On Christmas Eve each year, we do a few of the same things. We eat pasta soup, drive around town to look at the Christmas lights, have Christmas ice cream, and the boys open one present – just like we did when I was a kid. The boys almost always choose to open their presents […]
On the third weekend of December, my schedule gave to me, a snowstorm and winter break. We actually started the weekend by having Jeff’s parents down. We went to Dome after Dark at the Botanical Center which has become one of my favorite things to do there. One of the boys characterized it as “super […]
A few years ago we discovered the Holiday Promenade in the East Village of Des Moines. On that first night, the shops opened late with sales. There were carolers on the corner serving hot cocoa. And the ice skating rink had its opening night with Christmas tree lighting and an appearance from the big guy […]
Our kids GREW UP over the last few years. Covid did a number on the world, throwing us all into a tailspin. We all missed a lot of things, some of them monumental moments. We had to find ways to grieve the loss of life events and expectations we thought were just going to be […]
Sammy was sick a lot as a baby. He had an incessant cough and was constantly fighting a runny nose. He had asthma. Countless times I had to clear mucus from his throat because he was having trouble getting a breath. I got scared a lot. He had RSV a couple of times. He had […]
As soon as Jeff and I started feeling better, November started its upswing of busyness. The schools seem to try to squeeze in a little of everything right at the end of the semester just when social lives are packed with extra holiday activity. It starts to feel like Bilbo Baggins says, “It’s a dangerous […]
When I was little I felt it was a big deal for kids to have “birthday buddies”. I think there were a lot of kids my age who had birthday parties together, or who were really excited about sharing a birthday month. I was good friends with twins so it may have been a ploy […]
The morning of October 31st we woke to messages from Jeff’s employees. Several weren’t coming to work. Covid had hit the office. Jeff and I had been fighting some allergy symptoms and soreness from a new workout but felt pretty good. We thought it would be best to test. We were both positive. In March […]
I’ve been a little behind on posting. Our family was sick. We are better now, I hope. Sammy has a cough again. It seems Sammy has had a cough off and on since he was born, however, so we will see where we end up. But when I say we were sick, I mean covid. […]
I think our school district is experimenting. Not weirdly, just trying out some new things. They’ve not been the most progressive so any little thing seems like kind of a big deal. We live in a historically conservative town. This year one of the changes has been messing with the school calendar. So, we had […]