In the past year the kids have been more willing to eat the food Steven and I cook for ourselves, but it’s still a 50-50 shot. This evening we went simple with some chicken thighs. “Hmmm,” Sam mused while poking at his chicken, “You know, I don’t like this chicken very much. I like it […]
Category Archives: family
access denied; an end-user’s lament
In the Harry Potter books there is a potion called Amortentia. A complicated potion, it smells different to each individual according to what attracts them. Were I to magically be transported to Hogwarts and come upon Amortentia, I always imagine it would smell like Steven after he’s mowed the lawn, old books, and the computer […]
stuck in a rut
Our little town of Chelsea has grown over the 11 years (11 years!!!) we’ve lived here. In 2006, there were some 4,000 people — now it’s a bustling town of some 11,000 residents. Sometimes, it seems all 11,000 people are on County Road 47 at the same time. For the past few years, Chelsea has […]
cleaning out the cobwebs (it’s so nasty!)
About a year or so ago I noticed that a lot of pictures from some of my older posts were no longer displaying linked pictures. These images were hosted on my Flickr photo site, which has become a bit of a dinosaur. Unfortunately, at the time I could not see an easy fix, so I […]
nine year old taco
Wow. I didn’t think nine would be a big change, but oh lordy. Look at this girl. Look at her! Now compare her with last year: Wow. Wow. Wow. I’m not sure what has changed more — her hair or her teeth. The hair change happened in January when Lydia decided to go for a […]
sputnik; 84 months in orbit
Wow, 84 months in orbit! That’s seven Earth years! Just before his seventh birthday, Sam finished up first grade, so he is now officially a second grader. First grade was Sam’s first year of real, bonafide school work and he did really well with it. The first few weeks were a bit of a struggle […]
changing of the guard
I don’t think our family means to do this, but we tend to buy cars in clusters. In the space of about four weeks in 2004, my brother-in-law got a new Vibe, my parents got the Saturn L300, my in-laws got a Honda CR-V, and we got our Elliott. I swear none of this was […]
i have a kaiju problem
I’m not sure if Sam just lucked out by having naturally nerdy parents, or if he gets obsessed with nerdy things because of his nerdy parents. Either way, he is one lucky dude. His preoccupations become the entire family’s preoccupations — I hunt for toys and books for him, Steven finds movie soundtracks and pertinent […]
not helping
After a long day of teaching, running errands, and fighting traffic I am glad to be home this evening. Sam warmly greets me with a verbal waterfall filled with tales of Minecraft, playing outside for hours and hours and hours, what he had for lunch, and how much he missed me. “. . . and […]
kitchen complaints, episode seven
Tonight we were scrounging for something to cook, so we ended up having breakfast for dinner. We scored major Parent Brownie Points with this move. Sam, while eating pankcakes: “I’m the luckiest kid in the universe!” Lydia, doubtfully: “Why?” Sam: “I had a regular dinner and a breakfast dinner!*” Lydia: “Well, I had breakfast and […]