“How are you?” This simple phrase is uttered countless times a day. Though typically without the asker really wanting or waiting for a reply. “Hi How are you?” You say it the grocery store clerk, the man on the sidewalk, the telemarketer…and yet, honestly, how often do you wait or listen to the response? The expected response is “Good, How are you?” My kids could have been screaming at the top of their lungs , the dog just pooped on the rug again, and my sink is clogged and over flowing, and yet I smile and answer “Good, how are you?

We keep our digital “point and shoot” camera on the counter. My 5 year old calls it “his camera.” He has permission to run and grab it to snap photos when something catches his fancy. Every now and then I’ll download them and enjoy a glimpse of life around the circus through the eyes of my eldest. He was so excited about this puddle that he found on the deck a few weeks ago.

Dinner time….the family all gathered around the table, enjoying a delicious meal, talking about the day, laughing and enjoying one another…statistics say that families that consistently eat dinner together tend to raise healthier, more well behaved children, then families that don’t. So, what are we doing wrong? More often than not the Circus Family eats breakfast and dinner together as a family. More often than not our dinner “hour” is more like a dinner hour and a half.

While most of America celebrated Father’s Day yesterday, the circus family did not. Shh…Please don’t tell the circus children. They think Father’s Day is next week, because that’s when we are celebrating it. We paint pumpkins in Nov and build gingerbread houses in Jan, so why can’t we celebrate dear old dad one week late? Yes, we are shamelessly pulling the wool over our innocent children’s eyes. Scott and I wanted to get away for a weekend alone, just the two of us, as our gift to each other for our 30th birthdays this year.

Just a heads up that we’ll be saving those weekend thoughts for next weekend. My husband and I are heading out the door for a weekend away and I’ve got no deep thoughts for you….other than thoughts of me and my hubby being whisked away for a weekend alone. But,I’ll be keeping those thoughts to myself, thankyouverymuch!

If you’re anything like me, you don’t really need one more reason to enjoy carbs. Yet, I can’t help but share my favorite. One of my mom’s most highly requested recipes growing up was for her strawberry jam. She always got a kick out it when people asked her if she would please share it. So, here’s the family secret. Yup, buy yourself a box of Sure Jell, add 4 cups of crushed berries, and 4 cups of sugar, and you are set!

Life on the sidelines can be rough. I know, I’ve been there. Sat the bench for 4 years of high school lacrosse. But unlike her mother, my little girl sits on the side because she is too young, not because she isn’t good enough. [ ](https://latc.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/IMG_8358.jpg) My daughter is dying to play like her brother. It is so cute and yet so painful to watch her on the sidelines. When the coach calls the team to line up at the bench during practice, she is right there with the rest of them.

I’ve been a mom of three for almost two years and I have yet to figure out how to successfully take a good pic of my three kids together. And yet, I keep trying…call me hopelessly optimistic, stubborn, or just plain slow to learn, but I keep holding out hope that one day I’ll snap that illustrious shot of my circus crew. Here we have two sideward glances with a smirk and one squinter in the sun.

This spring I declared that this summer, summer of 2009 would be the circus family’s summer of swimming. The past several summers I’ve either had an infant or been ready to pop and really haven’t devoted the time necessary to teach my crew how to swim. I’ve given some half hearted attempts, but the bottom line is my kids can’t swim. And when you live near the bay as we do, it really is a necessity.

Sometimes a mother’s ability to multitask isn’t a good thing… as I attempt to juggle one to many balls, I find that I can accidentally drop one and not even realize it for several hours. Last week while I was talking on the phone and cleaning up the living room, I noticed the kids sitting on the floor with some stuffed animals and scissors. I keenly observed that something looked amiss, so I grabbed the scissors from my sons hands, quickly told him that they needed to be used only at the table, and went to the other room.