The Time is Precious I Know...

That's right. Culture Club.

I need more time. Am I the only one? Surely not. There's just too much I want (and often need) to do to fit in 24 hours or even one piddly lifetime:

1. Family time
2. Family devotions
3. Mountain biking
4. Trail running
5. Motorcycle/Classic car restoration
6. Creating art
7. So much reading (nearly 200 books on my to-read list)
8. Woodworking
9. Learning (art, martial arts, languages, etc)

How do I prioritize when it's clear there are things I'll likely never do? It's one thing to put something like Trail Running over Woodworking and say I'll do this first and the other second. That works if I have 90 minutes and I know I need 45 for each. Easy enough. But what if I only have 45 minutes? Then I'm really saying I'll do this instead of this.

If I try to fit everything in, it seems like I end up doing nothing all that well. I'm well rounded but mediocre. No focus. Also, I'm very tired.

I started this post about the time I took my break from publishing posts nearly 2 years ago.  It's sad to see how little has changed on my list in that time.

In the words of the bard: Time won't give me time.

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know by Dr. Meg Meeker

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know
by Dr. Meg Meeker
Ballantine Books
0345499395

As you may or may not know, we recently welcomed a new baby girl to our family. I'm also the first to admit that I don't know the first thing about girls. Never have. In raising our daughter, I need whatever help I can get.

I heard about Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know via Dave Ramsey's recommended reading list. Reading it was an eye-opening experience for me. I told my wife that it made me want to lock up all our kids (girls and boys) until they were thirty. There are a lot of scary, scary things in the world. It's a predatory society in which we live. And I am only partly talking about people deliberately trying to harm your daughter. But that's far from everything. On top of the obvious threats, it's clear that the world does not have the best interests of your child in mind. Kids are exposed to adulthood far too early. They play grown-up before they can even begin to understand what that means.

While I don't promote living in a constant state of paranoia, I really don't promote naivety. Kids--yes, even teens--are not grown ups. They need guidance. They need protection. Providing these things are the job of the parent. If the parent doesn't, someone else will. Kids will look to celebrities, friends, other parents, Victoria's Secret, and any number of other sources to decide what adulthood is. We can't trust those sources. And we can't expect politicians (despite their banner waving) or teachers to raise our kids. They can't. And it's not their job.

There's really too much for me to cover in any sort of detail. The table of contents hits the big points:

1. You Are the Most Important Man in Her Life
2. She Needs a Hero
3. You Are Her First Love
4. Teach Her Humility
5. Protect Her, Defend Her
6. Pragmatism and Grit: Two of Your Greatest Assets
7. Be the Man You Want Her to Marry
8. Teach Her Who God Is
9. Teach Her to Fight
10. Keep Her Connected

Raising kids is a big task. It cannot be done with passivity. Man up. Yeah...I said that.

And God help the kid that tries to date my baby girl.

Outnumbered!

The adults are officially outnumbered in our house now. I was very blessed to have been able to spend the last two weeks home from work with the expanding family. It was terrific. Here’s the rundown on the last two weeks:

• The induction started at around 7:30am on 11/5/2009. By 12:30pm, we had a baby girl. It was fast and Denisa rocked. I am again reminded of my wife’s awesomeness.
• Our little Norah is beautiful. She’s sleeping and eating well. She has a couple of very loving older brothers.
• The hospital stay was calm and uneventful. We had great visitors. Due to the whole flu scare, kids under 15 weren’t allowed as visitors so, sadly, Jesse and Jonah couldn’t come see us. On the other hand, that meant the hospital was a lot quieter than when we’ve been there before. Previously, there were kids running up and down the hallway.
• Visited with a lot of friends/family.
• A lot of people have been bringing us food. A LOT. Friends from our current Life Group, our old Life Group, MOPS, parents, and the play group. Seriously, it’s been amazing and we are truly grateful (and full).
• I had guy’s morning out and took the boys to Half Price Books and the hobby shop. We played with the hobby shop’s train tables, checked out their train sets, stared at the RC planes hanging from the ceiling, and seriously trashed a couple planes with the RC plane video game/simulator.
• The whole family went to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Brave. Good times.
• Had the first guys meeting from our new Life Group.
• Had a bunch of siding re-done.
• Read some P.G. Wodehouse and a couple Graphic Novels.
• Finished writing a children’s story.
• Did a little woodworking.
• Didn’t really sleep all that much.

