Sam is thirteen and has a mind that goes a million miles an hour. Watch the video to see his three tips about how to get to sleep. In our family, three of us are night owls and three of us are early birds. We’ve all been like this from birth. The night owls can’t...Continue Reading
This is a reprint of a story I shared in Love Rules. It’s about how God loves us and redeems the most dead parts of us. Ultimately, this is a story about Good Friday. No one is ever really ready for a dog. You think you are, but you can’t imagine the bolt-upright-in-bed terror...Continue Reading
No one really needs a puppy. In fact, it’s probably a good life strategy to assume you will be most productive if you never adopt a puppy. Unless you have four kids under the age of twelve and a long summer right around the corner. First Reason We Need a Puppy Right Now Our dog...Continue Reading
Our family is back from almost two weeks of vacation. We have done justice to the Family Road Trip. We have travelled thousands of miles in our dirty minivan. We have peed in hot gas station bathrooms and eaten terrible breakfasts at hole-in-the-wall cafes. Yesterday we drove 900 miles in a little over 13 hours. Instead of stopping for...Continue Reading
Our Cocker Spaniel, Madison, turns 16 this year. Even though she has no major health issues, she’s at the upper end of life expectancy, and our vet has started to prepare us for the inevitable. She has lost a few pounds since her last check-up, her fur is slowly falling out, her eyes have cataracts, she can’t hear, her nose...Continue Reading
If life is divided into trimesters, I am smack-dab in the middle of the second one, the Parenting Years. The First Trimester was about growing up, finding what I’m good and not so good at, building relationships, and falling in love with my husband. The First Trimester was a selfish one, doing more of what felt good...Continue Reading
We wrapped up our Mardi Gras weekend by marching in the Barkus & Meaux Pet Parade in Galveston. As ambassadors for Greyhounds everywhere, the kids walked our hounds (plus a few that we borrowed) down the Seawall in gorgeous 80-degree weather, throwing hundreds of Mardi Gras beads, and introducing everyone they could to the Greyhounds....Continue Reading
My friend, who is a vet, calls me a breedist and cringes every time I stereotype dog breeds. She insists that each dog has a unique personality and stereotyping breeds makes people overlook the individual animal. Maybe so, but I think most people are breedists. It’s just sort of conventional wisdom that Golden Retrievers are...Continue Reading
Traveling with kids–traveling with four kids, one too young to carry his own stuff–is an ordeal. They want to help with all the packing, and unpacking, and transporting, but they don’t know what they’re doing. And they have crazy ideas, like stuffing all the bags full of toys, and rollerblades, and pita chips. So, now...Continue Reading
Today’s FAQ is with Madison, our 14-year-old Cocker Spaniel. She’s here to disprove the conventional wisdom, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Madison’s newest trick is pooping everywhere in the house. We’re here to get to the bottom (pun intended) of this new “trick.” FAQ #1: Madison, after 14 years as a Hergenrader,...Continue Reading
