Long trips are no fun.  Especially with a six year old who seldom sits still.  Despite the modern technology of the DVD player in the car, we continued to hear the resounding sentence coming from the back seat, “Are we there yet?”  An eight-hour trip ended up feeling like 16 with the impatience that filled…

In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is subject to wearing a scarlet A on her chest to show that, while her husband was supposedly lost at sea, she had an affair and bore a daughter. She would not tell who the father was disspite preasure from the “town fathers”. Even…

Have you ever seen a picture of a grin that makes your skin crawl?  Like the Grinch on the old cartoon, or Tim Curry in Legend where he plays the devil?  Maybe it’s the bad guy in a movie where the actor or actress does a really good job of being over-the-top creepy.  Whenever I…

You’ve seen the kits in the store. The mold kits where you can make lasting impressions of your child’s hands or feet. It is a memory maker where you get to remember how tiny they were at certain stages in their lives. Our kids made these hand impressions last Christmas (with the help of their…

Looking at the picture on the left, who do you think is the oldest? What if I told you that the “oldest” isn’t who you think it is. Something that has always stricken me as odd since I have been a Christian is the matter of “age”. When I was in my 20s, I never…

Big and magnificent! Impeccably structured for ultimate protection during conflict. It’s a fortress in San Marino. It lies more than 2,000 feet above the Italian countryside. Historically fortresses are built on high ground with thick walls that can reach up to 21 feet thick. In a time of battle, the fortress was a safe haven,…

I’ve always had an infatuation with Mickey Mouse. When I was three years old, my mom got me a GIANT stuffed Mickey Mouse for Christmas (see picture, Mickey was an excellent tea party guest). I always loved that Mickey and still have him to this day even though he has seen better days. For so…

So you may not like tea or even ever made tea. But more than likely you have at least made A cup of tea at some point in your life. My daughter Lydia LOVES tea sets! She requested one for her eighth birthday. In a slight miscommunication, my sister and I BOTH got her tea…

Mount Everest! It’s gorgeous! It’s MASSIVE! And in an attempt to conquer such a mountain, you may face death! Anyone who has ever climbed this mountain has been forever changed. The planning is long, the training is hard, and the cost is unbelievable (anywhere from 25 to 60 THOUSAND dollars). You have to be in…

Fire. It destroys thousands of acres each year, it takes countless homes and lives, it is a force not to be reckoned with. Though it is not always a bad thing as we use it for cooking, heating, and sometimes as soothing light in a relaxing bubble bath or a romantic dinner for a loved…