We used to run 5Ks and 10Ks and even took the kids along. When they were one-year-old, we split them between two strollers and pushed them as we ran. Then when they were two and three, we took turns running, and the parent not racing cheered together with the kids from the
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 Spencer, Molly, Charlie, and Pierce--at the zoo in Amarillo (wearing their colors for easy identification). The first book I wrote was a children’s picture book. It came to fruition only after my sister graciously let me come stay with her and her husband at their home in Amarillo, TX. I’d completed the written story and I needed some intensive work time to get all the illustrations done.
 In the Opera House in Central City, Colorado after seeing Faust This week in history was an eventful time for us in 1992. This was the week we found out we had four babies on the way. I was as nauseated as all get out, making us suspicious that we might have two babies in there
 One of the most valuable gifts a parent can give to a child is the gift of reading. Of course, in time not all kids are going to become “readers.” It’s a bit of a personal preference and you can’t make a child love reading. But by reading to them regularly when they are young, you can build a foundation that will help them be better thinkers, do better in school, have a wider knowledge base, and perhaps even discover the love of reading for themselves. Plus you'll get to go on amazing adventures together (and avoid a lot of television time!).
 The media is rife with coverage about cops and events surrounding their activities. There are private groups called "copwatchers" that listen to police scanners in order to arrive at possible incidents and film, just in case something happens. That’s how July 5th’s shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge was recorded and then released into the public on social media for everyone to see and decide for themselves what happened—and to incite someone angry enough or mentally unstable enough to ambush more police officers in Baton Rouge just a few minutes ago as I write this.
 I didn’t even know what a farrier was until a family friend went away to a farrier school and became one. I still don’t know a lot about the specific skills and talents used in the practice, but I know it takes special abilities and a love of horses.
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Nicola Amati wasn’t a lecherous man but an artist with impassioned emotions that coursed fiercely through his veins. When the ripe French lass surrendered to his amorous advances during his court visit, she was simply naïve. She accepted his gift of the violin, a token of his devotion, he said, a violin he slipped away from the order he was to deliver to Catherine de Medici for her full orchestra.  Almost twenty years ago, we had an incredible addition to our family. My niece Sara was born. Well, everyone is born, so what’s the big deal you may ask? The reason she was such an incredible addition was the way it came about. (Plus, well, she’s just a really incredible person!)
 When a writer begins his or her book, there is always a little bit (and sometimes a lot a bit) of delusions of grandeur. You have visions of amazing things that will take place in the future: your guest appearance on the Tonight Show, accepting that Oscar for best something or other (maybe they’ll make a new category just for your own type of book), or having Oprah read it and love it and tweet it out to all her fans.
 On this day, July 12, in 1960, Etch a Sketch debuted and went on to become one of the best selling toys in the 20th Century, being inducted in 1998 into the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, NY. Originally, it sold for $2.99. Now it’s about $15 at Wal-Mart or $3.99 at a thrift store. It’s probably been eclipsed by electronic tablets for kids that are a lot easier to use—and take a lot less planning and coordination.
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