Fezziwig’s Window
I was 17, a senior in high school and spending my first Christmas with my driver’s license. It was sometime after dark on Christmas Eve, my favorite day of the […]
CSI: North Pole
A couple of months ago, our dog Digger lost a tooth and so the kids decided to put it in a bag and put it under their pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Later that night, after I had slipped the tooth away and was in the process of slipping a […]
Darkness and Light
The other night, I sat at church and watched the Christmas concert for my sons’ Catholic school. I watched with an overflowing heart as my kindergartner and my big first grader sang, one with a giant smile on his face, the other studiously singing the words as he seemed to […]
Returning to Church
We hadn’t been to church for a while…In fact, it might have been well over a year since we last went (I know, I know). We decided that advent was as good of a time as any to return, so we went this past Sunday. With the Catholic school rubbing […]
Wise Guy with Candy Canes
Just before Christmas, Matthew and I were walking out of daycare with him holding candy canes. He explained to me that he had three candy canes, “One for me, one for Benjamin and one for you, daddy.” He then proceeded to accidentally drop one of the candy canes, breaking it. […]
Technology is Amazing, Charlie Brown
I loved Christmas specials on television growing up. I can still remember the excitement as the colorful “Special Presentation” (or whatever it said) words would spin in a multi-colored kaleidoscope on to the screen, announcing that a Christmas show was about to come on. While I still enjoy many of them, my […]
The Christmas Cardinal
Growing up in a large family, one of the more exciting parts of the Christmas season was Pollyanna where we would pick each others names out of a hat and secretly leave little gifts or candy for the person we picked. With the boys as young as they are, we […]
Christmas Past: Bittersweet Christmas
I wrote this seven years ago…It was just after we discovered that Andrea was pregnant with Benjamin. Christmas was bittersweet. I never thought it possible have joy clash with grief in the manner that it did. We found out after Christmas Eve Mass that Andy’s grandmother had possibly suffered a […]
Christmas Memories
I’ve said it before…I love Christmas. It was always magical to me as a kid, but that magic was lost for a while. Now, as new magic is created through my children, I always think back to my own childhood (and after) memories. I wrote the below a few years […]
Homemade Christmas Presents
Last night, Benjamin and Matthew decided to make Christmas presents for Andrea and I. They disappeared into the office and proceeded to discuss and create the perfect gifts (with some arguing and lots of giggling). At one point, as I passed the office door, I heard papers quickly get shuffled […]
It's The Papa 