So Saturday morning I was by the front door where we leave our backpacks and jackets.
There was an odor.
Moms, you know what I’m talking about.
“What’s that smell!#!” sort of smell.
I sniffed every bag. What mom hasn’t picked up everything and put it to her nose to find out what’s stinky?
I found the source – my son’s backpack. Inside, I found a lunchbag from two or three (or more) days prior. Inside – a VERY dethawed and decaying bag of what WAS frozen fruit. I don’t know why or how it …

So when you’re out of milk, and you have three hungry kids, you run to the store, right? I confess, that exhausted from being up since 4:30 with my toddler, I just loaded them all in the car and went to the store at 8 a.m.
Did I mention I didn’t even have matching shoes on? In fact, I had two left shoes on.
So if you saw me, now you know.

Former East Valley resident, and amazing blogger and author, Stephanie Nielson is hosting a mom’s essay contest on her website. The topic is “Motherhood is” and you can write up to 500 words. For more information, check out her post.

Forgive me. I’m running on fumes – and caffeine.
Thus the quiet absence for a few days – or is it a week? I’m not sure. It’s all running together.
Since my daughter started in a daycare center back in late November, we’ve had pretty much a disease a week – nothing major, thankfully.
It’s been cold, after ear infection, after sinus infection, after stomach bug.
You get the picture.
I wouldn’t give the snuggle time away for anything, but I swear I’ve “slept” in a chair more in the last three nights than in …

Arizona allows children to attend school without vaccines as long as parents sign an exemption form. When diseases appear that could lead to a large outbreak – such as the case of the mumps in Higley Unified School District that I reported on this week – those children are removed from school.
Just today, a story came out about additional states looking to pass exemption laws.
Arizona doesn’t rank very high when it comes to children who are vaccinated. Parents choose to not vaccinate for a number of reasons – religious and …

I recently wrote a column for the Tribune about how many different public – and private – schools are available within a very short distance from my home.
I choose to send my kids to my neighborhood school. The principal has an open-door policy. The educators have years of experience. My children’s teachers and I work together and they communicate often when anything arises.
But I also know that there are options around me. As I wrote in the column, I seriously considered a dual language program for my middle child. But …

What does your Sunday week-starting prep look like?
Mine started Sunday after church as the kids and I went through their backpacks, looking at any papers I missed last week, doing homework, and having my husband assist our son with a particularly troublesome area of reading.
After putting away about two-thirds of the laundry (the rest is still on the couch. Oh, well), we had family time.
After the kiddos were in bed, I spent an hour last night on the computer and with my calendar – figuring out what meetings I have …

On the drive to school/daycare/work this morning, my big kids asked me a question: Mom, do you get to pick what job you do?
The conversation was sparked by my 7-year-old daughter’s question about the traffic lights. I didn’t know the answer, but I said that’s the job of a traffic engineer and if she wanted, she could study that when she gets older.
With that, I started in on a 3-minute conversation about going to college, picking your course of study (and what jobs are more available) and then getting a …

I took a moment this morning to check on our East Valley Mom Bloggers Connect page. Wow. I found this wonderful blog about Strawberry Cupcakes with Almond Buttercreme. Oh, if only I had a reason to make these. (I may have to make one up!) There are other recipes, too.
With there being a big football game this weekend, I spent some time in the kitchen, but not a lot. I made fruit salad (YUMMY!), guacamole and a cheese platter. Nothing fancy, but all yummy and homemade (oh, except the cheese). …

Oh, I love good craft ideas.
So I was so happy when I looked over at Finley and Oliver on our EV Mom Bloggers Connect page.
There are not one, but two adorable Valentine’s Day crafts. You have to check them out. Plus, they look super easy.