in an effort to meet some local outdoorsy folk, and maybe learn about some cool local-ish hikes, i recently joined a local hiking group. it took a minute for my schedule to allow me to register for a group hike, but i was finally able to join them on a trip to stone mountain. as […]
a very simple last minute lego cake.
once a year, my pal kelley texts me at the last minute, asking if there’s any way i can make a cake for her tiniest offspring, davis. it’s usually prefaced with a bunch of acknowledgements that it’s asking a lot, that she knows it’s short notice, and that she fully expects there’s no way i […]
MAY-hem (2025).
it’s that time of year. when all the anniversaries and birthdays and mothers days and end of school concerts and graduations and field days and class parties come together to create the most chaotic month of mayhem for our little crew. and then there’s the in between stuff. and that’s what i’ll be talking about […]
staycation.
to celebrate our 22nd (plus one week) anniversary, derek and i shipped the kids off to the grandlidboms and had a little staycation in ye olde winston-salem. we made an attempt to do things in town that we have never really done. try new restaurants. etc. our first stop was reynolda gardens. i have driven […]
the end of elementary….
the last lidkid, hazelnut, is done with elementary school. our k-5 years were pretty non-traditional… a few years of public school at two different elementary schools for ike, followed by several years of road school and home school for all three kiddos. but, the final three years of elementary school for hazel were spent at […]
impromptu hike with hp
when your one and only local hike friend asks if you can go on a spontaneous-ish hiking trip, you make it happen. (it wasn’t that hard, actually, i don’t have that much going on). heather and i had been to elk knob a year or so ago, but it was in the winter and super […]
mothers day weekend with the middle kid.
a few weeks before mother’s day, unsure of what i wanted to do to celebrate myself (and the birthing of three children), i was poking around some state parks to see what camping options were available. much to my surprise, gorges state park had one last campsite opening, so i snagged the reservation, not really […]
and then. the annababy was fifteen.
man these years just keep flying by. seems like yesterday the annababy was the worlds more adorable toddler, quietly going about life, observing and mean mugging, desperately avoiding attention at all costs. and now. well. she’s still observant. but very much loves any and all attention and is anything but quiet. she is into all […]
stay gold, annababy.
here we are again. another lidkid birthday. they just keep coming at me. this time around, it’s the annababy. and what does a nerdy, literary, aspiring theater kid want for their fifteenth birthday cake? why an outsiders musical theme, of course. two days before her party, she gave me very specific, slightly chaotic, and somewhat […]
april things.
with the school calendar moved up a bit, april has gotten a little bit busier. it used to be the calm before the storm, complete with a bit of spring break crammed in there. but now all of the end of year stuff really starts gearing up. and, there was literally one day off from […]