Treasures

So my new plan of blogging on Tuesdays was almost derailed before it began. Here is the scoop. I had to do a "take home" test today for my Systematic Theology class. So I spent the morning (and into the afternoon) in my office at church finishing it. Therefore my brain thought it was Wednesday. To top it off I have not been feeling very good so I have been on some cold medicine. With that one..two punch my plan was almost thwarted. But alas, here I am typing away on a new post.

My girls have treasure boxes. What is a treasure box you ask? Well for my girls it is a box they put things in that they think are valuable. My wife got my oldest a box a few months back and she has just rediscovered it. In currently contains: superhero cards from a kids meal toy, a key chain flashlight, a princess makeup compact, a plastic wallet, and a few pennies. Last night my youngest wanted her own treasure box so being the creative one that I am got her some tupperware. She thought it was great and now she has a few treasures in it. Last time I looked there was a monkey (from the barrel of monkeys game), and some super hero cards her sister gave her. She also wanted to have some money like her sister. As she was settling down for the night she misplaced her penny and we heard the following words from the back of the house, "Oh man, I need help!! I lost my money for Jesus!!" Ahhhh the joys of youth. She had her treasure and was ready to give it away for her chapel offering (sounds like a sermon illustration to me). She took it to school today (along with the quarter I gave here) and she put it in the offering for chapel. She was just so cute keeping it in her pocket while we went to school and she kept checking to see if it was still there. I was so proud of her as she walked up to her teacher, dug into her jeans and pulled out money and said, "This is for Jesus, OK!" I was beaming, and so was Jesus. Until next week...

I'm not dead....

I know it has been forever since I have posted but let me just say I have been super busy, even more so than usual the past month. I don't really have time for a full post here but let me give you some highlights:

School is going well. I have finished one class and have two more to complete this semester. I have just two more to finish in the fall and my course work will be done. I also have to pass my theological examination which is sorta like defending your thesis. I have to travel to Concordia Seminary St. Louis and sit in a room with three professors and they get to ask me anything they want. Pretty daunting and intimidating but I hope to do well.

No new news with the girls adoption. We are still waiting to hear from the court regarding the appeal. Halloween was fun. The girls both had great costumes. My oldest dressed up like her favorite TV character, Dora the Explorer. She had the whole outfit with a backpack and a map. My youngest was a ladybug with wings and antenna. They were a but unsure as we left the house about trick-or-treating. We practiced for a few days about what to do and about four houses in, the had it down. They were so cute. Before we went out we carved some pumpkins and had dinner. I made pizza thinking this would be a great treat but the girls both rejected it totally. The chose to eat green beens, cottage cheese and V-8 juice. What kids choose this as their dinner? My girls have the strangest taste in food. The usual breakfast these days is bran flakes and raisins. Are you kidding me??? How many preschoolers choose bran flakes and raisins? Not to mention they both LOVE V-8. I don't understand and I really can't complain. Jill is gone this week so thanks to some great friends the night was a success (Thanks Ing and Josh!!!!!). This morning my youngest wanted candy for breakfast...thanks a lot Great Pumpkin!

The girls are loving preschool and making friends. My youngest figured out the potty thing pretty fast. The first few weeks of school were dicey but after that she has been great. The girls just took school pictures and they are the cutest.

I have told myself that I will try to post once a week on Tuesdays (my day off) for the rest of the year. We shall see how that goes. Until Tuesday....

It is almost that time......

I love October baseball!!!!! Enjoy........

The joys of preschool programming...

Having two preschoolers in the house makes for some interesting TV viewing. I can't tell you how happy I am that we have TiVo!! My house is filled with Dora the Explorer (Viva! Dora!), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (theme song by They Might Be Giants!), The Wonder Pets (at least the music is good), and Hi-5 (Like if ABBA did a kids show....on crack). Now of course there are still the great princess movies and other Disney fare but for the most part the girls love to sit on the couch and watch a few episodes of TV. For those of you who do not have young kids here is a sampling of the shows that run in our house:

Oh those Red Sox Fans

A few times on this blog I have bemoaned the fact that Boston Red Sox fan needs to check himself / herself soon or they would wear out their welcome (read my rants here and here). They are a rude, myopic, and downright unpleasant group of people. I don’t seem to be alone in this. Since their 2004 championship things have gotten worse. This past week I came across two great articles to this point from Page 2 of espn.com. I want to give you a taste of what others are saying so you know that this is not just my opinion First up is Jim Caple. The full article can be found here but this is what he has to say:

No one can stand to be around Red Sox fans anymore. And they're everywhere -- a recent USA Today article labeled the Red Sox baseball's new biggest attraction. Forget a fence between the U.S. and Mexico. What we really need is a wall, a moat and a minefield around New England to keep the spoiled citizens of Red Sox Nation from sneaking into the rest of the country and taking over seats in major league ballparks that should go to hard-working local fans. Everywhere the Red Sox play these days turns into a road version of Fenway Park, with Boston fans occasionally drowning out the hometown fans with their "Let's Go Red Sox!" chants. They were so over the top at a recent game in Seattle, I was surprised the Mariners didn't play "Sweet Caroline."

SportsNation Have fan rivalries gotten out of control? Give us your take, come vote in our polls. Whether this is an inspiring show of team pride by passionate fans or an annoying lack of manners depends on how close you have to actually sit to these people. They call themselves Red Sox Nation, the same arrogant way the Cowboys call themselves America's Team. And the whole thing is getting a little old. Could I get a little help here from Miss Teen South Carolina? Where the hell is Red Sox Nation anyway? It seems to me Red Sox Nation only exists when the team is winning, like a country that only shows up on U.S. State Department radar when oil is discovered. Wherever Red Sox Nation is, I just wish Bush would invade it.

