That Flu By

Today Julianna turned 8. Yesterday she got the flu for the first time in her life so this isn’t the most exciting birthday she’s ever had.  I suppose your actual birthday is just a checkpoint on the road so, whatever, its just a day; a day that marks the end of a great year and

A. Brand Name

My Grandfather died today.  He was 97 years old and I can’t imagine what life would have been like without his influence; without his presence. We all have starting lines.  We have places where the family tree begins.  Certainly I’m aware that before my grandfather there were his parents and other people but I never

Barney Daffodil

On November 11, 2014, one year ago today, the world lost someone it barely had time to know:  Eddie.  He was just 18 months old. I started writing this post in February.  I normally spend about 15 or 20 minutes writing these but this one has been an exception. I’ve been friends with Eddie’s parents

Independence Day

Today Chloe turns 6. Hard to believe another year has passed.  Last year I wrote about how Chloe had essentially started to come out of her shell.  I think its safe to say that she obliterated that shell this year. “Mommy, what do I need to do, right now, to make sure I don’t have a

The First Day

Of the rest of her life. My wife and I just dropped Julianna off at the bus stop for her first day of camp. If you know me well, you might imagine what a tremendously huge deal that was for me. I’ve been absent from the blog for a while for all the usual reasons.

How To Live

My Great Aunt Charlotte died today. Great as defined by the family tree.  Great as defined by humanity. When is the right time to explain death to your kids?  I thought about it for a long time over the last 6-8 months.  I’m pretty lucky to have lots of older people in and around my

Unfrozen

Today Chloe Turns 5. I feel like I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: what a year.  I’ve said it many times on this blog and I’ll continue to do so:  My kids are completely different and incredibly similar. Julianna enjoys being the center of attention.  She is happy on stage, performing in

Tooth

Julianna lost her first tooth today.  We’re all pretty excited.  It has been many years since I lost my baby teeth so I didn’t remember this part, or maybe things have changed, but apparently the Tooth Fairy writes personalized letters now…who knew? [Full disclosure: She sent a handwritten note and I transcribed] To my dearest

Hidden Gems

So now we’re a few weeks into our family’s latest transitions.  I’ve written about these transitions as they related to the kids but haven’t written a ton about them solely from my perspective other than to essentially out myself as a huge baby with minor emotional instability issues. To recap, Julianna started Kindergarten a few