Yeah, I am home and hanging out with just one of them, my wife, but I do miss the opportunities I have to hang out with both of them because when I do my world is pretty dang wonderful.

This picture may end up being one of my all time favorites.  They on the other hand will both think I am insane, as it was taken in line for a hay ride just inside a big fortress (yes I said fortress) made of bales of straw.  But they are truly so very happy together, and when they do things there is always a lot of smiling and laughing……and that is contagious too.

Amanda even has a special “Stephanie” Pinterest section in which she saves stuff just to share with Steph.  They are pretty cool together, they both love me and Ben and Scott, and they really reflect the best of our family to others (that is also a reference to the fact that they live with me and Ben and Scott)

But tonight I miss Steph and cannot wait to see her again.  She DID, in the middle of Pumpkinland, as I mentioned she would, make reference to the Justin Bieber joke I made about her a few weeks ago.  We laughed it off.  (She really does not like JB.)  But I did give her $20 for that Bananarama Reunion album she and Amanda wanted for Christmas.  They are both such big fans…..and that is why we love them.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, we are home from our visit to Steph, and the last part of our journey was to a pumpkin farm for a pumpkin festival.  There were approximately 6 million people there, but since two of the kids were with us (and a host of Ben’s girlfriends, both old and new) it was a blast.  There were hay rides, corn mazes, straw pyramids (just like the ones in Egypt…..if they were made in Kansas), zip lines for kids, goats, lots of lost children, and a BUNCH of moms yelling at their kids.  It was like Jerry Springer, but with pumpkins!

And pumpkins were what we were there for!!  Now when I WAS IN COLLEGE, when I was around college girls, all I wanted to do was to buy them a DRINK.  But now that I am the dad of one of them, all I wanted to do was to buy them PUMPKINS…..and that we did! Plus, the very fact that I knew they needed them for a college carving contest (knives are implied here) made me quite happy that there were no college boys around anyway.  Alcohol and pumpkin carving seem to be things that would not mix well, and although there is no reality show with such a concept, perhaps there will be soon.  But the bottom line is that we fixed them all up with pumpkins on our tab.

But it is never all fun and games, as seeing Steph and her brother say good bye is ALWAYS painful.  They are both always a mess, and I have to say I would be honored if anyone would be a 100th as upset if I were leaving them.  Yet they have lots of reasons to cry.  They have to wait a little less than a month before Steph is home for “Fake Thanksgiving.”  And why is it “fake?”  Well it is fake because we are going to celebrate OUR real Thanksgiving here at home just after Christmas with Scott before he leaves to return for the Marines.  He will be eating any turkey he gets on Thanksgiving out of a pouch packed in 1963 from wherever they tell him to be.  But sometime between Christmas and his return he will eat the real thing AND with ALL OF US!

But for now we are home, and we are thankful for it.  It was great to see Steph.  Lord knows we miss her.  And her friends are always like family to us.  We are just 300 miles away, but it feels much further.  We are just blessed to be able to see her.  She is one spectacular daughter…..and we could not ask for any better.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

We have had a great day here in Missouri.  The annual LU Alumni game was this morning, and it is always great to get to see Steph play.  PLUS, now that she is a junior, we knew lots of the other players on both teams.  It was a great time, and we still have tomorrow too.

And Ben and Steph are so very tight.  Tonight’s picture is of Ben sitting in Steph’s section in their new locker room.  It is pretty sweet and very state of the art.  And Ben was more than ready to pose for the picture sitting in front of her jersey.

But the two of them have been at it most of the day, laughing and joking, and joking and laughing.  They ALWAYS sit by each other everywhere and are both full of smiles at every moment.  It is always so great to see, and my only regret is that I have been so hell bent on being important in my work, that I haven’t availed myself of every opportunity I have had to be here with all of them.  Amanda and Ben are well known here, yet I think many people may just think I am their driver.  I really am happy to chose the good portion and work to straighten out my image!

