The Ten Virgins and Parenting

Ivy was recently watching a child’s video before church on Sunday. In the video, ten children were standing outside waiting for a bus to take them on a field trip. The children were going to a zoo and the ten children each listed what animal they were excited to see. In the animated video, 5

Letter to Grandpa Q

My grandpa Stan recently turned 90 years old. For his birthday, all his children and grandchildren wrote him a letter. This is the letter I wrote to my grandpa. Grandpa, One of my earliest memories was my first and only trip to Grandaddy Lake. It was horrible. Keep in mind, I was maybe 4. It

Ivy and Six Flags

Well, we did it. Ivy is officially a Quackenbush. She had her first day trip to Six Flags. And just as I expected, she didn’t disappoint. We got up at 5:30am to drive straight to the park. On the drive there I told Ivy, “This will be a day I will remember for the rest

Ivy Thoughts Part 4

After a discouraging post last week, and on this Thanksgiving day when there’s so much to be grateful for, it’s time for another happy installment of Ivy Thoughts. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 for reference. We had a bit of a fly infestation in our area for a couple weeks. Flies were in

Embrace the Chaos: Parenting a Toddler

On the heels of my Mr. Feeny post I had a revelation. Growing up, I have vague memories of staying up late with my mom at a very young age. I remember sitting with her on the couch while she folded laundry watching Law and Order or CSI. While these are vague memories, they’re powerful

Ivy Thougts Part 3

It’s time for one of my favorite posts to write – Ivy thoughts! This is a good one. One of the funnest things about being a parent is watching your child start to mimic you. It’s in those moments that I get a snapshot into how closely she is watching me. The other day Beth

Discussion Before I Came to Earth

“Now, you’re going to get a lot of attention. A LOT. You will be the center of their world for years. This will give you a huge advantage in life. That early love will carry you for your entire mortal experience.” My upcoming birth and place in life were being discussed. “But, there is a

Ivy Thoughts Part 2

There’s this book Ivy loves called “Icarus.” We learned there are a series of these books that take Greek legends and makes them into children’s stories with a lesson. Icarus, for example, flies his kite too high until it hits trees, similar to the Greek legend of Icarus flying too close to the sun. Anyways,

Ivy Thoughts Part 1

As a parent, you can’t remember a fraction of the funny things your toddler says. Here’s a list of things I’ve remembered from the past few months. Any parent will love and relate to this. And I imagine non-parents will find at least one of these things pretty funny. List of fun things Ivy has

Sound to Babies

One of my favorite things to do is watch a baby hear something. Every sound – WHIP – their head is flying in that direction. I could always see Ivy’s, and now Sage’s, internal thinking: **Sound of a *click **head whip, internal thought – “What the heck was that???” It’s awesome. It made me realize