I’ll get pictures posted shortly.

71 minutes

Jonah was up the other night for, I don't know, an hour or so. We try not to look too closely at the clock when we do have to get up with one of our kids. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often. Regardless, it was a long night. And it was such a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, I was frustrated to be awake and exhausted in the middle of the night. On the other hand, it was so nice to see the little man drop off to sleep in my arms. He doesn't often sit still.

Recently, a couple at church shared the story of their recent pregnancy and childbirth. Essentially, they found during their pregnancy that their child had health complications that, according to the professionals, were "incompatible with life". That phrase makes me shudder. I'm sure it's kept especially clinical to help distance everyone from the emotional aspect of the news. Still...shudder.

When their baby was born, the family was surrounded by family and friends. Seriously, surrounded. They had pictures of everyone at the hospital and there was so much joy in everyone's face. Joy...even while knowing the situation. Their baby lived 71 minutes. Those were some of the most precious 71 minutes in the lives of everyone there.

It certainly made the frustration side of my 60 late night minutes with Jonah a lot less...well...frustrating.

Cha..Cha...Changes

Yet another long gap in blogging. I am still around. Honest. Here's the rundown on the last few months. I'll keep them brief with the plan to post more on each later.

1. Here's the big, big news. We're having another baby! That's right. Number Three is due in early November. Our oldest was born in late November 2006. If you do your math and Baby Three is reasonably on time, we'll have three kids under the age of three for about a month. Yikes!
2. Denisa and I went on vacation. We spent a few days in Michigan's Beach Towns while the boys stayed with my parents. Everyone had a blast. And we very much appreciated the time.
3. I'm constructing built-in bookcases to surround our fireplace. The first (of two) is nearly complete. I'm in the middle of working on the second. I hope to have everything except the doors done by the end of the September (of 2009).
4. I have a couple other creative projects in the works. Some writing. Some woodworking. Some artwork. A lot of general awesomeness.
5. Speaking of awesome, I wrote a Mission Statement. Here's the short version: Bring the Awesome. I'm debating whether or not to post the longer one.
6. I'm doing a six-week study at church based on Raising a Modern Day Knight by Robert Lewis. I read the book awhile ago. The study has been a good supplement.
7. I started running again. Not a lot but I'm steadily able to run longer, faster, and with less pain.
8. I've been reading some good stuff:

• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis
• The Silver Chair by CS Lewis
• The Last Battle by CS Lewis
• Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer
• Story by Robert McKee
• The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman
• Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
• The 39 Steps by John Buchan
• Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
• Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming
• The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
• Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias

Farm Fresh!

We're trying something new at home. It's a service called Farm Fresh Delivery. It seems like a pretty cool idea. They deliver fresh organic produce directly to your door. They offer a number of different packages on either a weekly or bi-weekly plan. And there's no contract to sign...it's just a standing order you can cancel anytime. You can even make substitutions if there's something on your delivery that you don't like.

This really isn't a sales pitch...

Anyway, we signed up to have produce delivered every other week. Our first green tub of fruits and vegetables arrived this past Tuesday. In two weeks, I believe we simply set the old tub out on the porch and Farm Fresh Delivery swaps it out for another one with our new order.

So far, our experience has been very positive. We did make a couple substitutions in our delivery. I think we requested grapes instead of Brussels sprouts. Seems like we opted out of something else but I can't recall. What we did get included oranges, apples (2 kinds), pears, onions, potatoes, garlic, lettuce, and kiwi. We've tried a good deal of it. I know the the apples, oranges, and pears have been really good.

