A Dad, A Mom, and Three Little Heathens

We've told them many times. 4 times exactly. My children and the Brothers for some reason like to play in the Leafy Spurge that grows in the gully behind their grandparent's house. Because the toxic weed excretes a milky and sticky fluid, they wipe the sap on their faces and arms as war paint. 12 hours later they pay the price for their wild foray into the traditional past. Hives, blisters, and red puffy marks follow the same designs as the war paint like some symmetric allergy. The first time it happened, we could not figure out what it was. Five of them, all covered in their tribal welts. On the day before Thanksgiving, We invite the neighborhood over to my in-law's house to celebrate an early feast before the next day's main event. We call it pie night. The theory is that we never have enough room to eat as much pie as we want with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, cranberries, salad, and whatever you stuff your face with on Thanksgiving, so we eat our pie on th...

Originally Posted on August 2017 Parents who take their children on vacation are crazy. Let me say that again. Parents who take their children on vacation are loco in the head. There should be little hotels where you can check your children in (as long as they are vaccinated) so couples can go spend a little time together. So how did this opinion of mine come to light? Well, I’ll tell you. Recently, Sarah and I were on vacation in Council, a little town in Western, Idaho. This one or two stoplight town (I’m not really sure, and I want to give the village its due), is in the heart of a beautiful little mountain valley. Pine trees and fields, small rivers and open skies. Just starting out on a treasure hunt. On the way to our three-day stay at a cabin off the highway, we had to pass through a little town called Wieser. Griffin, who has been on the, “are we there yet” and “my tummy hurts” and “I’ve been sitting here for the last 40,000 hours” and the “my butt is turnin...

It's a long haul, education. Especially for those who decide to make a career of it. (I'm not pointing any fingers, but if I were, they would be at me). Yesterday, a coworker showed me pictures of her daughter dressed up in a pretty blue dress with a big-girl smile on her face. She was going to preschool and her excitement shone on her little face from the cell phone I was looking at. Sammy also is entering her last year of preschool with the same beaming smile of a little girl trying to be a big kid like her older brothers. Little do they know. Sarahmay and her bestie and cousin, Forrest  Just yesterday, I sat in a chair that was too small for me while my daughter read one of her princess books to a couple of plush toys, who were tucked into a doll's bed, and me. I played the part of the child receiving the story, and from her imagination and her knowledge of the story, she told the key moments of the plot well in her sing-song voice trying to sound so grown up. ...

Originally Published August 2017 Okay, I admit it. It happened again. This time during T he Secret Life of Pets .  I fell asleep in the theater, again!  (Warning, this post may offend some people) The film itself is a cute adventure story about Max the dog and how he copes with a major trial that comes into his life in the form of a monstrous dog named Duke. The adversities that come our way are very often out of our control. The film teaches children that change will come, that things cannot stay the same forever, but that does not mean that change has to be horrific or even scary. This point is taught over and over throughout the adventure. At one point, Max learns that owners (people we care deeply about and let's face it, this was written for little children so we can assume that the owners represent parents in a way) die or leave or abandon their pets through Duke's personal experience. The take away from the film was that we can have hope for the ever-changin...

Originally Published 9/1/2017 The week before school started, we went on one last camping trip to a beautiful, high-mountain lake secreted in the back pocket of Burley, Idaho. My children were excited to go on this trip because we would be camping with our family friends. Lake Cleveland, Idaho is a gorgeous, high-mountain lake that is regularly stocked with cutthroat and rainbow trout. Its beautiful waters are also free of motorized watercraft, so the area stays free of noise and the raucous behaviors that are associated with thrill seeking on the water. It is a place out of time and mind unless you live close by. The people of the eastern Magic Valley are protective of their little treasure and for a good reason. For it is a place where the muscles can relax, the mind can ease, and the kids can run around. Unless you are Jesse and Griffin. As Sarah drove up Mount Harrison, we passed through some heavy hail and slush on the road. Keep in mind this was the second week in August. ...