Filed under adjusting holiday expectations …

Easterish Photos

I have to admit…I have a love/hate relationship with social media during the holidays. I see those pictures of toddlers wearing coordinated outfits and big smiles and I miss our younger days. I miss the wonder in his eyes as he sees his delivered by the bunny basket.  A sunny photo-op of my boy in an “outfit” … Continue reading →

Return to Reality

It is now January 7th 2017 and we concluded our first full week of school after the holidays. While driving home from work yesterday, I realized that my homeschooled son and I had very different “back to reality” experiences. The first school day of 2017, my alarm went off at 6 am and I was … Continue reading →

Returning

I don’t know if it’s the same with other families, in other houses, but we’re still in the process of returning to normal. We haven’t completely returned to a full homeschooling day. Instead, we make progress toward more. We still find ourselves feeling the loss of Stella. We expect her in the kitchen and near … Continue reading →

Merry Christmas, Dear Readers

It’s here. We pulled the last ornament out of the final pocket. It’s Christmas Eve. We had a favorite person come over and we enjoyed good food. There were Nerf gun wars and video games and presents exchanged. It was a special day. In the early evening, my son opened his Christmas Eve box. This … Continue reading →

Ready Already?

It seems that we’ve been waiting for this week for a long time. We’ve counted the months and the weeks. Our advent calendar says we are days away from THE day. The gingerbread was baked and decorated and consumed. The cards were signed and sent. The Santa picture was taken (with only one visit) and … Continue reading →

Holidays…As Many Of You Know

I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish this weekend. Some of those activities were actually done. Our tree is decorated now and the lighter boxes filled only with tissue and empty ornament containers and ladder are back in the garage.

Mole Monday

I ‘m bracing myself for an interesting day. A Mole Monday type of day. The Monday after Halloween-filled with more sugar than normal and overloaded senses will be an interesting day. Our Halloween weather was terrible with wind and rain, so there was very little trick or treating. This didn’t feel like the Halloween he … Continue reading →

Summer Limbo

When you’re a teacher, this time of year means your summer is almost over. Your mind shifts to classroom set up and furniture configuration. You focus on research and strategies instead of  beach reads and swimming. Some teachers I know, thought about school throughout the summer months. They search Pinterest for science notebooking ideas instead … Continue reading →

Slowly and Carefully

Last week was a crazy week. It was filled with gluten and sugar and record-breaking heat. It was wrapped up in birthday presents and race car birthday parties and more than usual video gaming. It was surrounded with friends and relatives and irregular schedules and way more “yes” than “no” and… And because of all … Continue reading →

The Magical Fourth

Although I hate what it does to my dogs, there’s something magical about the Fourth of July. There was that year when we were new to the neighborhood and didn’t know that our front porch would be the best view to a fantastic show. I remember the 4th where I sat in the future nursery … Continue reading →