Tate came home, vibrating with excitement.
“Hey kids! I got you a surprise for your breakfast tomorrow! Grapefruit!”
Grapefruit. (Imagine I’m saying that like Seinfeld used to say, “Newman.”)
“And how is it a surprise, ding dong, if you just told [...]
Both kids were safely buckled into their seats as we drove away from Carson’s preschool.
“So! How was your day, Carson?” I asked, as I ask everyday when I pick him up from school. I already knew the answer.
With major huffing and puffing, Carson replied, “I don’t want to talk about [...]
One of my children’s favorite books is The Polar Express. They’ve been begging to have it read to them nearly every night since the first Christmas commercial was broadcast back in October. I also love this story, it’s beautiful illustrations and the reminder about the true magic and spirit of [...]
She sensed her mother’s presence even through the fog of sleep and snot. Lizbeth sunk deeper under the sheets willing her mother to please leave, to please turn her ducky humidifier back on, and to please just let her sleep.
Her mother’s hand rested on her clammy forehead, Lizbeth’s blond curls [...]
Welcome back to class everyone! I hope all of enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend, or if you’re not American, I hope you enjoyed your regular ol’ weekend.
Today’s class is going to focus on building a community around your blog. What I mean by community is this: The people who visit and [...]
My children each received these Zhu Zhu pets as an early Christmas present from their great aunt and uncle.
Surely I’m missing something here? The most coveted toy of the Christmas season is a fake robot hamster [...]
I’ve been a daredevil parent since the beginning. Soon after Carson was born and back when I still read Parents Magazine, I read that one of his toys had been recalled because the wheels on one of his plush car toys could come off and choke an unsuspecting infant.
You know [...]
My parents are THE HARDEST PEOPLE to buy gifts for. Hands down. If there was an award for “Couple who is most difficult to buy gifts for,” my parents would win, blowing their competition out of the water. [...]
After a brutally long eleven hour drive home, we pulled up to our much missed home to find it adorned with Christmas lights. Two mini Christmas trees and a wreath adorned the front porch and door, welcoming us.
Inside, the house was clean and free of the usual toys and clutter. [...]
{snicker} Kum & Go. Seriously. Could there be a more ridiculous name for a gas station? The answer to that question is, “I think not.”
****************
We were watching an episode of the Duggar’s show, 17 or 18 Kids and Counting on [...]
My dad, home from Vietnam for one day, met my mother in a bar.
“He was wearing a suit, that’s what I first noticed,” she explained as I asked question after question about their courtship.
“You fell hard and fast, huh Mom?” my brother asked as my Mom smiled and nodded [...]
I drove away from him with tears in my eyes. Instead of spending Thanksgiving together as a family, Tate had to stay behind and work. Hours were spent strategizing, trying to figure out a way for him to come with us, [...]
I just wanted to wish you balls all a very Happy balls Thanksgiving! I hope your turkey is moist balls, your family is balls well, and that your Thanksgiving centerpiece doesn’t remind you of anything balls.
Happy Turkey Balls [...]
Let’s all take a moment and give thanks to our host, Neil, for reminding us to remember our first commenters as we prepare for the most thankful of all holidays, Thanksgiving.
Though I still find it incredibly thrilling to see that I have a new comment, nothing really compares to [...]
I think the movies Toy Story and Toy Story 2 being played on loop for about 2 weeks straight at my house has made me reminisce about my childhood toys. You know that flashback scene in Toy Story 2 where Jessie is telling Woody about her owner, Emily, who grows [...]
I know that conventional wisdom would dictate that if I’m going to post a recipe on the Monday before Thanksgiving, that the recipe would be Thanksgiving-ish. Well I’m going to buck conventional wisdom and pour some [...]
I can’t believe that the very first video I’ll be posting is one of me singing. Most of you probably didn’t even know that I could sing. You are in for a treat! Ella is particularly impressed with my abilities.
Hola friends and new readers-soon-to-be-friends! Today’s topic is a continuation of last week’s discussion of blog design. Let’s talk about your (probably overloaded) sidebars. I say that they are probably overloaded because, well, most sidebars, INCLUDING MINE, are. Whether you have one, two, or more sidebars, the stuff you stick over there [...]
Thank goodness that’s chocolate icing and, uh, not something else.
©2009 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.
. [...]Since I had to take Ella to the ER on Monday morning, Tate was in charge of taking Carson to school.
