I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
Posted in Annie, Children's Books, Elizabeth, Friends, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Oct 31st, 2022
Little Women! And this year, Tommy opted not to participate in the group costume. Instead, he and Quinn were Men in Black. We trick or treated with the Hedts and Schroeders again!
Posted in Tommy on Mar 3rd, 2022
Tommy and I did double duty with appointments today. This morning, we saw his new orthodontist for a consult on getting him his second series of braces. (Actually, because he has some missing adult teeth, a small jaw, and a mild overbite, she said, “I’m going to have to study hard to figure out the […]
Trick or treating happened again! Our new friends who moved here from Australia, the Hedts, invited us, the Shroeders, and Lashmits over to help them celebrate their first American Halloween. Our kids, of course, went as children’s book characters. Presenting the Mysterious Benedict Society! Milligan, the world’s best amnesiac secret agent dad, ready to protect […]
Posted in Annie, Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Aug 20th, 2021
Since we were all in quarantine, we decided that our “soft start” to school this week would actually be a real start to school. We did sleep in an extra hour because Tommy was still tired at the beginning of the week, and I had to homeschool briefly from the couch Wed morning before retreating […]
Posted in Annie, Elizabeth, Iowa, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Jul 20th, 2021
The zoo in Des Moines had a special event on Sunday for families of special needs kids. So the kids and I drove over for Annie’s first trip to a zoo that she actually remembers. Everything was free–from sack lunches to giraffe feeding to all the rides!–and it felt great being back in a public […]
We didn’t plan it, but we were pretty well color coordinated for church this morning. Of note: Tommy is now wearing Men’s clothes.
Well, we don’t really have a church home yet, but we went to in-person services for Good Friday and Easter, so things are looking up, right? Maybe by next year we won’t be wearing masks and social distancing? I thought we’d only get a picture of the kids, but our neighbor happened to be walking […]
Posted in Elizabeth, Friends, Indiana, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Mar 16th, 2021
Spring break found us heading to Michigan, where the girls hung out with Grandma for a few days while I stayed with Mariel and met up with Bethany and Keith for a Jane Austen CCA at Hillsdale! It was great to be back on campus and so great to have a couple days off from […]
Posted in Tommy on Feb 17th, 2021
We started celebrating this past weekend, when Grandma and Grandpa Willett came up and presented him with his own mega set of not-made-in-China socket wrenches. There’s a broken lawn mower from freecycle in the garage with his name on it, just as soon as we get above freezing and he can take apart the engine […]
Posted in Annie, Elizabeth, Family, Iowa, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Nov 28th, 2020
Grandma and Grandpa came down to spend Thanksgiving with us and helped us find the perfect tree! With covid restrictions closing down tractor rides, Daddy and Grandpa had to drag the tree all the way through the fields and back to the check-out area, but we managed it, even in masks.