Winter Jam 2010

What a show! As mentioned earlier, my son and I went to the Winter Jam concert in Greensboro and what a Jam it was (definitely worth the 3 ½ hour drive)! We left yesterday morning earlier since bad weather was predicted in the area. We only faced a few flurries and rain most of the way. We arrived after 1, ate lunch, checked into our hotel and took a cab to the coliseum. We had pretty good seats and had an excellent time and if there is one coming to your area I highly recommend you go. For Newsboys fans that are wondering how they sound with Michael Tait as their new front man you need not to worry. In my opinion they sound great and Michael Tait is a natural fit. All the bands did great and I must say that I am impressed with the new to me band Fire Flight. My son thinks there a little heavy but I tend to like the heavier stuff. It was a great night of music, praise, fellowship and memories for my son and me. And although the whole experience has left me wiped out (I think I am getting too old for all this), it was definitely worth it. So my fellow dads take the time to build those memories and give your children the time they deserve…you will be glad you did. On a final note, I placed some pictures from the concert below. Until next time, may you be the dad God meant you to be.

Below is a picture of Newsboys

Below is Third Day:

Words of Wisdom?

Yes, I am back once again with words of wisdom and good fortune to all…okay…maybe not. It did sound rather profound and enlightening did it not? As mentioned in an earlier post, I would like to take this opportunity to give a brief update of the last couple of months since I was on a period of absence. This is kind of funny, because other than some headaches at work, all I can really remember is some good old fashioned family time. There were two that were really great and both surrounded the notion of obtaining pumpkins from a place called Mike’s Farm. My family and I do not celebrate Halloween, but we do enjoy what has become our annual trip to the farm, get on the hayride and pick out our pumpkins. At any rate, the first outing did not go so well. They had the largest crowd I have ever witnessed and my youngest son does not do crowds. So it was going to be Mom and Tyler to the rescue and get our pumpkins. Unfortunately, there were different lines for the restaurant, the hayride, the gift shop and the ticket sales for the hayride. Even worse the lines had no clear definition and one could easily wind up in the wrong line….which my wife did. She and Tyler waited in line for quite some time before it was noticed. They gave up on the pumpkin idea for the day, so they thought they would give the gift shop a try but that line too was impenetrable. So we opted to look at the different farm animals and call it a day and we would try again another day. My wife having awesome insight, realized Tyler and I have not had some good dad and son time. So the following Saturday I took Tyler to breakfast at I-Hop and following that we headed back to the farm to get our pumpkins…and the mission was a success, not to mention I was able to get some homemade fudge as a bonus. The best part was just being able to have some good one on one time with my son. Which I think is important, family time as a whole is a necessity, but I feel it is equally important to build solid bonds with each member individually. Well that’s a wrap before this goes on for too long. In closing, let me say, if we are spending time and developing our children, who (or what) is. Until next time…..

Today’s Quote: Family happiness is homemade.

The crowd at Mike's Farm the first go-around

Round 2, Can you see the difference?

As you can see, the second trip was a lot less busy. As a matter of fact we were the second family in line for the hay ride. Which is what the next picture is of, the hayride itself, following that is Tyler "driving" a tractor.

Another Weekend Passes

Greetings everyone! Well another weekend has come to an end and an enjoyable one it was. I was able to get off work a little early on Friday and I changed the front brakes on my Cougar. It was a little challenging (especially with no repair manual) but it worked out all right. I was also able to clean up the vehicles this weekend and spend some great time with the family. My F-150 was really in need of a cleaning since it has only been cleaned once before since i got back from Afghanistan in November. I debate many a times if I should sell my truck or not. I do not drive it very often but it has been a faithful vehicle since I bought it in 99. It was my primary vehicle for the longest time, I think right up until 2006. That is when my wife, after numerous problems with her Mystique, had gotten her Taurus. I do not know if it was coincedental or not, once i inherited her car it ceased to have problems. She insists that the car only liked me! After I got back from Afghanistan, we decided to donate the Mystique and i replaced it with the Cougar. The truck though, as my wife like to say, is like part of the family. It has always been very reliable and although it has a couple of glitches, it has been good to our family. I will try to put a picture of it further on.

This morning my eldest son and our dog were playing on the trampoline and it was quite amusing. The dog has been so good for him, it is almost hard to believe. This afternoon we went to K-Mart to pick up a couple of things for the old homeschool and some other things as well. Well I suppose I should wrap this up since it is time for bed time stories with the kids and the rest of our nightly routine. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and protect you and stay on the chosen path.

This is my truck redTyler and Lucy playing is below