This is what we did on on our summer vacation, as illustrated by Sophie in photographs. We ate s’mores. We filled the bucket with sand castle water (again and again and again). We got really sad when it was time to leave.

I’m sure I mentioned this opening sequence when “Handmade Nation” came to town last year, but now that I’m a video-embedding fool, I’ll share it again.

I’ll admit it’s a bit of a disaster to listen to, but I love Annabelle’s 9th birthday mix because (with a little prodding here and there from me, and some harsh vetoing here and there by her) she chose the music herself. And so you have Alvin and the Chipmunks alongside She & Him. Lots […]

At 11 this morning, I threw myself down on the couch with a magazine, completely exhausted. Sophie had been up at 6, shoving her face into mine and then, instead of climbing in for a cuddle, disappearing — which meant I had to roll out of bed and search for her. She gave me a […]

New goal for this year: make a stop-gap video. I’ve become a total slut for it. And now that I have figured out how to embed video (not to mention use a glue gun and an embroidery hoop, though not at the same time), I’m getting cocky. So watch out. Meantime, enjoy this, which I […]

I had fun leading a memoir writing workshop at Changing Hands in Tempe earlier this month, and the store was gracious enough to ask me to do another. Sign ups are underway for a workshop the evening of August 26. Details here.

Several months ago, Ray had an apple tree planted in the front yard, in honor of his mom. The name is “Anna Apple,” which seemed appropriate since Annabelle was the apple of her grandmother’s eye. But it wasn’t until I was chopping the apples up for pie that I suddenly realized that Annabelle’s inadvertantly named for […]

(The title of this post should not be confused with my recent realization that I really need to buy Annabelle a copy of the book, “Where Did I Come From?”) Until last week, I’d never seen Sophie burst into tears and run from the room sobbing. Now I’ve seen it. Over a whoopee cushion. To […]

Remember that great irrigation picture from a week or so ago? Look what landed in my in box yesterday — titled “Supergirl.” This photo was taken three-quarters of the way up “A” Mountain in Tempe. Maybe Ray should quit his day job…. Oh wait, now that reporters are required to take their own photos and […]