For the past few months, our family has tried to eat healthier. Organic instead of conventional, cooking at home instead of eating out, actual bananas and strawberries rather than the miniature, gummy imitations. But it’s hard to stay the course. Kids eat dozens of snacks and meals in a day, the nutritional fabric is destined...Continue Reading
When we bought this house, I called it our forever home. This was six years ago, when Catie was 3 and the twins were 1. We said this house would hold all the kids’ childhood memories. Teen years and first boyfriends and girlfriends and hundreds of sleep-overs would happen between these walls. When we were empty-nesters, Mike...Continue Reading
I’m not sure how this happened, but we’ve become the last-minute project family. I’m not proud to admit we are the people who do science fair projects in one weekend, book reports the night before they’re due, and decorate family turkeys an hour before bedtime. These are not good habits to start so early in our kids’ academic...Continue Reading
We have reached the point in Houston winter when we are DONE with the cold weather. We are summer people. We are so much more comfortable with 99% humidity and triple-degree temperatures than these frigid days in the low 40s. We will bravely fight mosquitos over Christmas break and sunburns over President’s Day weekend....Continue Reading
Notice anything? I mean besides cutie-pie Lanie Ward reading Elisabeth a book. Maybe you also notice Nate photo-bombing in the background. And the snazzy-dressed City Centre crowd strolling past to their fancy lunch. Maybe if you looked longer and harder, you’d also see the Ward and Hergenrader girls are really sitting on AstroTurf, not actual grass....Continue Reading
This has been one of those weird weeks where everyone in our family is dancing to their own rhythm. The kids had President’s Day off of school, and then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were big work days for Mike and me. As a creshendo to our weird week, the kids only had a half of a day of...Continue Reading
Our family’s Ash Wednesday was a mess. We chose work commitments and homework over church. And when we told the kids we weren’t going, Elisabeth and Sam started to cry. This pricked my anxiety: were our kids so emotionally disturbed they couldn’t handle a little schedule change without falling apart? When had we become that...Continue Reading
During the 40 days of Lent, I’m writing 40 blog posts. Instead of giving up chocolate or Facebook or corn syrup or whatever, I’m adding this habit back into my life. I miss documenting the seasons our kids are slipping in and out of; I miss remembering and anticipating and processing our lives here. But...Continue Reading
Our kids are at the age where they’re starting to understand relationships. Yesterday Catie pulled me aside and confidentially explained to me about my moods. She said,“just so you know, when you’re in a bad mood, we notice. Sometimes we don’t even want to be around you.” I explained that was kind of the point of a...Continue Reading
My husband is good at marathons. This is not to say he is good at training for marathons. He’s not great at stretching before his runs, or after. He never remembers to ice sore muscles or heat them. He wears running gear that is twenty years old. But he’s finished fifteen marathons or half-marathons because...Continue Reading
