I've been thinking a lot about authenticity, about what is genuine ( Read more... )

It feels like we have only had a few days of summer in Chicago so far, and yet with the Solstice on June 21st, the hours of daylight have already begun to decrease as we move slowly toward Fall.

The kids are out of school. We've been on one camping trip with friends and family, and there's more travel in the works. The rest of the summer is mostly ( Read more... )

It was a summer of exploring wild plants in the garden, standing like statues to make perches for butterflies, playing in forts and tents, rollerskating and bike-riding, dressing in capes and masks to bring superheroes to the neighborhood, riding the train downtown in a sea of grown-ups, swimming in pools as mermaids and sea creatures, burning old ( Read more... )

Most days I feel like I’m living in a musical. The kids spontaneously break into song or dance at random moments, and I’m usually happy for their creativity (except when I’m trying to take a  business call). Well, thanks to the influence of beatboxing on the PBS show The Electric Company, and random clips and songs the kids have seen from composer ( Read more... )

As of this week, my two youngest children now have glasses. They are five and three years old. My heart hurt a little to see them in their new flexible frames at such a young age, even though I suspected they would eventually need glasses (both Mark and I wear glasses).

Going through the process with the kids, I was reminded of my own experiences ( Read more... )

On Valentine’s Day, my oldest daughter went ice skating with her second grade class (where one child bloodied his face, another broke a leg, and her teacher broke her wrist). Luckily my husband took off the day to go with her (and to tend to some things around the house that needed his attention). Each of the kids had classroom parties and returned ( Read more... )

Life feeds my writing. Writing feeds my life. And so it goes, back and forth ( Read more... )

Today is the kids' 100th day of school, and so they were asked to take a photograph with a collection of 100 things.
For those of you who know my kids, it should be no surprise the objects that each chose for their photo:


( Read more... )

We have found our groove in Casa del Lobos ( Read more... )

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