I am not a believer in luck. I mean, lucky things happen. But I don’t believe in it as a “force” exactly. But I do believe in the Magic Circle.  I have a Magic Circle. I was having lunch with some friends today and we started discussing what exactly the… Read More

After what must be 3 billion class Valentine’s Day parties, my days of doing kid’s valentines are over. Jasper is in fifth grade and we made our very last valentine box. While this doesn’t make me even slightly sad this year, I bet I’ll feel a little melancholy about it next… Read More

I spent several months on the Paleo bandwagon and I just decided that it’s not the way I want to feed my family. While many people have an intolerance to gluten, we don’t. I also strongly feel that wheat and grains are an important and wholesome part of our diet. (You may not agree, but […]

Today my second-born child, York, turns 20. I am down to having only two teenagers again. York has been getting his butt kicked down in Brazil (metaphorically speaking!) and learning piles of humility and patience. Hoo boy, has he needed that! Of course, York is still York and he told… Read More Before you start reading, […]

It’s time to get started with the grand kick-off of the 2014 Get Prepared-a-thon! In case you’re new to my blog, here’s what’s going on: as a Mormon I have been raised with the idea that I Must Be Prepared. For what, I’m not sure. But since most bad things… Read More

It’s been a couple of years since I first started doing my nails with gel nail polish (not to be confused with UV gel overlays which are not very common anymore. I’m talking about systems like Gelish, Shellac, OPI Axxium, etc.). I get asked the same questions again and again… Read More

I may have mentioned one or two hundred times that I am lazy and a procrastinator (granted I have six children and like to make food from scratch, so my amount of laziness is not exactly rock-bottom, but I do have a real fondness for sitting around and wasting time.) I have always been this […]

The babies have swimming lessons at the public pool for the next couple of weeks.  Their lesson overlaps with the opening of the pool at 10 am.  Today I was surprised to notice the large number of people standing at the gate waiting for the pool to open.  Moms with little kids!  Who does bathing […]

Y’all know how much I love snacks, right? A lot. A super lot. I would much rather eat snacks all day than have a meal. Even a really delicious meal. Are you like that too or is it just me? Far and away my favorite place to by snacks is… Read More

I originally wrote this series of blog posts as a “look what we did” sort of thing. But I keep having people ask questions about our trip because they’ll be doing something similar and want some advice. So I’ve decided to make these posts heavy on details. I know most… Read More

Once your kids start leaving for college, you do go broke, but there are pluses as well. Namely an extra bedroom yearning to become a craft room slash sewing room slash art studio (depending on my mood). The recently-vacated bedroom in my house is located right next to the kitchen… Read More

Once your kids start leaving for college, you do go broke, but there are pluses as well. Namely an extra bedroom yearning to become a craft room slash sewing room slash art studio (depending on my mood). The recently-vacated bedroom in my house is located right next to the kitchen… Read More

I am pretty thrilled to see 2011 go. It was sort of a dismal year for me and my fam. I’m trying to think of anything really great happened . . . . . . still thinking . . . . . . thinking . . . Nah. Nothing. I… Read More Today is Makeup Monday […]

This is our dog, Margaret.  She is pretty good, as far as dogs go, but she’s still, you know, a dog.  I tend to like cats a lot better since they are so undemanding.  They are very self-sufficient and quiet.  Perfect.  Unfortunately they aren’t the most affectionate animals.  Fine by me, but not so great […]