Notice anything? I mean besides cutie-pie Lanie Ward reading Elisabeth a book. Maybe you also notice Nate photo-bombing in the background. And the snazzy-dressed City Centre crowd strolling past to their fancy lunch. Maybe if you looked longer and harder, you’d also see the Ward and Hergenrader girls are really sitting on AstroTurf, not actual grass....Continue Reading

Dear Lord, Give me a heart so peaceful, I can look at this picture and not cringe. Help me not to see the wrinkles on my forehead, the fine lines around my eyes, the dark roots, desperate for some highlights. Let me look past the poor photography skills that make my kids’ heads look like they’re...Continue Reading

Our kids are at the age where they’re starting to understand relationships. Yesterday Catie pulled me aside and confidentially explained to me about my moods. She said,“just so you know, when you’re in a bad mood, we notice. Sometimes we don’t even want to be around you.” I explained that was kind of the point of a...Continue Reading

Sam and Elisabeth are back in the same class this year. This means they’re spending every minute of every day together. They are bonded together like super glue. With one glance across the dinner table, they can dissolve each other into giggles. They cry when the other gets in trouble. Like an old married couple,...Continue Reading

School starts in two weeks. This summer has been our family’s first Big Kid Summer. Last year, Nate was still in diapers and a stroller, which limited what we could do in a day. But this summer, the kids are older and more independent. They play Star Wars in the playroom for hours. Catie can...Continue Reading

Behind every five-year-old in America is a mom struggling with the question of whether or not her kid should repeat Kindergarten. Five minutes into a conversation with another parent of my generation and we will talk about this topic. Chances are this other mom’s child will have repeated Kindergarten and she will claim it as...Continue Reading