With no contract, we figured we didn't have much to lose by trying it out. We'll see after a couple months if it still makes sense for us. Will we use the food we get? Will it be enough? What's the budgetary difference between this an buying food at the supermarket?

Has anyone else tried it (or something similar) out? What was your experience?

Updates

So I haven't really been feeling the blog lately. I've had a lot of other things going on and keeping the blog updated hasn't exactly been a high priority. Here's a couple quick on various aspects of my life:

1. The family is awesome. Jonah had some stomach funkiness a few weeks ago but he's over that. He's rolling over now and even eating rice cereal. He's growing so fast. Jesse is picking up new words all that time. More than that, he's starting to put them together in actual sentences. We've been participating in MOPS date night recently. Ok, only once so far as the MOPS season has just started. But we're really liking that. If you're not familiar with it, it's kind of like a babysitting co-op. There are 18 couples working together and every couple weeks, three of the couples watch the kids of the other 15. Through the 18 week schedule, I think we'll work three and have 15 date nights of our own. I would highly recommend that kind of thing to parents.



2. Reading. I've read a lot of 007 books by Ian Fleming lately: Casino Royale, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, and one whose title would likely bump the blogs rating up a bit (Bond fans, you know what I'm talking about). They've all been a blast to read. They'd better be or would've been silly for me to read so many. The 007 books are a lot different the movies. Much more realistic. It's funny to see the covers of the books and their portrayal of the scantily clad woman when you know that it has absolutely nothing to do with the actual writing. I think they're just trying to play up the relationship to the movies. I also read Men and Cartoons by Jonathan Lethem. It's a collection of short stories in several genres. All were interesting and fun to read.

3. I've been exercising more. Ok, not necessarily more but definitely with more intensity. I'm putting a more concerted effort into it. For me, that planning, simplification, and turning off the television while I work out. It makes a big difference. I feel better and the bathroom scale has me slowly inching back up to my college weight.

4. Speaking of college, I went rock climbing with a couple college buddies at Climb Time this past weekend. It was the third time I've gone and the second time I've gone with this two friends. It is really a lot of fun. We had a good showing and we all successfully climbed walls that we really didn't think we'd do. There is one section of evil blue wall that I could never get. Next time, Blue! Anyway, I'm definitely feeling it in my forearms. I'm also feeling a nice bruise on my knee and another on my chest.

5. My priorities seem to be in a constant state of flux. Without going into too much detail, the shortness and preciousness of life have really been at the forefront of my mind lately. I'm not sure how I'll use that just yet. Part of me says "Why mess around with saving for retirement when I can enjoy things now? To heck with my Roth IRA, I'm buying an Alfa Romeo." But I also know that's not entire healthy. I'll keep you posted. And, if I get an Alfa, I'll take pictures.

Later.

Giving up

I had an interesting conversation with a co-worker the other day. It began with a discussion about debt and the desire to get out and keep out of debt. My anti-debt feelings should be no surprise to the readers of my blog. Anyway, the discussion eventually transitioned to things less tangible than family budgets. Most notably, we discussed how the handling of our resources reflected our faith, our general view of the world, and our feelings about our place in the world. It was an appropriate conversation with the with the holidays and holiday gift-giving/receiving coming up. That conversation also introduced me to the Junky Car Club. Check that out sometime.

Anyway, I shared part of my gradually developing story. Over the last two years, my wife and I have worked hard to clean house. Now I won't go into the anti-debt-speech as I've done that several times before. Beyond that, though, I've been working to run a tighter ship. That sounds vague, I know. What I mean is that I've been trying to concentrate my time, money, and effort on those things that mean most to me. What am I passionate about? It's really been an exercise in saying no. As a result, there have been a few hobbies like woodworking, sculpting, and Flash animation that haven't received a lot of attention lately. On the other hand, I've been able to focus my attention on other things like drawing. I miss those things and do expect to get back to them but it might not be for awhile. As it was, keeping everything on the plate meant that I couldn't really focus on anything.

