Like Her Papa

My little girl is shaping up to be a lot like me, which sucks for her, but it is fun to watch for now. Let me explain the ways Olivia is like me:

Number One: That Girl Can Eat
She eats...a lot. Not only does she eat a lot each time she sits down for a meal, she also is ready to consume all sorts of snacks and crackers in between those times. That's all fine and dandy while her body is growing more up than out, but if her metabolism or love for veggies gives out, we'll be transporting her via the crane and flatbed method.

Number Two: She's A Shy One
At home my little girl can gab and question and giggle and run. Not only can she, but in between meals she is all about doing something. But get her in situations where she has to interact with family or friends and she is Little Miss Cuddle Bug...at least for the 20 minutes. She usually adapts well to any situation we've put her in so far. It seems like she can get along with just about anyone too so that is nice.

Number Three: She's Not Short on Smarts
She's no dummy, that's for sure. I'm not signing her up for MENSA or anything, but she is definitely a smart cookie and that makes for a proud papa. I know. I know. Everyone thinks their kid is smart or above average just like everyone thinks they are an above average driver. You're not, okay! You suck at driving. Get off my butt and stop honking at me! Just because the light is green, you still have to wait your turn, dipwad. You see those people on the other side of the intersection? Well, they have a light too. Do you know what color their light is? That's right, it is green and they have the right of way at this particular moment so just chill.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I was talking about my awesome kid.

Number Four: She Might Be Colorblind
So it is too early to say, but as good as she is at identifying so many things like animals and shapes, she sucks at colors. For a long time her stock answer to the question, 'What color is this?' was a resounding, "YELLOW!". Consequently, she is also a big Coldplay fan so perhaps she was just making song requests.

It also doesn't help when her father is trying to teach her that a certain block is blue only to have her mom come in and inform me that it is purple. Crap. No wonder she thinks the sky is green. Maybe I should leave the color training to someone who doesn't have to ask what socks go with his outfit each morning.

Number Five: She's Not Sleepy
My little girl is a night owl for sure. She wakes up randomly at night too, which explains why I am now up. We both have a hard time getting to sleep and the thought of going to sleep usually feels like we're going to miss out on something great. She really doesn't like the idea of going to bed while other people in the house are still up. Even if it means just laying on the couch quietly soaking it all in, it is better than sitting alone in her room wondering what is going on in the living room.

Speaking of, I think someone is trying to be a stealthy ninja and sneak into see mommy. Maybe someday, Grasshopper, but for now you do not have your father's skills of cunning and misdirection.

Chicken Soup

If chickens were sentient beings, do you think they would drink their
own bath water when they were sick?

Sloppy Vito

I just created a new meal at dinner, I call it the Sloppy Vito. It is
kinda like a Sloppy Joe, but with left-over spaghetti sauce instead.

About Me

In no particular order, here are some things about me:

1. I don't like watching sports.

2. I have a mild case of germ phobia

3. I am slow to get angry, but also slow to forgive.

4. I prefer toothpaste to that disgusting gel and, of all the toothpaste, Colgate is the best.

5. I feel peanut butter should be creamy and goes best with strawberry jam on white bread.

6. I like guns.

7. I like pretty much everything from Pearl Jam.

8. I know that Superman could kick the crap out of Batman if he were so inclined.

9. I use sarcasm as a normal means of communication. Sometimes this gets me into trouble.

10. I am a perfectionist, but I'm not perfect. Sometimes I mistakes.

11. I am great at starting new projects.

12. I often consider the best place to go in a zombie apocalypse.

13. I am no longer allowed to play with the yoga ball indoors.

14. I love inventing new recipes. I just made a new cereal that combines Frosted Mini Wheats with raisins. I call it Raisin Wheats. That is mostly because Super Colon Blow was already taken.

