dirt don't hurt

If you didn't hear, last Saturday, June 28, was the National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout. We were only one of three registered sites in Wayne County. After arguing for a while, the kids and I came up with naming our camp "Wild Cherry Woods" because of the forest of cherry trees we have in the backyard. As you can see by the photo, our backyard campout was rained out, so instead we had a "family room camp in." But between rain showers, we did just about everything required of a camping trip. We... ate hotdogs outside made crafts (God's eyes, even!) took a hike stopped for ice cream played games sang songs set off fireworks and stayed up too late. I truthfully blew the entire day having fun. It was tremendous. One of the best days of my life. For more info on the great american backyard campout, visit www.nwf.org .

If you didn't hear, last Saturday, June 28, was the National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout. We were only one of three registered sites in Wayne County. After arguing for a while, the kids and I came up with naming our camp "Wild Cherry Woods" because of the forest of cherry trees we have in the backyard. As you can see by the photo, our backyard campout was rained out, so instead we had a "family room camp in." But between rain showers, we did just about everything required of a camping trip. We... ate hotdogs outside made crafts (God's eyes, even!) took a hike stopped for ice cream played games sang songs set off fireworks and stayed up too late. I truthfully blew the entire day having fun. It was tremendous. One of the best days of my life. For more info on the great american backyard campout, visit www.nwf.org .

Summer issue has been launched!!! This is a great one, too. The cover feature is about Lori McKenna, a beautiful and talented mom singer-songwriter. Great reviews, profiles, poetry, essays, etc. And such fabulous web design, too. :) www.momwriterslitmag.com

You would never think potatoes could be so much fun. But here I am, singing the praises of the spud and dirty fingernails. Ask my kids their favorite way to eat potatoes, and shockingly enough they won’t say French fries. They won’t say mashed potatoes, baked potatoes or even potato soup. They’ll tell you that they like the “outside kind.” I should provide some background and say that my thumbs are only partially green. Growing up, we always had a plentiful garden and I can remember canning beans and peppers with my family. I loved working in the garden and did it quite a bit, so my vegetable thumb is pretty green. But my pretty flower landscaping thumb really could use some help; I would say it is half green and half brown, which is coincidentally the color of the half dead trees in my front yard. But veggies I can grow. Because of how our home is situated with lots of surrounding trees, we don’t have a good place for a traditional garden. It was definitely a downside when we mo

There are many reasons besides the calendar telling me that it is officially Summer. For one, fireworks are on sale at the grocery store. I’ve also been consuming a lot of macaroni salad. We’ve all got mosquito bites and sun tan lines. And, my favorite indicator of our warmest season, the lightning bugs are back. Whether you call them lightning bugs or fireflies, these little critters with their flashing hind ends never cease to amaze me. They have been entertaining people young and old, since that very first day when someone saw a flash of light in the woods and wondered just what it could possibly be. Since then, we’ve been chasing them and collecting them in jars to make our own nightlights. My grandmother, who is a very sweet lady, admits that she used to smash the glowing ends onto her nails as glow in the dark nail polish when she was younger. And while I never had the “guts” to do that, I’ve caught my fair share of the illuminating fliers over the years. No matter whether

There are many reasons besides the calendar telling me that it is officially Summer. For one, fireworks are on sale at the grocery store. I’ve also been consuming a lot of macaroni salad. We’ve all got mosquito bites and sun tan lines. And, my favorite indicator of our warmest season, the lightning bugs are back. Whether you call them lightning bugs or fireflies, these little critters with their flashing hind ends never cease to amaze me. They have been entertaining people young and old, since that very first day when someone saw a flash of light in the woods and wondered just what it could possibly be. Since then, we’ve been chasing them and collecting them in jars to make our own nightlights. My grandmother, who is a very sweet lady, admits that she used to smash the glowing ends onto her nails as glow in the dark nail polish when she was younger. And while I never had the “guts” to do that, I’ve caught my fair share of the illuminating fliers over the years. No matter whether

There are many reasons besides the calendar telling me that it is officially Summer. For one, fireworks are on sale at the grocery store. I’ve also been consuming a lot of macaroni salad. We’ve all got mosquito bites and sun tan lines. And, my favorite indicator of our warmest season, the lightning bugs are back. Whether you call them lightning bugs or fireflies, these little critters with their flashing hind ends never cease to amaze me. They have been entertaining people young and old, since that very first day when someone saw a flash of light in the woods and wondered just what it could possibly be. Since then, we’ve been chasing them and collecting them in jars to make our own nightlights. My grandmother, who is a very sweet lady, admits that she used to smash the glowing ends onto her nails as glow in the dark nail polish when she was younger. And while I never had the “guts” to do that, I’ve caught my fair share of the illuminating fliers over the years. No matter whether

