So, this weekend as I put Josiah in Time Out for one of the many things he has done lately, Jackson our 1 year old thought it was time to play. Here is a pic,

As a dad what do you do? We didn’t experience the terrible two with Josiah, but the three’s and four have been ruff. Yes he has had to deal with a lot this past year so we try to be understanding, but the kid just seems to do off the wall things leaving Steph and I saying, “Where did he learn that?” So we are looking at what we watch, how we talk, how we act and respond to situations, because he is starting to model who we are. This is the scary reality we must face as parents. Or we could just blame the kids he goes to school with. After all, he didn’t act this way until he went t school this last year! It’s much easier to play the blame game instead of owning our own dysfunction.

Well we have been talking about painting our Student Center which includes our Worship Center and Cafe’. Our Creative Arts guy gave us great ideas based on my poor job of describing what we want. I feel like I have led our team in several different ideas, but we just haven’t seemed to hit those two or three colors that resonate with what we are trying to do. However, while my family and I were at Chipolte on Friday i took some pics of their wall. This totally resonates with me and describes the look that I am going for. I would call this an industrial look.

Maybe I am wrong but if you have pics of ideas, PLEASE send them my way. Maybe your pic is the missing color we have been looking for!

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means ‘Christ’.

Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “’our name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas’ (which means ‘Peter’). v.40-42

Jesus begins building a team of men that we know today as the Disciples. He will gather 12 of them who will be with him 24/7. As a read today I am challenged by the attitude and zeal that Andrew and Phillip both had when they found out that Jesus was the Messiah. Both of them waisted no time in telling others. Andrew went and told his brother Simon, who we know as Peter, and Phillip went and told Nathaniel. Both brought others to Jesus just based on the little they knew about Him. These 4 men would begin a journey, joined by 8 others with the living Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we are afraid to share with others about Jesus. There are several reasons, fear that we don’t know enough, or that we might mess up, or we don’t want to offend others. When I read this passage I am convinced that these guys didn’t care how much they knew. They didn’t worry about how to tell others and they just wanted people to know about Jesus, they didn’t care if it was politically correct or not. I think sometimes we worry more about messing up than about sharing. We don’t have to know it all, we just have to share what we know and let God do the rest!!!! So today, take some steps toward sharing Jesus with others, the more you get to know Him, the easier this will become!

Well summer is here and it is hot. Our family has found itself at the pool quite a bit lately. Ever since we got Josiah a life jacket his confidence in the water has grown. It has been refreshing just to relax at the neighborhood pool. Now if they would just get the pump to work right everything would be perfect. In spite of the leaves in the pool, we sure are having fun! It is still cleaner than swimming in the lake!!!

Yesterday, was a guys day! Stephanie had work, a hair cut, dinner with a friend, and coffee/book review gathering discussing the book they are reading. Thus, it left the boys and I here all alone. It was fun, we went to the pool, ate ramen noodle, watched TV, and then went to sleep.

The pool was awesome, we went right around 4:30ish, so there weren’t a lot of people there. However, I did get hit on by another mother. As I was throwing a football back and forth with Josiah and pushing Jackson in his Crab, a lady with probably a 1 and a half year old came right up to me to talk.  She even got in the water, talking about how her daughter wanted to come see the baby (Jackson). As she was talking, she commented on Jackson eyes. I was able to say that He got the blue eyes from his mommy. The lady didn’t stay much longer after that.

Maybe I am blowing it out of proportion, but I have never gotten in cold water, the water in the pool is still pretty cold, went up to a complete stranger and started talking. It made me wish my wife was there with us. When she is gone it’s just not the same!

Today was a hard day for our 4 year old. It was the last day of school for summer. There will be one day that he can’t wait for summer but today wasn’t one of them. He had to say bye to his two other Super Hero friends that have been in his class all year. He has learned so much from his teachers and we are so thankful for what he is learning.

Tonight as I was grilling some BBQ pork steak, Josiah was swinging on his swing singing as loud as he could a song he learned at school. “The B-I-E-L-E, yes thats the book for me, I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-E-L-E.” He gets his poor spelling from his dad. One of these days he will spell it right, but until then it sure is cute hearing him sing this without shame!

Here are some pics from today. We swung, ate, and then hit the pool. Josiah is getting more confident in the water now that he has a life jacket vs arm floaties.

Today I joined the family for lunch at pei wei, my wife’s favorite asian food.  From there I got tricked to spending the rest of the afternoon at McKinney Trade Days.  Brings to life the saying, One mans junk is an other mans treasure.  Not all spots were like that.  Some of them had some things worth buying.  The highlight for me was watching Josiah ride a horse for the first time.  He had a blast and wasn’t scared.  Probably helped that there was a little girl on a horse already.

After all this,we went home and got out Jackson Birthday present and let the boys play with it . . .

They had a good time, got wet, and realized the water was cold.  After playing for a little while Jackson went in and Joe changed, just to come back out get get even more wet . . .

I guess thats bond to happen when they play with a water table.  He had a blast though and started running through the hose also.  Great way to end an 85 degree day.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Jacksons 1st birthday.  He had a cupcake on his actual birthday which was the 13th.  Here is what was left of the cupcake with yellow icing.

I am sure tomorrow will look the same!

Josiah got a package from Nanna a couple of days ago. Every-once in awhile she will send him a care package. This time it had six-lets and clothes inside. This afternoon, Josiah went to change into some shorts, so i thought. But instead of shorts, he put on one of his new outfits. As I walked into his room this is what he told me, “This outfit make me look soooooo good!” Here is a pic of his new outfit that makes him sooooo look good. Thank you Nanna!!!

Today was the second part of Josiah’s b-day. He loves Thomas the Train, and today was his special day to see Thomas in person, It was awesome! He got to see Sir Topham Hat, Thomas the Train, the Conductors, watch a Magician, get a tattoo, jump in a bounce house, ride in one of Thomas’s Coaches as Thomas pulled the train, as well as drive a little train by himself. The day was great, both Jackson and Josiah were pretty good and the excitement was priceless. We had a blast as a family. Josiah was in Thomas Heaven . . . especially when he was the first one to be able to load the the train after the conductor shouted, “All aboard!!!”

What a day! My wife described it as a Star Wars convention for kids. I thought that was pretty funny . . . when you think about it, that isn’t far from the truth. Anyways, we had a great time and if a day with Thomas is going to be in your area and you have a Thomas Fan, we would encourage you to check it out. Here are some pictures from today.

I don’t understand our boys! Josiah the oldest who is now 4 threw a fit when we didn’t let him get in the pack and play with his 10 month old brother Jackson. While Joe was crying on the outside to get in, Jackson was crying from the inside of the pack and play to get out . . . So we did what any good parent would do . . . COMPROMISE! Here’s what happened next . . .