I've been busily training for a couple of new jobs (a much needed and very appreciated couple of new jobs!) so my youngest daughter was kind enough to offer her services and guest blog for me, this week. Aaaaand, since I've already failed (miserably!) at posting every day for #NaBloPoMo, I took the kid up on her offer and told her to have at it :) So, she came up with this, unedited and totally in her words: Hey hi hey…most of you know me as the youngest person in the thisfullhouse family. If you don’t know me then I’m... Read more →

The funny thing about raising teens (by funny I mean less ha-ha-ha and more what-the-huh?!?) is all the stuff you thought you knew about parenting...just stop it, right now...because kids have this really innate ability of having you question almost every move you make, to be totally wrong, probably. Personally, my inner-12-year-old would LOVE to have me forget that I am the parent, take over the situation and let's play a little verbal dodge ball, while where at it. This morning, it's the door slamming. SLAM!!!! Sets my nerves on edge and don't worry, both my husband and I will... Read more →

Like any other 15 year-old boy (at least, the teenagers I've had the pleasure of ignoring me) my son likes to sleep (a lot!) and can fall asleep, at a drop of a hat, standing up, with one arm tied behind his back and holding up a "Do not disturb!" sign with the other, if need be. He gets it from his father. Glen and Holly hiking together in the marshlands of NJ, sort of. The boy is probably lagging behind or running perpetually late, for almost everything, too. Guess who he gets THAT from?!? G'head, I'll wait!!! Although his... Read more →

I was pregnant with our oldest when we moved into our house...what we then referred to as our starter home...on Memorial Day weekend...21 years ago. Okay, so we're really sloooooooooooow starters. Although my husband and I still dream about not having to share a closet (smaller than some other people's pantries) or my waking up in the middle of the night and having to go to the bathroom, all...the...way...downstairs...across the kitchen...through the living room...and waaaaay on the other side of the house...[taking a moment to catch my breath...phew...thanks!]...it's more than what a lot of other people have and, well, we've... Read more →

My two oldest girls are 2 years apart, so Holly was still in diapers when Heather was born, because potty training is hard enough, let alone bringing home a brand new baby sister, thankyouverymuch. They spent the next 3 years together, as each other's constant playmate, before more babies came along and, well, then it became...EVERYONE IN THE POOL!!!...while other parents looked on (in horror, mostly) wondering what it was like to raise 4 children under the age of 10: it sort of feels as if you are walking around in a drunken stupor...all day...every day. These two monkeys, however,... 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 Chuck E. Cheese Parent-teacher conference I couldn't find any clean underwear (don't ask) Today, although we are way out of the Chuck E. Cheese demographic (blessed be!) and conduct our parent-teacher conferences via email, the list is still pretty much the same. Which leads me to believe that this house does IN FACT eat underwear AND regurgitates socks in the strangest places, sometimes. Trust me, you do NOT want... Read more →

Although we are not sure how old he is...exactly...the vet at the animal shelter, where we adopted our Doofus-Dawg in 2004, figured him to be about a year old, at the time. Either way, he's well past earning his senior citizen's badge...in dog years. The perks of his reaching retirement age for a mostly lab are many, but more importantly: we don't chase him off of the couch. In fact, I've grown accustomed to simply covering the furniture with a couple of blankets or twenty. The other day, he got caught up in one of those blankets when attempting to... Read more →