15. I sometimes gross out my wife.

16. I think Gel style deodorant is icky. I prefer the spray on stuff now, even though it doesn't last as long.

17. I am a terrible singer despite what my wife says.

18. I am a wanna-be guitar hero. The real kind, nothing to do with the stupid game.

19. I think Guitar Hero is a stupid game even though I have never played it.

20. I sometimes judge a book by its cover.

21. I love a good sci-fi movie.

22. I hate when people are too quick to pass on the right.

23. I prefer watching movies at home.

24. I'm a night owl.

25. I don't like being blamed for things that aren't my fault.

26. If I had a nickle for every time someone said I looked like Edward Norton I would have 10 cents.

27. I'm a Mac.

28. I'm a problem solver.

29. I don't love making lists about myself.

30. I'd rather be rich than stupid.

31. I'm not as creative as I would like to be.

32. Is my favorite number, but I don't know why.

33. ...

Potty Time!

Olivia used the potty for real today!

She was applauded and given ice cream.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Carry on.

Breaking the Chains

As I prayed this morning, I found myself once again asking for the
forgiveness of my sins. I found myself once again, asking that the
punishment for my sins be laid upon the head of Jesus. I couldn't
help but feel ashamed for yet more failures in my personal life that
Jesus needed to pay for.

In my mind, I understand that the whole reason God had to step into
His creation and take the rightful punishment for sin is because we
can't do it on our own. I can't do it on my own.

But my heart aches at the thought of continuing to add to the terrible
burden of debt that Jesus suffered for. So, I seek to wipe the slate
clean up to the point of my salvation, but from that point I have the
false hope that I can take care of the rest of my life. You've done
enough already, Jesus, I'll get this one...and these two...and that one.

So I chain myself up. I declare myself unworthy of God's love and get
to work trying to pay the new debts I am accumulating. I stunt my
spiritual growth by trying to do something that Jesus has already done.

I sometimes wonder if I would give my life to save the entire world.
The answer is pretty easy in terms of the hypothetical. One life in
trade for billions...of course I would. And while it is true that
Jesus gave his life once for all, He also gave it just for you and
just for me.

If I were the only person to walk the earth, the only person to turn
from God, Jesus would have come to die for me. Jesus died for each
and every one of us. Jesus died for each and every one of our sins.
Before Jesus, we were all guilty. There are no degrees of guilt from
one person to the next. We all share fully in the guilty verdict that
put Jesus on the cross. We can never be less guilty of our sin. No
matter how hard we try to follow the law of God or how many times we
go to church on Sunday or how much money or time we give away, we will
never be less guilty.

But with Jesus, we will also never be less forgiven. If you put your
faith in Jesus and ask for his forgiveness, you are fully forgiven.

I am fully forgiven.

I don't need to punish myself for the things that I do wrong. The
punishment for my sins has been paid in full. Therefore, I can live
my life for Jesus, and get back up when I stumble. I don't need to
chain myself down with frustration and disappointment at not being
good enough because Jesus was good enough for all of us.

What Was That?

Wife: You smell like a girl.

Me: What!? How so?

Wife: You smell like smoke and barbecue sauce.

Me: ...

Me: ...

Me: Oh! I smell like the grill! Ok.

Thank you for joining us for this week's, "What Was That?"

For Sale

My life may be for rent, but my home is now for sale.

Despite the tough economy and the crappy real estate market we are officially putting our home on the selling block. We want to move out west and this is a major obstacle that we just have to try to get around.

Wish us luck and send any real estate tycoons our way!

Hi, I'm a Mac

And Johnny is a PC.

I went shopping with my bro today and tried to help him decide on a new computer since his old laptop went to pot.

I say I tried to help because he ended up getting a PC. A very nice PC, but still a PC. I'm nervous for him. I hope it works out great and I'm proven wrong, but this is Vista we're talking about.

He has had it for a couple of hours now and I'm still waiting for him to figure out how to get his built in webcam working just to test it out, but then he lost connection to the internet. So either the internet is actually down at his neighbor's house or...

