The drama camp was optimistically entitled, “The Best Week Ever.” I don’t know that the week lived up to the name, but Sophie had a good enough time. We gathered this morning for her stage debut. The kids acted out scenes they’d created themselves (as much as 5, 6 and 7 year olds can, I […]

Basketball camp ended today, and not a moment too soon. I don’t think I could have taken much more. My stomach was in knots all week. Annabelle tried to smile this morning when I said it was time to get ready, but I could tell she was wishing the day was over. At 2:30 I […]

A small voice came from the backseat. “Mommy, why did you sign me up for basketball camp?” We were on our way to the third day of basketball camp. The first two days of camp, Annabelle insisted she loved it. Til last night, when she admitted that she cried once during warm ups, because she was […]

This morning at camp drop-off, it was smiles all around. I think Sophie would prefer basketball to drama (in the abstract, anyway) and maybe Annabelle would still rather have it in reverse, but both girls are happy. Phew. As we walked down the steep ramp to the basketball arena yesterday morning, the First Day, I […]

Happy Father’s Day to all the fabulous dads out there — including my own, and Ray. I’ve already burned several batches of Toll House cookies this morning, in your honor. (Turns out duct tape works really well for holding the broken oven door shut. And good thing I always make a double batch of dough.)

The other day, Ray said something that’s stuck with me. It went something like this. “You know,” he said, “the majority of people who are mentally retarded have Down syndrome. So society’s definition of ‘retarded’ is a person with Down syndrome.” (I didn’t fact check this, but Ray tends — annoyingly — to be right.) […]

Over the rainbow? Try over the moon. Cloud 9, for sure. “I really didn’t want this week to end,” Annabelle said dreamily, as we stood in line this afternoon to order her a peach smoothie at the coffee shop next to the dance studio. Who can blame her? She was Dorothy in the combo Wiz/Wicked/Wizard of […]

I’m not sure which time it happened — whether it was on the occasion of Sophie’s first open heart surgery, when she was four months old, or the second, when she was four years old. We were ushered into a tiny exam room at Phoenix Childrens Hospital — a pre-surgery check, it’s where they put […]

Last night was pretty magical. The girls and I were invited to our dear friend Kathy’s house, to make Father’s Day gifts. As she explained to Annabelle and Sophie (and two other little girls who came along), for as long as she can remember, Kathy’s made her own father chocolate chip cookies every Father’s Day. […]

As we lounged in the tent, waiting for Ray to return with firewood, I told the girls a little story that went something like this: Once upon a time, there was a boy named Ray and a girl named Amy. When Ray was a little boy, his family loved to camp, and one of their favorite […]