On Decorations: For the second year running, Baby-Girl has taken it upon herself to decorate our bed. Last year, she noticed several rolls of ribbon I once used with garlands on a front porch we had in Chicago. I’ve yet to find a great spot for them since we moved to the beach, so when […]
Parenting
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Starting the Christmas Season in Chicago: Tossing Our Cookies, Cab Style
For the first part of this story, see Starting the Christmas Season in Chicago. As we headed out from our hotel, it was overcast and a light rain had descended on Chicago. Traffic was heavy; half the city, it seemed, was headed out with us. LCB sat in the front and struck up a bit […]
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Starting the Christmas Season in Chicago
For the third year in a row, we’ve spent the week of Thanksgiving in the Midwest, dividing our time between family and the city of Chicago. We never set out to start a tradition here; it’s just the way it’s worked out for us so far. We even tried spending Christmas in Chicago one year, […]
- Island Life
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Storybook Beach Days
One afternoon last week, we picked the kids up after school and headed to the beach for our last after-school stop before the time change. (This time of year, that hour of afternoon light makes a noticeable difference.) I’d planned this a couple of days earlier, and I’d packed snacks and beach gear in advance, […]
Hundreds of Facts About Boys
This morning, I found an informative piece of literature on…ahem…a random desk somewhere near me. I’m not going to identify the author of the piece, because technically, it could be anyone. Clearly, however, it’s penned by someone who lives in close proximity to boys, by someone who knows their “natural habitats,†“how neat they keep […]
Apparel Mishaps
Five years ago, I shared the story of how my two sons wore each other’s ill-fitting khaki shorts to a church we were visiting without my realizing it until mid-service. I’ve decided to repost the story solely because of events that occurred earlier today. See, as we drove home from school this afternoon, I realized […]