Our little Ryan turned three and oh, what a joy it has been to have him for three years!  He is such a crack-up!  He loves anything Fireman and so it only seemed appropriate to give him a Fireman party!  I love the way his cake turned out, and he loved it so much, he said, "Momma, you make me another one?" Uh, sorry kid - just one crazy cake per year!  :)  What a joy it was to share his celebration with friends and family.  We rented out a local pool so the kids could swim in February - quite a … [Read more...]

We made a trip to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  About six hours of marine-lovin' fun!  We had never been there before, and i was delighted to see a whole wing devoted to the Great Lakes - just another way to tie into Classical Conversations!  Becca loved the dolphins - also my favorite at her age.  We got to sit in a theater that offered a "real" look at life as a penguin - the kids loved it when they got sprayed with water, cold air, and poked in the back at surprising times to make the video … [Read more...]

  I lean over the wood floors on hands and knees, scrubbing hard to make sure everything is clean. These old wood floors creak beneath.  They are in good condition, and I just thought they needed a good scrubbing. I remember, "polish doesn't adhere to the dirt" - it's hard to reflect light in rubble.  Once I knew they were completely clean - corners and crevices and deep in the hidden spaces, I rubbed the polish onto the boards.  The clean boards were brought to life as the polish … [Read more...]