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it's about time for a good old airing of the grievances. while we have ever so much for which to give thanks, sometimes we need the catharsis of enumerating our woes, big and small. (you can read the 2023 edition here.) _________________________________________ first up, potty training. I buckled down and trained Greta and Cecilia both around age 2 1/2, and it went fairly well (I'm a big fan of waiting until the kid is practically ready to train themselves). Elizabeth turned 2 1/2 near the end of the school year, and logically it seemed like a great time to buckle down -- we wouldn't be driving around to after school sports and activities and we'd have more time at home. I kept waiting for the day when I'd wake up full of excitement and motivation to strip off the diaper and chase a naked toddler around the house. and ... shockingly ... that day never came. then we were preparing for our trip to Seattle in July and it definitely didn't seem like the right time...

Easter 2025

Easter was "late" this year, April 20, which has the added benefit of slightly warmer temperatures. it always seems incongruous to me when Easter falls at the end of March and all the pretty Easter dresses are covered up by coats and we might have to choose snow boots rather than sandals! this was the first year Elizabeth was allowed to be more involved with hands-on egg dyeing and she was so excited. I bought the "deluxe" PAAS kit with extra supplies to make glittery and foil-bedecked eggs and somehow, by the grace of God, did not end up with glitter all over the house. I don't know how this one was so blurry but you get the idea! Greta's pastel eggs Cece's jewel-toned eggs I debated once again about which Easter mass to attend. we have attended the evening vigil once before , but that involves a lot of faith and perhaps a dash of insanity to attempt solo with young kids. so we typically go Easter morning, but I asked the older girls about it and they...

what's saving my life (vol. 6)

volume 1 volume 2 volume 3 volume 4 volume 5 1) Trader Joe's. prior to this week, I hadn't set foot in a Trader Joe's in years. the closest ones to me are at least a twenty-minute drive (as opposed to Giant Eagle and Aldi which are ten minutes away), and since they don't offer curbside pickup or delivery, I couldn't even peruse their offerings to decide if I wanted to pay a visit. but Greta has been asking me to pick up these PB&J snacks that her friends bring to school, and I keep hearing about amazing products TJ's offers (mostly from the hilarious Girls Next Door podcast -- every show with a TJ's mention is linked here !). for some reason, I was thinking that Trader Joe's price point was even with Whole Foods (or as it is sometimes known, Whole Paycheck), so I wasn't in a big rush to check it out. finally, last week I had a rare pocket of time after dropping Greta off for a school event close to a TJ's location and decided to take a ...