and the ugly.” Those seem more optimistically balanced. Then, my son turned…