Yesterday we took the kids to the SoCal Color Run.  We heard about it from Tara Livesay, who was in town for a visit and ran it with a few friends.  We were too late to buy tickets, but after watching the video we decided it might be fun to be spectators.  Well . . . it was.  A lot of fun.  There was a “color party” at the finish line with a DJ and hundreds of people dancing and throwing color at each other.  We bought several color packets and let the kids have at . . .

A couple Saturdays ago, Mark took the boys to get the car washed and came home with a giant canoe strapped to the top.  Apparently he’d been perusing Craigslist for a canoe and found one really close to the house, and made an impulse buy fueled by the presence of two cheering boys.  I have to admit: I was more than a little annoyed.  In part, that he bought it without consulting me, but in part because IT IS HUGE and we have no where to store it.  To me, the canoe was just a . . .

There are a few parenting moments that I’ve been hoping and dreaming about since before I even had kids.  One of them was reading through the Little House Series series with a daughter.  I loved these books as a kid, and couldn’t wait for my kids to be old enough to read it to them.  Well, that day has finally come.  Mark bought the series recently and we decided the kids were ready.  I didn’t know how the boys would respond, since my children are basically little . . .

The other day I found a curious sealed envelope on Jafta’s dresser.   I started opening it and he grabbed it out of my hand and threw it in the trash.  He seemed embarrassed.  So, like any nosey concerned mother, I fished it out of the trashcan when he wasn’t looking.  This is what I found: Oh snap.  IT STARTS.  I’ve got my eye on that Sumantha and her pretty brown har. Meanwhile, I happened upon India writing sentences with her Banagrams, and this is what . . .

We’re dealing with a bit of a predicament right now . . . we’re trying to decide how to respond as parents when one of our kids is in trouble at school.  One child, who shall remain nameless though I’m sure it will be obvious who, is a bit of a class clown.  On occasion, his teacher will pull me aside at pickup to let me know when he’s had a particularly bad day.  This usually involves him being too loud, laughing obnoxiously, being silly for laughs, and other various forms of . . .

I’m not really a “handmade card” kind of mom.  I think it’s lovely that other moms are, but at this stage in our family there is usually just not enough time in the day for me to indulge in my creative side . . . beyond staring at the things other people are doing on Pinterest.  With Valentine’s Day approaching, though, I did decide to make some homemade cards, inspired in part by cards like this one.  But, if I’m to be totally honest, it was also inspired by my desire to not have . . .

I sold my double stroller on Craig’s List over the weekend. It’s hard to explain the freedom I feel about this particular milestone.  It’s been a long time coming – I’ve kept it around for the occasion big outing but finally I decided it was time for us to part ways.  I’ve been schlepping a double stroller around for six years now –six years of pulling that monster in and out of my trunk.  Six years of not fitting through doorways . . . of strategizing stairwells . . . of . . .