Check This Out!

As you know, my hobby is photography. I love it! I especially love taking pictures at the zoo. I also love nature pics and shots of my kids. I just started a new photography blog. You can check it out here: Angel Photography.

BUT, that's not what this post is about. It seems I have a budding photographer in the family. Alyssa has asked for a camera for her birthday (which is today!). We'll see......but, today she borrowed my camera to take some pictures of the cats and she came up with this:

Great job, Alyssa! Happy Birthday!

Can We Sleep Now?

Crazy weekend, but a good one. Thursday, Kai went to work with Dean. The kids love to do that, so Dean always tries to bring each kid to work with him at least twice during the summer. Friday, Roan spent the morning at the office, then they came home after lunch to get ready for the yard sale.

At our last yard sale 3 or 4 years ago, I swore I would never have another one, but Dean really wanted to. He couldn't WAIT to get rid of stuff. The problem we have is that we view things from completely different perspectives. I want to (reluctantly) sell some of my 'valued treasures' for a little extra money. Dean wants to get rid of 'all this crap', he doesn't care if he gives it away as long as it doesn't come back into the house! See the problem? Case in point: A customer approached Dean and asked how much we wanted for the area rug. (It's in good condition, just a little dirty) Dean said, 'Make me an offer." Naturally, no-one starts with a high number, they start low and haggle until you meet in the middle right? They offered $5.00. Dean said, "I'm sorry, I can't take $5.00 for this rug. How about $3?" Understand yet? I can't handle that. I spent most of the morning in the house. Admittedly, Dean did most of the work, but it was driving me crazy! I figured, what I don't hear/see, I can pretend didn't happen. The kids were cute though. They had a lemonade stand and made about 10 dollars!

Today, after church, Dean and the boys went swimming at a friends house while Alyssa and I went out for our 'Mommy-Daughter Date' for her birthday. (coming up on Tuesday!)She chose to eat lunch at Chili's. Then we went to the mall where she got a haircut and a new outfit. We finished off with a blizzard at Dairy Queen, and a 3 minute massage for a dollar in the massage chairs on the way out! When we got home, we all went to see 'Evan Almighty'. It was very kid friendly and funny. Our kids loved it. To read a review of this movie (and otheres) from a christian perspective check out Plugged-In Online. I always check this site before I bring my kids to a movie. It's very helpful in deciding whether I think a movie will be appropriate for my kids.

Roan Quote:
Roan: Do you promise?
Kai: yes.
Roan: do you promise?
Kai: yes.
Roan: DO YOU PROMISE?
Kai: YES!
Mommy: Roan, he said yes!
Roan: (walking away shaking his head) I just can't trust him.

Father's Day

We had a nice Father’s Day. We went to Lake Murray Beach for a few hours. The weather was perfect. It was fun to have Dean with us this time. Also, Alyssa brought her friend Olivia. When we got back, I made chicken stir fry (with fresh broccoli, zucchini, squash, onions, carrots) and rice for dinner. Yum! Then Alyssa went home with Olivia to spend the night. Dean and I took the boys to the Botanical Gardens at the zoo for another movie night. This time we saw ‘The Wild’. This is a really great benefit we get as zoo members. The family membership is not very expensive. Really, you make up the cost by only about 2 visits and you get free guest passes. Plus you get members only nights, like the movie nights in the gardens. They even gave us free popcorn and soda, and the kids got free balloons. Next week we will go to a member’s night where we can get free carousel rides and free 3D movie viewings. There will also be a bird show and gorilla feeding, and something with the tigers and penguins. Sometimes you get to go inside the animals’ habitat. We walked through the tiger enclosure once! If you are local, it is definitely worth it!

Roan's had a sore throat for the last few days. It's been bothering him enough that he's had trouble sleeping. His throat was red and had white spots. I was giving him Ibuprofen. I started worrying that it might be strep so I finally took him to the doctor this morning. Wouldn't you know it? The doctor said it wasn't strep. It wasn't even red any more. Obviously, I'm glad he doesn't have strep. But, the doctor is 20 minutes away, I have to bring all 3 kids with me. I went all the way there and it was a wasted trip! Oh, well, at least he's feeling better, and on the way home we stopped at Chick-fil-a, ate lunch, and let the kids play on the playground for a while.

Happy Monday! Have a great week!

Keepin' Busy

Last week Alyssa spent a lot of time with her friend, Savannah, swimming, bike riding, spending the night…so in order to do something special with the boys while Alyssa was out gallivanting, I took them to the beach at Lake Murray. It was a perfect day. The sun was hot, but the water was cool. It was beautiful and we had a great time. Then on Saturday, I woke up to breakfast prepared by Alyssa! She made scrambles eggs with toast, fruit (bananas, grapes, apples) and orange juice! She had also made a placard that said ‘Thank You Mommy’. She said it was for letting her do all that fun stuff with her friend that week. Sweet! Later, while I was at work, Dean took the kids to the pool for 5 hours! Sunday night we went to the Botanical Gardens at Riverbanks Zoo and watched ‘A Bug’s Life’ in their outdoor amphitheater. That was really nice, too. We’re going to go again next week to see ‘The Wild’.

