Andrew's Life 1.0
Andrew's Life 2.0
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Through the Eyes of Andrew
Andrew got his very own camera last Christmas. It ran out of batteries a few months back and was buried among all his other toys till this past week. We went over to target to get some batteries and transferred the pics onto the computer. Among the literally 100s of pics we've put together our favorites. Enjoy life from Andrew's perspective!
Andrew's Life 1.0
Andrew's Life 2.0
Andrew's Life 1.0
Andrew's Life 2.0
Sunday, July 19, 2009
One Fish Two Fish...
The boys starting swimming lessons this month! Andrew loves the water, and has never been afraid to jump in. We're accordingly anxious to have him learn to swim on his own as soon as he can! Grant has never really liked the water, so we were interested to see how he'd do. Take a look at both our little fish.
The Orca shall be mine
Kick, kick, kick!
Bubbles!
Dumb Bell
Going Solo
Air Grant
The Orca shall be mine
Kick, kick, kick!
Bubbles!
Dumb Bell
Going Solo
Air Grant
Saturday, July 4, 2009
I'm still alive...
I've been gone awhile, though my lovely hubby has been blogging in my place (thank goodness, or else we'd be one of those woefully neglected blogs--ahem, Maren!). Anyway, I've been rather busy of late. For those of you that don't know (which I think is most of you) I have a job. Woo! Or something. I--like John--work for the city of Denton. Unlike John, however, I don't work in the cool HR department ;). I work in the aquatics department, as "lead cashier", meaning I'm in charge of all the cashiers within the aquatics department (in other words, about 20 people, though that number has been decreasing lately...that's a whole other story though). In December I went in and interviewed for a cashier position, thinking it would be nice to work once or twice a week. But at the end of the interview I was offered the lead cashier position, and I accepted it. It's a very interesting job, and I've certainly learned a lot. During the off season I work just a few hours a week, but during the summer it's a 40 hour a week job. And it's exhausting. So my blogging has suffered. And when I actually answer my phone, my family makes comments like "Oh, it's a miracle! You answered your phone!" or "So you're not ignoring my calls anymore." Very funny. I'm appreciative of this experience, but I'm definitely looking forward to summer being over.
In more exciting recent news, I've now made two cakes that people have paid me for. It's so fun! And it's made me realize that I very much need a bigger kitchen. I could also spend a great deal of money on kitchen/baking supplies. When I made one of the cakes the other day, I went to get out my whisk attachment for my KitchenAid and I couldn't find it. Anywhere. I got very upset and searched the apartment, but was never able to find it. I was kind of frightened by how emotional I got about a KitchenAid attachment. But I LOVE my KitchenAid and use it frequently! I had to use a hand mixer to make my cake! Not cool. And it will cost me $20 to replace it. But I did discover that I can buy more bowls, so that's pretty exciting. Anyway...I know some of you out there understand the KitchenAid obsession.
So here are the cakes I did. The first one was for John's coworker's son's 1st birthday. The bottom layer was cookies and cream with vanilla buttercream, and the top layer (for the birthday boy to destroy) was white cake with vanilla buttercream. The second cake (for John's coworker) was chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge buttercream. My kind of cake.
Clearly photography is not my forte. Maybe one day I'll get a chance to work on that...
Speaking of things that are not my forte...frosting and piping with buttercream. I really need to work on that, but I've been having too much fun with fondant.
In more exciting recent news, I've now made two cakes that people have paid me for. It's so fun! And it's made me realize that I very much need a bigger kitchen. I could also spend a great deal of money on kitchen/baking supplies. When I made one of the cakes the other day, I went to get out my whisk attachment for my KitchenAid and I couldn't find it. Anywhere. I got very upset and searched the apartment, but was never able to find it. I was kind of frightened by how emotional I got about a KitchenAid attachment. But I LOVE my KitchenAid and use it frequently! I had to use a hand mixer to make my cake! Not cool. And it will cost me $20 to replace it. But I did discover that I can buy more bowls, so that's pretty exciting. Anyway...I know some of you out there understand the KitchenAid obsession.
