When Walnut Elementary students Ellie and Julia Carlson are at home they can sometimes hear music winding its way upstairs, the sound of someone “tickling the ivories” downstairs. The player? Their mother. This is her calling card, her way to encourage her daughters to come practice and just one of the many ways Carlson has left an impression on her daughters. 

Ellie and Julia, who are 12 and 10 years old respectively, are just two of Lori Carlson’s four daughters including Rachel, 14, and Lauren, 16 with Steve Carlson. As a stay-at-home mom, Lori ensures that her four daughters not only practice their piano lessons but are involved in a variety of extracurricular activities that they enjoy.`

“My mom always encourages us to practice since she did it when she was our age,” said Ellie.

More than in favor of piano lessons, Lori has several talents that amaze her girls from whipping up breakfast each morning to knitting them each a scarf for Christmas in their favorite color. Lori is also a helpful homework wiz and master snack maker, but when she isn’t busy helping the girls with daily tasks she is involved in their school site council, the Walnut Elementary Parent Teacher Association, leads a spiritual group and has even run a marathon. Lori’s helpful and kind nature is one of the many reasons her daughters respect and admire her, along with her patience.

“She is really nice because whenever we are annoying she doesn’t get that mad at us,” explained the matriarch of the Carlson family.

With an emphasis on family time, Lori aims to ensure that each of her girls is at the dinner table with the entire family as often as possible as they enjoy discussing their days together. Family trips are another way the Carlsons stay connected but it is often in the daily ways that Lori is present that makes the big impact from waking her girls up to tucking them in at night.