Surviving the Chaos

Oh the things Brent and I whisper to one another over turkey carcasses. The cleaning up of after, which makes the children scatter. Me: I...

Well, we're in day four of school. Day. Four. As I type this looking at my clock, that would indicate I just finished my eleventh ...

As I saw my Princess moving around the kitchen this morning, I was struck with the difference. Sheesh, she's nearly a teenager. I mea...

 So tonight I thought I'd be proactive. I offered to do braids. She told me the braids she wanted, I did my best  to provide. I even d...

I had finally decided I was exaggerating. And then I picked her up from school Here's my dirty little secret: I fear that when pe...

With all the kids in school, I find myself with three hours a day to do "what I want." Which currently translates into sorting pap...

This morning I sent Iris off to school in a purple floral tank top with green floral leggings and crystal encrusted sandals. She had pulle...

Last night, Princess had a friend over for several hours and the two of them somehow persuaded me to allow a sleepover. Today, our church ...

We called Ethiopia yesterday. Five different numbers. Have I told you our daughter unearthed phone numbers for every known relative that h...

 It has been an atrocious summer. Our honeymoon period lasted approximately 12 seconds. And though many things have gotten decidedly better...

Scene: Mom has just indicated to Princess that she might want to change before she goes to 6th grade orientation. Princess exits, dressed, s...

Eldest has hit the stage where he thinks his parents are out of touch. He's moody. And he punishes me when the school tells him he has t...

I've been getting a lot of comments about Frodo's hair. You know the type. When you gonna cut it? How long you gonna let him grow ...

My daughter had a huge inground pool at her old house. And three wind turbines, the kind like they have in Nebraska. She had 12 cats. And...

Less than two hours after I typed my last post, my phone rang with one of those calls you don't like to get. Let's face it, phone ri...

After a very rough summer, my kids and I decided we needed a weekend in our old hometown. Coincidentally, it was the same weekend as an Ethn...

My house accumulates children like it accumulates dust. At the moment, there are three children doing a recreation of Star Wars upstairs,...

Yesterday was....hard. And it was also huge. For house Chaos, anyway. Iris cried. Now, I have friends whose children came home and they...

mom wised up. Princess discovered the box, pawed through it, dusted the stairs, recovered her stuff. Eldest discovered it. Cleaned the ...

You know you've always wanted to see it. Clearly.... I didn't see this as the warning it was. I did see this for t...