Monday, I finally signed the kids up for camp. It was a close call. The week I had planned on sending them was full, but fortunately they still had room in a different week. I would have been seriously up the creek if my kids didn’t get to go to camp this year. I’m not sure they would’ve forgiven me for that one! I also signed Roan up for a half-day camp at the YMCA. He is very excited!

Monday was also my parents’ 40th anniversary and they are currently celebrating in Jerusalem with Israel’s 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War! Cool, huh? Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Bike Update: Yeah, I know, do you really care? Here it is anyway: We finally bought Alyssa’s new bike last week. She loves it. Unfortunately, we woke up this morning to find that three of our bikes were stolen off of our front porch in the middle of the night. We filed a police report hoping to at least collect insurance, but apparently did not meet the deductible. Is God trying to tell me something?

Who Are You?

Really. I mean do you know who you are? ‘Cause I don’t. I’ve recently realized that I don’t know who the real me is. Or rather, I’m afraid I know who the real me is, and I don’t want anyone else to know, so I wear masks all the time. I’ve lost track of what is real and what is persona.

The dictionary definition of persona is: the mask or façade presented to satisfy the demands of the situation or the environment and not representing the inner personality of the individual; the public personality.

We all wear masks of some sort. The problem comes when you lose sight of who you really are. That’s me. Who am I? When will I have the courage to be that person? Maybe when I come to grips with my last two posts, I’ll know.

Roan Quote: When I went down to kiss Roan at bedtime last night, he asked, "What's wrong with me?" I looked at him and said, "I don't know, what's wrong with you?" He said, "I'm being so silly!"

Just a Bit of Introspection

I love blogging, and I love reading other people’s blogs. Unfortunately, not very many people that I know blog, so I’m always excited to find out that someone I know does. Just recently, I stumbled upon the blog of someone from my church. I don’t really know her very well, but I was intrigued by her posts. She’s very personal, something I have a very hard time with, especially on a public blog. One particular post of hers moved me because it hit home. Here is an excerpt from it:

"……I love Aslan so much. I feel like Lucy when I think of Aslan. So, this morning, as I was on my way to church- which was hard to get up for, I wondered why I felt so much more endeared by Aslan than by the Lord Himself……First, God doesn't remind me of a stuffed animal, so I guess that might be why I don't feel fuzzy love when I think of Him. Yet the main reason why I think I am so much more attracted to Aslan than Christ is that in my eyes Aslan is still a mystery……

……However, the fact that I think I've got the Lord figured out takes away His mystery. There is a lack of awe in a person's mind when they believe they understand the entire mechanics of their subject……I obviously have a humanly limited view of the Lord. So, the notion of knowing Him completely is inaccurate. I KNOW that I don't know all of Him……Maybe it's just the impossibility of knowing the Lord that leads me to pass Him off as un-majestic…… I have come to the belief that my pride has kept me from worshiping Christ in all of His majesty……It is the fact that, in my heart, I believe that I know what there is to be known about the Lord and that causes my boredom.

Yet, when I reflect on the relationship of Aslan and Lucy, I see my relationship with the Lord in the time when He was still very much a mystery to me……The simplicity of God's unconditional love, void of achievement or knowledge, SHOULD motivate my tears. However, I feel that I need to be brought back to my place again, as a child of God. I need to open my eyes widely and look on Him as a mystery, like I once did."

I also sometimes have a hard time allowing my heart to feel God. I was raised a Christian. So I relate to her sense of boredom. My heart truly yearns for a close relationship with God but then I seem to adopt an attitude of ‘there’s nothing you can tell me that I haven’t already heard”. This of course, is completely untrue. When I manage to open my heart to receive what the Lord has to tell me, I hear a lot that may not be ‘new’ per say, but I hear it with a new significance in my life.

The issue of pride she mentioned is also a factor for me. I don’t like to cry in front of people. Often in church or even listening to music in the car, I’ll be instantly moved to tears but my inclination is to clamp down on the emotions. This obviously hampers my efforts at moving closer to God.

I live for the spiritual ‘mountains’ such as retreats, bible studies, or conferences. Your days are structured toward improving your relationship with God through worship, bible study, and fellowship. But it’s hard to maintain that special closeness in every day life.

I read letters that Dean and I wrote to each other pre-marriage when we were 18-19 years old. We sounded so spiritual! I want to return to a time where God is my first thought, the first answer. I was a child then, and I need to become like a child again.

Roan Quote: Roan was trying to make something but was having trouble and needed help, so he said, “Kai, I’m four years old and I can’t do it!”

