it's that time of year again

Fifth grade...last year in Elementary school...looking like he's all grown up all of a sudden


Fourth grade...first year in the big school...nervous, excited and ready to get this show on the road already!


And off they go...me a little teary and missing them before the bus has pulled away from the house.

journey to the end of the earth

gone fishing

A net, plus a bucket, plus some bread crusts or nilla wafers or cheetos or even goldfish crackers, plus several eager fisherfolk, equals an afternoon of fun at the pond (at least it was fun for the eager fisherfolk).

she's nine

I've watched her grow...


from exquisite newborn...

to delightful baby...

to challenging toddler...

to exuberant preschooler...


to precocious little girl...

to sassy big girl...

to sweet winsome child...



And now, here she is, all of nine years old, caught in that in-between stage of a funny prickly tween.

I remember holding that exquisite newborn and trying to imagine what she'd be like in a year, or two, or ten. I'd do the same quiet nights when I'd rock her to sleep as a toddler or stroke her back as a restless preschooler. Despite having come to know that newborn and all her moods and reactions, I would always come up blank. I couldn't look into her future and see the person she'd one day be. I still can't. But I can say this. At nine she is exquisite, delightful, challenging, exuberant, precocious, sweet, sassy, prickly, and funny. She is all of these and more. Unfolding the secrets of who she is and who she will be one birthday at a time.

hidden hollow

One of our very favorite places to go. There is always something new to see and experience. It's a place that highlights the kind of fun kids have enjoyed for generations. Building forts, creating art, puzzling things out, and just getting outside to play.

she's got pizazz!

Katie picked up a dress at the thrift store the other day. I think it may actually be a skirt but there is no arguing with this kid. She insists it is an "altar dress" (halter dress in non-Katie speak) and she also insists on wearing it everywhere. Regardless of what the heck it is, I think she looks adorable in it. These were the shoes and socks she put it together with too...stunning, no?

girls night!

Joe took Sam to his first ever Red Sox game at Fenway Park the other night. The girls and I were left to our own devices. We decided to wander into Plymouth for some window shopping, dinner and decadent dessert.



I have a feeling the girls will be requesting another girls night very soon.

bad habit

When Katie was born I had a 4 year old, a three year old and an infant. When you have three very young children, you end up doing everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, with some little one in tow. My solution to doing laundry with an infant, just toss her in the laundry basket and work around her. Don't worry, she never found her way into the spin cycle. Kate found the task somewhat relaxing (wish I could say the same) and would plunk her thumb in her mouth amidst the piles of dirty or clean clothes, depending on where we were in the laundry cycle, and just chill.

Is it any wonder then, that today, my child is found clutching a dirty sock as she sucks away on her thumb?

I take full responsibility.