If you’ve been reading for any length of time, you’ve doubtless noticed that I post many, many more pictures of my younger two kids than I do of my eldest, Lydia. This is not because Lydia is any less cute than her siblings–quite the opposite, in fact–but rather due to her being in the third… Read More The rarely seen first-born

Yesterday, under the weight of much duress, Lydia was cleaning up her bedroom while Helena and I were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and chatting. After she’d been in there for some time, we heard a plaintive call from her direction — “Mom, come …” — then, close on its heels, a more… Read More Mistaken identity

a BABY!So, we had our ultrasound yesterday, and lo and behold, there’s a baby in my belly! Everything looks good, including our new and improved due date of February 13 (I had guesstimated February 23). This is the only picture we got, and it’s not a very good one–and even worse in reproduction, I’m afraid–but… Read More I spy, with my little eye …

I was having coffee with a group of girlfriends last week, and one of them said to me that she’d been thinking about “alone time” and whether I ever got any.? She said she figured it must be pretty rare with this houseful of kids I’ve got, and I suppose she’s mostly right? Usually I… Read More All on my own

Tage objected to the obvious favoritism shown by my posting only a picture of Petra in the new bathtub, so here’s one of him to even up the score a bit:

After five long years, we finally have a full-size bathtub, and the kids are loving it. For the time being we have to fill it from the shower and drain it with a hose duct-taped to the underside, but those are minor enough issues. The big problem is that our current water heater is far… Read More Rub-a-dub-dub

Olof and Lydia just spent a couple of hours making beef in wine sauce, diligently peeling and chopping, slicing and dicing, seasoning and frying, and ultimately serving up an impressive meal. Then they got to work on a pot of minestrone, and all the while I sat on the couch leafing through the new fall… Read More Gourmet cooking