Sometimes I just give up. I do my best to teach my kids about life and one of the things that Ben and I do is look at a lot of flashcards and pictures for him to identify. I have to say, he is as smart as a whip (although I have never understood this analogy, just often used it). He knows a lot for his age, and has the ability to see things I cannot in the pictures.

For instance, he has doggies, kitties, and monkeys down. He also knows all his farm animals as well as most of the people in his life other than himself who he still calls Ben. So I have been pushing him into a few harder things to identify…..the picture here is one of them, the wild boar.

The wild boar is actually in the news in London, England of all places because it is invading the populated areas and rummaging through garbage. The picture was in the article, so I decided to show it to Ben. I said, “what is this?” And he looked at it for a second, then smiled and said, “Elephant daddy,” to which I replied, “No, it’s a boar.”

Of course an argument soon ensued reminiscent of the “tastes great, less filling” ones of the 70’s. He held his ground and by God I held mine. But after a few minutes compromise came upon us (I think when he saw we were not getting to the next picture), so when I asked again (for the 100th time) “what is this?” He answered “Elephant Boar daddy.” We both won, and it was good enough for me…..when he gets the “F” in zoology his mom can deal with it.

He spreads it around too. Two days ago Amanda was in her red coat and asked him what color it was. He said “yellow” and she said “no, honey (the first 5 times) it’s red,” and off to the races they went. I can see his plan, he is just messing with us. But I cannot believe he does it to her….frankly the rest of us have a lot more sense.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Today we took a family trip up to Goshen to visit my grandma. My grandma is 93, in great health, and loves to see all of us anytime we can make it there. As an added bonus my aunt and uncle came up as well, and my cousin Matt who just graduated from Notre Dame in May. It was great to see everyone and it made for a wonderful day!

Of course after writing about Scott and Ben and their plans yesterday, today wasn’t exactly what I would have ever predicted or had in mind. Scott and Ben did get to take their drive together, but it was in my grandma’s new scooter that she rides through the halls of Greencroft where she lives. As a matter of fact, by the time I got my turn on it (with Ben, he went on ALL the rides) Matt had him up and down those halls as well. My grandma thought it was a hoot, and it was a great distraction for Ben who is not really retirement home material.

By the time we got home Ben and Scott did have plans to go get pizza, but there was just too much fog. Tomorrow however is another day, and I think they are eying a few places to go out and get into trouble in together.

Anyway, it is good to be home and good to have seen my family. We are very blessed in many ways, but my family is one of the largest blessings I know. I am so very thankful for them all.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

This picture represents his freedom. Yep, six months ago Scott acquired his driver’s license on the very day he could. I have spoken about it before, particularly because it changed my life. I no longer had him driving me around everywhere, but I also did not need to drive him to practice, games, or anything else.

Why is today special? Well in Indiana it is the LAST day he is required to drive passengers with parental supervision. Here, for six months, he can drive anyone as long as a parent sits in the front passenger seat. Today is his last day, tomorrow he can drive anyone.

What makes this a big thing is WHO he wants to drive………and that is Ben. I am certain if he could have talked Amanda into it he would have horsed a carseat in his car and headed somewhere at midnight (Ben would have gone!), but it there is always tomorrow. I am sure Ben will now become the best traveled little brother in the world as the “twins” head out on many an adventure together!

So goodbye restrictions! Tomorrow will be a big day. The five of us intend to see my grandma and then who knows what the boys will do. It is going to be fun to see. They are pretty tight, and Ben loves to talk Scotty into just about anything. I just need to make sure Scotty doesn’t let Ben do the driving!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

My wife has a lot of ideas, and when I mean a lot I truly mean A LOT. Most of them are good, and ironically, most of them involve me doing some sort of work. I suppose that’s what you get when you are married to someone addicted to an organized life-style. And she is not just a member of their little society, she is their queen.

Some of her ideas don’t seem to as practical as others. Her attempt to organize a national “Clean Out Your Junk Drawers for Jesus,” as well as her desire for all people to wash and save their sporks so she can send them to her home state of Kansas where they sport the largest collection of sporks outside of Vermont, were both in my min, a bust.

But, a few months ago, she did suggest that we connect up with the “Souperbowl of Caring” (www.Souperbowl.org)……and that we did. We are now in the process of collection cans of soup (not just soup cans as Father Hicks so brilliantly points out) (okay, as Father Hick’s wife Susan so ably points, out….Father Hicks asked for soup cans….they need to be full…..of soup). Our goal is to collect 1000 cans (of soup) using all our missions as collection points before Superbowl Sunday, which is February 7th. ALL the soup will then be distributed to local feeding programs and pantries!

You can donate for us to buy the soup for you too if you do not live close enough to drop it off by sending a check to St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church at 3032 State Road 32 East in Westfield, Indiana 46074. Or you can go to the Souperbowl site and enter your zip code to find a drop off location near you!

Thanks for considering being a part. In these difficult economic times, helping those less fortunate than ourselves is more important than ever. And this idea is good one too. It sure beats the “Save the Little Plastic Circle Thingys from the Top of Milk Jugs for Cat Toys” idea that I see on her list for tomorrow.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

After a long day of work, we (Amanda, Ben, and I) met at Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner. Ben, who had been spectacular with ME up to that point decided to throw a fit…..all over the amazing toddler issue of not being able to hold his milk himself.

