It all started as a fun game we thought Carson would enjoy. Earlier this month, Pam downloaded the app Farmville 2 on Carson’s iPad. We figured it would be something for him to monitor every day because he could create, build and maintain his very own virtual farm. After a week, it morphed into Pam… Read more »

I love watching my son play sports, despite the fact it occasionally brings out the worst in him. Beckett’s two soccer games last Sunday demonstrate the point well. Both games were highly competitive and exciting, being decided in the final minutes. In his first game, he scored multiple goals but it was the one he… Read more »

Kids can be so emotional at times while seemingly emotion-less in other instances. A few years ago when we had to put one of our dogs down, Pam and I fretted over how we were going to tell the kids. We worried how they would take their first true encounter with loss in their young… Read more »

We headed for the mountains last weekend for a family vacation. We didn’t exactly travel light, as we packed all our essential belongings and moved to our rented house at Deep Creek Lake for eight nights. We had such a great vacation last year we decided to do it all over again. We were there… Read more »

Over the last eight years, this column has served as an exception to the rule in the media industry that you only hear feedback when it’s back negative. Since I’m away on vacation this week and had a space to fill ahead of time, I thought I would share some of the comments I have… Read more »

Sunday morning was an eventful one around our house. As we were getting ready for church, Beckett confirmed the stomach bug he had the day before was still with him. We pushed him to come to church because it was to be a special day for Carson as he was to be presented, along with… Read more »

After three hours of asking, we finally agreed to take the kids out in the snow last Saturday morning. It was basically a blizzard with temperatures in the teens. At that point, we had about nine inches of snow on the ground (with three more to come). We didn’t last long, even though we were… Read more »

This column started eight years ago for selfish reasons as a means to document the journey that is raising children. What I have found reading through the three binders of columns the other day is these ramblings are memorializing for eternity the little things that occur in our lives. That’s a special thing. My wife… Read more »

It’s always amazing to me what gifts are the kids’ favorites each year. It’s not always what we expect. Carson’s choice has to be the miniature battleship, which is in reality about three feet long, with 12 planes from the current military age as well as years gone by. He loves it so much that… Read more »

“Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus.” That’s the name of the children’s book Pam brought home the other day after a shopping trip. I didn’t immediately recall what it was until I opened the book and began reading it. It was an illustrated version of the famous letter to the editor of New York’s… Read more »