Last year for Christmas, the boys received a singing, dancing Irish Santa. They loved it at once, but Patrick and I were unsure about the beer in Santa’s hand. Did an imbibing Santa send an inappropriate message to the boys? For a year we worried and discussed… should Santa find a new home? Could I…
“Mommy,” a little voice says, “is today a special day?” “Yes, Connor. It’s Daddy’s birthday.” “Are we doing anything special today, Mommy,” he asks in an I have something in mind sort of way. “No, I don’t think so, Connor.” With that, a little head leans toward my ear and begins to whisper. “Mommy,…
We woke this morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground and rain pattering on the roof. The radio reported a mixture of snow, ice, and rain for the remainder of the day and a host of school closings. Upon hearing this, Connor, our 7-year-old, looks at me and sleepily asks, “Are you…
A new school year that is. Today we celebrated the start of the new homeschool year with a trip to the Butterfly Pavilion at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Our science curriculum for this year begins with a unit on butterflies. As we have yet to see any butterflies, aside from…
Our future engineer – or maybe, architect – hard at work In one day we managed to accomplish something that took thousands of Ancient Egyptians twenty years to do: we built a pyramid… actually two! Of course, our pyramids were not 200-foot tall structures built with 4,000 pound stone bricks, but six-inch high sugar cube…
Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is a Thanksgiving morning tradition in our home. This year’s parade provided more than colorful floats, melodic bands, and giant balloons, it provided comic relief: During a commercial break, Patrick and the kids were telling me about the Smurf float in the parade. Now as a child of the 80s,…