Iron Man
Josiah sauntered into my office last week and asked me if he could be in a race at his school. Unfortunately, my first question was the same as it always is when I am asked about a sporting event – “How much does it cost?” He didn’t think it would cost anything, but he would [...]
Definitely Diving
Noah can be a very determined young man. On this particular day he spent hours trying to learn to dive. Belly flop, belly flop, face plant, knees hitting chin and then finally…a dive. He may not be able to swim very well, but he can sure dive!
Hammer Time
I bet you think this is a hammer. Yeah, that is what I thought too…but we would be wrong. You see this is a tool to be used in the garden to dig the weeds up around the tomatoes and peppers. It is perfect because of the weight of the head allows you to drive [...]
What the F*@(#!!
We knew it was only a matter of time, but even when you know something is coming it sometimes surprises you when it arrives. Jennifer and I made a conscious decision early on to put the boys into public school vs. homeschooling them. Now there are a thousand pros and cons to this decision (like [...]
Are They Black?
Serving in the military for 5 years, traveling the globe, pastoring for 5 years and just being human has lessened the likelihood that I will be surprised by much. My wife jokes about how difficult it is to surprise or embarrass me. However, sometimes I am actually caught off guard, those moments are few but [...]
Hard Day at the Office
Jennifer and I have been going into the office together a little more frequently. That means I am greatly blessed to have my kids at work with me. After a long day of playing, snacking, running, and being shooed out of the offices…Bri called it a day on my office floor.
Chewelah Peak Day #1
Well, we survived our first day at Chewelah Peak. Josiah forgot his pair of pants and I forgot a couple of games that we were gong to bring, so not too bad. He was in a hurry to get where we were going and was constantly talking to the buses in front of us. I [...]
Wishing Emma a Happy 9th Birthday
Emma turned 9 today. I started going through all of her pictures last night and selected a few. It was such a wonderfully hard thing to do. My baby is growing up so fast and I just can’t believe that she is 9 years old. Looking back at how small she was and how much [...]
I Can’t Have Anything Around Here!
I think I heard that from my Mom everyday of my life and it was usually following something getting broken, lost, dirty, or destroyed. It didn’t matter what it was, with three boys in the house you can bet it was only a matter of time that it would get mangled. That reality has come [...]
The Pursuit of Happyness
Christopher Gardner: I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. I made up my mind that when I had children, my children were going to know who their father was. We are members of Netflix and get to enjoy quite a selection of movies. I had placed this movie [...]
A Peanut Butter Dam
Yesterday I was downstairs working in my office when Caleb came to give me the ‘Family Update’. Ana had gotten into their bathroom and squirted lotion all over the place and she had went into the kitchen and wiped peanut butter everywhere. I went upstairs. Sure enough, lotion was all over the floor and peanut [...]
A Tennis Helper
Jennifer is going to kill me for posting this, but I thought it was significant enough to share… I was at the grocery store last night with my sons and we walked down an aisle and my sons got very excited. “Dad, dad, come look! They have this one!” I turned around and looked back, [...]
My Mom is Good!
Josiah and I were finishing up our shopping list for Red Mtn. supplies and trying to rush home so that Jennifer and I could go on a date. I needed to make one last stop at the Albertsons in our neighborhood and pick up the kids some fried chicken for dinner and some Yellow Roses [...]
God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace
Something I forgot to post yesterday was the actual story of Abby’s life and death. Jennifer wrote this article for a book that was published to help people deal with the loss of a child. It is still online and you can read it here or read it below. God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace By [...]
Walking the Line
This afternoon I sat in the truck with my sons finishing up the last few bites of Wendy’s. We had been sharing stories on the ride home. Emma had told her classroom that her Dad had wrestled many times in college. Noah and Caleb didn’t believe her so they asked me about it. I explained [...]
Quote of the Day
The mouse drama came to a close tonight with empty traps throughout the house. It looks like we were one short of a dozen. Bri came up to me this afternoon while I was baiting another trap and with a very sad face and misty eyes she said, “Dad, I’m really sorry. Will you please [...]
Parenting Enhanced
We are still implementing many of the things that Jennifer learned at this past conference on dealing with kids with special issues. Here is a situation that Jennifer had with Bri recently. **Bed times are usually hard for Bri because of her insecurities** “Momma, I don’t want to go to sleep because I am scared, [...]
Thank God You Don’t Want to Learn English!
The kids and I put together a foosball table yesterday. They had received one for Christmas from a friend, but as rowdy as the boys are it didn’t last long. They moved the table out to the garage because they wanted more room in their bedroom. Then they realized that they are not as tough [...]
Attachment Disorder
Jennifer has been at a conference here in Spokane for the past few days. It started on Thursday and ends today. This has been an incredible experience for Jennifer and she assures me that it will radically transform the way we parent. The speaker at the conference is Nancy Thomas and she specializes in Attachment [...]
The Difficulty of Unconditional Love, Pt. 2
I read a story today written by a woman who experienced a very painful childhood with her father. It was through the painfully slow death of this man that she came to understand unconditional love. As I read her story, this song popped into my head. Thank you so much for your story and example. [...]
Earn It!
If you know me well you know that the thought of ‘not wasting my life’ haunts me. I trace it back to my grandfather who told me “enjoy the life you have son, it’s gone before you know it”. My grandfather died a few years ago, but he remains a constant memory for me. Books [...]
Franklin at 2am
I recently had a visitor at midnight. Ana stumbled into my office as I was closing down my study and said…”Surprise”. And I was. She was, as my grandfather used to say, “bright eyed and bushy tailed”. She had a dirty diaper, so I changed that and put her back to bed. I returned to [...]
Black & White
Last night we went to the boy’s school concert. Josiah and Noah were in the school choir and sang Christmas carols. The placed was packed out with people standing in the back, along the aisles and out into the hall – I was blown away by how many people from the community came to this [...]
Perception
A month ago Noah was having one of his full blown episodes. He had pushed one of the kids, shouldered past Jennifer and slammed his door – all the while mumbling under his breath. I was downstairs working on the computer and decided to head upstairs to see what all the commotion was. When I [...]
