American Heritage Girl

“I promise to love God, Cherish my family, Honor my country, and Serve in my community.” ~ American Heritage Girls Oath My daughter participates in AHG instead of Girl Scouts, a growing trend among Christians and conservatives who think that the Girl Scouts have gotten too liberal. It’s your basic God, country, and excellence program…

Dollar Scoop Nite

“My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy the ice cream while it’s on your plate” ~ Thornton Wilder So many flavors!

Funny!

“Nothing shows a man’s character more than what he laughs at.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The puppet show at our friend’s birthday party was funny – cf. this photo.

Sharks and dolphins and whales, O My!

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. ~ Albert Einstein In case you can’t recognize these three creatures, they are a shark, a dolphin, and a whale, according to my 4 year old boy. Gotta love the imagination when the electronics are turned off!

Ice cream makes me KWAYZEE!

Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos.  ~Don Kardong Tuesday nights is dollar scoop night at Baskin Robbins. We go even during the winter because it gets us all out of the house instead of being cooped up, and it’s festive to get ice cream. Here’s my youngest mugging for the camera.

Sisters piggybacking

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.  ~ Marion C. Garretty My oldest (the responsible one) and my youngest (the effusive one). A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.  ~Marion C. Garretty

I won, you lost!

“That’s what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we’ve changed because of it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.” ~ Richard Bach Every morning when I drop…

Like a gerbil

“I love to go to the playground and watch the children jumping up and down. They don’t know I’m firing blanks.” ~ Emo Philips My kids love to play at the local FunWorks. Here’s a pic on the inside – yes, I go inside too :D.

Girl in a pipe

“It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities and talents.” ~ Eric Hoffer My youngest makes great faces, esp. when she is concentrating.

Children are affected by their environment

“The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.” ~ G. K. Chesterton My boy is normally an angel from heaven, but put him around bad people, and see what happens? See the following pic for even more proof.

Piscetti girl

No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention. ~ Christopher Morley My third and youngest child has a big personality. Here she is creating her usual facial mess with ‘piscetti.’ Kids make life fun.  More photos below, but not cropped or edited.

Hollywood starlet

“The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise” ~ Alden Nowlan My 7 year old daughter chose a Halloween costume called ‘Hollywood Starlet.’ I hate when they grow up three years at…

Boy in the rear-view

“A boy is a magical creature – you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can’t lock him out of your heart.” ~ Allan Beck There are certain times when your kids are just adorable – mostly when they are quiet ;). Like when they are sleeping, or in the moments like this…

Cowgirl with lamb

“The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you’re doing, someone else does” ~ Anonymous My little girl with lambie in one hand, tail in the other. Patterson Halloween parade – hundreds of kids from local schools walked down the center of town to parade in their…

All my joy

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them Psalm 127:4-5 Missing out on raising children would have been missing out on life – nothing else compares – not fulfilling your potential, seeing the world, or accomplishing great…

Kids rejoicing in a rock climb

“Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable” ~ Plato My boy, surrounded by his cousins (5 of my brother’s 6 kids). Nothing like putting like-aged boys together. What fun!

Princess slippers

Let your dreams outgrow the shoes of your expectations. ~ Ryunosuke Satoro My two year old loves to take pictures of whatever she thinks is interesting see What a girls sees). She loves her ‘princess shoes.’ She wears them out! This is actually her second pair.

Bluebeard

My two year old is a messy eater. This is purple cupcake icing. She has, as you can see, really large eyes. This may be what is known in Mexico as ojos tapatios, which is a complement given to women from the Mexican state of Jalisco (my wife’s birthplace), who are known for having large,…

A place to learn

“If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?” ~ Dr. Laurence J. Peter My brainy 6 year-old and her new desk setup. She is so pleased to have a place to do her homework, other than the kitchen table.

Inspired art

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~ Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) My 6 year-old daughter’s depiction of father and mother.