Author Archives: Erin

For almost a year we’ve had two parents, two kids, and two cats.  But in October, our grey cat, Woodsmoke, suddenly had trouble breathing and we learned he was up against heart disease or some other major inherited ailment.  So … Continue reading →

  Erin

Sydney used the word “baleful” and something about his sentence prompted me to look it up.  Turns out that I have the old definition (“wretched, miserable”) in mind, not the current one (“pernicious, menacing”).  Wait, the dictionary deems me obsolete??? … Continue reading →

Erin: “Oops, I signed up to bring goodie bags to Nathaniel’s school.  What should I put in them?  Good-for-you stuff?” Sydney: “C-R-A-P is cheaper.” Here Katherine inserts herself: “What’s C-A-R-P?” Prompt reply from Erin: “Carp.  It’s a kind of fish.” … Continue reading →

The ACT test (yes, the SAT parallel, and the cause of much anxiety among highschoolers) has apparently notified colleges that scores will come in a bit late this year, given recent changes to how they score the writing section of … Continue reading →

On Saturday we took off for a family hike near Danville.  It was coooold to start, but turned out to be a delightful hike in gorgeous woods, leaves crunching under feet, clear signs for paths, some uphill and downhill to … Continue reading →

I was reading an article about childhood development, and it was capped with an image of marshmallows, a reference to the famous marshmallow experiment that tested kids’ ability to forgo short-term gratification (a marshmallow) for a bigger long-term reward (two … Continue reading →

Although a recent dry spell has turned much of Kentucky brown, we are still enjoying benefits from the garden.  What with garden, kids, and students, I think our days consist largely of “growing stuff.”  The kids’ recent eating frenzy has … Continue reading →

K: “The most important thing is to love God and to love others.” N bursts in excitedly: “And to eat!” Thank you, Nathaniel, for adding to the Commandments . . . Erin

I honestly hardly know the boy in the picture, and this was only two months ago.  When I pick Nathaniel up now, his feet dangle down near my knees and his arms almost fully reach around me.  There is something … Continue reading →