One day last week when I had just two kids at home, I stopped with them at Panda Express for dinner.  Our five year old, not known for her appetite, declared that she was having orange chicken and nothing else. I scanned the menu and saw that a single serving of orange chicken was...
Read more »

…you may find that she dozes from time to time… …but it is best to cover her eyes during the scary parts. After all, you don’t want her to have scary dreams.
Read more »

After running errands with my girls this morning, we grabbed deli chicken to bring home to the family for lunch. My 5 year old dug into her piece, tearing off the skin to eat it with gusto. “I just love chicken peels!” she said happily.
Read more »

… and my 7 year old daughter just came in and said, “Wow, usually when I see something that looks this good, it’s not in our house.” I think that’s a compliment…?  As well as a dis of the entire rest of the house.
Read more »

Amid the clattering of hundreds of Legos being cleaned up by half a dozen hands, my 11 year old son came over to where I was sitting. He put his hands on my knees, leaned down, and looked me in the eyes. “It’s the story of a family,” he said wisely. “Mess. Clean up....
Read more »

You might remember that this spring we got 18 chickens with the plan of having a flock of egg-layers. The feed store only had straight run chicks, so we figured we’d just make chicken dinner out of whatever roosters we happened to get. Well, roosters we had in abundance. Loud ones. And for those...
Read more »

The other morning John went outside to see if the irrigation water had arrived yet. Since it is getting to be that time of year, he sprayed himself with mosquito spray. When he came back inside, the four year old looked up and sniffed. “Daddy!” she said, “You smell like mosquito bites!” ———- Stay...
Read more »

When storytime turns unexpectedly into naptime, it’s good to have a comfy sister to sleep on.
Read more »

After an apparent tooth fairy…umm…malfunction last night, my sweet 6 year old decided that the reason the tooth fairy had not found her tooth was because the tooth had slipped under her doll. I gratefully agreed and told her to put the tooth in an easier-to-spot location. (Because under the pillow is so much...
Read more »

Here’s what happened Saturday when I asked my big boys to tear down an old playhouse. Also featured in the film are my two little girls and Beth (my son-in-law’s sister). Cameos by various other family members, including yours truly. Extreme Makeover: Playhouse Edition from Saitek Maddix on Vimeo.
Read more »