Crazy Love

2 different people suggested the same book to me last night at 2 different times. So what did I do when I got home? Bought it online, downloaded it, and jumped right in. It is a really cool book that links to internet videos in the chapters (what a cool idea.) Here is one of the few that I watched last night while reading Chapter 1:

Hope you enjoyed it. And I hope that if have read or decide to read it in the future we can discuss it.

Charity:Water

If you would like to donate $2 for Lillian's 2nd B-day to a good cause check out:
www.mycharitywater.org/lillybug
She has her own site set up and would like to give 3 little kids clean water for the next 20 years.
Big goals for such a big girl.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Anyone ever caught their 3 year old kissing their friend in the lobby of the children's church?

I did this week. What a classic dad moment.

Time Management

I decided to start a weekly newletter to my staff for weekday childcare. The purpose is to inform, motivate, remind them of events, and give them an opportunity to give feedback. There is another girl that did similar notes for a weekend team and I loved them, just a little to girly. So my first week was a teamwork themed notes. And my goal was to make them masculine and I think I did a pretty good job. I had chains, shields, and the Under Armor logo of "protect this house", I would say it was a success.
So to back it up this week I decided on a "Time Management" theme. I based it all on the most random quote I could find:

"Don't try to teach a pig to sing,

it wastes your time

and annoys the pig."

So I was getting it all ready for my staff to have when we started our shift and I was bombarded with all kinds of things going on. Needless to say it didn't get done. I did finish it up yesterday and hand it out. Nothing like handing out notes on time management a day late. Oh well. Now they know I'm human.

Cravings

I have come up with a theory:
All women are a little weird, then they wait till they are pregnant to show you. Then they have the excuse "it just the pregnancy"
No one should ever be sitting on the couch at 9:30 and say, I don't know if I want an apple or a cucumber. That is one strange craving!
(she just bought the apples, 4 for $11)

Me 2

I been thinking of coming up with a new name for my blog. I have been thinking about "Light It Up" kinda to say I have a light inside of me that I want to shine and be seen by all. Then after the FC 20th Anniversary celebration I am thinking that is just what I will settle on. I don't have the time to do the graphics yet, but know it is coming. (sooner than later I hope)

The purpose of this is to promote community. I recently read that one of the strongest ways that you can connect to someone is to say "me to", and to be able to have that connection one or both of you has to be able to open up and be vulnerable. So here goes. I'm about to open up a little more.

Here is one of many videos that was done this last weekend:

It's Always Been About You from Fellowship Church on Vimeo.

Come On BOYS

That game was sad!! Then I had my heart ripped out of my chest at the end of the game. And to see #71 on the field after the game smiling and shaking hands made me sick. All in all it was like being sucker punched in the throat. And that aint no fun! I will hold onto hope though. I liked what I saw from all of our backs and receivers and when Romo has some time to think back there I think it will all come together nicely. Hope D. Ware isn't hurt to bad and that stud will be back to be the beast he is. (Classy move by McNabb to take a knee while he was hurt - it hurts me to say anything nice about the skins.)

Squirrel vs. Rat

When I was in a psychology class in college my professor posed a question to the class that I have often thought about. She asked why do people think squirrels are cute and rats are gross? She said they are essentially the same animal, one just has a fuzzy tail. I am guilty. I think squirrels are cute. I know they are rodents and carry many diseases but I can't help but to think they are cute. I have even been guilty of trying to sneak up on one and try and pet it.

Rules

As a young dad I have learned a few things along the way. One of the most interesting things to think about are rules and their evolution as the days go on.
I have learned to stay away from certain terms when setting rules. These are the "set in stone" words. For example: I will never ________ or, we will always ____________. These are likely at some time going to need to be amended for some special circumstance.
I like to have game plan rules. Like, we will, if available, all sit at the table to eat dinner. We then have the flexibility to change if need be.
Today I implemented a new rule that I don't envision us changing:

"We will not walk outside without our pants on."

That's one that I hope sticks around for a while.