I read an article quite awhile ago (it's been on my to-blog list for a long time) . Essentially, it discusses how we, as humans, tend to place a higher value on things simply because those things are ours. That is, once something is in our possession, we're suddenly more zealous in keeping it that we ever were to get it. It's probably best to use a for instance. I have a old Huffy banana-seat bicycle. It's metallic green, has a sparkly green vinyl seat, sparkly hand grips, and is, overall, flippin' sweet. I picked it up at Goodwill several years ago. Here's the thing...I really can't ride it. Seriously, the wheels are 20". It's made for a kid and it's downright painful for my 6'+ frame to ride it. I could sell it for more money than I'd realistically pay for it now. But I keep it around because it's mine and it's cool. Well, I was keeping it around. Its up for sale now. I'm saying no to cluttering up the garage. It'll be sad to see it go but I really won't miss it.


Wow. Talk about a lack of focus...

Testosterone Weekend

I just came off of a pretty exciting weekend. My wife spent the last few days at a conference so it was my first multi-day solo experience caring for the boys. First off, my wife had a terrific time. She came back recharged and encouraged. By far, that is the best part and I'm glad she was able to go.

As much as I (and the boys) missed her, I really had a lot of fun spending the weekend having quality time with my sons. We went to the park, visited a Renaissance Faire, roughhoused, read stories, and generally had a blast. It was good to see the boys 24 hours a day as my time with them is generally confined to what will fit in between work and bedtime. Even weekends are pretty busy.

Anyway, I managed to keep the house together. Nothing ended up too too out sorts. I even managed to make some progress on a few things:

1. I replaced a bathroom light fixture.
   
2. I worked on my old radio control car so I could race it with the boys. Got a nice, blistery burn from a soldering iron on my finger.
3. Cleaned up/patched bedroom walls for later painting.
4. Did some drawing. Also wrote out some descriptions for Etsy ads.
5. Sketched out ideas for some built-in bookcases.
6. Watched a few action and sci-fi movies (more on this later).
   

Now, just to be clear. I'm not under the false belief that my weekend at all represented what it's like to be home with a four-month-old and a nearly two-year-old every day. I had it easy only because my wife worked so hard to get me, the kids, and the house in such good order. That left me able to concentrate on just keeping everyone fed and uninjured (ok, everyone but me uninjured). I am very, very appreciative.

Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood

Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood
by Robert Lewis
Focus
ISBN 1589973097

I have two sons. One will be two years old in November. The other was born just this past May. Raising these two guys is painfully important to me. And I deliberately use the work painfully as is pains me to think about the consequences if I don't raise them to the very best of my ability. I guess that concern is a good starting point but I want more.

Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood by Robert Lewis was mentioned in a conversation with a coworker and I am grateful for that. I appreciate that mention as I really, really liked this book.

As you would expect from the title, Lewis uses the idea of medieval knighthood as an ongoing analogy. The romanticized/idealized knight of olde was a chivalrous, honorable, courageous man in an age wrought with greed and darkness. But these knights didn't just become knights. It required years of teaching and training. There was a defined process. There was a ceremony to mark knighthood. Similarly, we can't expect our boys to simply become men. Manhood, in Western society, is very, very different. Genuine manhood is not something that's often actively taught, or even defined. The concept is clouded in ambiguity. What is a man? How does a man act? When does a boy become a man? Sons need guidance and direction.

That direction comes from scripture and Lewis draws heavily on the Bible to define manhood and how a man should act. He details what's missing from Western culture and lays out a plan for fathers wanting to raise sons to be Godly men. The overarching theme is that Dad's need to be deliberate in their fatherhood. Pulling directly from Lewis, men reject passivity, accept responsibility, lead courageously, and expect the greater reward. This is how men should act and this is how men address fatherhood. This is how fathers remove the ambiguity regarding manhood. This is how our sons know we truly care about their growth.