But since Ben has been a bit under the weather and on an antibiotic, Steph has spent tonight and last night at her house and Ben has been here.  He had originally negotiated a weekend “sleepover” but he needed a bit more rest than that.  Tomorrow we will start again and have a great last day….a last day that is until what we are calling “Fake Thanksgiving.”  Yes Steph will be home for that, and I think Kara will even be with her.  But Scotty will still be at boot camp and we will eat turkey without him.  That is why it will be fake.  We will all be together from December 20th and will have Christmas when we should and our real Thanksgiving a few days after….

Our kids are great and we love them.  It has been a blessed day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, you would think from this picture that he was not all that excited, but for DAYS it is all he has talked about.  We are now in Missouri for our annual visit to Lindenwood Homecoming.  Of course there is no official lacrosse going on, just the Alumni game, BUT it is always a gratuitous visit to eat drink and be merry with Steph and her comrades.  And that we have begun to do.

The second picture is Ben and Steph and Kara at a restaurant in the greater St. Louis area.  The ate a ton and then got perhaps the largest turtle sundae in the history of the world.  And as I am writing this from the hotel, they are all back at Steph’s house where Ben is no doubt holding court with all his college girlfriends……of which there are MANY!

And yes, he is clearly AWAKE.  He was going to stay with Steph tonight, but since she has to be up so early tomorrow, she is bringing him back to the hotel tonight.  Ben’s desire was for her to just stay here and sleep with him on the sleeper sofa.  Her’s was to have him stay the night at her house.  But since she has to be up so very early, he will be dropped back by here tonight to sleep with…..hopefully his Nanny in her room, but most probably us in ours!!

But the great part is that we are all out here together.  We will be together again at Thanksgiving and then again for Christmas break when we will head to California to see our Marine graduate.  For now however, we are just enjoying this part.  Ben and Steph are just so very tight and LOVE being together.   It is so cool to see.

I am just happy to be here as I could not make it last year.  It will be a fun weekend, and already is.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, it is a staged picture.  Viper needs a cage like I need an ice cream cake.  He has no interest whatsoever in running away, and he sleeps so much in the yard that even the squirrels make fun of him.  But he did hustle into his old kennel where he and our four other former Goldens used to hang out.  He was doing it out of habit and nostalgia.  I was doing it because I needed a picture of the kennel to put on Craigslist.

Yes the picture is of the end result, his leg (on the left) and my arm (on the right) with matching Snoopy band aids.  Yet the picture does not tell the whole story.  It was much more than you can see.

In fact, it really was more like the WWF, in that Ben decided he was not going to get his shot after all.  He had to be held down by a nurse, and his mom and me.  And for a little guy, he kicked like a stinking MULE!!  And he screamed louder than his sister at a Justin Bieber concert. (Yes, I will pay for that joke the next time I see her.)  But the bottom line was he got the shot, and he limped out into the lobby (his grandma was waiting out there) and he made the most of he could out of it until he forgot…..about 5 seconds later.

As for me, I got my shot, and felt the nurse put on the band aid more than I did the shot, but neither really hurt.  I went out and showed Ben my matching band aid, but he seemed quite disinterested.  He did manage to tell his mom and grandma a little later that “Daddy cried like a little baby,” but since I already had Amanda as a witness, I am hoping that she believed I did better than that.  Time will tell, but we will see.

So we are all set now until next year.  Sadly enough tonight Ben already has a fever, but I know that sometimes that happens with people who get a flu shot………..as it probably also happens to little boys who lie about their dads crying like little babies!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I was supposed to pick up Ben from school today in order to go and get flu shots, but I forgot I had to meet a contractor at home.  We have a lot of leaves, ok that is not quite accurate, we have more leaves than anyone on the face of the earth, and they all love to congregate together…….in our gutters.

Of course our gutters are pretty high up, close to 500 ft in my estimation (as I do not climb the high ladder) and my gutter cleaner, as I have mentioned before, is hanging out with some of his closest friends in San Diego.  So I have been looking into gutter guards of some kind, and today I had a guy coming out to give an estimate.

