This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Nov
22
2011
This year, we participated in Operation Christmas Child (OCC) again.
The kids got to participate twice, since we had our set of boxes that we packed and their grandparents had a set of boxes for them to pack too.
We’ll do the grandparents’ boxes first.
Go to the dollar store and fill a cart.
Put all the items on your dining room table.
Nov
21
2011
Alpha: Look! It’s my mini-blinder!
Me: What’s a mini-blinder?
(Alpha shines a bright LED flashlight into my eyes.)
Me: Ow!
The Scene: One of the children came crying to me. I must say something to the other child.
Me: Don’t hit your brother with an axe!
Me, imagining loopholes: In fact, don’t hit your brother with anything.
It was a toy axe, but I still decided it was best to confiscate it.
Beta, taking a bath: Can I sleep in the bathtub?
Me: No.
Beta, leaning back so the water covers his ears: WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU.
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.
Zechariah 7:11
Nov
17
2011
Our kids get piano lessons from a local lady. She’s a grandmother and a retired schoolteacher. She’ll come to your house a give lessons, for a small fee of course.
She’s very friendly and likes to hold the baby for a minute after the lessons are done.
One day Gamma happened to be in the room when the lessons concluded, and he happened to be wearing this shirt:
It says “I get my good looks from my dad”. And no, I didn’t pick it out.
The piano teacher looked at the shirt, read it out loud, then looked at me and said,
“That’s because mom still has hers!”
She was laughing when she said it – with me, of course, not at me.
It was very clever, which is why I’m sharing it with you dear internet audience. So be careful what slogans your children wear – they might backfire on you.
When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.
1 Samuel 17:42
Nov
15
2011
In the course of a calendar year, there will be good days at work and bad days at work.
Sometimes, which is which is random – you won’t know ahead of time if it’s going to be a good day or a bad day.
Other times, you know what it’s going to be, based on what is due or which meeting is scheduled for that day.
Over the course of many years in the workplace, I know I can count on these 3 days to be enjoyable.
Depending on what day of the week this holiday falls, people take either the day before or the day after the 4th off. That means a bunch of people are not at work. And that means that you can get done the things that you think are important to get done, without interrupts or re-prioritizations.
The reason this day is good is not because of fewer people. The usual number of people still show up to work this day. No, what makes me look forward to this day is the amount of chocolate that enters the building.
This year, a co-worker brought bags and bags of chocolate because he overestimated the number of trick-or-treaters that would visit his new house. He didn’t want to have to eat all of the extra candy, so he brought it into work. I was glad to help him get rid of it.
We get a full week off work between Christmas and New Year’s, so everyone is winding things down before the start of Christmas break. That means no one is going to ask you to start anything significant. It’s a relaxing time.
And if you have a good boss, like I had my first year in this job, he will come around some time between lunch and normal quitting time to wish you a merry Christmas. The exchange went a little something like this:
Boss: Are you doing actual work, or are you just filling time until the end of the day?
Underling: I’ve finished all the assigned tasks…
Boss: Go home then, and have a good break.
Underling: Thanks!
It doesn’t happen every year, but being dismissed early is a nice touch of the holiday spirit.
Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.
Joshua 24:28
Nov
14
2011
Now that everyone has forgotten about Halloween and moved on to November stuff, it’s time for me to update you on this year’s pumpkin carving.
The first step in all of this pumpkin-carving business is to select good pumpkins. Pictured here is a perfectly-formed pumpkin. It’s easy for us, because our neighbors grow and sell pumpkins. It’s on a small scale, but we still get a nice selection.
The next step is to cut open the top
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Nov
10
2011
My wife posted a this on Facebook, so a couple of you might have already seen this. Since I’m not on Facebook I figured I would share it with the general internet audience.
Here is what the sky in front of our house looked like a week or two ago:
Thanks to our almost-neightbor Erin, we now know that such an occurrence is called a murmuration of starlings.
And since Gamma likes chasing birds, he was excited to see them.
Here is what our front lawn looks like when the birds land:
I stitched two photos together for that one. Click on it to enlarge it.
They don’t stay for long though, especially when we open the front door and Gamma runs out to get them.
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “ Come, assemble for the great supper of God,
Revelation 19:17
Nov
8
2011
Now that everyone has forgotten about Halloween and moved on to November stuff, it’s time for me to update you on this year’s costumes.
Here are our boys’ costumes:
Alpha:
Toad, from Mario Kart.
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