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Magnum Opus
“Are you awake, Charlotte?” he said softly. “Yes,” came the answer. “What is that nifty little thing? Did you make it?” “I did indeed,” replied Charlotte in a weak voice. “Is it a plaything?”...
View ArticleSaving up for the tooth fairy
I don’t know where he got the idea, but as of this morning, my seven year old son now has three teeth saved up for the tooth fairy, in hopes of getting a bigger prize. I am quite clueless on the tooth...
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What about Mom?
A big misconception I hear about homeschooling is,”What about your time for yourself?” People seem to think that I require all this time alone, or time to shop, or time to visit with friends, or get...
View ArticleLetters as Colors?
I just made an astonishing discovery. My seven year old son sees letters as colors. As we sat at the table finishing lunch just in this past hour, my daughter said, “Amy is a special name.” “Why is...
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Father’s Day Tribute
Why we love Dad. He is very smart and he’s building a house for us. He is very nice for taking us special places and doing special things with us. He plays games with us and teaches us about life. He...
View ArticleToo Many Choices?
Can too many choices paralyze the modern parent? And her children? Decide for yourself – here’s an interesting article at The Parenting Post. Author Barry Schwartz, in his book, The Paradox of Choice:...
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Project Generation Connections
Do you sense a disconnect between generations? This report is one of many which shows a detachment of today’s young people to their heritage and history. Many factors could be at work, including the...
View ArticleYou Know Your Mother Has Alzheimer’s When
She takes the dirty clothes you’ve just loaded into the washing machine, and left momentarily, but long enough for her to come along, and transfers them to the dryer, never minding that they are bone...
View ArticleAll in a Day’s Mothering
As the saying goes, out of the mouths of babes…here’s some bits of conversation heard around here today. JoJo: Mommy, JJ called me a Blabber Face! JJ: No, Blabber Mouth! ********************** Upon...
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Cooking With Kids: Tips and Tricks
“Mommy, can I help you?” is the phrase most often heard in my kitchen. Moms around the world know that a kid in the kitchen means the meal will take about three times the usual prep! Well, at least...
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Winter Fun
My husband and I took our kids and a few of the cousins ice skating on Christmas Eve. We survived with only a few bumps and bruises, remarkable considering that between just the two of us, we managed...
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Thursday Thirteen: In My Purse
Can you tell a lot about a girl by what’s in her purse? I don’t know, but here are thirteen things currently in my purse. I’ll pull them out in random order, and let’s see what will be revealed about...
View ArticleA Peanut Butter Tale
“Can I have anuvver peanut butter san’wich, Mom?” I look and see the half-eaten sandwich on his plate, the fourth one today. “But,” I protest, “you haven’t eaten all of that one!” His wide sky-blue...
View ArticleI Really Like Homeschooling, I Just Want Someone Else to Do It For Me
There are days, there are seasons to be sure, when a homeschooling parent has a tough spell. After spending a week investigating a local fine arts charter school, a private Christian school, and...
View ArticleDisturbing images to stop the whining?
Am I just a twisted mother to do such a thing? My son had been whiiinnnning all morning about doing his math. With no apologies, I told him he simply must learn how to do subtraction with renaming....
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A Fast from Asking
I told my kids that we are going on a two day fast from asking for things. I saw over at Heather’s that her family was fasting from complaining, and I knew I needed to steal her idea. I am worn down to...
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Field of Dreams
“Is this heaven?” “No. Oregon Iowa.” If you’ve ever seen the movie Field of Dreams, you’ll recognize that dialogue between John Kinsella and his son Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner). And, of course, it was...
View ArticleFive Year Old’s Solution to Hell
Aloha, it’s Friday! My fun question for you today is this: Has your child – or do you remember your own from childhood – ever come up with any funny conceptions of God, Heaven, or Hell? Here is my...
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Gardening With Children
We’ve been spending some time in the dirt getting the soil ready to start a garden. And no surprise, children are drawn to dirt like nothing else! You mean you want me to dig holes? I’m allowed to get...
View ArticleWhen Your 6-year-old Makes You Cry
She tried to hide the card under my pillow last night, but Dad shooed her off to bed, not knowing her mission. This morning she was grumpy-sad because her big brother had taken the card from its...
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How can I possibly have a child old enough to ride a motorcycle?
When did his scooter sprout a motor? When did those endearing “vroom-vroom” noises of my baby begin to emit from a big, scary machine and not his pouty little lips? As every parent knows, and as every...
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Breakfast al fresco
It’s that time of year; I’ll have syrup and sunshine on my pancakes, please. Wordless Wednesday. Technorati Tags: breakfast al fresco, outdoors, children
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Magnum Opus: Happy Mother’s Day
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, all you moms, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, god-mothers, and lovers of little ones!! My husband captured this sweet moment with my littlest a few weeks ago. For Mother’s Day,...
View ArticleFor the Fatherless on Father’s Day
I am fatherless. On Father’s Day, I celebrate my husband as father of our children. But I’m still reminded that I am fatherless. You say God is my father. I’ve heard many, many sermons about how even...
