When my older son was asked to submit an application for a school leadership award of some sort, he shared with me a few of his essay answers. I’m usually a pretty critical editor, but I was so moved by what he wrote, I couldn’t change a thing. For fun, I’ll share one of his…
Category: family
A Quick Adventure
A last-minute weekend road trip to Chicago brought an opportunity to work on a few pano photos. Above: Cardinals vs. Cubs. And I’m happy to report that St. Louisans saw a winner! I’m happier to report that we witnessed Yadi smack one out and heard “Yadi! Yadi! Yadi!” chanted throughout Wrigley Field by the Cardinal invasion. It…
A Long List
These came home with me today from a local candy store. Gifts for my boys. There are so many things that I love about my boys, but the fact that they still love toys ranks right up there at the top. Even Batman Uglydolls. (I found these while searching for Hello Kitty Uglydolls. Go figure.)…
Holiday at the Zoo
Couldn’t think of a better place to celebrate our country’s independence than at our country’s best zoo. Yes. I am biased. So my sons and nephew piled into the car bright and early to head to Forest Park. A safari pass got us unlimited time on the train and carousel! We also met a few…
Cousins
A walk through the woods with Tanner and my nephew. I think my nephew kinda likes my boy. Just a hunch.
Near or Far: Some Thoughts on Prayer
Click on photo for source. As the past few years – particularly the past few months – have brought about challenges for my family that I never could have anticipated or even fathomed, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and talking to God. Not in anger (if you subscribe to the psych 101…
San Antonio
I’ve been out of touch for a few days due to a work trip to San Antonio that brought a few adventures for me and the boys. Memphis threw a wrench into our plans to see a playoff game while in town when they got themselves swept, but it didn’t stop us from visiting the…
It was a very good day…
A leisurely day spent with my boys is always a very good day. We wandered around the City Garden for a while… …and bonded with the sculptures. For the boys, this meant hugging, high-fiving and spooning. Plus a little bit of planking and mocking for good measure. We took in ice cream at this classic…
Last Stop: Smiles
On a whim, I took mom to the Seeds of Happiness studio on the last stop of our Day-cation. Made right here in Kirkwood, it’s one of my favorite things. So it was fun to get to show it to mom. The folks were so sweet and gave us a tour and told us the…
Happiness is Like a Butterfly…
…the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder. (Thoreau) Or, if I may amend, on the flower above your head. Or on your pants leg. There was lots of butterfly happiness happening yesterday when…
Road trip
Best part of a too-short weekend: my folks spending the better part of seven hours in the car to go see my photos hanging in our new hospital over in Illinois. Fortunately, the hospital wouldn’t become operational until the next day, so we were able to do a look-through on every floor and see every…
Road Trip
First road trip of 2013 is in the books! Oklahoma City and back…in two days. We got to see our favorite ballers up close. And I mean really close. Above were our actual seats, but during the pre-game warmup, an unbelievably obliging customer service woman arranged for the kids to sit in the owner’s seats…shown…
Christmas (according to the iphone)
Our work with a local charitable organization came full circle on Christmas Eve when we went out with a volunteer Santa to deliver gifts to a number of families. During the afternoon, we went to a housing complex for (as I understand it) folks (moms) with HIV. I lost count, but we visited at least…
Thank you
Today the boys and I were part of the wonderful world of Santa’s Elfdome. Translation: we helped wrap packages for a program here in town that provides Christmas gifts to families who would otherwise not have much of a holiday. Not only do kids and their parents receive gifts, they are handed their gifts from…
A very good year
– Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published for the first time. – Grover Cleveland replaced Chester Arthur as President of the United States. – The first issue of Good Housekeeping went on sale. – Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bill. – Bicycle playing cards were introduced. What do these events have in common? 1885….
Go! St. Louis Halloween 10k Run
Lookie how my morning started! My very first 10k race! Pictured above are my new running buddies sporting their BUTTerfly wings. Yes, we absolutely had as much fun as this would indicate. Some people really took the costume contest seriously. But the fisherman and fish combo was my fave. These were attached, mind you. Talk…
Neutral on the Sidelines
My kids + opposing college tennis teams + weekend tennis tournament = a first for this mom. I’ve never seen my guys representing different mascots or flying opposing school colors — let alone having their teams play against each other. Their paths crossed once or twice in individual play when they were younger, but in team…
A good day
Lots of rain…US Open on the television…both of my kids home for the long weekend…made-from-scratch muffins in my kids’ flavors of choice…that’s our Saturday. Apparently I’m not the only one enjoying having our little family in tact. Our cats have not left Tanner alone since he walked in the door. He’s only been away for…
Move-in Day
An unexpected garden in the middle of campus… Right next to the parking lot, an immediate greeting from my favorite lilies in the world… And my baby making his way to his new digs… Just a few scenes from today’s big move. Wish I had something profound to say, but it’s been a long day…and…
Well…
…it’s official: life is about to become really different. I have two college students and we’re moving one tomorrow. I’m nervous, excited, a little sad, and so very proud.
Past…Present…Future
After spending part of the afternoon catching up with a long-time colleague and friend (one of her sweet kitties pictured above), I came home and noticed a letter addressed to my younger son in our pile of mail. His elementary school was scrawled as the return address in the obvious penmanship of a child. I…
It’s been fun, but…
I’ve decided that, as much as I love this view, it’s hard to enjoy it fully by myself. Home is where my family is…and I miss them.
We love a parade…
To mark today’s holiday, the kids and I headed to a parade in a nearby community. It was like visiting Mayberry…right down to the white picket fences and cute families lining the streets. Little kids waved their flags and scoured the curbside for candy tossed from floats. The parade was appropriately patriotic (so good to…
Color Me Happy!
We did it! We ran our first 5k! The Color Run lived up to its self-proclaimed distinction of being “The Happiest 5k on the Planet.” We saw runners in tutus, togas, and clown wigs…runners of every age, size, and fitness level. And everyone was happy to be there to share in this funky experience. The…
hey there, friends 