Last year at this time, I was a bit apprehensive about saying good-bye to my youngest, and beginning our new journey of empty-nesting...of living together in the quiet spaces of this big, hollow home. Turns out, with all of our flitting about (i.e. traveling) and feathering our nest (i.e. decluttering and a little redecorating), I'm amazed at how quickly the year has passed.
Read MoreThe day of the Columbine High School mass shooting is forever etched in my memory. Chloe was two days old and we were driving home from St. Joe Med Center with our precious little bundle. She was the fourth and final child God had entrusted to us…
Read More...with so much energy focused on our new president, politics, and protests...I thought you could all use a little stress break! Pour that cup of coffee, that glass of wine, and get comfy...here we go again.
Read MoreJust got back from a whirlwind Northeast Circle road trip. I promised my friends and family a recap, and since the only way I seem to remember things these days is if I write them down, here's my story...summarized in a dozen "points of interest."
Read MoreWhat is it about the end of an old year and beginning of a new that makes us reevaluate our lives, our homes, our organizational systems, our BMI, our sugar addictions, our finances, our spirituality, our parenting, our marriages, our passions, and everything else under the sun?
Read MoreAfter dropping Leah off at DePauw a month ago, I (like any parent of a new college student) have been asked numerous times, "How is she doing?" Naturally, friends and family are curious if she made "the right choice," if she's homesick, and if she is getting along with her roommate. Some may also wonder how she's managing with Type One Diabetes at college.
Read MoreI'm not always the "cool mom," but sometimes I hear I am. Cool...like when I TRY to be cool but don't quite get it. Like that morning when Chloe told me her friend complimented her hair, so when I saw her by her locker at school, I tried to do the same, in that same teenage lingo: "Chloe...your hair is 'point on' today." Bwahahahaha!
Read MoreAs I write this, our son Jared is attempting to run his first marathon. The reason? It's on his bucket list. He's the type of kid that probably had a bucket list before the term came into vogue. He is always off on some new passion, adventure or quest.
Read MoreFalling. It starts as soon as we take those first steps in life. Step, step, bump, plop. Goose-eggs from coffee table corners and bruised knees bring comforting hugs from mama. Not long after our first falls, most of us learn pretty well how to avoid them.
Read MoreSeasons have a funny way of bringing back memories and then repeating themselves in a similar, but new and different way. Now that summer has arrived, I catch myself reliving memories of past summers. Working in my garden makes me recall the summers I toiled and sweated to put in the plants that are now fully grown. It motivates me to keep planting new ones for the future.
Read MoreI confess: I didn't come up with this title on my own. I kinda' maybe stole it from my daughters' new t-shirts. But it just seemed appropriate. We're in the middle of what you might call "music week." In this household, for nearly 20 years now a couple weeks before Christmas, and a couple weeks before the end of the school year in May, "music is who we are."
Read MoreSpring is coming. It really is. After all, it's May now, and all the signs of spring are here. Never mind the fact that Friday night my hands were so cold from standing outside taking pictures in the drizzly, 45 degree weather, that I had Tom build me a real live, crackling fire!
Read MoreThe roads have been extremely treacherous this winter, and a couple of weeks ago on our way to school they were at their worst. The highway between here and school was snow-covered with icy patches, and several drifts were sneaking out into the driving lanes…
Read MoreI went shopping with Seth three weeks ago. Leah was enjoying her first college visit (at Calvin), and I was able to sneak away in the afternoon, pick up Seth, and head to Jared. And I'm not talking about his brother Jared here. We're talking the jewelry store...yes, we "went to Jared."
Let me tell you, it's really, really fun to help your son pick out the engagement ring for his intended.
Read MoreA recent visit to Madison made me keenly aware that my role of "mom" is slowly being transformed. While Tom and I have both feet deeply planted in parenting, I can sense movement toward something new.
Read MoreToday, thanks to another blast of winter, I'm enjoying a fourth day in a row of stress-free, non-scheduled, simply delightful freedom. Last Thursday however, the day before this lovely polar vortex lull, I was experiencing the polar opposite. In this crazy family of ours…
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