I had very little time to explain how the morning should play out. Quickly I showed Tate what to fix Carson for lunch and what containers to pack them in [...]
Fearing the worst, I was relieved that at no time did the ER doctor ever utter the words, “Your daughter is suffering from Scarlet Fever/The Black Plague/an incurable skin condition that will leave her [...]
First memory: Falling down while walking up a set of steps while carrying a Budweiser beach towel when I was two. I had to get stitches in my chin.
First celebrity obsession crush: Michael Jackson in his Thriller and sequined glove days.
First dog: Sugar. The poor little thing died of parvo.
First [...]
Phew. Betcha thought I forgot all about posting on this lazy NaBloPoMo Sunday, huh? No? You didn’t even notice? Well.
**Ella has this really red rash that started yesterday. By last night she was practically covered with it. I took her to a doc in the box this morning and the [...]
A nice* blog design makes people want to stay and read.
Nice (in reference to blog design) adj. “A blog that doesn’t make your eyes bleed.”
I think that everyone has opinions on what a nice blog design is, some of us think a background design looks really cool, where others think [...]
I’m not particularly proud of several facets of this story.
On my way home from Bible study, my kids having already eaten in the nursery, I decided to go through the drive-thru at Krystal to get myself some lunch. {groan}
Sitting in line, waiting for my turn to order, Carson started [...]
I recently had a conversation with a friend who complained about having family so close-by.
“They just show up! Unannounced! They overstep their boundaries and discipline my kids, they never even give me a chance to correct them,” she lamented. Her list of grievances also included being dragged into family drama, [...]
Since April, everywhere I go I see purple. It’s all the rage in fashion, I see it in the fall plantings, and everywhere online, there’s purple. And I remember Maddie.
Purple had never really been a color that I’d noticed or sought out. Then seven months ago, purple was suddenly [...]
My mom and I were discussing what I feed and don’t feed my children.
“Carson and Ella both love Honey Nut Cheerios, but they wish they could eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch everyday. They know I won’t let them, though,” I explained.
Being a doting grandmother she asked, “Why don’t you let those babies [...]
MONTHS, people! MONTHS ago I mentioned these Sichuan Green Beans and how they were delicious and what a great side dish they were for Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps and how I was going to post [...]
I completely forgot that October 31 was the ten year anniversary of when Tate and I became engaged. Apparently he forgot, too.
I remembered on November 6, the eleventh anniversary of our first date. (Jesse James’ Hideout in Rolla, MO. Jealous much?) (I also puked the next morning right in [...]
StumbleUpon, StumbleUpon, StumbleUpon. I should confess that StumbleUpon (SU) often totally baffles me. Some posts go over well, others die a very quick death and I don’t really know why. I hear from so many of you that you’ve seen no traffic from SU and that you don’t really see [...]
“Mommy! Make another pile of leaves!” both Carson and Ella begged. “We want to jump in them!”
For what felt like the 50th time, I raked leaves into a big, jump-able pile.
“If I rake these leaves for you guys, you better do cute stuff for Mommy’s camera! Promise??!!” I half negotiated, [...]
One of the reasons I purposely had babies 18 months apart was because I hoped they’d be close friends and playmates growing up.
Ella has never really had the chance to be a princess loving [...]
I just had to explain to my heartbroken four year old son why the woman pushing two kids about his age in a double stroller in front of our house didn’t say “hello” to us, even after we said “hello” and waved.
“Mommy? Why didn’t they come over? I wanted to [...]
I drank two cups of coffee this morning and I don’t even drink coffee and I feel a leeeeetle bit like I might have just intravenously injected the caffeine because I feel a little bit loooooopy. This must be what it feels like to be high, high, high!
I needed the [...]
I was home from the grocery store for less than an hour when I noticed Tate, his mouth stuffed full of newly purchased, thinly sliced ham.
“Tate, there better be enough of that ham left for the kids’ lunches this week,” I said in my well-practiced irritated voice.
His face registered shock [...]
You know all those kids who are way too old to be trick or treating that come to your door? They just stand there holding their pillowcase open, reeking of Sense of Entitlement, without even saying trick or treat? Yeah. [...]
I know that it’s Halloween, so I’m glad to see your ghoulish faces today!
Holy cow, I can’t believe how much has changed since I originally wrote this post over a year ago.
