Those Little Touches That just say home. Thankfully, in the past seventeen years of marriage I've finally learned to cook. Of course, I've begged, borrowed--okay, shamelessly stolen, some fantastic recipes which I'm quite content to claim as my own. I do, after all, change one or two ingredients. Well, I'm normally missing the ingredients when the time comes to use the recipe, so the end results are all my own. So I'm pleased that my children are developing some artistic culinary skills, too. This is Michael's contribution to food art:

I wasn't allowed to remove this masterpiece from the counter for three days.

Food adds a lot, but what is a house without that decorator's touch? This piece of modern art has not been allowed to be moved from the corner of my front room for about two weeks now.

And finally, what kind of a parent am I if I don't lead by example? Every home needs a great filing system and mine has remained undisturbed for about--well, lets just say slightly longer than Michael's little projects.