“Have everything ready when I get home,” instructed Canadian Man, “I’m going to the office for a jif, and I’ll be home by 10.” He trotted off to work excitedly anticipating our trip to Canada to visit Grandpa and Grandma, totally oblivious to what it took to get ‘everything ready.’ I suppose...

Do you have a picky eater? They seem to be as common as dandelions. Is your picky eater a sneaky conniver like mine? “Did you take your vitamins?” I holler to the boy with spiky tufts of hair exploding out of his head as he slurps...

It’s spring! The Winter-That-Wouldn’t-Quit is finally fading into friendlier weather! Birds are twittering, leaf buds are bursting out like popcorn, and fresh mellow breezes are breathing life into…

I spy the weathered wooden oar I plan to hang for decoration in the boys’ room and notice something scratched into the flaking red paint of the wide blade. I lean in for a closer look…

Have you ever been enjoying a bowl of sweet cherries only to bite into a sour one that makes you pucker like a toothless old man? Life with my boys was kinda like that. I was earnestly trying to prod…

Tex, my little 3-year-old grandson, with just-his-size cowboy boots, Western hat and comfortable brown Levi’s launched himself into my lap to join two siblings clamoring for me to read ‘just one more’…

Canadian Man wasn’t looking for romance when he arrived in Minnesota that steamy July of 1975. In fact, he was not looking at girls, he said. Right…

Canadian Man, shedding briefcase and jacket, sinks with a sigh into his beloved recliner after work. I’m giggling as I hand him a cup of steaming coffee and give him a welcome-home kiss. “Guess…

Aack! What’s this? I’m just minding my business when I am disturbed by a burp. It’s bothersome enough that I push out of my chair to allow the irksome bubble to work its way out…

The world has gone crazy. It’s changed almost overnight to something unimaginable. One news clip leaves me reeling and a day’s worth puts me in bed with the covers over my head…

Wow, this lookingintherearviewmirror road trip has encountered unprecedented potholes! We hit a doozer that has rattled our teeth and changed the course of our travels. Last week we were…

Vrooom! He rumbled into my life in July of 1975 driving his black 1973 Plymouth Road Runner with red racing stripes and dual exhaust. Girls drooled when that muscle car slid past, and their hearts…

Florida! Ahhh! May I please come bask in your sunshine and bury my toes in your soft sand? This Minnesota deep freeze has my bottom frozen to the permafrost seat in this block of ice I’m driving…

“Mom, is there room in your freezer for this baking?” daughter, Azalea, asks early in December, “I need them for a party on the 18th, but my freezer is full.”…

Little boots track a sloppy melted snow trail through the local five-and-dime as strapping middle school boys with bedhead cowlicks and milk mustaches stride determinedly toward the…

“How aggravating!” I sputter as I fold and pile the laundry load. The socks from the ten packs of Hanes that I just bought last week for the kids is disappearing faster than M&M’s in the cupboard…

I was 42 when I birthed the youngest of the tribe. I guess 42 is no spring chicken, but gosh, it isn’t that old…

The line at the airport this morning stretches out like a long woolen scarf. I’m shuffling toward the check-in counter at the pace of a slow eating toddler, on my way to eagerly anticipated R & R…

I am Elaine. I’m married to Canadian Man, have eleven incredible people who call me “mom” and a passel of delightful grandchildren. I deeply love them all…