So here are the cakes I did. The first one was for John's coworker's son's 1st birthday. The bottom layer was cookies and cream with vanilla buttercream, and the top layer (for the birthday boy to destroy) was white cake with vanilla buttercream. The second cake (for John's coworker) was chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge buttercream. My kind of cake.
Clearly photography is not my forte. Maybe one day I'll get a chance to work on that...
Speaking of things that are not my forte...frosting and piping with buttercream. I really need to work on that, but I've been having too much fun with fondant.Sunday, June 28, 2009
Mawwiage is what bwings us togethuh today
I logged into the computer this morning to check up on the latest news (still can't believe Billy Mays died too...they're dropping like flies!) While visiting MSN, I found this link:
As I'm sure most of you are aware, I work in HR. I chose this field primarily because of my interest in social psychology. I enjoy trying to understand how people see things so differently and why they do the different things they do. This is particularly true when it comes to views that are in direct contrast to my personal views and those of the church. So, I followed the link to see why they though marriage should be abolished.
It became very quickly apparent that there was no grand revelation or reasoning behind the plan to scrap marriage, but rather a simple author trying to rationalize her decisions for adultery and divorce. She spends a large part of the article making sure we know she's not afraid of the hard work that would be required to fix her marriage, but in her mind that's beside the point because that's not where the real problem is. The real problem is marriage itself. All she is doing is simply following her genetic preprogramming and moving away from a man-made institution that doesn't fit with her personal views and feelings about modern society.
This reaction is unfortunately not at all uncommon in today's world, and seems to be the favorite argument of anyone trying to rationalize their behavior. In her case, with marriage gone, there is no accountability for her "bad" actions. With no accountability, she's free to do whatever she wants, and no one can say anything bad about her. She can now sleep soundly at night knowing she is a "good" person.
I also find it interesting that the only reason people can think of not to get divorced is "the children." But even that argument is losing ground because the kids don't fit in with the selfish desires of these parents! (and people wonder why kids are the way they are nowadays) Quite frankly it makes me wonder if they truly understand what a parent really is.
Accountability (and marriage if the author had her way), appears to be headed for the same fate as abstinence and monogamy, a lost value with little or no meaning other than a punch line. This denial of accountability coupled with overarching selfishness is, in my humble opinion, the primary contributors to the downfall of society that has taken place in previous historic cultures and is currently taking place in our own.
But, back to the topic at hand, why is marriage necessary? Why do we get married? Or maybe a better question would be: What is the value of marriage? (To speak in the terms of modern culture: What’s in it for me?) Those are big questions, and I've always found that big questions are best answered with stories.
The other day we went to cracker barrel. After dinner I took an antsy Andrew outside to burn off some steam. Being quite hot outside, and having a 1/2 pound of ground beef in my gut, I plopped down into a nice rocking chair in the shade and whipped out my cell phone to play a little bejeweled. Andrew ran to the oversized checkerboard in the sun, and promptly asked me to play with him. After thinking it over I decided I probably should. After a few futile efforts of teaching him the basics of the game we opted for building towers. We were both sweaty and sticky when all was said and done. When Kara put him to bed that night, the last thing he told her was how much fun he had playing checkers with Daddy. I can't tell you how much that really impacts me, and reminds me to continue to act accordingly in the future, especially when I consider how close I was to just sitting back in my shaded chair and letting him do his own thing.
Now, I don't share that to illustrate what a great dad I am. I still have more than I’d care to admit to learning when it comes to being a good dad/husband. But I think it effectively answers the above questions. You see, I might not be able to tell you all the reasons to get married, or for that matter why marriage should even exist (outside gospel principles), but I can tell you I'm a damn better person because of it. If I'm fortunate enough to meet "the Big Guy" in the end, it will only be because of Kara, Andrew, and Grant, and I'll defend that one to the grave!
When it comes down to it, marriage is not easy, it is not fun a lot of the times, it is not pretty sometimes, and it's more work than I ever thought it would be (and that's only after 5 years!), but neither is life, and it is all worth it. It is worth it because it teaches me selflessness. It teaches me accountability. It teaches me respect. It teaches me that sacrifice is more rewarding than personal gratification. It teaches me the true meaning of love. It teaches me who I am. Just as others would seek to abolish marriage because they fear these truths, I embrace it because I fear the absence of these truths in my life. Would I still rather play X-box than clean day old formula out of bottles, take the garbage out, or vacuum goldfish crackers out of the carpet 3 times a day? You better believe it! And I will continue to play, probably more than Kara would like on occasion, but I hopefully will do so with a better understanding of who I am and what I need to do to improve my marriage and myself :).
