Abby Off the Record — The scoop on life, writing & raising kids

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Look Mom, I Made Lunch All By Myself!

October 9, 2013

Filling the Well

October 7, 2013

Back before I was married with kids and I had left my corporate job to freelance fulltime, I hit a snag. Despite having all the freedom in the world to make my own hours and pursue my own projects, I was finding myself sitting at my desk ALL day EVERY day whether I had any […]

Read the full article →

Mommy’s Little Helpers

October 4, 2013

I’ve told you all before about my laundry policy, right? If I can manage to get the clothes washed and dried, that’s good enough for me. Folding and putting them away? Eh… too time-consuming. In general this policy works fine, although our house IS always cluttered with laundry baskets that need to be awkwardly shoved […]

Read the full article →

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Go Climb a Tree

October 2, 2013

While I am pricing playhouses and tire swings for my boys, they are doing this: See also: Why not turn the whole world upside down? And, yes, I do post pictures of trees a lot. You got a problem with that? 😉

Read the full article →

It Gets Easier?

September 30, 2013

I found this post I wrote about 3 years ago in my archives and it made me laugh. Specifically, because I was SO WRONG. I thought in a few years, life would be all easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy. Um, not exactly. Now, I’m peeling my 7yo off the pavement when he wipes out on his bike, and […]

Read the full article →

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: The Best Zucchini Muffins on the Planet

September 25, 2013

We…are…Zucchini Muffinbots. We’ve come…to take over…snack time. This is a magic zucchini muffin recipe, you guys. For reals. It was sent to me by my son’s classmate’s mom who said this is the only green thing her daughter eats. My shining moment was when I topped these with cream cheese frosting and passed them off […]

Read the full article →

A Kid, A Dream, A Comic Book Company

September 23, 2013

My 7yo son, Miles, has always liked drawing and art. Over the past year or so, he’s developed an interest in comic books and graphic novels, in particular. He spends hours drawing comics and devouring Pokemon Adventures books, the Bone graphic novel series, and a Japanese series called Yotsuba&!. At some point, he and a […]

Read the full article →

Feel-Good Friday: Rileyisms and a Sweet Video

September 20, 2013

I’ll tell you what — my 4yo might talk my ear off, but the kid is FUNNY, people. Here are some recent “Rileyisms”: Is That Like a Drive-Thru? My 7yo lost another tooth. Admiring the latest gap in his smile, Miles picked up his glass of milk and said, “Cool, now I have a place […]

Read the full article →

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: What I Saw at 9:30am on a Tuesday

September 18, 2013

Last week I saw this and Instagrammed it: Then I realized: I DO have their life. I mean, I don’t have a kayak, and if I did I’m not sure I’d have time to go for a paddle before preschool pickup, and I certainly wouldn’t attempt to take both boys with me, because that […]

Read the full article →

I’ll Give You $5 to Stop Talking to Mommy

September 16, 2013

I know this is hard to believe if you have a small, non-verbal baby or a taciturn teenager at your house, but there are times when I fear my ears might literally start bleeding, my kids talk so much. The other day my 4yo chattered incessantly from the moment he woke up to the moment […]