Among the battles we experience here in our home, there is one constant fight that I am most positive will never be resolved. I am speaking, of course, of the battle of the television. Naturally my children fight over which cartoon to watch or on special occasions, which movie to occupy their brains for the following hour and a half. This is no surprise. But it is the fight between my husband I and that has come to a nasty, greasy head. He is a hunter. And every fall and spring when the game go in season, he will grab the remote and flip directly to some outdoor channel to watch yet another hunting show. In case you are not familiar with these hunting shows, let me tell you exactly what happens in every episode. No matter the game or the season, in each show there will be a man with a goatee or at the very least, a mustache, sitting in full camouflage, whispering into a camera for a full half an hour. At the end of the show, guess what! He successfully gets the deer/turkey/what

A writer friend of mine recently asked me to write the forward to her latest book. This friend lives in San Francisco, where things are very, very different than they are here in small town Ohio. But even as different as these places are, being a mom is the same no matter where you live, which is the point I was trying to get across. So in writing the forward, I offered up this little anecdote which I think best summarizes my philosophy on motherhood... It all started on a fall afternoon, when I was grossly pregnant with my third child. And because the veins in my legs had had just about enough of this pregnancy stuff, they gave out and I was required by my doctor to wear full length compression hose which I mention only because they made me flammable from head to toe. I was attempting to race (read: waddle) around the house, trying to achieve some order and neatness so that the playgroup friends who would be over in a short while to celebrate my son’s birthday wouldn’t think I had

Not many will deny that one of the best parts about being a parent is the privilege and the right to slip back into the magic of childhood now and then. Even in my ripe old age I find myself indulging in youth on a daily basis. I play hopscotch. I build forts. I watch cartoons. And I even eat raw cookie dough without worrying about the eggs. But without a doubt, my favorite part about slipping back into childhood is rediscovering the magic of nature with my kids. And in between writing these columns and being CMO (Chief Mommy Officer) of our household, I do all I can to close the door to my disastrous kitchen and over-flowing laundry room and head into the backyard because simply put, there ain’t nothin’ better than playing outside. The look of my son’s face when he catches a toad or my daughter checking on her fairy house every day? Just priceless. We don’t have a huge yard, but we’re lucky enough to have our own little chunk of new-growth woods in the back. There are just enough map

Note: Apparently some people found this offensive. If you are offended reading this, I'm truly sorry. And I'm also jealous that you don't have to endure what some of us do on Mother's Day. -klkmc As far as holidays go, I’d venture to say that most were created by a man. On Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a man. Easter commemorates the rising of Jesus, again, a man. The Fourth of July is an observation of a new government that was mostly, you guessed it, men. And even Father’s Day, the day when we all treat dad like royalty? Yep, pretty sure that some guy made up that one, too. But if there were ever a holiday that was most certainly created by a man, it’d be Mother’s Day. Now, if you are a man and you are reading this, you are probably thinking to yourself, “oh yes, we men love our mothers and our wives, and we certainly want to celebrate the wonderful things they do for us and all that they mean to us, and of course we created the holiday as

Here's an easy activity that is fun to do at snacktime. Talk about bird with your kid. Talk about chickadees with their little tiny beaks, ducks with their flat beaks, pelicans with their giant beaks. And then ask them about what types of food those birds eat. See if they can draw a relationship between beak size and food. (in other words, big pelican beaks eat big fish, goldfinches eat tiny thistle seed.) At snacktime, set out dishes of a few differently sized foods. We used Rice Krispies, raisins, marshmallows, suckers, etc. Then provide the children with different sized "beaks." Some ideas include: tweezers, kitchen tongs, clothespins. Fun, food, and learning too. Not much better than that!

Here's an easy activity that is fun to do at snacktime. Talk about bird with your kid. Talk about chickadees with their little tiny beaks, ducks with their flat beaks, pelicans with their giant beaks. And then ask them about what types of food those birds eat. See if they can draw a relationship between beak size and food. (in other words, big pelican beaks eat big fish, goldfinches eat tiny thistle seed.) At snacktime, set out dishes of a few differently sized foods. We used Rice Krispies, raisins, marshmallows, suckers, etc. Then provide the children with different sized "beaks." Some ideas include: tweezers, kitchen tongs, clothespins. Fun, food, and learning too. Not much better than that!

The sunflowers had another 'warty' visitor. This time the camera worked:

The sunflowers had another 'warty' visitor. This time the camera worked:

Says Ellen at dinner, "Moms drink a lot of coffee because, you know, they need it to stay alive." No doubt!!!!!!!!!!