So, to Kara, Andrew, and Grant: Thank you and I love you guys. You are literally my salvation. To everyone else, married or not, appreciate the difficulties in life, because you are the result of the choices you make, and the more opportunity you have to make big decisions, the greater your potential is for greatness.
As I'm sure most of you are aware, I work in HR. I chose this field primarily because of my interest in social psychology. I enjoy trying to understand how people see things so differently and why they do the different things they do. This is particularly true when it comes to views that are in direct contrast to my personal views and those of the church. So, I followed the link to see why they though marriage should be abolished.
It became very quickly apparent that there was no grand revelation or reasoning behind the plan to scrap marriage, but rather a simple author trying to rationalize her decisions for adultery and divorce. She spends a large part of the article making sure we know she's not afraid of the hard work that would be required to fix her marriage, but in her mind that's beside the point because that's not where the real problem is. The real problem is marriage itself. All she is doing is simply following her genetic preprogramming and moving away from a man-made institution that doesn't fit with her personal views and feelings about modern society.
This reaction is unfortunately not at all uncommon in today's world, and seems to be the favorite argument of anyone trying to rationalize their behavior. In her case, with marriage gone, there is no accountability for her "bad" actions. With no accountability, she's free to do whatever she wants, and no one can say anything bad about her. She can now sleep soundly at night knowing she is a "good" person.
I also find it interesting that the only reason people can think of not to get divorced is "the children." But even that argument is losing ground because the kids don't fit in with the selfish desires of these parents! (and people wonder why kids are the way they are nowadays) Quite frankly it makes me wonder if they truly understand what a parent really is.
Accountability (and marriage if the author had her way), appears to be headed for the same fate as abstinence and monogamy, a lost value with little or no meaning other than a punch line. This denial of accountability coupled with overarching selfishness is, in my humble opinion, the primary contributors to the downfall of society that has taken place in previous historic cultures and is currently taking place in our own.
But, back to the topic at hand, why is marriage necessary? Why do we get married? Or maybe a better question would be: What is the value of marriage? (To speak in the terms of modern culture: What’s in it for me?) Those are big questions, and I've always found that big questions are best answered with stories.
The other day we went to cracker barrel. After dinner I took an antsy Andrew outside to burn off some steam. Being quite hot outside, and having a 1/2 pound of ground beef in my gut, I plopped down into a nice rocking chair in the shade and whipped out my cell phone to play a little bejeweled. Andrew ran to the oversized checkerboard in the sun, and promptly asked me to play with him. After thinking it over I decided I probably should. After a few futile efforts of teaching him the basics of the game we opted for building towers. We were both sweaty and sticky when all was said and done. When Kara put him to bed that night, the last thing he told her was how much fun he had playing checkers with Daddy. I can't tell you how much that really impacts me, and reminds me to continue to act accordingly in the future, especially when I consider how close I was to just sitting back in my shaded chair and letting him do his own thing.
Now, I don't share that to illustrate what a great dad I am. I still have more than I’d care to admit to learning when it comes to being a good dad/husband. But I think it effectively answers the above questions. You see, I might not be able to tell you all the reasons to get married, or for that matter why marriage should even exist (outside gospel principles), but I can tell you I'm a damn better person because of it. If I'm fortunate enough to meet "the Big Guy" in the end, it will only be because of Kara, Andrew, and Grant, and I'll defend that one to the grave!
When it comes down to it, marriage is not easy, it is not fun a lot of the times, it is not pretty sometimes, and it's more work than I ever thought it would be (and that's only after 5 years!), but neither is life, and it is all worth it. It is worth it because it teaches me selflessness. It teaches me accountability. It teaches me respect. It teaches me that sacrifice is more rewarding than personal gratification. It teaches me the true meaning of love. It teaches me who I am. Just as others would seek to abolish marriage because they fear these truths, I embrace it because I fear the absence of these truths in my life. Would I still rather play X-box than clean day old formula out of bottles, take the garbage out, or vacuum goldfish crackers out of the carpet 3 times a day? You better believe it! And I will continue to play, probably more than Kara would like on occasion, but I hopefully will do so with a better understanding of who I am and what I need to do to improve my marriage and myself :).
