When our older kids were younger, we were happiness-rich, but money-poor. We needed to create for our family a holiday season that was built upon experiences and family togetherness instead of monetary things. We were setting ourselves up for wonderfully connected holiday seasons.

Meet our dog of the week Sandra Day O’Connor, a two-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier!

Sandy is an energetic and enthusiastic girl: what we call a “Rambunctious Rover.” This means that she can get really excited over little things.

I kind of short-changed you all last week with only two suggestions of Christmas gifts for the gardener (although they were fabulous ideas in my humble opinion). Here are a few more to sink your soon-to-be acquired Hori-Hori into…

During this dark and often dreary time of year it’s always fun to pile the kids in the car, bring along some hot cocoa to sip on, play Christmas music, and take a drive around local neighborhoods looking at Christmas light displays.

Every young man can probably envision himself as part of the next Beach Boys, Beatles or Rolling Stones. Why do I say that? Because that’s what I remember thinking when I was a young man. Like many boys (and girls), I took music lessons. In my own case, it was piano, then guitar.