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We have a brand-new 9-year-old in the house! I can’t believe Leo is 9. It really is astounding. And yet when I look at him, I can see how mature he is in so many ways. I wonder whether I will love 9 as much as I have loved 2,

Christmas is coming, and unless you managed to find all your gifts on the 70-percent-off rack after Halloween, you might still have some shopping to do. I only found presents for two of my nieces in the Halloween clearance piles, so I will be shopping, too.But we have just had

I think we were supposed to argue politics at Thanksgiving dinner, but the only dicey moment was when people disagreed on the benefits of butter.I’m staying out of that one.Earlier in the day, Daniel asked me, “How does Grandpa carve the turkey? Does he carve it out of a pumpkin?”I

We lost our Internet access at home on Friday, and I couldn’t post my quick takes. I imagine you have found a few other things to read instead, but I don’t feel a week is complete without quick takes, so here we go!

All my wrapping is done—well, not for Christmas, but for the birthday party we are throwing for Daniel tomorrow. He turns 7 on Sunday, and he really wanted a party this year. I love parties too, but I didn’t think I could pull it off at home this year, so

So I like throwing birthday parties at home. I really do. I like planning games and decorating and making themed food and all the rest. But a birthday two weeks before Christmas brings an extra challenge. So this year we had Daniel’s party at a kung fu place, and the

Our Christmas tree is up! I can’t believe it. I thought this might be the year for a Christmas Eve tree-decorating event, but the tree is in place, the stockings are hung, and we are done. I’m not sure whether I have all the gifts I need, but some of

Happy sixth day of Christmas! One of my friends and fellow bloggers asked the other day how people celebrate the 12 days of Christmas in their homes. Since all four of us are off from work and school until the New Year, and since we invariably have cousins by the

With snow in the forecast last night, our first grader came home from school determined to ensure a decent snowstorm—and a day off of school. He insisted on putting ice cubes in the toilet, wearing his pajamas backwards, and sleeping with a spoon under his pillow.It was all in good

Having a mouse in the house is cramping my blogging style. I usually sit up late at night writing, but I can’t seem to focus due to my inordinate fear of mice. I wrote the blog about the mouse—or, I should say the mouse wrote his blog—typing into my phone

If you’re looking for an update on the mouse in our house, here’s the latest.We surrender. We’re just going to let him roam free. I don’t know how well this is going to work, but we don’t have the stamina to keep trying to catch him. The sticky traps have

I celebrated my half-birthday this week. When I say I celebrated, I mean that it was, in fact, my half-birthday, not that there was a party of any sort. We rode in an elevator, which is sort of like a party for us.One of my boys gave me two half-hugs,