I also liked the Lewis is a big supporter of ceremonies. Similar to a page becoming a squire and a squire becoming a knight, fathers ought to mark a son's transitional periods. When a squire was knighted, there was no uncertainty as to what was happening. The new knight was honored and celebrated. Similarly, we should celebrate our sons. We remove yet another ambiguity. With a ceremony, sons know their lives are changing. If marking a transition to manhood, they know they're putting away their childish ways. They know that, going forward, they'll be expected to act like a man and they'll be treated as a men. Investing time and effort into this will prove to them that it's the big deal that it should be. They will want to meet those expectations.

There is so, so much more I could write here but you're much better off just reading the book. I've taken it to heart. While my sons are very young and I'm a little limited in what I can explicitly teach them (we have worked on a couple of the Biblical ideals -- kindness and perseverance) -- defined by Lewis) , I know the other things will come soon enough. My first step, though, is to be the kind of man I want my sons to be. My boys are watching how I live with incredible closeness. They're learning from me without my sitting down and directly instructing them...maybe more from my example than anything I'll teach.

While it was definitely written for the father raising his sons, I really think it has a lot to offer others. Fathers of daughters. Husbands. Singles. Women.

If you'd like a second, better written review, check this one out at John Calvin's Ghost.

Nine Years!

My wife and I celebrated our ninth anniversary last Thursday. I really can not believe we've been married for nine years + three years of dating before that. I can't even believe we've been out of college that long. Where did the time go?

Our anniversary was excellent. That's even with everyone in the house having some kind of cold/sinus thing. We had a quiet (doesn't happen very often) dinner together after the kids were in bed. Dinner was delicious. And we made it a point to talk about things other than the kids. It was fun reminiscing about how much has happened in the last nine years. Apartments. Houses. Churches. Neighbors. Friends. It's been a busy nine years. I don't see the next nine+ being any less busy. But I do see them getting better and better.

Here's a couple pictures. My wife is more beautiful than ever. Me...well, I'm alright. Overall, I think we've aged pretty well.

THEN (9/11/1999)

and NOW (8/30/2008)

Wow...our ten year anniversary is right around the corner. We're thinking of doing something big. Maybe a trip together. Maybe Florida. A cruise. I don't know.

Something I Need to Work On

Conversation.

Ha! If I left it at that, you'd think I wasn't even trying.

Seriously, though, I don't talk no good. Maybe it's less the conversation as it is my introversion. Then again, maybe I'm introverted because I fear my conversation skills stink. I've been like that for decades.

My wife's family had a Labor Day cookout this week. It's one of those things where you get together with people you really only see for a couple hours during holidays and/or long weekends. It seems like it would be a great time to catch up with people, right? Well, here's what I end up doing. I hang out with my wife. I talk with my wife's parents. I talk with my wife's siblings. And I play with my kids and my nephew. That's it. I'm essentially doing the exact same things I do with my in-laws every couple weeks.

Don't misunderstand me. I love hanging out with my wife's parents and siblings. They're great people and I love them dearly. I consider her family to be my family. But it's silly to limit myself. I'm being far too...insular (I'm not convinced I'm using that term correctly).

I don't expect to be best friends with my distant cousins but I can do better. I'm really only hurting myself by not engaging these near-strangers in conversation. And, by isolating myself, I fear I'm running the risk of looking like a snob. That's no good. To go further, I don't believe God has put me on earth (or in family cookouts) to be a wallflower. I really don't feel I'm representing Him by with my current inaction.

Anyway, Christmas and Thanksgiving are coming up so I'll have plenty of opportunity to talk with family I rarely see. Maybe I'll break the ice with a magic trick. On the plus side, if I mess up the conversation, I probably won't see them again until Memorial Day.

