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.”
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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. [...]
