Ian’s 9-year-old birthday party had a bike theme. All the kids brought their vehicles (one poor guy still had training wheels about which he exclaimed, in his defense, “I live on a busy street! I haven’t had much practice!”) and rode as a pack in the neighborhood. Chris went to buy the goodie bag supplies [...]
Children are prolific producers of artwork. My mom kept every piece of paper we drew on. When we were very little, she would ask us what the scene depicted, then write the caption in her neat cursive at the bottom. Which is how the family art files ended up with a picture of a woman [...]
Today Hugh quoted the tag line about cous-cous: “The food so nice, they named it twice.” He proposed a meal of double-named foods, serving cous cous and finishing with Dum-Dums for dessert. But what about an entree? Chris came up with mahi-mahi. The perfect occasion would be a double date. The perfect day to do [...]
In response to Elizabeth’s comment on Friday, yes! I will post photos of Easter decorations in the context of a larger display, not just as solo portraits. CAVEAT: Our old house is unusual in that it has very little display space. No big, deep windowsills (except the end of the windowseat Chris built, where the geranium is). [...]
The decorations I pull out of storage of Easter – like Christmas tree ornaments – stir up so many memories. The plush Peter Rabbit was a baby shower gift for Ian, and the fabulous cloth-covered book from the 1920s contains my mom’s birth announcement and early baby photos. I have a small collection of cards and [...]
Even when they were tiny, barely verbal creatures, my sons knew that when Mommy came clicking down the wooden stairs in her high heels – wearing a skirt and carrying a purse – that meant she was going somewhere. “Meeting, Mommy?” they would pipe. “Mommy now go to meeting?” They were always right, of course. Otherwise, [...]
When an area mother of brothers found herself in a cluttered, ratty thrift shop Saturday, her hopes were low. “It didn’t look like the kind of place that would have amazing mint-condition Tammis Keefe tablecloths,” she said, noting the shop’s location in a gritty oil refinery town. So when she found some 1970s Milton Bradley educational materials for [...]
I’m declaring a state of personal emergency. There is no good book by my bedside. Normally I have one at bat, one in the on-deck circle, more in the dugout, extras in the bullpen, and others coming up through the minor league. But my pipeline has run dry, and I need your help. It all began in childhood, [...]
Good News: The April issue of a national magazine is out and I’m in it! Bad News: It’s not Vogue. It’s not Redbook. It’s not O. It’s this magazine. Good: There’s a little article about how I made big bucks on eBay. Bad: There’s no mention of my eBay name which is HOLLYHOCKFARM even though I clearly told the reporter [...]
Today is Friday – which is “respond to something in the news” day at Mothers of Brothers. Looking back at news of the past week, there have been some highlights. I actually followed orders on Wednesday on someone else’s blog. The first line was “You should totally make this for dinner tonight.” In a hypnotic trance, I [...]