Bittersweet

Our little Jesse will be two years old at the end of November. He's definitely growing up. He's vocabulary is getting larger and clearer every day. He's stringing words and thoughts together. He asked yesterday to pray for his Na-Nas and Pa-Pas. And he adores his little brother. It's amazing to see him grow up. I have to admit it's also a little sad knowing he'll never be a baby again. It's a good thing that we see this growing up happen slowly because sudden changes tear us up.

As silly as it is, we faced one of those sudden changes last night. Jesse had his first haircut. As much as we loved his fabulous long hair, we knew it needed to be done. He had to constantly brush it out of his face, eyes, and mouth. And, no matter what we dressed him in, strangers always thought he was a little girl. Seriously? He's wearing camouflage shorts and a muscle shirt with a fighter plane on the front and you're calling him Princess? Normally, that didn't bother me but it did get old after awhile. I always took comfort in knowing that our little boy was what's known as Man-Pretty.

Anyway, Jesse got his haircut at the local Cookie Cutters. At first, he hated it. He cried when the stylist just sprayed his hair with water. He did eventually calm down though there were still times when he really did not like what was going on. Cookie Cutters is, of course, very kid-friendly so he got to sit in a toy VW Bug and he loves to steer his Cozy Coupe so that helped. He also watched some tv which was fascinating because the only tv he ever sees at home is the weather radar channel (and usually he just jams to the Muzak).

He looks completely different. He looks like a grown up little man now. Yes, this kind of sudden change tears us up.

I still say he looks pretty dashing. I bet he still will have no trouble meeting the ladies.

Big Brother

The above pictures are of my older brother and I. I am, of course, the younger of the two. I think our ages were 2 and 10 in one and 3 and 11 in the other. And, yes, these would be from the late seventies.

My older brother got married this past weekend. I'm saddened by the fact that I wasn't there to help celebrate the event. I'm bummed I wasn't able to support my family in person. I'm also bummed that I missed the fireworks. On the other hand, I hope my immediate family can plan a real trip out to Texas to visit my brother and his new family in the near future.

In honor of my big brother's new venture, here are a few memories I have of our childhood:

1. Being out in the field behind our house. Ron would pick up a clod of dried dirt, say "This is your face!", and smash it into the ground.

2. In the same field, firing off Ron's model rocket.

3. Going with Ron in his 1967 Firebird Convertible (white, white top, red interior, and a 327 V8, I believe) to pick up a pizza at Godfather's pizza. I also remember his car breaking down on the way home and a flatbed trailer having to pick it up.

4. Trips to the arcade. This is back when games were $.25 and Q-Bert was the rage.

5. Going to Ron's baseball games, basketball games, and cross-country meets.

6. Playing Intellivision and being awed by my brother's prowess at Lock and Chase.

7. Water skiing with the family. Ron was extremely good at skiing and the knee board.

8. Ron had a Billy Idol button.

9. Ron once dated a girl with the last name of "Butz." I remember thinking that was pretty funny as a little kid.

Butz. That's funny.

Baby Steps

Jesse took his first unassisted steps over the weekend! He's been able to cruise along furniture for months and, recently, he'd been able to walk while holding onto just our fingers but this was the first time he's done it without any help.

He was holding onto a kitchen chair and, after a lot of encouragement, he finally let go, took about 4 steps, and fell into my arms. Initially, Jesse wasn't all that excited about it but once we started clapping and laughing, so did he. He hasn't done much walking since but he did take a few more steps last night.

My Main Man is getting to be such a big boy.

First Birthday: Retro Style

Jesse turned one this past Friday. Unfortunately, he had to celebrate with his one-year checkup at the doctor. A few minutes of poking and prodding combined with four shots kind of put a damper on his day. Saturday, however, was party day! Jesse invited his grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles, and a couple friends over for cake and celebration. Based on Jesse's reaction to his first taste of cake, it looks like it successfully offset the unpleasantness of the previous day's shots.

