Never underestimate the power of our olfactory receptors, because we Moms are bound to become the collective brain trust of bad smells! Read more →

I loved whenever my kids would bring their school projects home and, considering we've had a kid in preschool, grade school, middle school or high school since 1996, we have certainly collected a fair amount of "pretties" over the years. Every now and again, I'll find a construction paper greeting card tucked deep in between some books or reach for a pen and grab one with a plastic daisy (my favorite flower) taped to the end of it and I'll remember...ohhhhh, yeah...this was the Mother's Day card Glen made me and that is the pen that Hope gave me one... Read more →

I used to be an excellent planner. Also, very, very organized and a bit of clean freak...with borderline germaphobe tendencies...especially, during the holidays or whenever we'd have company over. Seriously, my husband's favorite parlor trick was to take a glass from off of a coaster, slide it onto the living room table and then countdown...5...4...3...2... [whispering] ...watch this! I'd come into the room, place the glass back onto the coaster, wipe the table off with my apron, and then place the cheese platter in the center of the table, alongside a nice pile of coordinated cloth napkins, of course. Heh.... 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 →

Happy 20th Birthday, Holly! Enough said. © 2003 - 2013 This Full House I'm NaBloPoMo-ing it, feel free to check out what I've NaBloPoMo-ed, so far (PHEW!) and let me know how I'm doing (I mean, 30 posts, in 30 days, really?!?) when you have time, of course! Read more →

I made a lot of dumb choices, early in life (okay, fine, very recently too) and now that I'm older (never you mind just how old) do I understand that stupid choices, more often than not, lead to making better decisions, later on. But, don't tell my kids...not just yet...okay?!? Oh, but I feel it safe to say that anyone who knows me (most especially, IRL) would probably agree: my husband is an example of a pretty gosh-darned good pick. But, this post is NOT about him (you're welcome, sweetie!) or necessarily even about me. It is about my husband... Read more →

Some parenting-type experts will agree: most teens have no idea how to have real conversations, because they are too busy texting on their cell phones. I am NOT one of these parenting-type experts: in fact, I really do wonder if any of them...you know...actually live with teens and I'm just going to embrace this moment (sorry, I'm a hugger) and share a little parenting-type secret with you, okay? Wait. For. It. Teens do NOT talk: sometimes, even when they are spoken to, and I most humbly suggest that you just go ahead and not expect any serious eye contact, anytime... Read more →