As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, I am a fan of epidurals. But by my fifth baby I thought, I’d really like to know what if feels like to have a baby without pain medication. I would like to be able to say definitively which is better.… Read More

I’ve been browsing a bit on etsy lately.  It’s very addictive and I can find all sorts of non-useful things that I really must have.  Some favorites: This monogrammed Queen Bee canvas: This cake platter is perfect for me; I love cakes, I love flowers, I love mosaics. I wonder if I could make something […]

On Sunday it Mother’s Day which can be a good day or not so good day, depending on your situation. If you have a child on a Mormon (LDS) mission, though, it’s one of the best days ever. When a child is on a mission, you get to talk to them… Read More

I can’t quite seem to get the Christmas decorations out, but I don’t want to deprive my children of their holiday fun, so we broke out the gingerbread house kits over the weekend. I have too many children to decorate a single house without a war ensuing, so we usually get two gingerbread houses and […]

Has everybody heard about Stephanie and Christian?  Stephanie Nielson (Nie Nie) is a beautiful mom of four who has been an avid blogger. (Her beautiful life featured on her blog will just break your heart.)  She and her husband were in a terrible small-plane crash in Arizona a week and a half ago.  The pilot died, […]

Unless you’re seven years old with rosy, glowing skin and no blemishes and wrinkles, then you need to exfoliate. There are few things that will make a bigger difference in how nice your makeup looks than getting rid of the dead skin on your face. Foundation and powder tend to… Read More

Picking strawberries in an annual tradition in our family. It’s one of my favorite things to do not only because it makes me feel like a farmer, but I just flat out love strawberries. There’s a u-pick farm near Austin that we go to every Spring. Well, “near” meaning an… Read More

Today I am going to tell you about my favorite Christmas book. I’ve blogged about it before but then it went out of print and the world became a sadder place. But I noticed that it’s back in print! Yipee! (Softcover only, though. Sigh.) It’s so worth adding to your collection. It’s called A Small […]

The day of our departure from England, we headed out for St. Pancras station to take the Eurostar train to Paris. The station was close enough to walk to, even with our suitcases dragging along. St. Pancras is the station where Harry Potter was filmed, even though it says in the movie that they’re at Kings […]

I have a real love-hate relationship with cleaning ladies. On one hand I love them because who wants to clean their own house? (Hint: not me.)  On the other hand, it’s expensive and what kind of lazy bones can’t clean her own house? What am I so busy doing that I can’t scrub it myself? […]

As I mentioned before, I am completely unfamiliar with California. I mean, I’ve seen it in movies and in a jillion pictures, but ultimately I was left to plan our entire trip based on Google Maps and some websites. Everyone has raved about driving up the coast of California. It’s… Read More

Helloooo? Anybody out there? Anybody still getting some extra pantry items? Well, you should be. And this week you should be getting flour. In less you have some sort of gluten-intolerance (in which case, SORRY! That sucks for you), flour/bread/cookies/cereal are a big part of your life, I’m guessing. Now imagine your life without these […]

I know, I know, we already did water. Twice. But you guys need to understand how important this is! Especially in this hot weather. You simply cannot have too much water. Don’t put this off. Get at least one flat (a flat is one of those big old packs with a couple dozen 20 oz. […]

UPDATE of yesterday’s post: The worst thing about being sick is not not being able to taste your food. It’s having children. Children who need things. Which is all children, especially mine. I can say, “you’re three now, Jasper, make your own Eggo!”, but we all know that isn’t about to happen. As much as […]