It's incredible to think where we (and Jesse) were last year at this time. Just twelve months ago, Jesse weighed seven pounds and fifteen ounces. His diet was extremely limited. He slept a ton. And we could comfortably set him down (in a safe place!) without worrying about whether he'd stay there when we turned our back. Now? Oh no. He's twenty-five pounds and two ounces, his second tooth just broke through the other day, and he is all over the place. He's not slowing down, either.

The year has been stressful. But, even bigger than the stress, the year has been more rewarding than I'd ever imagined. Seeing Jesse develop his skills, personality, and, (most noticeably) his sense of humor has been a joy.

Oh yes, Jesse's cake...that was Mommy and Daddy's idea. It's not exactly the shape of a 1968 Dodge Charger but the effect works. And the concept of the pull-apart cake/cupcake is pretty sweet.

You know, I wish that I had Jesse's books

My wife and I love reading. We hope that’s something we’ll be able to pass down to Jesse. Of course, Jesse is just about a year old so he’s currently more interested in grabbing, pulling, and biting books than actually listening to a story of any length. Still, there was a period when he was a lot less mobile and I really enjoyed reading to him (I still do but I just have to understand he’ll probably be petting the dog, pulling pillows off the couch, or banging on something [maybe me] while I read). I especially liked going back and sharing with Jesse some of the books I loved as a kid. Danny and the Dinosaur by Sid Hoff stands out. As does the Harry the Dirty Dog series by Gene Zion. And how can I forget just about anything by Shel Silverstein?

We’ve also stumbled upon the work of contemporary author/artist by the name of Adam Rex. We first found his Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich at an independent bookseller in my hometown and I immediately fell in love with the artwork. He manages to create work that is both whimsical (I never thought I use that word in this blog) and realistic. The writing is also fun and imaginative. One of my favorite poems of Rex’s is titled Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Henderson and involves one Dr. Jekyll drinking the wrong potion prior to a dinner party. Instead of the monstrous Hyde, Jekyll transforms into Henderson, a dull but no less terrifying insurance salesman. Excellent stuff. That said, the book was part of Jesse’s Christmas last year and we’ve read through it on multiple occasions. We’ve also read Rex’s Tree Ring Circus which was also quite entertaining though I’m personally fond of the vampires, werewolves, and zombies in Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich.

I’m always on the lookout for children’s book suggestions. Does anyone have additional recommendations?

Photo Op: A Boy and His Dog

Not much to say. I just love these pictures.

The Bronze/Pottery Anniversary

My lovely wife and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary yesterday. From what I've read, it's supposed to be the bronze/pottery anniversary. We celebrated with neither. Actually, we enjoyed a terrific night out last weekend while my parents watched Jesse for us (Thanks, Mom and Dad).

With the few extra years of dating at Ball State, we've been together nearly 11 years. It's been amazing. It really doesn't seem like it's been that long. As my wife said, it seems like we were just going to Fazoli's on our first date, using the dorm room desks for a dining room table, and making an evening of going to the Muncie Wal-Mart.

A lot has changed. Sure, I miss the simplicity of college life. And I certainly miss having the flexibility of the college schedule. Let's face it, homework can always be done in the middle of the night...planning a fun date needs to happen now. On the other hand, I think we've really grown with all the changes. Maybe when things like free time grow scarce, we realize their true value. It didn't hurt that I was younger and sleep seemed a lot less important (and necessary).

I'm excited about our future. Really excited. Even in the last year or two, we've really grown closer to each other. We've grown closer to God. And we're really working on growing closer to God as a couple. I see that trend continuing.

Thanks you for 8 + 3 awesome years.

Batman Battles the Ottoman Empire!

An exciting event occurred this past weekend. Batman was in town! In fact, he was visiting the local Ashley Furniture store, chillin’ with the citizens of Westfield, and grillin’ inside his tights (it was a sweltering afternoon). Batman was even kind enough to let his fans take a seat in the Batmobile!

So, Jesse met his first superhero and Dad was there with the camera. It was a good time. I was careful NOT to accidentally refer to Batman as Bru…I mean...never mind.