July 4th Weekend

The Long Holiday Weekend was very much that a long weekend. The greatest part of the weekend was the fact that my nephew, Camden McCulloch, came home on Sunday, July 5th. He gave his parents and whole family a little scare on Friday, as he was transferred to the main Henry Ford Hospital in downtown Detroit. Watching him breathe in the NICU unit was hear-wrenching. Because he was under a bilirubin light, he wore this sleep mask to protect his eyes. Watching from the hallway as he breathed in and out reminded me of my own kids when they were born, how fast they grow up. I wanted to rush home and hold Sawyer Finn. Nothing compares to watching a baby take in each precious breath to underscore how precious and fragile life is. I am so thankful that he is home with his mom and dad.



Before the initial frightening news about Camden on Friday, Amber and Scout went out for some "Mommy and me" time. Amber, from the huge amount of kids that are babysat at our house, wanted to have some one-on-one time with each of the kids. So as she did some shopping and went to Kohl's, she and Scout want out. In the meantime, it was me and my little men. After doing up some scrambled eggs for breakfast and allowing Sawyer his morning nap, we set out to buy Amber a new bike. After grabbing Logan and Quaid a new toy at Target, I began the grueling process of figuring out what bike to get her (Three bikes have lost their pedals while Amber was biking across major roads in our area.) After nearly an hour of agonizing debating, I chose a Schwin for her. It was very cool pulling up and presenting her with her new bike.
Amber and I headed down to Henry Ford to see Camden that night, thanks to her parents coming to the rescue to watch our own kids. After spending several hours visiting with Joe, Michelle, Mike and Patty (Joe's inlaws), and my own parents, Amber and I stopped off at IHOP for a late dinner.

Because mybrother Jon was not having his usual Fourth of July party at his house in Saint Clair and due to Camden being in the hospital, there were no formal plans for celelbrating Independence Day, so.....I cut the grass and cleaned the gutters. In between grass cutting and gutter cleaning, we took the kids on bike ride through downtown Port Huron, had some Subway for lunch, and headed back. I'm trying to clock in miles on the bike and track this summer to get healthier. We did about five miles with the kids. While I cleaned the gutter, Amber took Scout down to Roosevelt to practice riding without training wheels. After getting thoroughly soaked and covered by the grime from the gutters, I cleaned up, and we headed down to Stevi B's on 23 Mile Road for some pizza buffet. We also shopped at Old Navy (really patriotic of us, isn't it?). From there we began a search for sparklers and found that most of the area around 23 Mile Road does not allow for the selling of ANY type of firework. It wasn't until Marysville Meijer that I was able to buy some sparklers and fireworks for the kids.

At home, Logan and Scout, until she burned herself on a sparkler, enjoyed the little firework show and holding their sparklers. Quaid and Sawyer, still traumatized from last week's Acheson firework display, are still frightened of any type of firework. It was great watching the older two play with the sparklers (until the massive mosquito attack).

Sunday was the annual church picnic at Goodell's park. Logan is less excited about the sprinkler park and more intrigued by the jungle gyms. After roasting in the sun, we left the park and headed to Scoops ice cream parlor. Logan, upon seeing the venue of his seventh birthday party, was convinced that we needed to have his birthday here again. Amber and I enjoyed some Coconut, chocolate almond ice cream (I'm trying to fill my summer with trying new things.) I believe the other kids enjoyed some Superman ice cream and Cake Batter ice cream. We crashed at home (or tried to). We had a second round of sparklers for just Logan and Scout. (Quaid fell asleep at 6:30 p.m. on the new recliner.) As the kids headed to bed, I had only acculated 9,000 steps, so between 8:30 and 10:30, I added, through "some running" and mostly walking fast, 11, 000 steps to make my 20,000 step goal for the day.

Today, I'm really tired.

Living Life Challenge #3- Slip and Slide

At a Saturday afternnoon barbecue and swim party at the Proctor's house, Ryan pulled out a "slip and slide". Despite horror stories of sprained ankles and sore backs, I felt the need to take a plunge or two down it. Normally, I'd just let the kids break a bone.Now here's a horrific sight to behold....

The Great Western Michigan Vacation: Day One

After arriving in Walker, Michigan (10 miles north of Grand Rapids) on Tuesday night, Logan, Scout, Quaid, and I swam while Amber settled in the room with Sawyer. The pool was really cool and being able to swim with no one else around was a plus.

The next morning we headed down to the breakfast area for the free continental breakfast. Better than some hotel chains, we had the option of Belgian Waffles. After breakfast and reading with the kids, we headed to downtown Grand Rapids to check out the children's museum. While small, downtown Grand Rapids still has that big town feel in the center of it.

Today, the children's museum was opening up a new exhibit, "Aunt Daisy's Farm", so it was crowded. Amber and I were very, very impressed with this museum. It was colorful, very interactive, clean, and presented many things for each of the kids to do.

The Battle

This has been a strange week for me. Normally, I loathe writing about any of the personal challenges that I'm facing because I don't want to ever appear weak to anyone that might read my little observations on life. Still, I want to someday in the near future, look back on this entry and say, "Hey, I'm past that now."


