My 6yo: I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK Me: Oh wonderful! Would you like to read it to me? 6yo: CHAPTER ONE - MY FAMILY IS WEIRD

Why are we tucking in the shirts all of a sudden? I didn’t carefully grow this midsection over many perimenopausal years in order to highlight it, thank you very much.

I’m a nerd who married a nerd and now we have nerd children and I can’t recommend it all highly enough.

Change is hard. God is good. And nature can help us through. Weathering Change is an invitation to explore change as God has created the natural world to do: with preparation, curiosity, adaptation, and resilience. Want to learn more? Preorder your copy today!

I am not a Homemade Birthday Mom™ (big fan of going to the bowling alley) but our 6yo is requesting to have her friends over to our house for classic party games and hand decorated cupcakes and she woke up this morning with a GREAT idea for a SCAVENGER HUNT and also pray for me.

He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. —Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭45‬ ‭

I write occasional articles for our Presbytery’s newsletter, but rarely do they bring tears to my eyes. This one did. losranchos.org/2025/10/a-lo...

You can call me bro if you want, but the answer to whatever you’re asking will be no. —A sentence I just spoke to my teenager

Dear airlines: Please stop offering us connecting flights that are 35 minutes or less. We can’t even get off the first plane in 35 minutes. Sincerely, Economy travelers

One of the best things we’ve done during family dinners is read a short devotional while everyone starts the meal. It helps calm wiggly kids and full mouths are quiet ones. This one by @annettewhipple.bsky.social is one of our favorites. Each night a different kid gets to choose the animal.

Me at 7am: *puts sheets in the wash* Me at 9pm: Oh no.

One of the highs of my life was surviving my kids’ toddler years and finally having time to study other things again and wondering what I might learn about and then realizing that there are birds EVERYWHERE. Highly recommend adult-onset birding.

Best part of being an adult is that you can bake a cake anytime you want to.

Hospitals are such holy spaces. Blessings to you who work there, you who visit, you who suffer and hope for healing.

Have more than one kid so that your kids can be friends.* *argue over who has stupider toes

If you need me, I’m still at the park my kids didn’t want to go to but now refuse to leave.

Waking up to a new Archbishop of Canterbury who happens to be a woman is a nice surprise.

Me: *researching world’s deadliest snakes* My husband: Sure you want to be doing this RIGHT before bed?

THE WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS ARE BACK. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I REPEAT, THE WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS ARE BACK

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.* *Unless you disagree with someone politically or theologically. Then let ‘em have it. —the Bible according to Christian nationalism

The church’s youth department found mini soft serve ice cream machines on sale at Costco today and WE HAVE PLANS.

We have now reached the phase of having a teenager when our clothes are the same size. Folding laundry has become SO WEIRD.

If you’ve been personally victimized by the numbers 6 and 7, you may be entitled to compensation.

“I asked Chat GPT” Oh yeah? Well, I asked the neighborhood mockingbird and he responded with a playlist of robin, finch, crow, hummingbird, and ambulance siren.

New SubStack up today, about the joy and heartache of little kids turning into big ones. courtneyellis.substack.com/p/let-them-g...

I’m working on this devotional guide with spiritual practices based in the natural world and doing all sorts of research about animals. This is very, very fun. Creation is amazing. Anyway, TIL that there is a jellyfish called the Santa’s Hat jellyfish, and it looks like this:

I don’t know why people complain about teenagers. I’ve had one for over 24 hours now, and he’s delightful.

Back at the scene of our first kiss, 22 years ago. Yes, that is a parking garage.

My daughter is super excited about her window seat.

Feels appropriate that I discovered my first grey hair this morning, on the way to our 20th college reunion.

Me: Isn’t Rizzo the name of Gonzo’s rat in The Muppets? Husband: I don’t know. I have trouble remembering the names of characters from literature.

There needs to be a 24-hour helpline for people thinking about cutting their own bangs, and when you call it it just says, “Girl, no."

Back when I worked for hospice, I once asked my supervisor what she was afraid of. “Huntington’s disease,” she said. She’d walked alongside many people who’d suffered from this horrible, incurable, genetic illness. Today, amazing news out of Britain. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Pulled up my dermatologist on Google Maps today. Its title is DERMATOLOGY AND SKIN CANCER CENTER and the kids saw it and freaked out, leading to a nice chat about sunscreen and preventative medicine. (I’m fine. Get that annual skin check.)

One of the dumb things about being an adult is spending money on socks. Like, I just spent $12 and all I have to show for it are these socks.

What no one tells you about parenting is that the kids don’t want to get into the bath, but then they don’t want to get OUT and absolutely every element of raising kids is exactly like this.

To the woman who rung up my clearance dress at TJ Maxx today, telling me that it was *gasp* definitely designer and would look SO lovely with my eyes and hair, and folded it into the bag with such care and tenderness: You made a middle aged lady’s day.

A dear saint of our church died this weekend. A few weeks back, when I heard she’d been put on hospice, I called her. “I love that church,” she told me. “I hope they know how much I love them.” We knew. Rest well, dear one. Gosh, it never gets easier to say goodbye.

How it feels picking up the kids after school when I forgot to bring snacks:

This weekend our oldest kid turns 13 and we have our 20th college reunion and if you need me, I’ll be over here getting fitted for dentures and a walker.

Delighted to have @karenswallowprior.bsky.social on the show today to talk about her new book, You Have a Calling, along with all things good and beautiful and true. (And birds, natch.)

Great-horned Owl in the hood!

My kid: I don’t need paper invitations to my party. Those are so dorky. I’ll just tell people. My kid, the day of the party: Oh no

Me, on a normal day: Same jeans again? Why not. Me, packing for a trip: Maybe I’m a 19th century English duchess and also a fan of hats.

Pro: Our kid just started drum lessons. Con: Our kid just started drum lessons.

I am coping with everything by starting my Christmas music rotation on *checks calendar* September 17.

Change is hard. God is good. Nature can help us through it all. That’s the thesis of my new book that you can preorder now - a lovely gift to your future self. www.amazon.com/Weathering-C...

I want more condiments that come in containers the shape of animals like the honey bear. Ketchup in wombats. Mustard in ostriches. Who wouldn’t want to put syrup on their pancakes from the syrup skunk?

The best thing about knowing I’m going to an out-of-state bird festival in a few months is that at least once a day I remember that I’m going and think about one of the cool lifers I might see. This post brought to you by the Crested Cara Cara. (Photo from eBird.)

My trust issues began when I realized every Bald Eagle call in film is actually a Red-tailed Hawk.