So we just finished a monster of a home project – 800 square feet of new wood floors. That means emptying rooms into other rooms and then into other rooms and then into yet other rooms, ripping out the old carpet, carpet pad, pulling up tack strip, staples, glued down linoleum, stapled down masonite, and [...]
Living in a metro area, you get used to spending time on highways. It’s just how you get somewhere when you live in and around a city. However, since we routinely strike out across the state, we get a much different experience by spending three or four hours on I-44 going to visit grandparents and [...]
I have bought chore organizers, printed sticker charts, made complicated laminated/velcro/cards/to-do and done charts, yelled, gave up and did it myself, and every other variation you can think of. I am exactly what Auntie Leila is talking about when she says she writes for People who would rather be reading than cleaning. People with lots [...]
I rarely turn on the television in the day, but when I do, it’s usual the Food Network. I enjoy watching Barefoot Contessa and love her cookbooks. So today I turned it on and was watching when word spread through the house. “Hey! Cooking shows are on!” So two little people came scurrying to sit [...]
We are working on memorizing the Ten Commandments and my four year old has it down cold. However, today I heard him reciting by himself (usually we recite it together) and I realized that we have a tiny case of mistaken memorization. Have you heard little kids sing “up from the grave he arose, with [...]
Both of my kids have more air miles under their belts than I did by the time I was 30. However, all of them are before they can remember, especially for Viking. So this last trip to Florida was, in their minds, the first time they had flown. We were explaining each step as we [...]
This is the type of thing that makes someone with an English degree cringe. Exhibit A: Our waitress put our leftovers in a handy bag after dinner tonight. When I first read it I thought the first word was used as an adjective, as in Live Aid, with a long i sound. (Yes, I know, [...]
We’re in Orlando for our denominational meetings held every other August. This year about 15,000 people have descended on the city and it doesn’t take a trained eye to spot a pentecostal pastor from the other side of the street. This place is crawling with them. So tonight we’re eating dinner in a restaurant and [...]
I just dropped my baby girl off at church to load up and go to camp. And true to the super mom I am not, I neglected to take pictures. It’s not her first time away overnight, but the first time it’s been with anyone other than family or close friends. She’s super excited, although [...]
I’ve discovered a new medical disorder. I’m going to call it spray paint finger-itis. It’s caused by going through eight cans of spray paint in an hour, and includes collateral symptoms of a sore back from leaning over all of the stuff you’re painting. I bought a beat up patio set at a yard sale [...]