Well, I hope it is just an issue with the internet being offline...by coincidence.

Enjoying My Spring Break

Hide and Go Seek is always fun. (Although, it doesn't seem fair since I am like a ninja.)


Oh, the views!


Here kitty kitty kitty...


Mmm...the essence of summer

Well, if I had faster internet I'd upload more photos, but I don't have the time right now. It was a big day today with the zoo and children's museum and someone needs to get to bed.

Extended Weekend

I love extended weekends and this one is turning out pretty great so far.

On Thursday (what you don't count Thursday as the start of the weekend?) I got home and had the best chicken fajitas ever. Really. Interested in trying them? You can't, they are all gone. Between Jessica and Olivia and me, we ate every last scrap of evidence that they existed. Want the recipe? There isn't one. We just threw some spices and a fresh peppers and chicken and beans together and somehow creating this amazing flurry of flavor. It is a little sad really, that this perfect storm of scrump-diddly-umptiousness will probably never occur again in the fajita world in our lifetime, but I'm glad I was a part of it.

Friday is was back to work, but the office was relatively quiet and I got a chance to catch up on stacks of work and folders I just didn't have time for in the last few weeks. Then a cousin came over after work with the intention of fixing a leaking window he had installed. As it turned out, it wasn't the window but yet another strange water problem with our home. At that point he could have just went home. It was no longer his problem so he could have packed up his stuff and drove off, but he didn't. He stayed. He pried and climbed and lifted and crawled and even got snapped with a long sense forgotten mouse trap as he worked to figure out the real source of the problem. Something about the care and love he showed just amazed me and, after he left, brought tears of gratitude to eyes as I thanked God for the heart of this man.

Saturday it was off to the Parade of Homes. I've always resisted going over the past several years, but this year I was actually pretty excited. Maybe it is because we are making plans for building out next house and even though that seems so far off, it is still nice to get ideas and actually walk through a completed home. We ended the evening with an amazing meal from San Marcos in Caledonia. It is an incredible Mexican Bar and Grill that you just have to try if you're in the area and like a more authentic taste.

As the last few minutes of Sunday slip away, I am thinking back on all the work we got done and the evening cookout with some of my family. What a great day. I played in the dirt, I got a little sun burned, I ate way too much and built a nice fire to sit around long after the sun went away.

The weekend isn't even close to being over yet either. Monday is Memorial Day and we get to share yet another day out in the sun as a family followed by a cookout with friends. Maybe I'll let you know how things are going on the rest of my extended weekend in a couple of days if I think about.

Man, you gotta love 10 day weekends.

A Quick Thought

It is amazing how far we have come as a people. We have learned so much and created so many things to make our lives easier and get things done faster, but for what? As we find ways to finish our work more efficiently we seem to find ways to just fill up the extra time with more work.

Maybe we can't think of anything better to do.

Maybe we aren't as creative as we think we are.

Spring (Seriously This Time)

So, once a month isn't so bad for blogging, right? Yeah, things have
been pretty crazy and time is really flying for me right now. As
Spring has finally arrived again...and then again...I've gotten a
chance to get out into the sun, take walks and barbeque.

I love having BBQ'd food. So far I've been limited to various sorts
of hamburger and chicken, but I'm always experimenting with new and
different seasonings and sauces.

Olivia is also growing up so fast and this is truly a fun age. She is
climbing and communicating and learning new tricks and mastering old
ones.

I'm looking forward to all the cool new things we will get to do as a
family and just focusing on enjoying the little things. They seem to
be the best things anyway.

2nd Spring

Sprung?

So Spring is officially here...yeah...awesome. Seriously though, it looks great...from inside my car. Then the deceptively freezie wind coupled with the allergy spawn smashed my head with a hammer.

Most Important Lesson

As I read over the lesson for this week, I realized it wasn't a part of the story that offered much room for humor. Today we talked about The Last Supper and some of the last instructions Jesus had for his disciples and ultimately for us.

