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A Family Runs Through It

  • Babies



    I love a good slice-of-life documentary, and this one looks like fun. The movie follows four babies at different locations around the world, from birth to their first steps.

    It doesn't hurt that the filmmakers picked "Perpetual Self" by Sufjan Stevens to feature in the trailer.[...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 5:06am EST

  • Clone Wars Giveaway



    In my younger days, I would've been all over this.

    Star Wars was my main obsession during several years of my childhood and there wasn't much about that film that got past me.

    Life was simple back then. I had the time to be a [...]
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    Posted: November 30, 2009, 5:16am EST

  • The Feast



    At Disneyland's Carnation Cafe, on Main Street, my kids love to order the Peanut Butter Painter's Palette. They get to build their own sandwich from marshmallows, raisins, bananas, grape jelly, and peanut butter.

    I really should do more of this kind of thing at home, letting [...]
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    Posted: November 26, 2009, 6:04am EST

  • The Best Kids and Family CDs of 2009

    The Fids and Kamily Music Awards have been announced! That's the yearly poll that compiles a list of the year's best CDs for kids and families. I was happy to be one of the 23 judges for a third straight year.

    They Might Be Giants tops the judges'' [...]
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    Posted: November 25, 2009, 4:15am EST

  • Disney Idol



    One of the days we were in Disneyland, the usually tranquil Main Street was clogged with equipment and sets for filming of ABC's Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, with Ryan Seacrest hosting the festivities.

    It annoyed me for several reasons. Mostly, though, it was [...]
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    Posted: November 24, 2009, 5:11am EST

  • A Man's Castle

    Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland is probably the most photographed castle in the world.

    I certainly took my fair share of pictures of it on our trip.

    We were lucky to be there for the changing of the season when the castle is decked out in the ultimate [...]
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    Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:20am EST

  • The Disneyland Flu



    I'm still processing our recent trip to Disneyland and Southern California, both mentally and photographically.

    Thank goodness for those photos, because a big chunk of our vacation feels like a hazy memory right now.

    I blame the media.

    I had planned this trip a' [...]
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    Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:48am EST

  • Are You Smarter Than A 2nd Grader?

    Six months later, I'm finally posting that test I made last May to wrap up my daughter's homeschooling year.

    It's an assortment of 50 questions from most of the topics she studied.

    Sample questions:

    What is the past tense of the verb "are"?

    Who was the' [...]
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    Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:58am EST

  • True Blue Giveaway

    I must confess that I had never read any David Baldacci before his publisher sent me a copy of his new novel, True Blue.

    Oh, his name was familiar. Baldacci is a best-selling writer of mostly political and legal thrillers. I'd seen the Clint Eastwood movie, Absolute' [...]
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    Posted: November 15, 2009, 8:12pm EST

  • Vacation and Voting

    This past week we've been on a little family vacation to sunny Southern California.

    We went to Disneyland, California Adventure, Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, and the San Diego Zoo.

    Okay, so maybe that's not a "little" vacation.

    Certainly not with 1,458 photos to sort through. I' [...]
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    Posted: November 13, 2009, 5:09am EST

  • Circle Time

    Another post I found in my archives. From four years ago:

    My 4-year-old daughter was running around and around the kitchen island while I was cooking dinner tonight. After the tenth circle, I reached out and grabbed her, lifted her high and asked, "What in the world are you" [...]
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    Posted: November 09, 2009, 6:03am EST

  • Where's The Fire?



    I still enjoy seeing the little Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars spread all over the house.

    It means they're being played with and loved.

    And my kids' imaginations are being stoked by a little piece of plastic and metal, like this yellow firetruck I found [...]
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    Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:01am EST

  • Life-Changing Music



    Another fun post from the archives. Back in 2005, in response to a challenge by Shotgun Daddy, I made a list of my ten "life-changing" albums:

    1. The Banana Splits
    The first album that I can remember owning. I still have it somewhere. There [...]
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    Posted: November 04, 2009, 3:42am EST

  • Origins of Homeschooling

    Browsing back through my blog archives, I found a post from 2005 that reminded me why we started thinking about homeschooling in the first place.

    It was a conversation I had with my son, who was in the second grade at the time:

    Me: "Did you go to" [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 3:57am EST

  • Zombies In The Mist

    The zombies were out and about at Silverwood Theme Park. Or, Scarywood, as they've been calling it this month.






    Zombies gotta eat!


    There were evil scarecrows as well.


    The only escape was on the Midfright' [...]
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    Posted: October 30, 2009, 5:25am EDT

  • Boarded Up

    My 8-year-old daughter announced that she wants a skateboard for Christmas.

    My response: "Absolutely not, never in a million years, just get over it."

    She already has a bike, a scooter, and a pair of roller skates.

    Enough is enough.

    Am I wrong? [...]
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    Posted: October 28, 2009, 4:39am EDT

  • The Singing Lizard

    A singing lizard?