Enough already. Get over yourselves, Red Sox fans. Better yet, follow the lead of White Sox fans. Their team went 88 years without winning a World Series. They went 46 years without even playing in one. Yet when they finally won in 2005, they had the decency to keep their celebration to themselves. And if their fine example isn't enough, then maybe this will be enough to sober you up: You're acting like Yankees fans.

AMEN, Preach it brother!!!

The second bit of literary gold comes from a lifelong Sox fan and fantastic sports writer. If you have never read a column from Bill Simmons do yourself a favor and click here. Here is what he has to say about Red Sox Nation, and the scores of post 2004 bandwagon fans (full article here):

I flew down to Tampa for last week's series and can report the following: Sox fans made up 70% of the crowd, overwhelming Devil Rays fans, most of whom were in the Matlock demographic, anyway. From a noise standpoint, if you closed your eyes, you would have thought you were in Fenway. (Well, until you opened them and saw the dome on the ghoulishly outdated Tropicana Field, or the brownish-red shag carpety stuff on the warning track that was pulled from Austin Powers' flat.) Three sights were especially shocking:

1. Entire families dressed in Sox gear, including some clans who traveled from New England for a vacation. Before our team won it all this rarely happened, because few fathers wanted to subject their kids to merciless berating. Now there's a coming-out-of-the-closet feel to these road games: It's okay, you can wear your Manny jersey, honey. Nothing bad will happen.

2. Attractive females wearing Sox gear. Even during the Pedro era, you were more likely to see a no-hitter than a cute woman in team colors. Now they're everywhere. And honestly, I just can't get over seeing a woman who isn't built like Doug Mirabelli wearing a Sox jersey.

3. The scores of post-2004 newbie fans. Do these yahoos even know suffering? In Tampa, the guy behind me (a Sox "fan") and his girlfriend (a D-Rays fan) were doing the whole "giving each other crap" thing, which would have been fine if he hadn't returned with two beers during a Tampa rally and said, "Wow, you got the score to 5-7!" That's post-2004 Sox fans for you: They wear crisp new hats and think Wade Boggs was a country singer and that the score is 5-7.

Again, I'd rather be a Sox fan in 2007 than 2003. I just wasn't prepared to root for the Yankees, and as sad as this sounds, we've kinda sorta maybe turned into the Yankees. Like them, we spend more money than everyone else. Like them, we make expensive roster mistakes (Drew, Lugo, Matt Clement, Edgar Rentería, et al.) without any repercussions. Like them, we're detested by opposing fans because we invade their stadiums and taunt their teams. And like them, we're sucking in all the soulless bandwagon kids who pick their favorite teams in first grade based on winning percentages and superstars.

What a burn, a Sox fan said they were turning into the Yankees, Ouch!! If you were a Red Sox fan before 2004 please, please, please tell the guy in the brand new J.D. Drew jersey and clean retro cap to stop being a jerk. Real fans respect the game and those who play. Real fans respect a guests home. Now be nice, feel free to root for your team, but don’t bring your rude disrespectful behinds into visiting parks thinking it is the new Fenway.

Do yourself a favor. If you live near an American League park and the Red Sox are coming to town. Call a sitter, buy tickets to the game and don’t let Red Sox nation take your home field advantage from you.

"Daddy, why are those guys dancing in their panties?"

We were in Maui at the Old Lahina Lu'au. It was our second day on the island and the Mai Tais were flowing. The show had just started and the hula dancers were taking a break. The guys were on stage dancing away and when they were done my oldest looks back at me and the magic flows from her lips. What a great quote. I just said they were part of the show. Then she says to me, "Where did all the princesses go?" I just cracked up. In her mind the female dancers were the princesses. Before I could say anything else she says, "Did they go to Disneyland?" At this point I just said yes and let her live the dream. As we were leaving we took some pictures with the "princesses". My girls were in heaven, and I couldn't be happier. Enjoy the video I found on YouTube from the Old Lahina Lu'au:

I am back!!!

Well I think it is about time to get this thing up and running again. It has been an eventful summer and I has a lot to blog about but a full post will have to wait for another day. Here is the quick version:

• Alaska was great but short for me (since I had to come home for class). We were blessed beyond measure and I look forward to going again
• My second summer class (on Worship) went by quickly and I learned a lot.
• The day after class was over we packed up the minivan and drove to Napa to see my sister. We went to a wine club event while we were there and it was awesome.
• We were home for less than 24 hours and then took off to Palm Springs to see some family. It was hot but the girls loved the pool.
• Were home for three days to do laundry and do homework (and I had to pack and move my office) then we were off to Maui.
• Maui was fun but tiring with five kids four and under in the same house (our rental house is pictured above). I did get to dive one day and we all went to a Luau.
• Got back last Wednesday and since then I have finished two projects for summer school, registered for next semester, tried to organize my new office and am gearing up for the fall at Church.
• This summer has also seen dance class for my oldest and swim lessons for both girls.
• Jill started back to work this week and I start school next week.
• Pre-School is closed the next two weeks and we don't quite know what we will do for childcare at the moment.
• My youngest is still on again, off again with the potty. She has to make great progress the next two weeks or no school for her (and no childcare for daddy!!).
• There have been some awesome things that I will write more about later but let me give you one tease...This came out of my oldest daughters mouth "Daddy, why are those guys dancing in their panties?" I hope you are intrigued

Talk to you later.