I’m excited to partner with Great Wolf Lodge for this post. All opinions are my own. Remember when birthday parties were simple affairs? A handful of friends. Streamers and balloons. A bowl of chips and some juice. A few games. A cake, still in the pan, smeared with frosting. The whole thing probably cost less than […]
Five Simple and FREE Birthday Traditions to Start This Year
I survived another birthday season! Our kids were all born within a few weeks of each other (well, not all in the same year obviously), so springtime can be a busy and stressful time for me. I love to make my kids’ birthdays special, but I also like to keep things simple. Sometimes, by the time […]
To Annelise, on Your Third Birthday
Dear Annelise, I was recently reminded of a poem that, other than the bit about curly hair, fits you to a T. “There was a little girl, Who had a little curl, Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, She was very good indeed, But when she was bad she […]
To Eli, on your 7th Birthday
Dear Eli, Back in January we spent a bitterly cold afternoon visiting Daddy while he worked on a construction project. We slid around on the ice-covered ground for a while, then hopped into his truck and cranked the heat in order to regain feeling in our fingers and toes. As we slowly warmed up, your […]
To Samuel, On Your Fifth Birthday
Dear Samuel, This has been a year of transition for you. Last summer I was pretty nervous about how things would go when you started preschool in the fall. You’d done a lot of growing during ‘Mommy School’ and then the fun school you spent an hour at a couple of times each week, but […]
33 Things About Me on My 33rd Birthday
Today I’m celebrating my 33rd birthday. My day will probably include a few well-wishing phone calls, wiping some poopy butts, making three different lunches to suit the desires of three different kids, not having to make dinner because I use any excuse I can not to cook, and an evening spent watching DVR’d shows. I […]
Week 47: This Guy I Know
There’s this guy I know. He was born 10 minutes after his brother and I’m pretty sure they were mischief-makers from that moment forward. This Guy I Know In school, they would wait until the teacher left the room, then climb up on a chair and set the clock ahead so she would let them […]
Week 35: To Eli and Samuel on Their 6 1/3 and 4 1/3 Birthdays
If you’re just joining me for the Keeping It Real Challenge, please click here to find out what it’s all about. We took the kids to Build-a-Bear this week. We were four months late. See, the kids’ birthdays all fall very close together in April and May. When I plan birthday parties I’m somewhere in […]
Balloons for Nicholas
On Tuesday morning I asked the question: What can I do? I’ve been following the journey of the Sauer family as their son, Ben, battled a brain tumor. His time on Earth ended last week and it left me wondering how I could honor him and his family. I knew I couldn’t necessarily do anything […]
To Annelise, on your second birthday
You are the perfect blend of girly girl and tomboy