Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Recent Pics of the Kiddos
Aaron and his Han Solo onesie... a chip off the old block.
Aaron's play time has been upgraded to an exersaucer...
The morning of Aaron's baby dedication! What a great sister he has!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Pardon the Mess
It's been a long time since I've posted... and there's been a reason for that. I'll save that for another post. Check back every day... I'm hoping to have a new post each day this week. New pictures, family updates, and the last few Disney World vacation recaps. I might even sprinkle a new video or two in there.
I've decided to change things around. I found a template I liked, but that means that I have to redo all of my side bar links. Just so you know... when I put my blog links back up... I will only include those sites that have posted within the two months. If you haven't, I won't include it. No offense... just don't want to offer a link to a page that isn't updated.
I'm also rethinking my title. I'm using the current one as an homage to the best cowboy movie ever made. It will probably change in the next couple of days. I have a few ideas, but I want to think about it for a little bit.
All this to say that I'm tinkering with the site a little bit and hopefully a better page will emerge from all of this... stay tuned!
I've decided to change things around. I found a template I liked, but that means that I have to redo all of my side bar links. Just so you know... when I put my blog links back up... I will only include those sites that have posted within the two months. If you haven't, I won't include it. No offense... just don't want to offer a link to a page that isn't updated.
I'm also rethinking my title. I'm using the current one as an homage to the best cowboy movie ever made. It will probably change in the next couple of days. I have a few ideas, but I want to think about it for a little bit.
All this to say that I'm tinkering with the site a little bit and hopefully a better page will emerge from all of this... stay tuned!
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Halloween
Hope it's ok to post this... a friend of mine sent this my way and I thought it was hilerious. I was written the day after Halloween. I've changed the names to protect the innocent...er... guilty.
Dear Jill,
I hope you guys didn't actually celebrate Halloween (i.e. the DEVIL's holiday)! If you and Tom actually took your little one trick-or-treating... you know that you will have to go directly to hell for that. I know because a lady at my church told me so... along with other good Godly Christianly people. I want to invite you to turn from the dark side and embrace the celebration of reformation day. Last night, our kids dressed in Bible era clothing and reenacted the children of Israel leaving Egypt (a Red Sea crossing was included). Then we all ate 'testmints' to represent moving from the old covenant of the Old Testament to the new covenant of the New Testament.
Shaloam and bless you and your family... we pray the fires of hell won't overcome you today for you pagan activities last night...
Mitch
Dear Jill,
I hope you guys didn't actually celebrate Halloween (i.e. the DEVIL's holiday)! If you and Tom actually took your little one trick-or-treating... you know that you will have to go directly to hell for that. I know because a lady at my church told me so... along with other good Godly Christianly people. I want to invite you to turn from the dark side and embrace the celebration of reformation day. Last night, our kids dressed in Bible era clothing and reenacted the children of Israel leaving Egypt (a Red Sea crossing was included). Then we all ate 'testmints' to represent moving from the old covenant of the Old Testament to the new covenant of the New Testament.
Shaloam and bless you and your family... we pray the fires of hell won't overcome you today for you pagan activities last night...
Mitch
Monday, November 06, 2006
LAF Night
The first monday night of every month is LAF night. It's a little acronym for 'Ladies and Fellowship'... though I've come up with some other great little acronyms of my own for that group.
Anyway... no, I don't attend this group... but my wife does, and in her absence, I get to spend the evening with my two little kids. I'm not one of those parents that would prefer to do pretty much anything other than spend their free time with their kids. If anything, I err on the side of too much time probably. But I can't imagine that I will lay on my deathbed and say that I regret that I spent too much time with my kids when they were younger.
Tonight was a ton of fun for me. Shortly after Melissa left, Emily brought me a DVD that she wanted to watch. It was Steven Spielberg's Gremlins from the 1980's. I told her that there were some scary parts in it and asked if she still wanted to watch it. She said yes but that she wanted me to watch it with her. I told her that the Gremlins are ugly and do some scary things. She told me to put it in and that when the monsters come, she'll hide her eyes on my shoulder.
