After sifting though 56 years of receipts, photos and treasured memories, I plead with you to take action now, and leave a legacy that your loved ones can enjoy, in a form that they can enjoy it. True to our other "words," it is not our style to dictate or say there is a right our wrong way to family. I believe in “you do you,” as long as it is legal ethical, moral and you can sleep at night. In this case, however, I am strongly encouraging you to think about a new way to m

I should have clued in when I got angry at the dirty sheets on the bed. When I tried to give them the “mom stare” -- you know that look that says, “Do NOT mess with me. I am angry, and you have pushed me to the limit.” – I had secretly hoped the sheets would just comply and hop off the bed. This is the very crazy vision that made me think, I need an intervention. It came in the form of a lunch with someone who was going through the same thing as me. We both had been full-tim

Today I sit in a hotel room in Ames, Iowa after Number 3’s first day of orientation at Iowa State University. He made his final decision about the college he will attend this fall back in April and tomorrow we finish our second day of orientation. As I type this blog, I am happy inside. This feels right for him and I am proud of the man he is becoming. Tomorrow afternoon we will head back to Nebraska with only 3 months left before returning again only to unpack his bags, h

There is something I absolutely love about raising kids that are teenage-to-young-adults. For all the challenging moments with this age group, there are those times to treasure when you have a rich conversation of self-discovery, deep and probing questions, as well as spontaneous learning when you can actually see the light bulb in their eyes. I had one of those moments when visiting my nieces, who are about the same age as my own daughters. My two, Number 1 and Number 2, are

I used to be one of those people. As a professional woman in the early 90’s, I minimized any “proof” that I had of a life outside of my professional job. I wore a wedding ring, but did not display any pictures of my spouse or kids in the office. Most people did not know I had any kids, let alone four of them. I lived a double life. I did not lie if someone asked, but I certainly did not advertise my personal life. I did this partially due to advice from the women before me, a