He asked me, “Mama, are there a lot of cranes in Ukraine?”

He was trying to avoid my camera while chopping ice in the driveway, but hiding behind the pickup truck didn’t work because I got him anyway.  Bwah ha ha ha!  

Mmmmmmmmm.  Yum.  That is all.

The firstborn has been surpassed in height by the second kidlet.  Of course, I always knew that was going to happen, but for some reason I didn’t realize it was happening NOW!  It’s a bit of a weird feeling.  Strangers will no longer be able to intuitively gauge their birth order…

I haven’t been able to read nearly as much as I would like over the past few months, but here are some recent favorites: Grown Up Books Where Did you Go Bernadette by Maria Semple.  I absolutely loved this book.  It would be included on my list of most favorite and…

It’s been quiet here, because we’ve had a doozy of a time these last few weeks.  For example, last week while I was at choir rehearsal, my van was vandalized in the parking lot.  The Bad Guy broke the driver’s side door window, and of course the weather was headed…

OK, so I might be two full weeks behind, but here are some pictures from our Christmas Day sledding extravaganza.  

Big Cousin is helping Little Cousin make a bracelet.  The little cousin is wearing hand-me-down pajamas that, a decade ago, were the big cousin’s prize for successful potty training.  She and I both have vivid memories of making a special trip to Wausau, Wisconsin, to pick those pajamas out at…

Everyone was extraordinarily excited to meet Baby Elizabeth for the first time at Christmas .  The house was crazy, very crazy, but at the last minute I did manage to sneak away and snap just a few photographs before she was strapped into her carseat for the long journey back home.…