Books of 2023

Wow. This one is late this year: 1) Pachinko (Min Jin Lee)2) Once There Were Wolves (Charlotte McConaghy)3) Our Missing Hearts (Celeste Ng)4) Women Rowing North (Mary Phipher)5) The Great Alone (Kristin Hannah)6) A Very Punchable Face (Colin Jost)7) Migrations (Charlotte McConaghy)8) Fun Home (Alison Bechdel)9) Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver)10) As Long As the Lemon…

Harlan’s Birthday

Harlan had a great birthday celebration! He loved the gifts that arrived by mail, and finally we have a place to run a remote control car and set up a hockey game. He wanted a little party with his friends in the backyard, so he invited six friends from his class to come over for…

February Celebrations

January was cold and snowy and wet and sick. It was about what you’d expect. The kids had two snow days; Patrick had four; I had three. Strange. Coco liked the snow. She crunched through some and landed in a leaf pile and her delight was palpable. We met the big bernedoodle nearby. He’s cute…

Sports

You know, I wasn’t that into sports as a kid. I didn’t think much about my kids being super into sports, because why would they? I have now spent another weekend of my life with these kids shuttling them to a variety of sporting activities. And it doesn’t seem so strange anymore. They like other…

December

How is it almost Christmas?!? Amanda and I had a wonderful visit, full of fun and laughter and shopping and hiking and eating. That seems like yesterday, but was three weeks ago. Our amazing family friends came to visit, and we went to Mammoth Cave for some Fat Man’s Misery on the Historic Tour, and…

Thanksgiving New House Edition

I hope you and yours had a good Thanksgiving. We enjoyed hosting family in the new house. It has been a busy week; lots of grandparents around, which is great! The kids have been semi-helpful with the food preparation. Seamus made the bread for the bread stuffing, and Harlan helped with the sweet potatoes (I…

Halloween Recap

It was so cold on Halloween! Porter, dressed as Chewbacca, was cold after an hour and wanted to head home. Harlan, dressed as Daniel Boone, was cold despite having a down jacket underneath his fringed vest. Gilbert had a blast running around with some friends in the neighborhood. Seamus stayed home and helped pass out…

October News

We got a puppy! Her name is Coco and she shares custody much of the time at my parents’ house where she loves their little beagles and gets her farm ya-yas out. It’s been cold and wet the last few days, and she’s been out and in and in and out, learning to dry her…

Tybee Island

For the second half of our fall break, we drove to Tybee Island for a little beach time. We arrived and had a great lunch at Salt Island Fish on the north end of the island. Tybee is the Native word for salt, so that’s how the island got its name. Then we spent a…

Atlanta–Fall Break

The kids get a week off at the beginning of October. We planned to meet up with some friends and see the Washington Nationals play their last game of the season against the Atlanta Braves. Friday was stressful and exhausting to get out of town, drop Coco the dog off at my parents’, and drive…