Confession: My children have some unusual playmates. We’ve tried hard to provide each of them with smart, scrupulous, well-meaning kids of their own age with whom to play, but these other characters keep popping up: slightly shady characters without credentials or background checks or – indeed, any background at all. Aarick started it. Shortly after […]
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(or) Exhausted PA Mother Wins Lengthy Battle with Son, Lives to Tell About It (or) Chapter VIII: In Which Little Johnny Breaks a Bad Habit ***** Once upon a time, perhaps nine months ago, a small boy whom we shall call Johnny suddenly contracted the habit of nail biting. Bad. Perhaps he first copied the
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Confession: My least favorite part of church is taking up the offering. This has nothing to do with how we take it up (into innocent wicker-and-burgundy-felt baskets) or when (slipped between the announcements and the songs), or who or how much or why… No. It’s all about the drama. You see, we give our sons
Today I’m going to show you how to make a simple checkerboard and set of checkers with a little wood and paint. You will need: One 12″ x 12″ piece of wood or plywood A 12″ section of dowel, 1-1/8″ or 1-1/4″ in diameter Access to a power saw of some kind Four colors of paint:
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One of the joys of attending Family Week at SMBI was agreeing to organize a craft class for all the children ages 6-12. Ryan and I spent considerable time planning and preparing, then he took charge of the boys (18 of them) and I of the girls (28!). For one hour each day, four different
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Confession: I love to sleep. At this stage of our family, I spend eight or nine hours nearly every night in deep, blissful unconsciousness. My feet never hit the floor from the time I lay me down until I wake in morning light. I love this. But once in a great while on an off
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I knew I’d be glad I asked you. Super food ideas, ya’ll. Keep it coming. –Shari ***** Today I share, with permission, a composition from a younger Zook. It wasn’t intended for my eyes at all, but I stumbled across it–and fell in love with his perfect mix of humble pie and protest. *Drop your arrows
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Today I did not feed my kids enough, I guess. They asked for food every fifteen minutes. Mommy, can I have a snack? as I was washing up the lunch dishes… Hmm. Thought you would be makin supper by now… at 3:30 in the afternoon. Mom, I’m gonna DIE… at 5:00, after plenty of snacks.
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What do children think of, waiting for the train to start? Why do they even have that dark tunnel? Why does the giraffe wrap his tongue around the railing? He does it every year. How did my baby get so big so fast? I am shattered by her pigtails. Erie Zoo, Erie Pennsylvania
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Confession: I never saw much point in jellybeans. The only ones I ever truly liked were the Buttered Popcorn variety from Jelly Belly. But their chief virtue lay in how much they tasted like something else. Sigh. Still, when I found a poem* justifying their existence, I decided to share it with my Sunday school