Mixed emotions settled in. Afterall, it was a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed when I was a kid, but I also wanted her to sleep well tonight. But, I figured that the first couple of minutes where ok and I could gauge how she would do. Turns out I had nothing to worry about... she mostly laughed at the Gremlins... especially when they died gruesome deaths in blenders and microwaves. That was 90 minutes of my life well spent.
After Gremlins, she said that she wanted to watch 'Kermit the Frog.' Around this time last year, I bought the first season of the Muppet Show on DVD. For some reason, I have fond memories of The Muppet Show. I can't remember if I watched it as a kid... but somewhere along the line I picked up an appreciation for it. Emily really likes Kermit and has recently really liked watching the shows with me. We saw a 3D Muppet Show at MGM Studios in Disney World and I think that influenced her a little bit. We watched two episodes together and both of us laughed at the different antics of those crazy muppets. She laughed at the silly abstract sketches where different muppets do silly things. I laughed at the hecklers and Fozzy Bear. We both laughed as Crazy Harry blew certain muppets straight to... well... straight off the stage.
In the midst of all this, I fed Aaron (10 ounces in 4 hours), put his pajamas on and eventually got him to bed. There is very little Aaron can do right now to interact with me... but I treasure the one thing he does well... smile. It's not just a small smile either... he busts out these big ole open mouth smiles that can light up a whole room. He flashed several of those to me tonight as I was changing him into his pajamas.
To be honest, I'm still in the midst of a personal discouragement. It's kind of a hang-over from the summer. There are just a few things in my life and a few decisions made by others that have brought me some disappointment and some disalluisionment. Some days are better than others. It hasn't been a deep discouragment by any means... it's just lingered around me for longer than I expected.
But as I look at my beautiful, fun-loving little girl who shares an appreciation for the same movies that I loved when I was a kid... and when I look at my fifteen pound baby boy with the million dollar smile... many of my concerns temporarily melt away. I thank God for these two gifts that He has given me. I know it won't last forever. I know these precious moments will be gone in the blink of an eye. But I will do my best to live life to the fullest with them while they are still young.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple more Muppet Show episodes to watch with my little girl...
Anyway... no, I don't attend this group... but my wife does, and in her absence, I get to spend the evening with my two little kids. I'm not one of those parents that would prefer to do pretty much anything other than spend their free time with their kids. If anything, I err on the side of too much time probably. But I can't imagine that I will lay on my deathbed and say that I regret that I spent too much time with my kids when they were younger.
Tonight was a ton of fun for me. Shortly after Melissa left, Emily brought me a DVD that she wanted to watch. It was Steven Spielberg's Gremlins from the 1980's. I told her that there were some scary parts in it and asked if she still wanted to watch it. She said yes but that she wanted me to watch it with her. I told her that the Gremlins are ugly and do some scary things. She told me to put it in and that when the monsters come, she'll hide her eyes on my shoulder.
Mixed emotions settled in. Afterall, it was a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed when I was a kid, but I also wanted her to sleep well tonight. But, I figured that the first couple of minutes where ok and I could gauge how she would do. Turns out I had nothing to worry about... she mostly laughed at the Gremlins... especially when they died gruesome deaths in blenders and microwaves. That was 90 minutes of my life well spent.
After Gremlins, she said that she wanted to watch 'Kermit the Frog.' Around this time last year, I bought the first season of the Muppet Show on DVD. For some reason, I have fond memories of The Muppet Show. I can't remember if I watched it as a kid... but somewhere along the line I picked up an appreciation for it. Emily really likes Kermit and has recently really liked watching the shows with me. We saw a 3D Muppet Show at MGM Studios in Disney World and I think that influenced her a little bit. We watched two episodes together and both of us laughed at the different antics of those crazy muppets. She laughed at the silly abstract sketches where different muppets do silly things. I laughed at the hecklers and Fozzy Bear. We both laughed as Crazy Harry blew certain muppets straight to... well... straight off the stage.