    Yeah, I thought the same thing. This is going to be like the singing chipmunks, or that dancing hamster.

    But the lizard in question turns out to be Liz DeRoche, a talented singer/songwriter who has released her first children's CD, titled Alphabeat.

    Her debut' [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 4:25am EDT

  • Watching The Wheels



    We spent most of Saturday at Silverwood, taking one last spin on the roller coasters and ferris wheels before they close for the winter.

    After seven years of holding season passes, we're taking the next year off.

    It's partly an economic decision. Things are tight [...]
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    Posted: October 26, 2009, 4:13am EDT

  • Standards

    Sometimes I feel like I have ridiculously high standards for my kids.

    Well, actually, I only feel that way after talking to other parents, where the popular sentiment seems to be a hands-off, que sera sera approach.

    And I can understand why they feel that way. For the [...]
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    Posted: October 22, 2009, 5:36am EDT

  • And The Winner Is...

    Last week I announced a contest to give away all five CDs from kids' singer Eric Herman.

    18 of you left a comment to win the discs. I wish I could send free CDs to all of you, but that might be asking a bit too much of' [...]
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    Posted: October 20, 2009, 4:36am EDT

  • Talking To Myself

    I know my son isn't deaf. He hears very well, in fact.

    But there are certain things I say to him, on an almost daily basis, that he seems to be unable to hear and process. It's like I'm just talking to myself.

    However, I continue to say' [...]
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    Posted: October 16, 2009, 4:45am EDT

  • Wordless Wednesday



    A whimsical little fish makes a break for it, outside the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, in Spokane, Washington. [...]
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    Posted: October 14, 2009, 5:17am EDT

  • The Eric Herman Giveaway

    No, I'm not giving away the singer.

    But I do have all five of Eric Herman's wonderful kids' CDs to send to one lucky reader.

    Eric has had an amazing run of albums, from his first disc back in 2003, The Kid In The Mirror, that struck gold' [...]
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    Posted: October 12, 2009, 4:40am EDT

  • The King of Blogs

    I had a chance to finally meet a fellow dad blogger last month.

    And when I decide to do something like that, I go all out.

    Whit Honea is the hardest working blogger in the business, a veritable King of Blogs. His parenting blog, The Honea Express, [...]
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    Posted: October 09, 2009, 4:26am EDT

  • Growing Up Too Fast

    "Experts said that by age six, girls needed branded clothes, at seven they wanted styled hair, by eight they were beginning diets, at nine they were styling their hair and by early teens were engaging in sex or sending sexually explicit text messages."

    So says a news article [...]
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    Posted: October 07, 2009, 5:17am EDT

  • A Diagnosis For Her Little Girl

    A guest post, of sorts, from Kevin at Always Home and Uncool. I've been reading his blog for quite awhile, and wanted to repost this important message from him to raise awareness about juvenile myositis, a rare autoimmune disease that his daughter was diagnosed with on this day seven' [...]
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    Posted: October 03, 2009, 2:55am EDT

  • Wordless Wednesday



    One of the joys of homeschooling.

    Not for the cat, obviously. [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2009, 9:00pm EDT

  • The Watcher in the Woods

    Strange experience at my son's soccer practice this evening.

    Shortly after arriving, I took my place on a nearby grassy hill along with the other parents.

    Along one side of the soccer field is a forested area. I soon noticed that there was a man in the woods,' [...]
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    Posted: September 29, 2009, 3:50am EDT

  • Imperial Bedroom



    She wanted a pink bedroom, so I bought pink paint.

    Then she wanted a purple bedroom, so I bought purple paint.

    Then she wanted both, so I gave her a two-tone room, with opposite walls of each color.

    Then she wanted a real bed [...]
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    Posted: September 25, 2009, 5:40am EDT

  • The Short Walk

    I'm getting emails from people who think I've gone insane.

    They ask, "Why would you leave your family for months and months to walk across the country?"

    I should've been more specific.

    It will take me only six days to walk across the country.

    Oh. Maybe' [...]
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    Posted: September 22, 2009, 3:02am EDT

  • The Long Walk

    I've made a big decision to go for a long walk.

    Next summer I'll leave my wife and children, and my long-occupied comfort zone, to embark on a personal odyssey.

    I will be walking across the country.

    From one coast to the other.

    For charity, for [...]
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    Posted: September 21, 2009, 4:04am EDT

  • Switcheroo

    For her birthday, my daughter received a box of Bendaroos, these flexible wax-covered sticks that you can easily bend and twist into imaginative shapes.

    Strangely, if you read the reviews of this toy at Amazon, opinions are almost evenly split between "Bendaroos are awesome, we loved them!" and [...]
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    Posted: September 18, 2009, 3:20am EDT

  • The Joy of Eating



    Walking through the grocery store, my son pointed to this food display and said, "They're telling us that eating makes you fat."

    The point of the marketing campaign was clearly that having a mouthful of Sara Lee products will bring joy to your life.

