We’ve been on the Book Elf’s route for just over five years. He generally sneaks in, under the cover of night, leaving a new book in the flannel book bag on each December Friday leading up to Christmas. I must say, last year his existence was questioned mightily. Jacob set-up his…
We’ve got a number of family mottos ’round these parts. Go Big or Go Home. We bite Food, not Friends. Sunglasses: On your Face or in the Case. And of course our mother of all mottos: Brothers Stick Together. Another one goes something like: We’ve Never had a Good Donut…
Two short years ago, on Christmas Eve Eve, James and I each had in one earbud as he lay in the pre-op bed at Stanford. We had time for a ten minute meditation at most. We took deep, steady breaths. And we listened to something about picturing our future selves,…
Yesterday we enjoyed a quick visit from the Scotts Valley Purnells. It consisted of their usual Firestone fix, some denim shopping, and an adventurous creek walk. Watching newly minted 4-year-old Bry Bry brave the concrete wall “steps,” above the creek that actually has water in it, was a bit of a nail-biter. …
I love being a soccer mom. Love it. I’m not a baseball mom. At all. Even without the nacho cheese, it’s just not my gig. We’re about to start basketball. I don’t really know what basketball moms are like. I know quite a bit about basketball dads, but that’s a…
There’s this thing on the internet they call “Mom Hacks.” The name conjures homemade solutions to small inconveniences like California’s plastic straw ban— a mental image of kids sipping milk through empty toilet paper rolls. I’m probably totally wrong on that front. A quick search shows I should have said sipping…
Back in our old neighborhood, we were known as “The Leg Lamp” house. For years after we moved, Plat and Clarence would post to our Facebook pages “We miss you Leg Lamp!” We earned this rep because at Christmas time we’d proudly display our fishnetted Christmas Story lamp front and…
Two Saturdays ago, Jacob’s Halloween Party fantasies finally came true. Although given I’m the one that went to two grocery stores plus Target, wait make that three grocery stores, plus Target… and hauled the ice, set-up the taco buffet, lit the charcoal grill, hung the spiderwebs and remembered the trash cans,…
We used to call my car Lufthansa. That was back when it was James’ car and it hadn’t driven tens of thousands of miles carrying tens of thousands of house hunters. It had the luxury car acceleration. And silence. And smell. Then we traded in my previous vehicle, the Crop Duster, and…
Over the past two weeks or so, Jacob has developed an affinity for a Disney TV show called Bunk’d. From what I can tell, it’s a tween sitcom that takes place at a fictional summer camp called Camp Kikiwaka. There is one camper of most ethnic backgrounds including Ravi, Jorge,…