bachelor week part deux

Janelle, Caden, and "butter bean" are coming back to town tomorrow with our nephew Tyler in tow. T-bone will be spending the week with us and my secret agenda is to get him to cut the grass while he is here. I'm sure there will be some more posts filled with pics chronicling her Ohio adventure soon.
As for me, bachelor week peaked this weekend when myself, my brother and a friend of mine played ping pong, went to the shooting range, and hit the batting cages. I have alluded to my irrational fear of guns before, and the shooting range was a bit overwhelming (it is alot louder than I thought), but after my brother's constant prodding and about 5 ackward minutes, I squeezed off a few rounds. In the end I just couldn't bear the thought of my little brother holding this over me for the rest of my life. I was a little humliated at the batting cages. My reflexes are so slow that I have to start swinging before the ball comes out of the machine. It didn't help that the friend that was with us is a professional football player (NFL) and was switch hitting like it was nothing.
Bachelor week has been good, but I am definitely ready to have the fam back home.

bachelor week

Janelle and Caden are in Ohio this week so I have inevitably regressed to bachelor/college mode. Highlights so far include: seeing Transformers @ 9:35 pm (on a weeknight), removing all the annoying child proof devices in the kitchen, and eating a lot of oven pizza. Yep, I’m a wild man!

Kiwi

what you need to know: Kiwi can't fly....physically unable to do their natural instinct. But with a little creativity and sacrifice anything is possible.

Blood and Gore

Russell Moore made this profound statement in a piece called “Blood, Gore and Global Warming”
“Let’s take care of the earth, protect the natural order. But let’s remember that the world is not ultimately rescued by politicians or musicians or filmmakers or scientists. The world is saved by blood (of Christ), not Gore”

Maddy

Here are some great pics Janelle captured of the lil'Sutphin

life is a beach

We went to Wilmington with the Sutphins (Jason was one of my old college roommates). It was both kids' first time on the beach and they seem to be big fans of the giant sand box. Highlights included: the world’s greatest crab dip, an Italian pub (the marrying of 2 of God’s greatest gifts to us all), Angie in desperation attacking a waitress for some crackers for our hungry children, and me freaking out because I thought the current was carrying Jason and I (on our manly floats) out into the abyss of the ocean.

***For manual control of the slideshow, click on it once

hair today, gone tomorrow

Caden got his first haircut last week. His mop was getting a bit unruly. Janelle found this great place designed specifically for children. Looks like a lot of fun….heck, I want to go there for my next hair cut.
Here are some before shots

You'll being seeing more of this one I am sure.

.....and the final product

a good tongue lashing

A what age does this (sticking out your tongue) stop being cute and start being offensive? I am talking about me of course

O.C.P.

Waste of Space?

For the last year or so, Janelle and I have been seeking to be more environmentally conscious. It started with our first blue recycling bin and it has spread like an infection and is dangerously close to becoming a soap box (made of recycled materials of course). For us, it really has nothing to do with global warming or the pending apocalypse. Frankly, it just comes down to the admission that I waste too much….and I simply can’t justify it any longer……especially when so much of the world is in need. It’s about taking responsibility for what I consume. On a deeper level my personal faith calls me to be a good steward with all my resources and that doesn’t happen naturally, it requires intentionality.
For more info and easy ways to be more eco-friendly go to liveearth.org

Baby's Best Friend

Our poor kid and dog seem to be a bit confused these days.
Caden has seemed to develop a fondness and taste for dog food and dog bones.

Gandy wants his own pacifier

And now every time we give Caden a bath, Gandy wants one too.
He stayed in there for about an hour before resigning to give up.

possibly the worst picture ever of caden

the month of Lance

That’s what we call July in my house. Every year, I don my yellow “livestrong” bracelet during the month of July as an ode to the superhuman freak we mere mortals call Lance Armstrong (the man, the myth, the legend). It is easier to wear now because it is not so trendy anymore. Back a couple years ago, every celebrity and politician running for office was wearing one for good p.r.
I wear it in July as a nod to the Tour de France. I am an avid spectator of the race (starts Saturday!!!) which isn’t good news for Janelle because there is about 8 hours of daily coverage on the one sports channel that we get (Versus). This year I look forward to giving my relatively new TiVo a good workout.

The sheer athleticism and stamina that it takes just to finish that race is respectable, but most people are not cognizant of the prominent role that strategy plays in the competition. I grew to really appreciate the Tour when Lance was in his prime. I had never witnessed a sport of such selflessness. Lance’s teammates, who were top grade athletes and riders in their own right, made it their sole mission not to win themselves, but to ensure that Lance did. They would circle around him like the secret service when he rode in the pack to protect him from crashes, would shield him from the wind, and some riders were only there to pace Lance half way up the grueling mountains so that he could make his infamous climbs that would generally seal the deal. If only we found that kind of selflessness more often.
It’s true that it doesn’t have the same allure and mystic without Lance in the saddle, but it’s good TV just the same.

take me out to the ball game

We continued our Independence Day tradition (3 years running) of going to our local minor league baseball game and post game fireworks. We were joined by my parents and Chrandy (sorry we didn’t get a group pic). We had excellent seats (front row behind the backstop) both because of the vantage point and that there was a funny heckler nearby that kept it interesting. The post game fireworks were definitely my least favorite at the park so far, so we may need to get our fix on the 4th.

Bonus rabbit trail: Shortly after the game, I decided to take a walk on the field to look at the bull pen. It looks like those guys are pretty relaxed back there during the game and just hanging out so I was half expecting to find a TV, a foot massager, and a little refrigerator, but there were no such perks. On the long walk back, an older employee seemed to be a little peeved that I was wandering on the field as he approached and asked if he could help me. I replied no, that I was looking for another exit…….yeah, he didn’t fall for that either.

front row seats baby

Caden is not digging the fireworks

Practical Atheism

Craig Groeshel from Lifechurch.tv made some profound statements at a conference last week that I am going to echo as my own (and maybe you too can identify with):

I am a practical atheist. That is, I believe God exists but I sometimes live as though He doesn’t.

I rely more on my own efforts than in God’s power.

I am more afraid of what people would think than what God would think.

You can read more about that Craig’s session on Tim Stevens’ blog.

The Junky Car Club

Read about these guys in Relevant magazine (which by the way is a staple in my literary and cultural diet, you can check it out or subscribe on relevantmagazine.com. Highly recommend their podcast too). JCC is a group of people that are learning to live with less so they can give more. “Happy drivers who are politely rebelling against consumerism by driving junky cars”, and using the money that would normally go to fat car payments for social justice issues.
We at PPO3 are learning to live with less because we have less (in American standards anyway), but love what these guys are doing and wanted to pass it along.