I am very bad at doing "tags" (so if you've ever tagged me and felt ignored, please accept my apologies).  They often seem like e-mail chains…avoidable on all levels!  But this is one I haven't seen before, and it came from Dana, so I thought I would waste some time and participate!  For those of…

We did it.  Our Hawaiian Luau went off without a hitch.  And in grand fashion, I must say!  Here's the menu: Lava Flow Pina Coladas (they had strawberry puree at the bottom) Coconut Shrimp with Chili-Lime Sauce Aloha Pineapples (pineapple wrapped in bacon) Purple Sweet Potatoes with Goat Cheese and Mango Salsa (I made this…

  I just needed to take a minute tonight to record the fact that I had a GREAT day with my kids.  I feel like I probably complain too much sometimes.  But today my kids and I had a wonderful time together and it reminded me of how grateful I am for them.  First, I…

Tomorrow Samuel will have his 4th session of speech therapy with Ms. Kristin, a sweet, loving, bright woman who comes to our home every Wednesday.  He loves when she comes (despite the lack of a smile in the picture – it was at the end and he was tired and hungry).  She has taught us some great…

Besides learning that both the boys are doing great academically, making friends, being respectful to their teachers, and showing great leadership abilities (Jacob's teacher swears that he will someday run for President), we also learned the following: Caleb's teacher: "The only thing that I have to talk to Caleb about is not getting distracted with…

I wrote this post on Friday – but decided to hold on to it…it didn't feel right to publish it just yet.  This morning we received word that the friend I mention in this post, Nita Shanafelt, died.  She was a wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend.  She will be sorely missed and was loved…

I've learned a lot about this little Kindergartener while he's been sick! He wants three cars when he grows up: A Chrysler minivan ("for his wife to drive") – he likes it because he's seen the commercials that show it has seats that swivel and a table that you can put in the middle and…

Just got back from the doctor's office and Caleb has strep throat.  He's miserable – and when I looked down his throat this morning at 5:45 am and saw both of his tonsils touching in the middle, I knew it was bad. :(  The worst part is the dr. said no school tomorrow, and it's…

I was just giddy with excitement over getting to spend almost 4 days with Dana and Shelley.  We could have gone anywhere, and it would be fun.  But we headed to Colorado!  We spent the first evening in downtown Denver – restaurants, shopping and a huge suite in our hotel.  No schedule, no hurry – but…

When we scheduled our girl’s trip to Colorado, I knew I needed to see if I could get a family visit in too.  And gratefully, my family was so gracious and drove and planned in order to get us all together.  My generous Aunt Carol left work to come get me from the airport and…