“Lael, don’t. Daddy will get mad,” Seth says two or three times while I am working. “What is Lael trying to do?” I ask as his words finally cut through the fog. “Lael wants to thumbtack the blanket to the floor.” “Lael NO! That’s very creative and very wrong.” “Dad, ...

Let’s say you have millions of pounds of tomato products that have high levels of mold. Do you: Throw the stuff away and claim a tax break? Reprocess the sauce as animal feed? Bribe a food industry exec and certify the products as safe? If you answered 3, you might ...

I was checking out at Trader Joe’s a couple days ago when I noticed a note taped to the raised chunk of wood customers use to sign checks. Customers were being warned to not eat Chocolate Chip Chewy Coated Granola Bars or else risk getting a serious food-related illness. The ...

My wife is afflicted with MJD. When I met Anne back in the 1990s, the symptoms were mild and mostly contained to beads. For whatever reason, the disease did not take root in me, though sometimes the beads would become ingrained in my flesh when I stepped on them. In ...

If you are trying to pick out books for your children or teens to read, my wife offers this years’ Cybils winners on her site. Judges poured through the books of 2009 to find parents the best of the best for their children. It’s a great list!

"I'll keep you from reading if you don't give me another Skittle." -- Lael, employing a classic technique for extorting candy from her brother.

For chicken, the USDA has supplied schools with thousands of tons of meat from old birds that might otherwise go to compost or pet food. Called “spent hens” because they’re past their egg-laying prime, the chickens don’t pass muster with Colonel Sanders – KFC won’t buy them – and they ...

My daughter is big on cutting things up; she'll use the scissors on just about anything. I decided to blog this straight from my new Blackberry Tour, though I'm guessing the photo will be turned the wrong way. (Yup, looks like I'll have to remember to always shoot the camera ...

“Dad, we’re pretending we’re on a date.” That’s what my 7-year-old son said as he sat on a rocking bench with his arm around a red-headed girl 4 inches taller than himself. Actually, the girl, who Seth plays golf with, is only one day older than my boy. But her ...

Lael is always thinking. Thinking of ways to cause trouble. Oh, I don’t think she means too, but, well, she’s creative. Today as I walked into the bathroom, I noticed her pink camera sitting in the sink. At first I thought it was dry, just sitting there, but water poured ...