Today we’re going to discuss two areas of blog promotion…Sites where you list your blog and social networking sites. [...]
I’m going to participate in NaBloPoMo.
My hair is driving me crazy. Just a few weeks ago, I got some of the sweetest compliments about my hair color from some people who hadn’t seen me since I made the change from mouse to brunette.
I don’t know exactly what I expected out of motherhood. Maybe I had some idea, I envisioned the baking cookies part (which I rarely do) and the afternoon filled with crafts (yeah, I don’t do those either). I imagined the first day of school and Christmas morning, as if life [...]
In May 2008 I started a weekly series I lovingly referred to as the Blog Tip Sharing Project. At the time, I was pretty much in love with all things blogging and wanted to share some of the things I’d learned along the way. Also at that time, I [...]
Some of you are going to be in shock when you read this. Others of you may question whether or not you feel like we can continue being friends.
I hope this doesn’t change things between us.
I do not really care for chocolate or sweets. I KNOW! Shocking! It’s like I [...]
About 5 years ago, I looked in the mirror at my fat thighs and the rolls under my bra and decided I’d had enough. With Tate’s help, we went on a low-carb diet (think more South Beach than Atkins) and I started going to the gym 3-4 times [...]
Carson slept through the night at 5 months, Ella at 6 months. I remember thinking that life could only get better from this point forward. Sleep seemed like the ultimate reward.
All week I’ve been intermittently high on cold medicine. One minute I’m all drippy with snot and achy in the head region, the next minute I’m dressed in skin tight faded black leggings and a too-small Callaghan’s Irish Social Club t-shirt thinking what a swell idea it would be [...]
Tate, the kids, and I spent the weekend in our favorite Midwestern destination, St. Louis.
With the holidays coming up, we took the kids out to a few different places hoping to get some fabulous pictures for [...]
For weeks, Carson and Ella have been preparing for fall and cold weather. It all started when they discovered long forgotten footie fleece PJ’s in their drawers.
“Mom?” Carson drug three pairs of footie PJ’s behind him, “What are these things? Are these my old PJ’s?”
A lengthy discussion followed, explaining weather [...]
I know that I’m becoming a food snob because of my disdain for delivery pizza. Sure, Dominoes and the like are great when you’re too tired to cook and just need food and it doesn’t matter what it [...]
“Get over it,” I’ve been told.
“Just get over it,” said with their intended tone of irritation and impatience. As if unexpectedly moving my family should just be taken in stride. Like, oh! Just another life experience to welcome! Like, I don’t have a right to [...]
The fair is in town and to a foodie like me, that means it’s corn dog season. I look forward to this rare occasion each year.
But really? It’s not just the corn dogs. There’s SO MUCH to love about the fair…
The smell of old grease and frying food, people walking [...]
I recently mentioned my neighbor who doesn’t have anything covering her windows, allowing us lucky neighbors to peer inside. My husband Tate, who leaves for work ridiculously early in the morning when it’s still pitch black outside, has seen our neighbor naked twice.
“You saw her naked again!” I asked, [...]
Tate became the Chosen Parent over Labor Day weekend. He introduced the concepts of “capes” and “superheroes” to Carson and Ella. Using the Thomas blanket and sheet from Carson’s bed, he tied them around the kids’ necks and helped them soar through the air.
If only doing laundry and cleaning the [...]
There’s one house in my neighborhood that has no window coverings, allowing us, when the light is just right, to peer into their home. This openness irritated me to the point of mania, obsessing every time I passed the house about the why. Why didn’t they cover their windows? Why [...]
We’d been talking about our upcoming trip to the beach for weeks. In preparation, I’d read stories to Carson and Ella about beaches and watched the beachy episodes of Max and Ruby and Spongebob on On Demand. Though they had both been to the Gulf of Mexico when we lived [...]
Ever since I’ve known Tate, he has been somewhat accident and injury prone. Back in the olden days when we were dating, he used to woo me with talk of concussions and broken pinkies he received playing intramural sports in college. He’d describe to me in detail the crab claw [...]
When I was a sophomore, I had a mad crush on Jeremy Todd*. There was really nothing about him that I should have liked. He regularly ditched class, he was always being annoying and asking me for answers on quizzes, he had an acne pitted [...]
I just love it when people mispronounce common words. And by love I mean, it irritates the crap out of me, but yet it provides hours and hours of hearty chuckling when I’m making fun of them on my blog.