View ArticleRevisiting Father’s Day
I was commenting today over at Tipper’s blog, Blind Pig & the Acorn, on her Father’s Day post, and I’m reposting my comment right here, because it’s a good follow up to my previous post. Tipper...
View ArticleIt’s all in the glasses.
“Your students would really like you, Mom.” My almost 9-year-old son was speaking in a serious voice, knowingly pointing to his head. I was a classroom teacher before I had all these kids, and I was...
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Frugal Field Trips
Local field trips for children are lurking around every corner, even in some everyday places if you recognize the opportunity. Every town will have its own unique chances for family excursions, but...
View ArticleThe Anniversary
Two days after our wedding anniversary this year, my husband says to me, “Honey!! We forgot it! Again.” An even dozen deserves to be remembered. But we both are wise enough to know that the act of...
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Sleepover with an 84 year old friend
“Jane is spending the night,” I announced to my kids yesterday. From the wild whoops of joy that followed and the “happy dance” of my five year old, no one would guess that Jane was not a favorite...
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Text Messaging: Concerns for the Adolescent
I’ve been thinking about text messaging and whether parents are concerned about their child’s use of this social media. My own children are too young for this and don’t have cell phones; however, as a...
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Simple Woman: November 24
For Today...Monday, November 24, 2008 Outside my window…the dark of early morning, but day will break within the hour. I see the bold outline of Juniper trees against the rising sky which now displays...
View ArticleI think he’s in love with me!
I sat holding my four year old son last night, cherishing the moments that are so fleeting. He began a long and lovely conversation with me that went something like this: Mommy, you are beautiful! Your...
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Cole Family Christmas: A Treasured Tale
“Do the flying Hilda!” JJ shrieked in delight to her brother as he hung over the balcony, swinging a little plush goat. With four young children in the house, nothing surprises me anymore, not even a...
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Swimming in April?
I thought I was celebrating spring, not summer. But I have brave kids. Central Oregon, April 5, 4:00 p.m., 66 degrees. I’m wearing a sweater. But blue sky, bright sun, and no wind all make for swimming...
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She’s a Biologist
“Mommy, can I cut the lizard open?” JJ questioned very matter-of-factly. She had just come in from checking on her latest lizard, a big fat one she was sure was pregnant with dozens of eggs. She had...
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Boy’s eye view of science
My favorite photo from last week is my 10 year old son putting together his “Snap Circuit Set.” He needs a more advanced electricity kit because he does this one by heart and so fast it would make...
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Dang, the kid can color!
I’m not one to pay much attention to developmental milestones in my children. But my five year old boy gives new meaning to “color inside the lines.” Here is what he accomplished last week, all in one...
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Merry Christmas from Diary of 1
Christmas Eve day. What a day of bustling, cheery, frantic activity for us. We’ve been sweeping the dropped needles, clearing out every dust bunny we can unearth, fine-tuning the best pie crust recipe...
View ArticleCorncob Dolls and Christmas Coming
It wasn’t Susan’s fault that she was only a corncob. Sometimes Mary let Laura hold Nettie, but she did it only when Susan couldn’t see. Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods I caught my...
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In the Garden with Children
{Parts of this post were previously published here at Diary of 1 on April 6, 2008.} Planning, planting, nurturing, enjoying the beauty and the bounty~there are so many facets to a child’s gardening...
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The Toothpaste Story
I hastily wiped my dripping hands on the red flowered towel hanging askew from the oven door and answered the commanding ring of the phone. “Hi, this is Jasmine, can I talk to Jaime?” trilled the...
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Sister Love, Brother Bear
“If my hair and face and shoes were like yours, then we’d be exactly alike!” Josie’s words gaily skipped across the once bumpy space between her and Jaime, flooding my senses with gratitude at this...
View ArticleBeware the secondhand stress!
“Beware the secondhand stress!” Practicing patience today with my children. I grew up inhaling secondhand smoke every single day thanks to my dad, and I’m terrified I’ll die of lung cancer, but maybe...
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To honor when it isn’t fair
Our paths connected through our children and so I didn’t expect to be sitting there talking about our mothers. Kelly is one of those rare, faithful confidantes who is an exceptional blessing to know,...
View ArticleWhen you have to grow up with your kids
She is asking for her first bra; his feet just outgrew mine–they are working hard at the job of growing up, and I’d better grow too, because right now I can barely handle this change. When I unpacked...
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Last week of May in pictures
Because don’t all little boys read comic books dressed up in motorcycle clothes? (Waiting his turn to ride.) It was a full week, that last bit of May here in the country. Someday life won’t be so...
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The Amazing Lemon Meringue Pie Time Machine
There was Nancy, eating lemon meringue pie in Amsterdam. She messaged me, that’s how I knew, and she’d made it from scratch just like our mom used to do when we were children, and Nancy, too, when she...
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Mother, did you know?
I was blessed to spend Christmas Day with some wonderful and rare women, all mothers to me in one way or another. We talk about Mary on Christmas Day because of her special motherhood. I think on...
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