Here’s a picture of my “old man” aka Super Dad– a couple of weekends ago when we were in Savannah. He thinks he’s looking increasingly old in these pictures, but I think he’s just as handsome as ever. I do admit that BL (Before LuLu), I could scan the crowd for the tall guy with the dark hair and pick him out everytime. Lately, I’ve had to adjust my eyes to look for a slightly different color standing out in the crowd.

I can’t begin to tell you how my love for him has grown over the 14 years we’ve been together. Super Dad sadly informed me... more

Ok ladies. Tomorrow is V-Day. And in honor of V-Day, I thought we might need to help the men in our lives out a bit. After all, we KNOW what’s romantic and sometimes, well, sometimes they have a little difficulty with this. Like the poor man my hubby saw shopping for cards at Target tonight –with a loaf of bread under his arm. Super Dad immediately thought “Nothing says true love like a loaf of Wonder Bread!” Boy you can spot the old married folks a mile away, can’t you????

This is a reader participation blog. What I want to know is – “What... more

First let me say that “all the rage” has two distinct meanings at my house. Yesterday, “all the rage” was the way that my 15-year-old described Sperry Top-Sider shoes. (Yes, anyone who was in high school or college during the Reagan-era is now laughing hysterically!) For reasons that I have yet to comprehend these boat shoes have made an enormous comeback in my daughter’s high school. So enormous in fact that none of the stores within driving distance of us carried her size yesterday.

So,... more

The surest way to start my day on the wrong foot: have LuLu wake me up at 5 am and then not go back to sleep. Today she woke up with a bad dream and a cold (sinus stuffiness). It’s looking to be a cloudy day here…even though the sun is shining brightly outside.

I count on my early morning peace for so many things. I generally rise at 5:30 with a “to do” list that includes LuLu’s lesson plans, my Bible study lesson, and blogging. I also try to squeeze in time to catch up on ADN’s listserves and any ADN correspondence that is needed. On a... more

Our weekend in Savannah was awesome…except…the madness continued here at the ranch.

And our flavor or madness is always a bit more “unusual” than the rest of the world’s…so “normal” people feel the need to call and report it. Actually my children were the ones calling to report it. As their mother, I’m glad they did. But as their mother who was 300+ miles away and in need of a relaxing weekend, I’m wishing they could have kept it to themselves.

LuLu was SOOOOO excited that she was having a sitter. The young woman who stayed with... more

Super Dad and I are headed out this morning for a “weekend” – Whoo Hoo! Respite is few and far between. Making arrangements for getting away without your children is doubly challenging when the children are “special”.

But arrangements are in place. Everyone’s been notified. And I was up at the crack of dawn this morning making medication lists and detailed notes about today’s lesson plans. And a long list of phone numbers of other people to call if…so our sitter will be fully equipped.

Our destination is Tybee Island, GA. Our “reason” – Super Dad and three other crazy guys are running a half marathon. The wives along for the trip... more

Enter Mudflap. And she did…yesterday. It was that fluky kind of coincidence that makes you believe it’s a “meant to be” sort of thing. “No more dogs!” I had declared. “At least not until summer time,” I acquiesced.

But the young woman who will stay with the children while we go out of town this weekend (yippee!) was moving out of her apartment to another place, where the dog was not welcomed. She had originally asked if Mudflap (don’t you love that name?!?!) could stay the weekend with us, while she was here babysitting. We had said yes.

When... more

I haven’t written much about our dog(s). Mostly because recent events have been hard to articulate. Two years ago I succumbed to Kay’s pleading for a canine family member. Her reasoning was sound and the amount of guilt it stirred in was massive. “I’m almost 14,” her logic went, “and I’m going to have spent my whole childhood without out dog!”

Her facts were a bit skewed, as I did have two dogs whom I loved very much when she was born – a standard poodle and an akita. Both were teddy bear-like, obedience trained and as Nancy on the Reactive Attachment Disorder blog would say “filled my tank”.

They were, however, tragedies of my divorce. Because I moved into an apartment,... more

I find pearls of parenting wisdom in some of the most unlikely places. Today, I found one on my bathroom floor – next to the toilet. That’s where Super Dad has placed the latest United Methodist Men’s magazine and there was an article on being a good stepfather in there. I was just quickly skimming it, when a tip caught my eye about teaching morality and character – it said to “talk your decisions through aloud.”

The idea is that the stepdad can contribute to the child’s moral and character education by talking through decisions he’s making... more

I have found memories of Valentine’s Day celebrations as an elementary school student. We would always make valentine mailboxes to bring in on that special day. Each child would have one on their desks to catch the special delivery of valentines. Sometimes our teacher would announce a “contest” to see who could develop the most creative mailbox.

Building our valentine’s mailbox was a family project. My dad would lend enough of a hand that it seemed we were always destined to win. We made a rocket ship, a barn with a silo and an old fashioned... more