    But' [...]
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    Posted: September 16, 2009, 4:44am EDT

  • Happy Food



    How can you resist such happy food? My wife made these jello slices in orange peels because she's just clever like that.

    Speaking of food that will make you happy, I have the winners of the Sunsweet Dried Pineapple Giveaway from a few weeks ago!' [...]
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    Posted: September 11, 2009, 1:20am EDT

  • Summer Is Over



    Four days into our school year, and summer seems like a distant memory now.

    I'm thinking back, just two weeks ago, sitting on this beach near Seattle, on the Puget Sound. The kids played in the sand and water the entire day, digging for clams and' [...]
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    Posted: September 09, 2009, 3:45am EDT

  • The Kids in the Basement

    When we started homeschooling three years ago, my son and I took over a corner of the family room with a couple of desks and a small shelf. That cozy space served its purpose well during those first two years when it was just him and me.

    We knew [...]
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    Posted: September 07, 2009, 3:14am EDT

  • The Best Year Ever

    This blog has not been receiving much of my attention over the past week.

    I've been planning for The Best Year Ever!

    That's what I'm calling the new homeschool year, which began on Thursday with a couple of half days before we switch our brains over to full [...]
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    Posted: September 05, 2009, 4:08am EDT

  • Tubing Dad



    Tubing on Lake Pend O'Reille.

    This is about as extreme as I get.' [...]
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    Posted: September 01, 2009, 3:11pm EDT

  • The Sweetest Giveaway

    We've always encouraged our kids to eat healthy snacks. My son has been a carrot muncher from his first days of solid food. My daughter can devour an entire bag of dried mangoes in one sitting.

    Oh, sure, sometimes we get a craving for Pringle's potato chips or Snyder's [...]
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    Posted: August 28, 2009, 4:50am EDT

  • Hello, Seattle!



    We just returned from a spontaneous mini-vacation to Seattle. More about that later. For now, enjoy a few photos from our trip. Come back on Friday for a big "fruity" giveaway.











    [...]
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    Posted: August 27, 2009, 4:50am EDT

  • Soak Up The Summer



    Excuse me while I ignore my blog for a few days. We've been a little busy enjoying the last of summer.

    Yesterday we went boating on Lake Pend O'Reille with a friend. While the kids had a blast playing "pirate" on a giant floating tube, I [...]
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    Posted: August 21, 2009, 5:09am EDT

  • Wordless Wednesday



    Yes! My son is old enough to mow the lawn by himself.

    And that means I finally have some free time...

    ...to work in the yard on all the other things that need to be done.

    The fantasy was that I could just stretch [...]
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    Posted: August 19, 2009, 5:23am EDT

  • Three Cool Kids CDs

    We've been listening to quite a few new kids CDs this summer. Some good, some not so good. Here are three of the better ones. You can't go wrong buying these discs for your children:

    Mariana Iranzi - Aventura Collage

    Iranzi's style of music can be best [...]
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    Posted: August 17, 2009, 6:18pm EDT

  • Puffball the Hamster, RIP



    Puffball T. Hamster
    August 2007 - August 2009 [...]
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    Posted: August 14, 2009, 1:23am EDT

  • Wordless Wednesday



    My son, and friends, crash the waves at the Boulder Beach wave pool. [...]
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    Posted: August 12, 2009, 4:45am EDT

  • Only In The Movies

    Back when I was an impressionable pre-teen, my mother foolishly took my sister and me to see this brand-new movie that everyone was talking about.

    I vividly remember that magical afternoon as Star Wars unfolded on the big screen, and my eyes were suddenly opened up to the wonderful [...]
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    Posted: August 10, 2009, 12:00am EDT

  • Ten Cool Things For Kids In North Idaho



    I've been writing over at the Uptake travel blog again.

    Check out my latest post:

    Ten Cool Things For Kids In North Idaho

    Grown-ups will enjoy them too.' [...]
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    Posted: August 06, 2009, 4:05am EDT

  • Watching The River Run

    Summer fun continues... We spent today playing in the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. We have to squeeze all we can out of these warm days. Temperatures are supposed to drop 30 degrees by the end of the week!


    Watching the river run

    [...]
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    Posted: August 04, 2009, 3:46am EDT

  • Ants In Our Pants!

    The winner of the new Eric Herman CD is Brighid. Congrats!

    Oh, and that video contest Eric is having on YouTube? We made a little entry.

    What do you think? Can we dance like we've got ants in our pants, or what?

    ' [...]
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    Posted: July 31, 2009, 3:55am EDT

  • A Recovering Pack Rat

    One more article I wrote for the San Diego Reader in 2005...


    I'm A Recovering Pack Rat

    Last night it took me just over two hours to pick up and put away every toy, game, puzzle, doll, crayon, pillow, blanket, cup, rock, and book strewn about on' [...]
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    Posted: July 30, 2009, 3:15am EDT
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