last fall, the annababy (formerly introverted and averse to attention) stepped out of her comfort zone and auditioned for a play with her high school. this spring, they were performing the grease musical, and she was part of the ensemble cast. derek and i, along with the grandlidboms, attended the opening night. the kids all […]
derek
the worst documentation of easter you’ve ever seen.
this year was different. for the past few years (and even dating back to some of the years before we went on the road), we have hosted easter, along with a pretty epic egg hunt. it’s obviously evolved over the last almost two decades. this year, the “kids” are 21, 19, 18, almost 16, and […]
twin meet and greet.
my baby brother and his baby mama (wife), who already have two young boys, decided(?) to have a third kiddo. and, well, that ended up being a third and fourth kiddo. since i am no longer beholden to the chaos of nursing school, when spring break rolled around, we packed up the posse and headed […]
strumbellas, reprise.
our fam has been fans of the strumbellas since way back in the day when we lived on the road. last year, we had the opportunity to see them live in chapel hill and it was the most fun concert (show, if i’m being pretentious) that i’ve ever been to. so, when they announced their […]
nineteen years of ike-zilla
hard to believe it, but this guy has been on the scene for nineteen whole years. for his birthday, he arranged a flag football game with an assortment of his pals. then, as sometimes happens in January, the weather was quite uncooperative. but, they found a time to squeeze it in, despite the frigid temps, […]
it is december.
december is always chock full of all of the things. hazel’s birthday. school mayhem. christmas festivities. actual christmas. and then just general life chaos. here’s some details of that last line item…. first of all. we are back in the full swing of hazel’s basketball career. she’s playing for the wccc league again. i’m not […]
two christmases (actual and swedish).
just like every other morning here in my late forties, on december 25th, i awakened at 430 am or so. it worked out nicely, because i hadn’t done the stockings the night before, so i had PLENTY of time to do that and still savor (many) a cup of coffee. in the dark. in the […]
the crazelnut is twelve.
somehow, it’s been twelve years since this moment. time feels like it’s accelerating.when your kids are babies, they tell you this will happen.the wise older folk do. savor it, they say.and it seems so foreign, because those baby days feel like 57 hours each.but here we are, our very last baby barreling towards her teen […]
a recap of november 2025.
firstly. let’s just get it out of the way. here’s some gym selfies. i’ve really cut back lately. the being hobbled has definitely hindered my gymfluencer aspirations. of course, when i take them, i still make them wacky and post weird things, just to ensure no one takes me all that seriously. it’s been a […]
thanksgiving, etc.
this year, we made the executive decision not to travel to western new york for thanksgiving. it’s just a lot to get us all up there for such a quick trip in the middle of this busy season and with unpredictable weather conditions. when i told my mom we weren’t coming, she decided that they […]