My most favorite mispronounced word was one I heard last week. [...]
I just thought you all should know that the hole in the crotch of Spanx that I assume is for bathroom convenience, doesn’t work as intended.** It’s not important how I know this, just that I know this. Please don’t make me explain in detail, it’s just too humiliating.
What? [...]
It’s not an exaggeration to say that I am a magnet for Christians. They LOVE me. Really, I don’t know why I seem to attract so many Christians, but seriously, they swarm me. Where ever I go, I always somehow seem to end up talking to someone who really loves [...]
My three friends and I had just been seated at a swanky restaurant. The drink menu was nearly the size of War and Peace and not wanting to inadvertently gloss over the greatest drink ever, I began my slow study of each wine, margarita, and cocktail choice.
Eventually the waitress approached [...]
I’ve made this recipe so many times in an effort to get a decent picture to post that I’m {this close} to being sick of it. It’s pretty damn good, though, and even my kids eat it (minus [...]
Carson stalls his inevitable bedtime every night with requests to be tucked in (again), to open his closet door wider, or for a cup of water.
“Don’t forget the ice, Mommy!” he’ll call behind me as a shake my head and roll my eyes.
Ever the trained monkey, I fill his cup [...]
My friend was recently a member of her brother’s wedding party. At the reception, she had a LOT of fun, if you know what I mean…A LOT of fun.
Hours later, well into the FUN, my friend got sick and soiled her bridesmaid dress.
It’s been several weeks since the incident and [...]
I have been on the hunt for a Stacy and Clinton approved pair of jeans since forever. With my body shape and height (pear shaped and stumpy), the search for jeans has been difficult, to say the least.
My mission has been to find a pair of jeans that:
1) [...]
Today Tate and I celebrate our eight year anniversary.
On the morning of July 14, 2001, I woke up very early, unable to go back to sleep due to the anticipation of this long awaited day. I went down to the hotel lobby to have breakfast. My [...]
Kimchi. Spicy, marinated, fermented cabbage.
Fermented.
Cabbage.
FERMENTED! CABBAGE!
I was pretty sure that this culinary strolll was gonna lead me straight to the toilet. The jar itself frightened me. Bubbles continually rose to the top and the jar was leaking.
“Oh great,” I [...]
Tate and I have been going through a rough patch lately, the kind where the fact that we simply breathe in the same room as one another is more than enough to send smoke steaming out of our ears and invisible daggers to be shot from our eyes.
I certainly don’t [...]
It was last summer when I bought my Canon XSi camera. At this time a year ago, I was pretty convinced that simply by having this SLR camera, I’d suddenly become a much sought after, talented photographer, simply because I had a fancy pants camera. That hasn’t been [...]
Since moving to Tennessee back in October, it seems that we need to build an ark for all the rain we’ve had. With all the rain, we’ve been singing songs related to rain like “Rain, Rain Go Away” and “I’m So Sick of all this @#@$%# Rain” (what? you haven’t [...]
All the children were scrambling down the tower of steps that led to the curvy slide at Chick-Fil-A, complaining and yelling about a boy sitting at the top being “mean.” Parents quizzed their children, “who is doing what?” “Where?” “A boy?” “He won’t let anyone go by?” It was hard [...]
“All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhood completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.” -Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven
That quote has squatted in every crevice [...]
I recently did harm to my internal organs by eating my weight in jalapeno nachos at a baseball game.
The next morning, well, let’s just say I was lucky to make it out of the bathroom alive.
In our family, we tend to overshare and describe our bathroom events and this [...]
I have this really strongly worded post in my drafts folder regarding my current feelings on blogging and all of my insecurities that seem like they are highlighted by blogging. It continues to darken my drafts folder rather than my front page for several reasons, one of which being MY [...]
The doorbell rang just as I walked passed my glass front door. I thought to myself, “Damn, now I have to answer the door. They can see me.”
Gingerly I answered the door, wary that they were going to throw religious pamphlets my way. I never know how to politely decline [...]
I’m a person who feels most comfortable in the confines of schedules. Occasionally I can be sort of flexible with my scheduling. For example, we usually eat lunch between 12 and 12:30, bedtime is [...]
A few weeks ago I mentioned this recipe for Parmesan Pilaf from the Spring ‘09 issue of Schnucks Cooks! Sorry to leave you hanging.
