Category Archives: Family

Crazy Cereal Week

Kids love having family traditions but as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that a lot of traditions are a real pain for the parents (especially the mom). Being pragmatic like I am, I try to keep my job uncomplicated but I don’t want to suck the joy out of my… Read More
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Father’s Day for the Fatherless

Ok, I’m not exactly fatherless. I have a father; he’s just been dead for a very long time. And we weren’t exactly close so missing him has really never been an issue. But this is an odd Father’s Day because my husband is also gone (gone as in “not here”.… Read More
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Promenade

Last weekend was India’s first prom. Strangely this has never been a moment I’ve thought much about as I’ve raised my daughters. Probably because I never had a boyfriend (or a date for that matter) in high school so the Prom was always a source of anxiety and frustration rather… Read More
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Lice and Flowers

These are the first flowers I’ve cut from my garden this year. As trite as roses are, I love them. Love, love, love them. And the bluebonnets this year have been so gorgeously obnoxious, carpeting themselves everywhere. Here, I’ll show you. This is Arabella and Margaret at our friend’s farm.… Read More
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Strawberry Fever

You know what’s nice about Texas? Strawberry season starts in March. It’s been Spring Break this week and our big outing was driving over an hour to Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls. (“Forget Disneyworld, kids, we’re going to pick strawberries in the middle of nowhere!”)  You’ve got to get… Read More
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Finn and the Urine of Mystery

Today my son Finn is thirteen. That puts the number of teenagers at my house to three.  This is what I didn’t know about kids growing up: the older they get, the more fun they are.  Teenagers are really cool. Much cooler than toodlers and about a jillion times cooler… Read More
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The week I Raised Nine Kids

I have been the mother of nine this week. My sister, Arianne, went with her husband on a 10-year-anniversary trip to Mexico and stopped in Austin to drop her kids off on the way.  So I have been raising another 5 and 6 year-old. Some of whom are a little… Read More
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Not a Huggy Family

Sometimes I see families at church that are very cuddly with each other. They’re all sitting on the pew with their arms around each other. This is not us. This is not how we are. I view them like I do people who have clean laundry rooms: with admiration, bafflement… Read More
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