Today, three years ago, our lives changed forever, and most of the time we feel that it is for the better, although the pudding in the hair part I was not totally convinced about. Yes, today is Ben’s birthday, and we celebrated with a nice little party/cookout and of course CAKE!

Our modern church world is filled with new lingo that we didn’t have when I was a kid. Back in the Dark Ages we had terms like “Altar” and “pew” and “Holy Mysteries” and “Sacraments.” But now I guess I am a dinosaur because we have words like “emerging” and “post-modern” and a “host” of others (not “heavenly host” because I would actually understand that) all of which I have trouble understanding.

It is a little after 10pm, and instead of sitting out on the back porch with the cat and dog, I have been relegated to my room with Mr. Incredible, because he and his mom just got home and she has some work to do for a meeting that begins tomorrow morning at 7:30am. My final piece of the day is often this blog, and dag nab it, she knows I can do it from our room. So I am typing, she is downstairs, and Ben is watching an episode of “Phineas and Ferb” on Disney. And unlike many of the awful shows for kids that are on, this one is awesome…..so I do not mind.

When you are a little boy, your life is often all about “mommy.” And Ben is the poster child for this concept. He loves me, I do know that, but he would gladly throw me under the bus to be with his mom. In the end I have the upper hand though……he loves sports, and she throws like a girl. All little boys also abandon their moms, at least for a short while when they think they are superstar athletes (in my case roughly from 4 to at least 49….but I am an anomaly.)

Yes, that is Ben and Amanda at the Wal-Mart with Ben pulling his new Spiderman blanket through the store because he trusts no one else to do so. Parents will do a lot to get a toddler to sleep in his own bed, and if his attachment to this blanket is any indication, we may not see him out of his room for years.

The good news is that we are back home from our vacation and we are so very thankful. The bad news is that my weight is out of control. I would HATE to traumatize you with a picture, but I am going to be honest, I am moving on from this. By the end of this I hope to be some sort of AARP beach model.

Well although Dorothy clicked the heels of her ruby red slippers to get back to Kansas, in less than 12 hours we will be leaving it. It is certainly not because of anything we dislike here, Kansas is really a wonderful place. It’s that we have been gone long enough and as Dorothy said, there really is “no place like home.” And our home is Indiana.

I will not be disappointed to get there either. Our vacation has been great, but I miss things like my own bed, Viper and Puddy, the back porch, and even mowing my yard. I will enjoy getting back into the swing of things too. I have a lot to do in preparation of the ordinations next Friday, so getting back to my familiar environment will be quite helpful.

Anyway, click the heels we will, and thanks to Southwest we should be home before noon. It has been quite the time and a great trip to celebrate Steph’s graduation. I hope she has time to go with us next year when Scotty graduates and we head to the McDonald’s by our house. It will not be quite the trip we have been on this year, but at least I will get to sleep in my own bed!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yep, we are in Kansas, known for its flatness and weather! Even Dorothy was ejected from Kansas before returning! But we made it here just fine. Our flight, as far as any of us could tell since we were up at 3:30 and on the bus to the airport at 4:30, seemed uneventful. We landed shortly after 9am here and learned a valuable lesson……never fly that early again.

But thankfully we are here and having fun. I was ready to restart watching what I was eating, but my mother-in-law had a little birthday shindig for us all. So tomorrow I can do better, and Thursday we will be home. It is hard to eat right while traveling, and birthday/celebration cake is, in my mind, rude to turn down……and I thank God for that!

But all the activity is catching up to us. I can see everyone slowing down. It has been fun so far, and we always have a great time out here in Kansas. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day….and then sadly, we will be on the plane early again (I meant we will learn NEXT TIME) on Thursday!

Off to bed!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+