So, to Kara, Andrew, and Grant: Thank you and I love you guys. You are literally my salvation. To everyone else, married or not, appreciate the difficulties in life, because you are the result of the choices you make, and the more opportunity you have to make big decisions, the greater your potential is for greatness.
Since I can’t have an entirely serious post, here’s a parting clip:
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Back in my day...
As Kara and I watched Andrew watching Spongebob Square Pants we got to talking about how they don't make cartoons like they used to. Back when we were growing up, cartoons actually told a story and generally had some sort of moral or take-away. Now-a-days it's all either dumb jokes or pointless action. I thought it would be fun therefore to run down memory lane for this post and revisit some of the top cartoons of the early 90's. These are the cartoons we can both remember running home from school, dropping the bag on the floor, and turning on the T.V. to catch. (Sometime I'll have to do a post on the really old-school cartoons I watched when growing up...can anyone say He-Man!!!) Vote on your favorite or let us know if there's any we missed.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
For the Benefit of family outside of Texas...
We had our first tornado warning tonight. I was quite excited! (I want to see a tornado...not up close, but off in the distance where I'm safe) Sadly, but much to Kara's relief, while Denton is in fact in tornado alley, it's generally a little too north west to get the serious stuff. We still get some pretty good storms though. Here's a couple videos I promised my brother in Utah.
It's a little too quite...
Sound the alarms...
In the bear cage!
It's a little too quite...
Sound the alarms...
In the bear cage!
Monday, June 8, 2009
A Hard Day's Nap
Today we had to wake Drewbert up from his nap. This almost never happens. He was so out of it that he seemed to think we'd woken him up during the middle of the night. Needless to say, he was not a very happy camper (would you be if someone pulled you out of bed in the middle of the night and tried to force Bruchetta Chicken down your throat!) Kara and I had to try really hard not to laugh at him as he bumped into things and tried very hard to form complete, coherent sentences. This experience got me thinking a little about sleep.
Why is it when I get more sleep than I usually do, I'm so much more tired the next day? Who has a position they have to be in before they can go to sleep? Why is it that I can take a nap while laying on my back, but can't for the life of me go to sleep for the night on my back? Why can I nod off all day (we call it riding the bull because of the wicked head snaps you get when you go limp and whip back up suddenly) but when it comes time to actually sleep I'm wide awake? Have you ever nodded off, only to open your eyes in what you think is a few minutes later only to find out it's time to get up? That's the worst! Conversely have you woken up in the middle of the night fully refreshed and thinking it was time to get up for the day? I love that! What makes some people heavy sleepers while others (such as my lovely wife) bolt upright at the sound of rustling carpet. Kara still accuses me of faking being asleep when babies are crying, an accusation I will fight till my dying day! But of all the quirky things about sleep, my all time pet peeve is waking up 10 minutes before my alarm goes off!
Anyway, I'm off to bed....sweet dreams everybody!
Why is it when I get more sleep than I usually do, I'm so much more tired the next day? Who has a position they have to be in before they can go to sleep? Why is it that I can take a nap while laying on my back, but can't for the life of me go to sleep for the night on my back? Why can I nod off all day (we call it riding the bull because of the wicked head snaps you get when you go limp and whip back up suddenly) but when it comes time to actually sleep I'm wide awake? Have you ever nodded off, only to open your eyes in what you think is a few minutes later only to find out it's time to get up? That's the worst! Conversely have you woken up in the middle of the night fully refreshed and thinking it was time to get up for the day? I love that! What makes some people heavy sleepers while others (such as my lovely wife) bolt upright at the sound of rustling carpet. Kara still accuses me of faking being asleep when babies are crying, an accusation I will fight till my dying day! But of all the quirky things about sleep, my all time pet peeve is waking up 10 minutes before my alarm goes off!
Anyway, I'm off to bed....sweet dreams everybody!
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