Where's The Sugar

Today was the second consecutive day that Xander and I have stayed home together in what is becoming a hospital ward. So yesterday, he and I are sitting on the couch eating frosted mini wheats and watching the Return of the Jedi (for the 5th time). We are eating them with our hands, picking them out of the bowl. As usual, I am picking out the mini wheats that have the most sugar on them, which is the right thing to do, so that Xander doesn't eat too much sugar.

As we sit there eating the cereal I begin to notice that the majority of the mini wheats hardly have any sugar on them at all and I'm like, hmm...that's strange. So I look over at Xander and watch him bite into a piece of cereal, a few seconds later I realize that he is biting the sugar off of the mini wheat. A light bulb comes on in my head and I begin to touch all of these seemingly sugarly-challenged mini wheats, only to discover that they are all soggy. Well, Xander got the rest of that bowl.

Hopper Guy

Well, I have been forcing Lyndsay to watch the original Star Wars trilogy in its entirety for the second time in our relationship, since the first attempt was marred by her falling asleep through the majority of the viewing. Needless to say this continues to be the outcome of our veiwing attempts. However, this recent advent of the trilogy viewing finds me seated next to Xander who is completely captivated by the Hopper Guy.

See, awhile ago I taught Xander to "say" what Darth Vader says, which if you know anything about Star Wars, you know that his breathing sounds a lot like "hauuu perrrr." Well, to my delight he is actually able to imitate the breathing sound quite well when asked to perform, but when he sees Lord Vader on the screen he quickly says, "Daddy, look Hopper Guy." This unexpected referring to the sinister sith lord of course fills us with much laughter and joy and I hope has provided you with a small measure of glee.

Lyndsay, The Professional Photographer

I love this picture and it is on the desktop of my home computer. It so well shot that we have had people look at it and ask if the background of the elephants is a backdrop in a photographers studio.

Almost As Dangerous As A Sith Lord Duel Wielding Lightsabers

Luckily for us, I have been able to parry most of his attacks with wrapping paper rolls. And of course he thinks this is hilarious. For all those guys who don't like to wrap presents and get annoyed at all the wrapping paper stored somewhere in the home, wrapping paper can be fun and very useful. Who knew that it made such an effective weapon against toddlers swinging dangerous weapons ready to exact justice upon those who have put him to bed, made him sit in his car seat and have held him down so that doctors could give him his immunization shots. Hope you are having as much fun as I am today.

I never imagined I'd...

I am learning alot as I try to fulfill my new role as a father of one 14 month old boy. I am learning alot about myself and I am surprised at the things that I do for my child; things that they never told me in Baby Care Basics.

I never thought I'd share an eating utensil with another male, especially with one who does his fair share of slobering.

I never thought I'd have such a captive audience, that was impressed with my crazy antics, only to realize that the next minute he finds his own boogers to be of equal interest.

I never knew that driving down the road in the car teaching Xander how to headbang to Switchfoot would become one of my favorite pastimes.

I'm surprised at how easy it is for me to scoop large pools of snot from his upper lip that at times hang dangerously low to his mouth and threaten to drop onto the floor, on my shirt, or into his own mouth, with my bare hands.

I never thought it would be so wonderful to be awakened in my bed by a 32 inch child banging on my back, to the prompting of his mother, "Go find Daddy."

I've never knew that the onset of every new cold, ear infection, or terrible tumble would evoke in me a desire to be able to take his pain and suffering upon myself.

I never thought after I reached the age of 8 that I'd ever get down on my hands and knees and play tigers and lions again.

I never thought that "guys night in" would be way more fun than "guys night out."

I never thought that I would still be checking on him at night, even though he is a big boy now.

I've never felt this blessed in all my life, and I never thought that I would be the one who would be pushing sooner than my wife to start having more children.

I never realized how joyous it would be to see my parents play and love on him.

I never thought that I would enjoy some of his toys more than him, haha, some of them are really cool.

I can't believe how this little guy has caused me to fall deeper in love with my wife, and I can't believe how much I love both of them and how much I love our 10 week unborn child.

I can't believe the things that people would say to me when I was in high school. They would say, "these are the best days of your life." Who would have thought that they were dead wrong.

Here We Go Again

This afternoon I decided to catch on a little reading, which consisted mainly of reading my dad's quasi-new blog which made me laugh out loud on a consistent basis. I had such a fun time reading his blog that i decided that I would once again try my hand at this thing called blogging.

I orginally started blogging a couple of years ago on a blog that is still active, well at least ostensibly, unless you read the date of the last post. For one reason or another I got a little burnt out on the whole blogging experience; maybe I took the act of blogging to too seriously, or maybe I just got sick of reading the negative blogs that are so pervasive in the blogging culture. But with the advent of my father's blog I have been left wondering if it might be time to start blogging again.

So I am starting over again with a new blog, a new name, and new goals. My hope is that this blog can be a place where I can spend some time reflecting on some of my favorite topcs: family life, theological ideas, hobbies and ministry (in no particular order of importance with respect to this blog) with the hope that I will experience more constructive reflection time and that my writings will serve to let family and friends in on what is happening in our lives.

Therefore I wave goodbye to "just a thought" as I start a new leg of the blogging journey and I look forward to letting others into what would otherwise be private introspection.