Author Archives: Erin

This week we began another Grand Experiment in the Penner household.  Sydney will be away at Ohio State to teach from Tuesday afternoon to Friday evening each week this spring.  In this, his first week on the job, he’s busy … Continue reading →

Although we don’t intend to make a habit of it, this seemed to be the year to give the kids big toys for Christmas.  We’d spent three years in England sticking to tiny forms of entertainment, always with an eye … Continue reading →

We’d planned a major coup for Christmas: all of Sydney’s family was going to fly to Kentucky to spend the holidays with us.  We were hoping to skip the six days of driving that it would take for us to … Continue reading →

Last Sunday, Katherine joined the other big kids in church in acting out the Christmas story.  She was a bit shy, but she practiced singing “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” in the car for over a week to … Continue reading →

Although we’ve had a few cold spells recently here in Kentucky, we are enjoying the fact that we can expect regular bursts of warmer weather throughout the winter, and a long, lovely fall.  These nice days have allowed Sydney to … Continue reading →

This Thanksgiving finds us alone in our house, with Sydney and Erin taking turns lying down as we work through nasty colds.  Not quite the Thanksgiving we had been hoping for (which would be low-key family time with lots of … Continue reading →

He’s a funny one.  When we’ve disciplined him recently he’s started attempting to retort; if you punish me, I’ll punish you, he seems to think.  His zingers have included: “If you send me to my room . . . I’m, … Continue reading →

After Heidi’s visit we had a flurry of activity in our house. My parents came to stay with us for a bit, fully expecting me to largely ignore them so that I can keep up with my students, and seemingly … Continue reading →

As the children sit on opposite sides of a puddle of Legos: K: “Maybe we should play together someday.” N: “That would be good.” K: “Yeah, definitely.” Then they resumed swapping pieces, showing each other their building projects, and trying … Continue reading →

A few weeks ago, my friend Heidi drove down from Chicago to spend the weekend with our family.  She and I have spent most of our post-high-school life in different parts of the country or, twice, in different countries, so … Continue reading →