Influence

I blogged a while back about us going to Going Bonkers with some friends of ours. It was a wonderful night and the kids loved it. Here are some pictures to prove it. Lillian had such a good time in the little kids area, there was a spot where she could climb 4 little stairs and go down a slide. She must have done it 1000 times. Here she is going down all proper while her buddy takes it head on. She must have taken mental note because the next time around she went for it.

Go Lilly!

Love Love Love that girl!!!

I Can Read Minds

This series of pictures was taken at the pond right before we got our fish on. It was a great night and Landon was so excited. She has talked about it ever since. When we got home she wanted to look through all the pictures that mommy took so she could see her big catch. When we came across these three we got the biggest chuckle. So here goes, here is what she is thinking:

"Yeah, I'm cute. Now let's fish."

"I don't know what 'the bird' is, but I think I may be giving it

to you under this goofy smile."

"What? Me? I wouldn't.... Well, maybe I would. Now let's fish."

We had a wonderful night and will cherish the memories forever. There are pictures of the fish but I will have to share them another time. I just couldn't pass up posting these gems.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

This picture scares me. There I said it. I am not ashamed to say it. And if I was at a camp in the woods and turned around to see this thing chasing me I would say some "choice" words.

And that is just what happened to a friend of mine. When I heard that story I laughed till my side hurt. But then I could totally sympathise with her. The best part of the story is that the whole thing was caught on camera. Boy would I love to see that, to sympathise of course. I would never want to see it just so I could laugh so hard I peed.

On My Heart

We are starting to think about a birthday party for sweet little almost 2 year old. So naturally we thought about the splash park (one of her favorite hang outs these days.) But while thinking about it for some reason the contrast of her beautiful life was somehow connected in my mind with little girls all around the world that don't have the same opportunities. It wasn't hard for me to quickly look through the pictures on our computer and find the one below of her playing in the crystal clear water at our local splash park. It unfortunately also wasn't hard for me to find the next picture either. The cup in that little girl's hand isn't for playing, it is for her drinking water. It breaks my heart to think that 1 in 8 kids around the world don't have access to clean drinking water. And out of those, 4500 will die today because of a water related disease.

So there spawned my idea. What if at her party we could raise money and awareness for these little girls. What if we could all bring a little and in turn make a huge impact. For $20 we can provide a child with clean water for 20 years through charitywater.org. The picture below could be replayed every day for the next 20 years because of our generosity.

Fishing

Yesterday we went and got Landon a fishing pole. You would not believe how happy this made her. She danced all over the store when she got it. Then we she got home she called her Pops and had a whole conversation about bobbers. It was awesome. So, this morning how else would you expect her to watch cartoons:

11:30

There are many sounds I can think of that you never want to hear at 11:30 PM. One such sound is your dog gagging. That is how I awoke last night and it was NOT fun. My first thought was get him outside he is going to yack. Then in my half asleep state I realized he was under our bed. OH NO! Our bed isn't very tall and somehow he squeezed his round little body under there. NOT good at all. Right then, amidst my panic, he puked. Then it hit me, this clean up process is going to take a while. So I had to turn on the lights (Mandi was not happy about this, she slept through the commotion), get my pregnant wife out of bed, remove the dog from under the bed, move the bed, then start cleaning. My gag reflexes were in overdrive and Mandi was zero help. It was a long process and I still have to figure out how to get the bed back where it belongs. But that is a task for later. We have to get to story time at the library....