Now go forth and gather your ingredients.
1 TB butter (Yes, BUTTER. NOT margarine, it’s too [...]
After all the hard work and fretting over selling all my baby items in a garage sale a few weeks ago, the sale itself was a colossal bust.
It was such a miserable failure, that we ended up having the garage sale AGAIN this past Saturday also.
Prior to the first [...]
Welcome again to Jennifer and Tate’s culinary journey down the International foods aisle. When we were last with our brave duo, they were traipsing through jolly old England and eating Spotted Dick. Luckily neither of our heroes perished and [...]
Tate and I recently have a very serious discussion.
“You’re not going to sell that breast pump in the garage sale, [...]
When I was back in Missouri visiting family, my mother-in-law fixed a dinner one night that was so delicious, that I made it at home that very same week.
When I was making the grocery list the next day, Tate [...]
When Tate and I imagined our family, when it was just the two of us, we always said we wanted two boys. I’m not exactly sure why Tate said that, maybe because I said that and he wanted [...]
“Mmm,” crunched Tate from the pantry. “This Cinnamon Life is delicious!” I could hear him munching on his nightly before bed snack.
“You HAVE had Cinnamon Life cereal before, right?” I asked, rhetorically, or so I thought.
“No,” he said, “I never had this cereal before.”
And I thought that he had such [...]
Ella’s 2nd birthday is this Saturday. For every birthday that my children have celebrated (3 for Carson, 1 for Ella), I’ve always made their birthday cake. Hours were devoted to planning the cake, baking a moist cake, tinting homemade buttercream icing, and meticulously decorating the cakes.
After 12 hours (a wee [...]
The man is standing at the side of the road, the one by the exit ramp a few miles from my house. He, or rather, some other man who appears to be in the same position, is always standing there.
He is holding a cardboard sign with the words “stranded/ hungry/ [...]
I know that looking a other’s vacations photos can be, well, almost as fun as mopping. Almost.
Getting close.
[...]
It’s expensive to travel, particularly out of the country. I want to experience foods from other cultures, so the International food aisle at my local grocery store will have to [...]
When Tate and I were dating, we were totally, disgustingly in love. Once at a restaurant while waiting for a table at the bar, we must have been gazing longingly at one another over our draft beers. A random guy walked up to us and said, “It’s pretty clear you [...]
I’ve been eating Lean Cuisine meals for the past several weeks for lunch in the hopes that eating fewer calories would lead to DRAMATIC WEIGHT LOSS! with MINIMAL EFFORT!
I affectionately referred to it as my Microwave Diet. (Sort of like [...]
The summer before 5th grade I got a haircut that, 14 year later, continues to haunt me. I’d always had long hair, but wanted it cut to look like an older girl on my swim team whom I thought was so cool. Older Swim Team Girl had an I’m-cooler-than-all-of-you attitude, [...]
Tate and I spend a lot (too much) time at dinner negotiating bite numbers with Carson.
“You have to take a least ONE bite before you may be excused.”
Luckily, Tate and I are ace negotiators.
Tate or me: “One bite, Carson.”
Carson: “No. THREE bites.”
Tate or me: “Deal! Three bites!”
Carson: “I didn’t say [...]
This one’s for you, Angie, on your wedding anniversary.
Today, I’ll be thinking about you and your inspirational, devoted, beautiful marriage to Brian.
Comments closed.
©2009 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.
. Share with others [...]Okay, so fine. This post has zilch to do with George Clooney, but George Clooney makes me smile, so I titled the post after him.
It’s better than the title, “I don’t get why people wait until 11:59 on April 15 to file their taxes,” which is actually what this post [...]
I’m not really sure what to say here.
I know that when someone’s beloved dies, saying “I’m sorry” is supposed to be the “right” thing to say, if there is really anything “right” that can be said.
The words “I’m sorry,” though, seem so tiny compared to the enormity of the emotions [...]
Welcome to the 600th post on Playgroups are no place for children! Back in the olden days of blogging, when you reached the 100th post milestone, it was expected that you would write 100 things about yourself. It only seems logical that now that I’ve reached the 600th post, I [...]
I was talking to Heather the other day on the phone when I pronounced myself finished with posting nonsensical junk on my blog. Only the best posts from now on, only the most thought-provoking, the best written! No more wasting my readers’ time with crap!
Well, I lied.
But see, here’s [...]
[...]
