It was the night before Thanksgiving, and all through the house, not a creature was sleeping, except for the boy and his, well, that's our Doofus Dawg and he is WAY bigger than a mouse. Then, someone suggests, quite innocently,"Wouldn't it be funny, if we painted his toe nails?" Now, most people would probably think, "Yes, but it wouldn't be very nice." "Why yes, yes, it would, I'll get the nail polish!" Then again, we are NOT most people, he IS the only boy in the house and, well, the kid pretty much pranks us...ALL THE TIME...so, it's all in... Read more →

Bud and Pam's 1st Thanksgiving 2008 Over the years, I've grown accustomed to having family over for the holidays and, as the kids get older, I find myself worrying less about the table setting (nope, it doesn't match) or, the food preparation (yes, some of it comes out of a can) not to mention, I don't bother too much about making lists, anymore (seriously?) or, worry whether I've managed to hunt down each and every dust bunny (they're sort of like pets, really and I've even named a few) or not. Because, no matter how my husband, Garth [not his... Read more →

Yeah, the poor guy's got 3 sisters, but all 3 of our pets are boys and, well, that's close enough, right? Cats. You either like them, or you don't. They do have a reputation of being a tiny bit self-absorbed (pot calling the kettle black, I say) and, often times, are considered not very good, you know, people-type pets. Still. There are those times, during their seemingly endless days of captivity, when a cat can sense that something is off and their owners aren't feeling quite right, or perhaps the planets are out of alignment, the earth's rotation shifts just... Read more →

Behind every successful woman, is a basket of dirty laundry...Sally Forth Except, in my case, it IS a "pile" of "clean" laundry and, well, success is a relative term, isn't it? According to some members of my family (especially, those who are, you know, mostly, women) I should consider myself lucky, whenever my husband, Garth [not his real name] is brave enough to come home and "actually" gets out of the car, at night.I get that. Still. Why are we women (mothers or non) so gosh-darned hard on each other? That's right, I said it, being a woman should feel... Read more →

If you were to ask me to list the scariest words in the English language, a few years ago, it would have looked something like this: Strep throat It's probably viral Check E. Cheese Parent-teacher conference I couldn't find any clean underwear (don't ask) Then, I picked up my oldest daughter (she turned 16, last week) and she laid 6 more on me, right in the middle of the high school parking lot: "I started driver's ed, today!" I knew this day would come. Dreaded it more than anything (even hot flashes) actually. [the sound of brakes, screeching to a... Read more →

Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Holly! Today, you are sixteen. Sixteen; how is that possible; I mean, wasn't it just yesterday, I blogged about how frightened I was about becoming a mom of a teenager? I still remember blogging about the year you turned ten! Today, you are sixteen and, well, I'm still waiting for someone to invent a special time machine. You know, something we can simply strap ourselves into and travel back to a time when, I don't know, life seemed a whole lot easier. Remember when you and Heather would come home from preschool and how the three of... Read more →

Her 3rd grade class was asked to create posters, giving thanks to a soldier, for the Veteran's Day Parade, today -- she chose her Uncle John. Each of her classmates has a poster, just like it. A special thanks to ALL of our troops and big HOOAH to my twin brother, SFC Kat, who has dedicated each and every one of his medals to our parents -- they risked their lives for the promise of freedom and love America more than anyone I know! © 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved. Read more →