Legal Mombo Jombo

We recently got new medical insurance. Joy! And now we are trying to figure it all out. Bottom line, we have to pay and pay and pay and eventually there is an end in sight. Well we hope anyway.
So we started trying to think ahead (I know, noble idea) for the delivery of baby #3 and how much the whole thing is going to cost so we can budget accordingly. Not that it wont be worth every penny, we just have to start planning.
I for one don't understand all the lingo these insurance people use. Maybe I am uneducated or just slow but it seems to me they talk with terms that only they understand. I called on the phone only to be frustrated so Mandi sent an email. So we can go slow and try to digest it all.
Here is an example of one of the phrases we heard:
"For covered In-Network services that are currently considered at 90% of the allowed amount, the benefit level would increase to 100% of the allowed amount once you have met both the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum."
See what I mean? That's crazy talk!
Now here is the final paragraph that I thought was particularly interesting:
"The information provided in no way represents a guarantee of payment. The benefits quoted are general and based upon the information present on our computer records and may not reflect information recently received. Benefits for any claim will be provided according to the eligibility, terms, and conditions of the participant's contract at the time the service is rendered. All services must meet medical criteria for coverage and are subject to all contract limitations or exclusions."
Is this just on long way to say if something changes between now and then don't rely on what I just said? What a good way to cover your tracks.
I think I will start including something along those lines at the end of everything I say. And I'm going to say it real fast, under my voice, and with my fingers crossed. Ha. Gotcha.

Blurred Lines

Friday night we had to privilege to go to a 16th birthday party for one of our friend's daughters. We went to Going Bonkers which is a big indoor play area from kids off all ages (including the 28 yr old dads). Not were you would think a 16 year old would pick but given the families involved it was a good time.
As I sat with the people there, all families from our church, I thought about all the ways that our lives are connected and how fun it was to all come together and spend time playing.
There were 4 families which equalled 11 kids which equals good times.
1st story line: The Kuders, which it was their daughter's bday invited us all because we are friends first and foremost.
2nd: I am in charge of weekday childcare and the Kuders are on my team
3rd: I work in the nursery on Sunday, the mom of one family is a vol in the nursery on Sunday
4th: The Kuders are Landon's teachers on weeknights
5th: The Kuders are Lillian's teachers on weekends
6th: Another girl there was Lillian's teacher when she was in the younger hallway
7th: The lady from the nursery was Lillian's teacher when she was a newborn
8th: One guy was on staff at our church
9th: When I was teaching elementary kids on weeknights I was one of the Kuder girl's teacher
So you can see our lives are all intertwined. And it is awesome.
So when Landon went off to play with the Kuder girls in the play area she came back to me all excited and full of stories. She kept telling me what all her "teachers" had taught her. I know there are a lot of story lines above, but the Kuder girls have never been her teachers. She was so confused.
Which got me thinking: how awesome is it that we are so engaged in connecting on so many levels that Landon can't figure out what title to call people. There are so many ways we could identify each other if we chose titles, but instead we just call each other friend.

Guess What We Found

Oh yeah! We found a new splash park that has been right under our noses. This is a favorite way to spend summer evenings around here. We go to the same one over and over and over again. It is great, that's why we have been about 100 times. Free, cool, and loads of fun. But when I found out about this new little gem we had to go on an adventure to find it. And it was well worth it. The girls played hard there last night followed by sleeping hard.

Changed

Hillsong LIVE Tour update - Dallas [with David and Kari] from Hillsong Church on Vimeo.

Here is a video blog from some of the singers that put on a concert at Fellowship last night. What a night! I have a feeling a lot of people are walking around today forever changed by the level of worship that they experienced last night.

There was a feeling of expectation and anticipation surrounding this event for weeks leading up to last night. There was a feeling of excitement that filled the campus hours before the concert. But nothing compares to walking in the back of the worship center and FEELING the Holy Spirit in full force. I was changed by 1 song.

As you can see in some of the clips that are shown in the above video our House was on FIRE for God last night. I truly believe that people are going to pursue or God with more enthusiasm, intensity, and passion because of the way that they were led to worship last night.

Over The Top

I bet you thought this post was going to be about the totally awesome old school movie about arm wrestling didn't you? I can understand. Every time I hear that term that is the first thing to comes to my mind. That little boy, the tuckers, the arm wrestling tournament. I loved that movie. Oh, and remember when that guys arm snapped? Made me cringe every time.

Well maybe this post is about arm wrestling, maybe it's about crazy ipod gadgets, or maybe it is about one of my pet peeves. My pet peeve is that I like the toilet paper to be placed on the roll just as this one is. I think the paper should come over the top, not around back and down the bottom. Is that to much to ask? I didn't think so.