In the midst of all this, I fed Aaron (10 ounces in 4 hours), put his pajamas on and eventually got him to bed. There is very little Aaron can do right now to interact with me... but I treasure the one thing he does well... smile. It's not just a small smile either... he busts out these big ole open mouth smiles that can light up a whole room. He flashed several of those to me tonight as I was changing him into his pajamas.
To be honest, I'm still in the midst of a personal discouragement. It's kind of a hang-over from the summer. There are just a few things in my life and a few decisions made by others that have brought me some disappointment and some disalluisionment. Some days are better than others. It hasn't been a deep discouragment by any means... it's just lingered around me for longer than I expected.
But as I look at my beautiful, fun-loving little girl who shares an appreciation for the same movies that I loved when I was a kid... and when I look at my fifteen pound baby boy with the million dollar smile... many of my concerns temporarily melt away. I thank God for these two gifts that He has given me. I know it won't last forever. I know these precious moments will be gone in the blink of an eye. But I will do my best to live life to the fullest with them while they are still young.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple more Muppet Show episodes to watch with my little girl...
Thursday, November 02, 2006
My Take...
DVD: Lost, Season One
Summary: Wow. In my mind, this show rivals the X-Files for mystery and mythology. It has excellent character development. The character flashbacks are a twist that really helps move the show forward. The island is a character unto itself. Each episode that answers one question you had ususally makes you ask about three more. I'm up to about 24 different questions right now. I should make a list. The cliffhanger leaves you with pretty much no idea what the heck is going on. The death of Boone proves that no main characters are safe in this show... I am hooked!
Grade: A+
Book: Mastering Outreach and Evangelism
Authors: Ratz, Tillapaugh and Augsburger
Summary: The only chapter that I found helpful in this book was the one on Assimilation written by Ratz. (It's the very last chapter of the book.) Having three authors from three different churches write on evangelism might seem like a good idea... but editors of this book choose three extreme situations that won't relate to the majority of the pastors that read this book. (In my humble opinion) Combine that with the fact that this was written 1990 and you have an outdated, irrelevant book. Not great.
Grade: C-
Book: Christianity Through the Centuries
Author: Earle Cairns
Summery: My church history book from college... I finally finished it. I've recently grown very interested in learning more about my Christian roots... with a particular interest in the early post-Acts church from about 100AD to 500AD or so. This book was very good... it just took forever to get it completely read. Long, but very rewarding. If you are interested in church history... this is a good book to pick up. Next up for me... to pick up a few books that deal extensively with the early church...
Grade: A-
Summary: Wow. In my mind, this show rivals the X-Files for mystery and mythology. It has excellent character development. The character flashbacks are a twist that really helps move the show forward. The island is a character unto itself. Each episode that answers one question you had ususally makes you ask about three more. I'm up to about 24 different questions right now. I should make a list. The cliffhanger leaves you with pretty much no idea what the heck is going on. The death of Boone proves that no main characters are safe in this show... I am hooked!
Grade: A+
Book: Mastering Outreach and Evangelism
Authors: Ratz, Tillapaugh and Augsburger
Summary: The only chapter that I found helpful in this book was the one on Assimilation written by Ratz. (It's the very last chapter of the book.) Having three authors from three different churches write on evangelism might seem like a good idea... but editors of this book choose three extreme situations that won't relate to the majority of the pastors that read this book. (In my humble opinion) Combine that with the fact that this was written 1990 and you have an outdated, irrelevant book. Not great.
Grade: C-
Book: Christianity Through the Centuries
Author: Earle Cairns
Summery: My church history book from college... I finally finished it. I've recently grown very interested in learning more about my Christian roots... with a particular interest in the early post-Acts church from about 100AD to 500AD or so. This book was very good... it just took forever to get it completely read. Long, but very rewarding. If you are interested in church history... this is a good book to pick up. Next up for me... to pick up a few books that deal extensively with the early church...
Grade: A-
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