For Olivia’s August girls’ date, we got creative — on my own front porch! First, we picked out some stars and ribbon at Hobby Lobby.  Next, we came home and painted them on the front porch, one coat at a time.  Once the stars were dry, we added ribbon to them and set them aside [...]

From the age of five forward, I grew up in a single parent household.  I have no memories of my parents being married to each other and since only one of my parents remarried while I was young and I only saw that parent on occasion, I didn’t grow up with the understanding of what [...]

I don’t know about you, but I was ready for a good weekend by the time this one rolled around!  When I got off work on Friday afternoon, Aviean went with me to pick up Angelina from after-school care and Juliana and Olivia from day care.  I was feeling some kind of weird inclination to [...]

On Saturday morning, after depositing Angelina, Juliana and Olivia at their dad’s apartment, I took Aviean on her August girls’ date! For Aviean’s date this month, I decided that we would drive out to a Mennonite farm that sells fresh fruits and vegetables as well as animals.  I’ve only been to the part with fruits [...]

Oh, Aunt Cate.  That looks like it hurts! Are you still glad you came over to see us after you got off work last night? Um, Aunt Cate?  Why aren’t you answering that question? I mean, we’re just hanging out like we typically do on Friday evenings. We’re SO glad you could join us, Aunt [...]

I have been missing that little Aviean bird all week!  Luckily for me, I get to pick her up after work today and spend the weekend knee deep in dress-up clothes and baby dolls. I can’t believe I haven’t written about the “free internet” thing yet, because this is quite the topic of conversation anytime [...]

After Juliana and Olivia’s dentist appointments on Wednesday morning, I took Olivia to day care and then informed Juliana that she and I were going on her August girls’ date! Little Juliana has been requesting to eat “bisquetti” (spaghetti) for quite awhile now, so I took her downtown to a little Italian restaurant for our [...]

If you’ll remember, when I asked Juliana what she wanted for her birthday, she asked me if I would take her to the dentist.  In that moment, it hit me that she and her sisters had probably never been to the dentist before.  I asked them and their dad and, sure enough, they hadn’t made [...]

I just can’t do it.  I want to do it, I want to take advantage of the half tuition discount, I want to earn a teacher license, I want to be a “lifelong learner…” … but can I tell you what I want more? I want to have free evenings.  I want to get off [...]

It’s still August, which means I’m still going on “girls’ dates” with each member of my fab five.  This past weekend, on my way home from the mountains of North Carolina, I took the long way home so I could stop by Knoxville for a little date with MacKenzie! For each “date,” I pick what [...]