Lazy Sunday afternoon post...

Today, I made some Ice Cream. Yes, me! I made Ice cream - french vanilla peach and a batch of chocolate, chocalate chip to be precise. It is a beautiful warm day. Birdies are singing, the grass is green. In a while we're going for a walk.


Here's the thing. I have lamented not having an ice cream maker for I don't know how long. All the while, Beth has been listening (or not) to my whining.

Lo and behold - we were bringing some stuff over to our friend's garage sale (we always welcome the opportunity to get rid of stuff - and if they can sell it - God bless 'em!) - when what to my wondering eyes should appear - and in OUR batch of giveaway STUFF - a three-quart ICE CREAM MAKER!!!!!! We were going to GIVE IT AWAY!!!!

Had I but known - we'd have been enjoying fresh delicios home-made ice cream since the first sign of Spring. But NOOOOOOOOO!

I can't even tell you when, where or how we got it in the first place. All I know is, I should keep a sharp eye on stuff - especially stuff we're giving away. There's gold down there in our basement I tell ya!

Cause I don't pay attention...

Sooooooo, I had yet another milestone go by. This is only slightly different though, and kinda sad, cause I'm so bad at it lately, but.........

This is my 101st post.

I posted pictures a few days ago - that was my 100th post.

This is my 101st post and yes, I'm wasting it complaining about how I was completely oblivious to the fact that my 100th post was a couple of days ago.

I promise to have something a little more reflective and meaningful soon. I can feel it stirring inside me, and there's a burning in my bosom.....oh yeah! I can feel it....

Here's a few pix

Hey, just thought I'd post a few pix of our family and our pal Bithia who just visited us.

Rites of passage...

So, we've been busy lately. Here's what's been happening.


Bryce, my #3 son (in age only) "graduated" from the 6th grade. I have often wondered why we celebrate something that isn't really such a milestone - but I felt proud as a dad that he had "made it" that far. It made me reflect on what I was feeling when I was his age. In my house we have a saying - you're a little kid until you get hair under your arms. Kind of crude, yes - but think about it for a minute. (yes, we're a house full of boys - with one lonely girl - mom, who is woefully outnumbered and sometimes overwhelmed with foot odor and flatulence.) I digress.

I remember "finally" getting out of the 6th grade and feeling at last, I was no longer a little kid. Pretty heady stuff - and very exciting. I remember another thing happening as well - I got "promoted" into Youth group at church. I remember my first time at Jr. High Summer camp, and my first youth All-nighter. It was awesome. I felt like I had finally arrived!

My son Bryce had his first Wednesday nite in Youth group and is leaving for Jr. High Summer camp this afternoon. I'm sure he'll do fine, but I'm a little choked up.

We had another event recently as well. Cameron (son #2) had his own little "rite of passage" - he's been shaving since he was 11 or 12 so he's past all that - but he got his driver's license the same week as graduation.

He has also started a full-time summer job, (where I work), opened a bank account and bought some new clothes. Ah, to have "disposable" income again.....what would that be like? Maybe he'll be nice and pitch in for gas next week.....hmmm.



And lastly Darian, our eldest, Graduated from High School May 30th and promtly moved into his own apartment a few blocks away. What I find disturbing is that he left a bunch of stuff in his room and hasn't come back to clean it up so we can use it! It also seems like we have seen more of him lately than we did prior to when he moved out.


I have had parents at church ask me how I did it - got him to move out that is? I don't know! He just started looking for an apartment a couple of months before school got out and "voila!" he was moving in the week after graduation. He'll be going to Illinois College in town for a couple of years and then the plan is to transfer to Edwardsvill to finish up an engineering degree. I never got past high school algebra, but that is a story for another day. Darian - we're proud of you, but could you come get the rest of your stuff out of your old room?



So, you can see, it is bittersweet seeing your sons grow up.

Excuses, excuses...

Soo.... part of the reason for my absence lies in the simple fact that I am a proud (grinning ear to ear usually, that is when I am not curled up in the corner in the fetal position mumbling "it's gonna be o.k." - ) - that is to say, usually I'll admit that I am a proud father of 4 (count 'em 4) boys. We've had a busy schedule with all the end of the year stuff - plus visitors for a month and a half. Things are busy at work tooo - and that dynamic has changed a bit recently as well.....for the better of course...more on that later.



So, - strike up the sad music - but before I go on whining even more about being too busy, I will leave you with one thought - or question. Did you really miss my posts????? Really???????? Aw shucks!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day 2 me! Church was cool today - great message about fathers, failure and forgiveness. My wife, Beth had been away for 2 whole days - she was in St. Louis for a women's conference. She came home right after we got back from church. Happy me! Though I wanted to spend the afternoon cleaning before she got back, the house wasn't actually bombed that terribly. (We must not have had that much fun this time while she was out......)