Out of the elevator and rounding the corner on the 2nd floor of Carillon House, Emma spots her first.
“Daddy, look! There’s Hazel!” Annie and Emma take off running to give her a hi and a hug.
At the other end of the long hall, sitting in her wheelchair, is Hazel. She came here a couple months […]

Under a pile of blankets, Annie and Emma, dressed in their soft flannel pink and green polka dot pajamas, were snug in their bed. All I could see were their smiling faces. On the other side of the bedroom window, a nippy 29 degree night.
“Tell us a story, Daddy! Tell us a real one about you when you were […]

Last Tuesday I spent the day in Annie and Emma’s classroom. It had been a long time since I’d done any cutting, gluing or coloring. Emma said I did pretty good at coloring. But my gluing needs work. 
And what I wouldn’t give to have a mandatory nap time again. How great would it be to stretch out on […]

Over the holidays some dear friends gave me a great Christmas present. Tickets to Santa’s Village, a Christmas theme amusement park that sets up each year at Firebird Raceway here in Phoenix. We had a blast on the rides, eating kettle corn and cotton candy. It was a delightful afternoon spent making memories with my twin 6-year […]

Years ago in the church I attended back in Iowa I had my first experience with nursery duty. While I am now a pro and can handle anything and everything related to kids, back then I was only comfortable as long as they were happy. It was that crying thing that I was afraid of. After raising […]

What’s on your refrigerator doors?
Ours is covered with photographs and the obligatory magnets to hold them all in place. It’s a hodgepodge of themes. An Andy Griffith Show magnet holding a photo of Allison, Shelby and Shaun; our nieces and nephew. A Chicago skyline magnet securing a winter photo of my Uncle Ev’s farm in […]

When I was in high school my sister Joleen had a horse. I’d ridden him at a gallop many times and thought I’d gone as fast as that horse could go. Until one day my cousin Becky came over on her horse. Then her horse and my sister’s horse decided between themselves they’d show each […]

Last Wednesday evening I took the girls to Golfland to play mini-golf. When you play putt-putt with twin 6-year olds, you don’t bother playing yourself. You just help them try to stay focused on the hole in front of them and keep them from trying to climb the Windmill or wade in the water hazard.
They […]

She’s a beautiful 8 year-old girl with spark and energy. Look at her face and into her bright eyes for only a second and you can feel her keen sense of awareness. Megan is very smart, very strong and, like all kids her age, can be very stubborn.
Of all the delightful kids who come to […]

Got an email the other day with the subject line “Interesting Trivia”. It said that at two minutes and three seconds after 1 PM today the date will be:
01:02:03; 04/05/06
It won’t happen again for a hundred years.
We tend to take note of events that don’t come around often. Halley’s Comet makes an appearance every 76 […]

“Daddy, can we make a pile of leaves and jump in them?” Annie and Emma are helping me clean up the backyard. After a week of low overnight temperatures my fig tree had dropped it’s leaves and I was raking them up to throw in the dumpster.
Growing up in Iowa, fall was my favorite season. […]

Annie and Emma unbuckled their seat belts and tried to be the first to sit next to me. It was time for our “pre-preschool” parking lot conversation. We had been talking about Christmas on the drive over and they were offering some final thoughts. Annie squeezed her tush between the seats, sat down and said, […]

“So I’m not four anymore?”
“No, Annie. You’re five now. Happy Birthday!”
For weeks Annie and Emma have been talking about how they would soon be five years old. Now that the day is here, they seem a tiny bit wistful pondering that being five means they are no longer four. I understand that. We look forward […]

Before we have kids, parenting is a black and white process. Like a textbook or a flow chart you put on the refrigerator door. On any particular issue, if “yes” follow this arrow. If “no”, follow this arrow.
But then the baby comes and you realize babies don’t read books and they don’t do flow charts. […]

For the past few years I’ve worked a part-time job at the Team Shop in America West Arena. It’s where the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the Arena Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play. Like airports, it’s a venue that allows one to observe all sorts of human behavior and interaction. Anytime there are 10,000 plus people […]

What will your kids be looking at in the picture albums when they become adults?
Children learn what they live. What kind of environment are we creating for our children? What are we doing to help them develop a sense of identity and place? How do we teach our kids about God and His faithfulness?
Joshua 4 […]

Stop. Look. Listen.
Sound advice for drivers approaching railroad tracks.
It’s also good advice for parents.
At 11:30 this night I stopped, looked and listened in the doorway of my babies’ nursery. Opening the door slowly, I peeked in. Maybe it was fatigue from a long day at work or maybe it was a reflective moment. But I […]

It was relatively quiet for a late afternoon at the Omaha airport. I was waiting out a two hour layover, pondering the price of a Diet Coke and cookie I had just purchased. “$5.80? Pardon me, miss, but is there a major league baseball game going on behind this counter?” She gave me an “I […]

Last week I got to take my girls to play group for the first time. Usually it’s the Mommy that takes kids to play group but this day Daddy got to go.
It was great fun to watch all the little ones play. It was at the Kaylor’s and we had an Easter egg hunt. Todd […]

Last February I took my Dad to a Phoenix Suns game. We had a great time even though the Chicago Bulls weren’t the toughest opponent. When you go to a game with your Dad, it doesn’t really matter who’s playing.
Early in the 2nd quarter, a young family showed up to occupy the empty seats next […]

They played quietly by the couch, behind their Aunt Cora’s large black antique trunk that serves as a coffee table in the living room. On the other side of the trunk, Christmas chaos. There were 22 people in the house this holiday night. Children made up 50% of that number and accounted for 96% of […]

Tonight was bath night for the girls. Just like every other bath night.
It begins with them in their high chairs. Goldfish crackers in the crease of their shirts and peaches in their hair. Sweet, sticky faces with baby tooth grins. They signal dinner is over by backhanding their mostly empty sippy cups onto the floor. […]