This was an important lesson. This is the first step at laying the foundation of what Jesus did for us and why. Most of the words are provided for us, but there is always a struggle on how to present the truth and beauty of God's plan for salvation without losing the attention of all those little minds.

Over the next few weeks we will continue the story up through Easter. I have a lot of important lessons ahead. I couldn't help but ponder which one would be the most important. What part of the story will strike the hearts and minds of 2nd and 3rd grade boys and girls?

I hadn't thought about it long before I realized my most important lesson was. It wouldn't come in the next few weeks. It wouldn't even happen on the stage in those 20 minutes a week I am privileged enough to share God's story.

My most important lesson I teach is the way I act when I step off the stage. It comes with every action I make and how I live when I am not thinking about who is watching. My most important lesson I will teach on how to live is found in the way that I live my own life.

The most important lesson we all teach is how we live...every moment of our lives.

No pressure.

Put Away the Ores

With the new month comes a new virtue to learn for my church's children's ministry. We're talking about Hope.

We've had some tough virtues to try and teach 2nd and 3rd graders. The last four weeks, our virtue was "Fairness". I think we wasted a great chance now. The lessons mostly didn't make sense and were straining to teach something about fairness with Bible stories that really dealt with something else. Given the proper time, it seems like we should have taught the kids about how life isn't about everyone getting the same thing. That is usually how we envision fairness. However, to use our pastor's words, the story isn't over. That is what can give us hope for the future and hope for right now. We, as humans, are going to screw things up. We screw ourselves up, we screw our children up, we screw up our siblings, our parents, our friends and those we perceive as enemies. A lot of times we do it without even trying. Our hope doesn't lie in man though. Our hope is with a God that is making everything new.

I know what it is like to lose hope. I've been there. I've been on the edge looking down after putting my faith in things and people and this world. I thought I could swallow my pain if I had enough booze to wash it down. I had known of a God who I didn't just drift away from...I put the ores in the water and paddled as hard as I could. I was a cynic and a critic. I played the games with logic and dared anyone to prove me wrong. I was an enemy of God and those who claimed to be godly. Nothing made me want to puke more than listening to two-faced "Christians" spew venom at those with different views and lifestyles and beliefs. Hearing them pluck verses out of context to justify their own views and prejudices with their WWJD bracelets and icthus emblems...what a joke. Hypocrites. I didn't want to associate with any of them and I didn't want to associate with God. So, I rowed my boat not so gently down the stream, making sure to take a moment every so often to give a middle finger to those on the shore. It wasn't long before I couldn't see land anymore though. It wasn't long before I was a new kind of lonely; wanting desperately to be left alone and desperately to be pursued and found and brought back home. I wanted God to fight for me and show me He loved me and tell me 'Everything is going to be alright'.

I'm so glad He did.

I'm so glad He does.

I'm so glad He will.

I used to think the church was full of hypocrites, but not anymore. I've put my faith in God now and that is where my hope lies. I have stumbled enroute to my destination and I will no doubt take more wrong turns in the road ahead. Getting to my destination doesn't rest in my hands though, but in the hands of a loving and faithful God. I don't know His plans for me and I won't know the full picture of my life until my time on this world comes to pass. The story isn't over yet, and I still have a lot to work on so I don't help push someone else out to sea. There is a reason God sent His son Jesus to walk the walk for us. We can't do it on our own. We screw things up. Whether out of stupidity, pride, shame or so many other things, we continue to sin as we walk with Jesus. We live as hypocrites in this life, hoping for the redemption and cleansing the new earth and new heaven will bring.

The church isn't full of hypocrites though. There is always room for one more. And the God of heaven and earth is desperately seeking you too.

So many things to learn...

The joy of your own place.


Diving into a good book.



Looking at the world...
in a whole new way.



Not always getting our way.