The day after Memorial Day, I had just a real "downer" day. I felt depressed with no real obvious reason why. I just felt down...low energy, no drive. It came on fast. Now, I had spent Sunday at Cedar Point with most of my family (Sawyer stayed home with my mom and dad) and spent a good chunk of Memorial Day outside with friends and family at East China Park. Being a red-head, the sun takes it toll on both your complexion (There is no such thing as tanning for me.) and your energy. Wednesday and Thursday were better days, but in the afternoon on my birthday, I started feeling weird pressure headaches and just out of it. Yesterday was okay for the most part, but today was again a challenge.
Right before we were to enter the gymansium as a staff, I started feeeling anxious and out of it. I began pacing a lot (which I've done in the past). This does not make sense for a guy that has been in plays, teaches everyday, has lead worship and VBS...I'm the kind of guy that DOES NOT USUALLY GET FAZED by entering into large crowds. While onstage, I had moments of feeling a little off balance and nerved up, but I managed to get through it. In fact, as commencement wrapped, it felt so good to be done that I felt free and much better.
As I drove home, this temporary high faded quickly. Sometimes when I stand, I have this weird pressure on the sides of my head. I go from feeling tired and yawning to feeling down to feeling like I have NO ENERGY. We even went bike riding tonight (something I enjoy) and I felt at times that I could just like the bike fall over and just collapse.
After some healthy McDonalds (just two McChicken sandwiches and some Diet Coke), I do feel better. I just feel down about these moments. I want to be the very best for Amber, my kids, my job, and my testimony.
The good of this is that I'm having to turn to God (like I should have been doing in the first place.) In a part of a recent sermon I listened to on my Ipod, it was stated that we do not turn to God for strength, for encouragement, for courage itself, and for power. I have to believe, more than the McDonald's and Diet Coke, that God gave me the strength.
It has been a real week of spiritual battles. I have felt very, very depressed about family issues and money issues and health issues. May God grant me that courage to keep moving, just as I HAD to do tonight while riding my bike with three of my precious kids attached to the bike (bike trailer and bike seat). May I honor God with a healthier lifestyle that includes eating better, exercising more, and sleeping better. In fact this entry to my blog is part of that plan, to write about my worries.
Mark Driscoll in a recent sermon stated that in I Peter, we find that ANXIETY is a sin. We are called to cast our anxieties on God. To worry about the future about what is to come is to assume the identity of being God...that we MUST KNOW the future and that we must CONTROL the future. Only God has the right to do this, but I fail to recognize this so often.
Thank you God for these trying times that open my eyes to how much I must let YOU be in control and NOT myself.

Dad Turns Sixty

I'm twenty-five years behind my dad. There's more than simple mathematics behind this. When I got married at twenty-five years of age in 1999, I remember that my dad had turned 50, and I kept thinking about how I was getting married while I was half of my dad's age. I have no idea why this struck me at all, but it did. Perhaps I never really thought about my dad's age before. Ten years later, four kids later, my first decade teaching and my dad is now sixty.
This new age for my dad bothers me. My grandparents, on my dad's side, passed away in their sixties, but my dad, except for his back, is in much better health than they were. I know that this fear of his aging prompts me to want to spend more time with him. I want no regrets, and I feel that as I have grown older we've grown closer.
Saturday night, the day before he "officially" became sixty, we celebrated with a party at my parents. It always seems like another world, a separate lifetime when being at my old home. Some parts of my house look familiar while others don't. It was nice barbecuing on the back deck with Joe and Tim, remembering the many nights, while a college student, that I would sit back there to get some piece of mind, to get refocused. I loved looking at the trees swaying in the wind. It brought a certain type of calm to me.
The party was a good time with relatively low tension (That's a whole 'nother blog entry.) I gave my dad the usual (cd's, dvd, shirt), but I also finally gave him the picture of he and the brothers at the LEAVING IOWA event that was dedicated to him. I wrote a little note about noting those "perfect moments." May the days ahead be full of those "perfect moments."

Amber's Birthday

Amber turned 32 today, and as many would know, Amber is not big on big parties. Still, while she was out with her mom for a few moments, Logan, Scout, Quaid, Sawyer, and I could not help but to throw a little surprise party for her. Complete with party hats and noise makers, the kids and I kept hiding every few minutes in anticipation of Amber walking through our front door.

What a beautiful moment as Amber walked in the door and the kids went running (except for Sawyer who crawled) and suprised Amber. The kids made special "Happy Birthday" drawings and taped them in the foyer area. I made stuffed shells (which I later found is not among Amber's most favorite meals).

We had a chocolate mocha cake, sang Happy Birthday to Amber, and had her open a little gift bag of present I had bought for her. My favorite item I purchased was a collection of chocolates from The Chocolate Harbor in Saint Clair. I also added some Twizzlers, salt-water taffy, Caramel Corn, and some summer shirts to her present bag.

The best part of the night was how much fun the kids had in hiding, suprising, and drawing birthday banners for Amber.

Where to Begin? Part 1

It's certainly been a crazy few months since 2009 has begun. What seemed to be relatively busy in the Fall became insanely hectic in late January and throughout February. To begin with, Scout received a role as a "bee" and a "monkey" in Port Huron Civic Theater's JUNGLE BOOK JR. To have any of my children involved in theater is a dream come true for me. Actually having Scout fully involved in a production meant a little more involvement than I had imagined.

Add to Scout's schedule my own production that I was directing at Marine City High School, LEAVING IOWA. For months, I had been planning to direct this show and dedicate it, due to its content and themes, to my dad. In addition, I began moving things forward for the final show of the season, TREASURE ISLAND.