Had I not already used Ben with his tongue sticking out, today would have been a great day to use it.  He was pretty stinking happy that we were not heading to get a shot. (he does fine and hardly even flinches) I think he is hoping and praying I forget.

But sadly for him, my mind is like a steel trap (hahahahaha….no it isn’t at all) but I do remember his shot!  We will do it tomorrow.

Doing it will give us the protection we need…..and, it will keep my mind out of the gutters.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, today for a lot of different reasons, Amanda and I decided to share in a “fast,” but in true homonym fashion, when you make it a point to fast you find that there is really nothing fast about it at all.  Yet we both felt that today it was an important discipline, and we have both kept it well.

On a personal note, fasting is something that helps keep me focused, and although today has been a brutal one, work-wise, I have made tons of progress in terms of getting things done.

But I generally do not tell people when I fast, as it is a highly personal spiritual discipline in my mind, plus I am always reminded of the words of Our Blessed Lord in Matthew 6 about those who pray and fast that they may be seen…….in all honesty, it is not that pretty.

But I thought I might mention it tonight, seeing as Amanda is doing it also, and as an opportunity to ask for God’s blessings upon our ministry, our family, and our marriage.  I am not worried about any of the three currently, but I will say that it would really be nice to hear that others are praying for us.  AND, in addition to that, it would be nice to hear about we can pray for in terms of YOU!

Life just happens all around us and often we do not do enough to make it better.  Praying helps, fasting helps, walking in community helps, and being the people God calls us to be helps as well.

Consider joining us.  This life is going fast enough.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!


Tommy+

Today has been an exceptionally busy day!  We opened informally St. George’s in Muncie, and my intended celebratory nap went right by the wayside as I spent the rest of the day dealing with work issues that really shouldn’t be.  But I do not want to complain, what I instead want to do is to is share how important it is for me from time to time to set certain things like that aside and “choose the good portion,” as Jesus says.

Sure, I know that Jesus also talked about if your cow fell into a ditch on the Sabbath you would not leave it there, so sometimes work just cannot wait.  But it is also said that all work and no play can make Jack a dull boy.  Fortunately, my name is not Jack, so I am probably safe, but the point is that one can get so consumed with work that they can miss out on the life God has provided around them.

And the life around me is pretty wonderful.  I missed my nap with my wife, but she fortunately took it for me…..and she said it was great.  Tomorrow is by no means a light day, but it is one that I can work mostly from my home office which means shorts and a t-shirt and coffee all day!  Sure it is not “clerical wear,” but the t-shirt will be black!

So instead of rambling, I will call it a night.  Amanda seems more than willing to resume her nap, and this time for all night.  Busy day be gone…..I am heading to bed.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well I generally do not have “suggestions” for this blog, but today my wife ran across a guy at a craft show that carved stuff out of driftwood.  This particular creation was made of driftwood and was of St. Michael the Archangel, and this artist was selling this particular piece for $3000 in order to raise money for him to go do missionary work in Africa.

Of course I am a guy without $3000, but in all honesty I support his efforts.  Plus that, I am not too sure where I would put a wood sculpture of St. Michael, even in one of our Churches…..Amanda said it was huge!!

But I do admire how different people work hard to fulfill God’s call.  AND, I do admire people with artistic talent…..particularly as I have none.  This piece was truly not what I would be drawn to, as I am really more classically influenced, but I do believe that there really is a niche for everyone.  And somebody will look at this and see it as exactly what they are looking for.

As for me, I am quite comfortable in telling you about it, but even more comforted in the fact that it is not coming home.   I do pray this missionary gets to Africa, and I pray that it is funded primarily by this piece.  But it is not my thing……..in fact, I am just the messenger.  And I am just helping him, and doing a favor for my wife.  You see, I do love her, and I do know her…..and if the message was to buy this, I am sure it would already be in our living room.  So in the absence of that, I just needed to share!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+