During my vacation this year, I had the good fortune of being able to spend a week at my grandmother’s cabin at Donner Lake. And this year, my aunt had left a kayak for us to use. The previous night I had tried it out and taken my sons on a short loop in the [...]
I believe I’ve blogged about this before, but lately in Northern California, we’ve had high heat and smoke everywhere from the many fires burning in our state. This, along with high energy costs, leads to a new urgency to… wait for it… keep the door closed!
I don’t want to cool the neighborhood! (Of course I took engineering [...]
Lately, my son Joshua has had some trouble with drawing on the floor, walls, furniture, and windows with crayons. We’ve always had an understanding that crayons are only to be used on paper, and he can answer the question, “Where do we used crayons?” “On paper, Dad.” But temptation strikes, and our little artist feels [...]
Yesterday afternoon, my kids were starting to get a little bit of cabin fever. It was hot, and the air had been smoky for most of the day, but by late afternoon, the air had cleared a bit and a cool breeze was blowing. “Why don’t you go outside and play, Johnny?” I [...]
A recent study claims that kids in daycare have better immune systems than those with stay-at-home parents, possibly leading to a reduced likelihood of leukemia. See the New York Times article here.
This makes me feel a lot better about the various sicknesses that some of our church kids passed around recently. You see, as it [...]
In Memoriam
Oscar Myra Mendoza Whitney (Myra)
1994-2008
Last night (April 30), our long-haired miniature dachshund, Myra escaped from the back yard. When we realized it late last night, I went searching for her in the neighborhood and after about 45 minutes, found her across Jefferson Blvd. (a busy, highway-like street with 4 lanes). She had been hit by [...]
Johnny had a birthday party for some of his little friends last Saturday.
We always struggle with the gift issue. Eleanor wants to have a “no gifts” party, and I imagine what that would feel like for the kids. They bring presents to all of their friends’ parties. Is it fair for them not to get [...]
Eleanor and I were having a conversation over lunch and the topic of the church came up. I said something about the church not being my church. Well my son Johnny said, “It is your church, daddy,”
“No Johnny,” I replied, “It’s Jesus’ church. And he’s my boss.”
Without skipping a beat, Johnny responded, “He’s everyone’s boss.”
Then [...]
I was just holding my 6-week-old daughter in my arms. It was actually a pretty special moment. She was almost smiling as she gazed into Daddy’s eyes. But then she started to get sleepy. And she hadn’t had her pink eye drops yet. So I held little Lydia as her mother dosed her with the [...]
“Can I have some apple juice?” my son Joshua asked.
“Sure,” I responded.
“DAD, HE ALREADY ASKED MOM AND SHE SAID NO!” my older son Johnny yelled.
Yes, Joshua has discovered the fine art of continuing to ask until you get the answer you want. Dave Barney, a system software director I worked for for a while, called [...]
Our daughter Lydia arrived in an unexpected way (surprise!) When we arrived at the hopsital for the scheduled c-section - a bit disappointed - we learned that Eleanor was far enough along that they could induce labor after all. (We thought that was impossible because she had had a previous c-section.) Sixteen and a half [...]
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know that this is the time of year when I get worried about the church finances… But if you’re expecting me to write about that, you’re in for a surprise.
Well, baby Lydia is due in two days. We are really looking forward to seeing her, and we’d love it if Eleanor would go into labor right now. Also, we’re buying a house and I’d love to start getting it ready to move into. There’s just too much time.
But there are so [...]
We’ve got a baby coming and day now and are also planning to move into a new house. It’s gotten much harder to do simple things…
Lately, as my kids have been getting bigger, I’ve noticed that t least one of them seems to be doing something I have an objection to almost all of the time. Johnny’s throwing a ball up to the ceiling and Joshua’s jumping off of a chair, or somebody’s pulling a pen out of the [...]
I just had a couple of weeks of vacation. Some of it was spent working on our house, but some of it was spent at my grandma’s cabin on Donner Lake.
At four-and-a-half years old, my son Johnny has reached the stage in his development where he works furiously to create indestructible sandcastles. he had a great [...]
I was getting ready to blog on all the projects we have been doing this week while I have time off from my job at the church - at least that was what I planned to write about until the disaster struck.
Johnny, my four-year-old son, put into words what a lot of people believe but won’t say. The other day we were just arriving at home after an outing and Johnny just came out and said, “I think my prayers don’t work or God doesn’t hear my prayers.”
“Why do you say that, Johnny?” Eleanor, my wife, [...]
My hat is off to those who care for children fulltime. Eleanor had some minor surgery about two weeks ago so I got to do what she does on a dily basis. It was very hard. That wasn’t a surprise to me, but experiencing something always makes it more real.
I love and [...]
I’ve experienced this a number times now so maybe it’s worth writing about…
Eleanor and I always used to take cameras along on our vacations and when we came home, we’d find that we had forgotten to take any pictures. Lately, with growing children, we’re more deliberate about taking the pictures. We want to remember each [...]