Oh, Grow Up!

I read Chris Sligh’s blog. While I don’t know him personally, he has performed at our church a couple times and so I’ve followed his progress on American Idol with interest. When I found his blog, I was impressed that he basically wears his heart and his faith on his sleeve. He tells it like it is and is pretty personal. I don’t know how long that will last now that he’s famous. He gets a lot of grief on his blog now. Anyway, I came across an entry that sounded familiar. This is what Chris Bligh had to say (before American Idol):

……I guess I'm just trying to figure out when I'm going to grow up. I still find so much joy in the things that make me a kid, and at the same time find myself frustrated by the fact that I find joy in those things. I find myself still looking to people who are a few years older than me and always looking to them as the "adults" in my life. I always think that by the time I get to where they are, I will feel like an adult. But every new year brings a disappointment with where I am in life.And on top of it all, the thing that makes me feel most like a child is the thing that I love the most: music. I know that eventually I'll have to give up music, if I haven't found some success by some time in my life, but I still have this silly optimism and the ability to daydream while my head tells me that pessimism is the adult response to my current status in the music industry……

……My room is still messy. My life is in shambles. But somehow I'm happy. Sure there is some disappointment and there are some regrets, but I find myself happy with the fact that I still love life, I have a beautiful wife who loves me, I have a church of people who love me and I love in return; and I get to do something that makes me feel like a kid. So the question remains: when do we grow up?

I don’t mean for this post to be particularly deep, but I found his statement interesting. I’m 38, have been married for 17 years, have three kids, and own a house. Yet I often wonder when I’m going to ‘grow up’. Does everyone feel this way? Just curious.

Summer Has Begun

Well, I’ve been officially reintroduced to one of the negatives of summer break. I now have to take all three kids with me to the grocery store. That is a NIGHTMARE. I was just saying to Dean the other day, while we were waiting in line at Ci Ci’s Pizza, that I look around at the other people also waiting with their children. They’re all waiting peacefully at their parents’ side. I asked Dean why ours have to be the ones climbing on things, pushing each other, happily but loudly. Why do we have hooligans? As far as today is concerned, let’s just say, Roan is DEFINITELY taking a nap! Fortunately as the summer progresses, they’ll start going with the flow and things will even out. We have lots of fun things planned to keep us busy this summer. We have a family membership to the Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens, so we’ll go there a lot, I imagine. Plus as a member we can attend such functions as movies outside in the Botanical Gardens amphitheater and behind the scenes tours through the animal habitats, etc. Also, we’ll be swimming, going to the park, and the movies. Alyssa’s birthday is at the end of June, and Alyssa and I will hopefully be going to Raleigh again, this time to attend Andrea’s wedding shower. In July all three kids will go to camp, Kai and Alyssa returning to Bethel Christian Camp for a week, and Roan will be attending the YMCA camp, for the first time, in the mornings. Plus we’ll try to catch a week or two of VBS. We’ll close out the summer at the end of August by making one more trip to Raleigh for Andrea’s wedding! So, we’ll keep busy, never fear! Just pray that I keep my sanity!

Last night we had friends over for poker, Karaoke, and ice cream! Our friend Scott brought his girlfriend who is from Raleigh, and as it turns out, she knows my sister Andrea! Small world, eh? We had a lot of fun. Would you believe that’s the first time I ever did Karaoke? Yup. I’m not good at it. But, it was a lot of fun! One by one, everyone left, even Dean went to bed, but Raina and I stayed up until 1 am singing our lungs out until we were hoarse! Good times.

This weekend we are having a garage sale, something I swore I would never do again, but Dean wants to. He SAYS he’ll do everything and I don’t have to help. Like THAT’S going to happen! We’ve been ‘spring cleaning’ for several weeks and in the interest of saving up for our trip to Disney in the fall, we’re going to bite the bullet. Also, I will once again consign with Tot Trade in the fall. I’ve been doing this for four years to save up for our trip to Disney, and we’re finally going! Yay!

This past weekend Dean ran his first Ultramarathon. A marathon is 26.2 miles. An Ultramarathon is anything more than that. The one he just did was an estimated 36 miles! Also he was running on sand through the woods and in the pouring rain! The trail was actually 3 repeating loops. There was a place called Sand River which is normally dry, but because of the rain, when Dean passed it the first time is was mid calf deep. On the second loop he had to cross through it waist deep! But, by the third loop it was back down to mid calf.

He really appreciated the rain, though; it packed down the sand making it a little easier to run on and certainly helped with the temperature. He finished 5th place with a time of 5:41! Way to go, Dean! (Can you imagine running fast for almost 6 hours straight? In deep sand? In the pouring rain? Fording rivers? I can’t.)

Roan Quote: Roan said, “Daddy I can’t bring gum to heaven.” Dean asked why, and Roan answered, “Because Jesus doesn’t like gum.”