Partying a little too hardy. (This wedding had an open bar)



Keeping up with the latest fashions.

I Choo Choo Choose Jessica

Today is Saint Valentine's Day and sure, it is a commercial holiday reinvented to boost the sales of card companies, chocolatiers, flourists, jewelers and the like, but the fact remains that ignoring this "holiday" even on the soundest of principles just makes you look like an ass...if you're a guy.

All that aside, I just wanted to say that I love my wife. She is my best friend and a true soulmate. I love her because of everything she is.

She is beautiful and sweet

smart and funny

dedicated and loving

a great mom and a great wife.

It doesn't take a special day for me to recognize this although sometimes I forget to let her know how important she is to me. Frankly, I should tell her every day...twice a day!

But since I don't, let me take this opportunity to say:

Jessica, I couldn't imagine my life without you. Thank you for granting me the incredible priviledge of being your husband a little over 7 years ago and thank you for putting up with me ever since. I love you so much and look forward to every day the God has planned for us to be together. Happy Valentine's Day!

My Two Cents

This month we are working with a budget so we're trying to pinch our pennies. This is new for us. We're only six days in and already there are things we didn't foresee like needing a new bulb for the headlight or a first X-Ray for Olivia.

I'm still excited to work towards something a little more tangible like getting out of debt. It is a number, an amount. I can break it down into monthly payments. I can figure out how long it will probably take. That doesn't mean it is simple to do, but progress is much easier to measure and see.

Trying to be a better person...

a person of God, for God, with God

a loving husband

a caring father

a sincere and safe friend.

These things are not so easy to break down and sometimes even harder to know if I'm even moving in the right direction.

I've been awake for about 19 hours so far.

I'm not tired.

I should be tired. I usually don't wake up at 2:30am, get ready, drive an hour, work for over 13 hours, drive half an hour, pick up my daughter, drive another half hour, feed and entertain her for another half an hour until her mommy gets home just in time to change her dirty diaper. (Good girl.)

I can't say I have all that much on my mind, so it is hard to understand where I'm at today. I should feel good...I think. I lived a pretty good day today. I worked hard even when no one was looking. I didn't make smart ass comments and sideways insults. I took criticism and didn't get angry. I didn't think about stuff I could buy. I loved my wife and my daughter. I thought about God and how I could teach His truths on Sunday and the first Wednesday of each month. I should feel pretty good about today, but maybe the fear that tomorrow won't be so kind is looming in my mind. Maybe the fear that tomorrow I won't be as kind is looming.

I guess it is good the day is almost over. Maybe tomorrow I can figure it out.

It's What I Do

Tired

Cold

Coffee

Mmm

Busy

Ringing

Typing

Laughing

Calling

Panicking

Rearranging

Searching

Calling

Typing

Calling

Rearranging

Rearranging

Calling

Typing

Calling

Exhaling

Relaxing

Filing

Typing

Cold

Tired

Coffee

Mmm

Another day at the office. Thank God for weekends.

Birthday Celebration

Today Olivia celebrates her birthday for the first time. Watching her grow has been an amazing honor and blessing that I find nearly impossible to explain in words.

She has been such an incredible addition to our family and my life. From the sounds of her heart beating, to the pictures of her tiny feet on the ultrasound, and when she finally came to breath her first breath...I was in love.

And it wasn't love diverted. It wasn't love rationed down to include a new soul. It was a new love entirely for her. A pure and whole love that I would have never experienced without God's gift of her in my life. I have thanked the LORD for her so many times, but I can never thank Him enough.



Sleep soundly my darling angel. You have a big day ahead. So many of your family are coming to see you in a few short hours. There will be presents and laughter and your favorite foods. This is a special day indeed and I hope you can someday truly understand how special you are. That is a hard lesson to learn. (Believe me, I'm still working on it.)

Through everything though...all your good and bad days ahead...I want you to know that I have always loved you and I always will.

Happy Birthday, Lu!