Prior to that, I had about two full hours of toddler comments about every singe solitary detail of our trip. I needed some things for work tomorrow, so we went from the babysitter to Staples, to Walmart, to Kohls, to Bed Bath and Beyond, to Office Max, to Brookstone, to Fry’s, and then to dinner. There were approximately 500,000 things to see on that trip and he commented on them all, and all beginning with “Daddy,……” We started with the sun, and then where did it go? And from there trees, fire trucks, and all the other things that entered into his field of vision.

In truth, I/we had a blast. We laughed and chased each other around all those stores. He rarely wanted in a cart, and felt like a real big guy with all that freedom. AND, he had people in every store cracking up laughing with all his antics. It was a great time.

But at Cheeseburger in Paradise he was suddenly corralled. Into the highchair and no big-boy freedom….sort of like marriage without the highchair . And the delightful little man, within the first time spent with his mom today, made sure everyone saw him there too…..not just in a good way!

So tonight we spent some time whining and dining Amanda. Ironically they came home and both went to their respective beds! My adventure is over, and so is the noise. Thank God for the day’s end. I will hopefully be sleeping well tonight.

Goodnight to you my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

I miss the year prior to July when Scotty got his license. For that whole year I sat in the passenger seat while Scott, with his permit, drove me everywhere. It was originally to let him practice, but in the end, I rather enjoyed it. I got to spend time with my son, and could enjoy all the scenery I couldn’t while I was driving.

I was thinking of how that situation is a metaphor for a lot of our lives. A lot of us just like to drive, and though we have control when we do, we certainly miss a lot along the way.

I always am reminded of that old bumper sticker “God is my co-pilot.” Lots of people live that way….faithfully, just as long as they are in control! But the reality is that if God is your co-pilot and not your pilot you are missing out on the best ride of your life. And if He is not even not even close to driving, well that is a whole other issue altogether.

Take it from me. I spent a lot of wasted time in my life thinking I had to do it all, and that’s even as a priest. But guess what? We can count on God for His part, and in fact, when we actually hand it all over to Him we see a lot that we were missing……I know I did. In truth, life is a lot easier when He drives!

I miss Scotty driving my car, but Viper is “technically” 42 in dog years and wants to give it a try. I trust the Lord, but not the dog. I was there, his license is only for rabies.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

At church the other day some people were talking about the Extreme Home Makeover show that apparently did something to a house around here. Let me start by saying, yes, I have heard of the show but I have not watched it. I know very little about the current shows because I am living a life of apparent indentured servitude to my wife and kids. I watch the news and HGTV to learn more about fixing my house!

So there I was at church, “semi-hip” I suppose, in that at least I knew it was a show. But then they started talking about some sort of exhibit, and wrapping, and the way they were talking got me totally lost. But after being enlightened, apparently this exhibit is actually a celebrity……a celebrity that cannot spell because he doesn’t use the “e” or an “h,” but adds an “x” and a “z.” That’s right, it is xzibit. And there is no wrapping involved at all….it is rap, which is defined as a genre, by whom I do not know. He is one of those guys who talks and yells, and shakes his hands at the camera wearing all that “bling” (see I got one right) and people go nuts. As you might be able to tell, I am no fan of rap…..but exhibit is a apparently a pretty good guy because I know the show is about helping people. I have heard he is pretty awesome with cars!

But it disturbed me at how out of touch I have become with the modern world, so I thought I would do my best to catch up. I came home and turned on the TV, and I read about the most recent stuff. The picture (see above) is actually part of my plan. After reading about Avatar, which I believe is a remake of the Smurfs, I decided I am giving all the kid’s lectures now in 3-D. I am not certain it will work, but it is all part of my plan to be cool once again. Pray for me, I clearly am going to need all the help I can get.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

What a spectacular weekend! Father Michael Henry, a long time priest in another part of the Communion, was finally licensed and able to celebrate today at Christ the King. It was a marvelous thing too. Michael has been a part of our ministry for over a year and it was a blessing for all of us.

In fact, all our churches reported great blessings today, and it made the entire day quite enjoyable. Too often on a day when things go this well the phrase “it’s just all too good to be true” comes into mind, and then the bottom falls out! Today was no such day. We were solid from beginning to end, and nothing was held together with duct tape!

And of course I did not have my camera all day! I am surprised I didn’t see Elvis or Bigfoot. But in the end, I can take it to heart that I not only witnessed it, but was a part of it. It may not seem like a huge thing, but for as expansive as our ministry is, a day like to day is a real encouraging blessing!

Our future is looking bright, as is any future that walks in the light! If you are not already, I hope you consider being a part. In terms of the ministry of Christ, there is always plenty to do……..and it would be a great blessing to have you join us in doing it!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Finally Ben has returned to his normal self…..well at least as normal as he is. The top picture will show this history of Ben’s boots. There are 1) cowboy boots, 2) Spiderman cowboy boots, and 3) Woody cowboy boots. It is far deeper than that though……anyone who happens to wear any footwear higher than the ankle is wearing ______ cowboy boots. Thus when we go skating we wear ice skate cowboy boots.

Of course as his dad I am happy to see anything manly coming from my boys! The chapstick thing really does bother me, and as funny as it is to see him trying to wear Amanda’s shoes, my hope and expectation is that it does not become a habit!

He is now home irritating his mom with a bulldozer. She doesn’t need to worry though. Soon enough he will be in some cute pajamas carrying around his blankie. He’s still just a little guy, and we are all thankful for that!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+