Mothers Day is a wonderful pause, the perfect time to think about the big questions: Is anyone learning anything ?; These kids won’t be home forever, what lessons will they take with them?; DOES ANY OF THIS REALLY MATTER? Truthfully, the answer to these questions usually feels a little dismal. The kids don’t seem to...Continue Reading
May might be the busiest month of the year. That used to be December, but everyone seems to know December is insane and doesn’t schedule anything superfluous. May has sneaky busy-ness. It’s the end of spring sports, the start of summer sports, end-of-the-year competitions, final recitals, and SO MANY school projects. Jen Hatmaker describes the...Continue Reading
At the college I went to, Concordia-Nebraska, every student had to take a class called Human Relations. The course was all about learning how to care for other people. The professor was Herman, a quintessential wise older man, who had written the literal textbook about how to encourage others in your life. Herman taught us...Continue Reading
If you need us, we’ll be at the pool. The kids (minus Nate) have decided to do swim team. Actually, decided is probably too strong of a word. Catie loves swim team so she was eager for another year. Since we had already signed up for the insane schedule of everyday practices, I thought, “Why...Continue Reading
**Disclaimer: By this list of what our family considered family helpers, you’ll see that most of our struggles are hair-centric. And we like to eat. We also really love water bottles, but this doesn’t make our family unique. Have you seen the water bottle aisle at Target? Excuse me, water bottle aisles at Target? We...Continue Reading
Cole Haan Air Tali Wedge I’m surely not the only mom who’s been doing the Mom Walk of Shame, which means I walk everywhere wearing clunky, ugly tennis shoes. What else are moms supposed to wear to carry a 30-pound toddler across a crowded parking lot? To run up and down the steps fifteen times...Continue Reading
Easter Sunday was yesterday. This year, Easter was a huge relief. Yes because we got to celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. But not only that. This year Easter also marked the end of a really hard Lent. Lent wasn’t hard in the penitential, sacrificial sense. Lent was hard because the last six weeks have...Continue Reading
When other shoppers see our huge Target cart of blonde kids coming down the aisle, about half of them grin and tell me how wonderful big families are. The other half just kind of stare. And count. And check me out to see if I might be pregnant again. Or wearing an Amish hair...Continue Reading
This is a story about the patio our family and some friends have been building in our backyard. It’s a story about hardscaping the marshy wetlands behind our pool, but it’s also the lesson of what our family has learned about community. The story begins with the muddy dead space that’s been behind our pool for...Continue Reading
Great news! It seems to be Hurt Feelings Week over at the Hergenrader House. Everyone in our family (well, except Mike, who never gets his feelings hurt) is living in the land of Why Does Everyone Hate Me? and How Come I Don’t Fit In? and Do I Only Know Mean People? and I Feel...Continue Reading
