We were ten minutes into the twins’ first basketball game when the mom next to me told me Elisabeth’s shoes were on the wrong feet. This woman was sitting with her toddler daughter, whose shoes were not only on the right feet, but the exact shade of pink as her Ralph Lauren dress. Her daughter could have been an actual Ralph Lauren model....Continue Reading
1. Seven-year-old twins are just starting to assign identities. “You’re the tall one.” “He’s the older twin.” “She’s good at reading and I’m good at math.” They only see themselves as a twosome so they have to even it out. They can’t both be the funny one. 2. They’re still proud of their twinniness. They make...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
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
Dear Lord, Give me a heart so peaceful, I can look at this picture and not cringe. Help me not to see the wrinkles on my forehead, the fine lines around my eyes, the dark roots, desperate for some highlights. Let me look past the poor photography skills that make my kids’ heads look like they’re...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
Sam and Elisabeth are back in the same class this year. This means they’re spending every minute of every day together. They are bonded together like super glue. With one glance across the dinner table, they can dissolve each other into giggles. They cry when the other gets in trouble. Like an old married couple,...Continue Reading
