Tin Tin

image from:  http://www.letintinmovie.com/

Took the boys to see this movie yesterday.  And a couple of things jumped out at me:

$50 to get me and 3 boys to a movie is ridiculous.  The boys are always going to be months behind the times if this is the case.  Ouch.

For a movie that is obviously directed towards families...especially kids, some of the content was rather adult oriented:

1. The secondary character spends a large majority of the movie drunk.  WOW.  Couldn't they come up with some other reason for his memory loss?  I have never read any of the Tin Tin books...so I assume they are trying to stay true to the story.  Bu since when does that EVER really happen in movies?  I really wish that they had Not made him drink and drink throughout the movie the way that they did.  Pretty soon you have kids stumbling around pretending they are drunk and thinking they are a jovial and lovable character too.
2. A surprising amount of death.  From battle scenes, to drowning and so on...there were a ton of deaths on screen.  While I can not say I remember seeing something particularly gory...though one scene I would say was a little too violent...there were still a large number of deaths that made everything seem casual about it...just retelling a story...

I suppose I am becoming an old curmudgeon...but even Jaden commented on how many deaths there were on screen...and it is one of those things that you have no way to know how it is impacting their little minds.

Jesus said, "The eye is the light of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. . . ." (Matt. 6:22-23)

See at last (LASIK!)

Don't let this picture spook you....but yes,  I am looking right at you :)

See at last, see at last, Thank God almighty, I can see at last!

As I am posting this on MLK day, I figured a quick shout out reference would be appropriate :)

I am a full two weeks distant from my previous world of wearing contact everyday to see.  That world was left behind, at least for the foreseeable future in light of a world of 20/20 vision simply by opening my eyes.  On December 29th for my right eye, and on January 2nd for my left eye, I underwent the LASIK procedure to correct my nearsightedness and the slight astigmatism that plagued me since I was young.

I know that I couldn't really say this was a wise financial move because of the cost, there is definitely no ROI in it.  It is a nice life improvement which I am enjoying though.  If it had not been for the money we had set aside for Kristen's shoulder that was in a use it or lose it Flexible Spending Account for 2011, I would not have done it.  Now that it is done, there is no looking back (pun intended).

Thanks to my family who had to deal with some painful logistics issues over those few days.

A week of frustration

To say that this week was frustrating would be putting it mildly.  I am running the line of complaining / documenting for posterity, but, to put it frankly, it sucked.  If it was an isolated occurrence, it would be one thing...but this seems to be a pattern.  And, as much as my frustration is with work itself, it is with me also, because I have let it get here.  I have not called out the excessive nature of the hours I am working....assuming that people will recognize and correct it.  I have assumed that it would be appreciated more so than the simple "atta boy" and heightening of the bar for the future.  And to be perfectly honest, it is a complete lack of recognition on my part that I have been going this way for YEARS.

Well, while the fear in me cries out and the hackles raise because I am raising the issue rather than just knuckling under and persevering...I have brought it up with people and it will be interesting to see how that shakes things up at work over the next few weeks.  I hope that it is only positive...but, not sure that it will be.  I am praying that God will guide my words, actions and decisions over the next several months as this comes to a head.

Failblog worthy from our hike?

Just a fun memento from our hike last Saturday.

Jaden's Room

We spent a bunch of time re-doing Jaden's room last week.  We got a whole bunch of stuff out of the closet that had been leftover from it being my office and made it organized so that he could use it effectively.  I think it really looks great now.  The real question is will it stay like this for very long ;) ?

Saturday hike

January 7th is not a date you would be expecting it to be 50+ degrees outside and to see people walking through Upton State Forest in t-shirts...but that was what we had.  

So, we were invited by the Crosby family on a hike and I took the boys and gave mom some peace and quite and we went on a 2 hour hike.

The boys loved running around, climbing on the rocks and generally being outside.  Jacob, as usual tended towards the fearless and Jaden was slightly more cautious but also more aware of what other's exoected of him too.

Trying to keep track of all the little ones definitely kept Bruce and I on our toes the whole way around the loop.  Here, he got to hang on to Jude while I was down in a ravine area helping the others do some climbing.

It was an interesting juxtaposition in some areas with the temperatures being what they were to see the pond frozen over and to see ice in many of the little rivulets.  It was hard keeping them from getting on the ice, knowing it would not support them....so instead they spent inordinate amounts of time trying to break it.

When they succeeded, they were giving each other large blocks that they then carried around and essentially sucked on as "river ice popsicles" for a good portion of our walk back.

Jude really loved having some amount of freedom.  He made it most of the way around, though he did spend a good amount of time on Dad's shoulders too.

Chronicling the boys growth...

Kristen got the boys' school pictures right before break.  It is amazing to look at them and see how much they have grown up.  Both of the boys look so much older.  So, I wanted to share the pics so everyone else can be amazed as well.

Jacob wit a cute grin

Jaden looking very GQ

Jude, our toothless wonder!

New Year, New Start...again

http://www.psdmate.com/2011/12/30/happy-new-year-2012/

Blog posting has gone down considerably over the last two years, and I am not happy about it.  It made it difficult to do my Christmas letter (which this year is about to go out as a new year's letter :) ), and with my memory what it is, I know I am forgetting things that I would be happy to look back on in the future.  I am going to work on this again and try to make a minimum of 1 or two entries per week so that I can chronicle our year.  So, Happy New Year to everyone who would read this and I will be catching up with you more as we go.

My birthday

I am so blessed!
Thank you to everyone. I had a wonderful day, gifts, calls and experiences this year.
My children made me cards, which I will try to post.
My mom made me a neat bookmark that will help always keep me humble (it shows me as a portly little child)...that is assuming the picture of me goofing off above doesn't do it.
My wife was wonderful and bought me a new winter coat and took me to dinner with her. (see picture above)
I also received calls from family and many posts and messages from friends.
It was a great day and a good way to start a new year.

A recent fictional read...

The Most Important Little Boy In The World - A Novel - by Dean Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First time I have read Dean Briggs and I thoroughly enjoyed the tale. Certainly the metaphor of Jesus sacrifice was explicit throughout (from his name to the blood metaphor at the end), not a bad thing...but I thought the story that supported this metaphor was fascinating. So from the beginning with the computer virus to the end, I was engaged in the story.
From a emotional perspective, I really appreciated the dynamics of the family as well as the father and son portion at the end of the book. Rarely do you truly think of God, the Father, regarding the story, but I liked the take that Briggs had on it with the father and uncle taking up the two sides of the argument. Anytime an author can get you to stop and think about things in a new way like that, they have done a good job.

Overall, I would certainly recommend the book as an enjoyable read, though it certainly could be emotional for some readers, and I am sure that I will pick up other Dean Briggs books based on the quality of this one.

View all my reviews