Guest post by Mikey

It is me, Mikey! Daddy let me do a blog post today! But I had some trouble with school Friday. It was really hard. But I am doing work on Bible! It is about Joseph right now. And I am in soccer! I have practice tomorrow.

Gamer Grab
Here are some fun things on the 'Net.

Woogi World is a really fun club on the 'Net. You should try it; it is really fun! You can buy stuff. Club Penguin does not let you unless you pay. You unlock more dance moves and get three floors for your wigwam! Plus you get 10,000 watts!

Another club that is really fun is called Club Penguin. It is a fun place! You have a penguin and you can do more and more the more days you have a free membership. But if you have a membership that you pay for you get to buy things and much more!

BFW (Big Fun Weekend)

Wow... what an unexpectedly full weekend!

Saturday after building a Mr. Potatohead-style pumpkinhead with Papaw Jones at Lowe's and going to Mikey's soccer game (which his team won 3-0... no shootout this week!), he and I went home and had a little downtime with Hannah while Mama made a grocery run, and then we all went out to a pumpkin patch. Out there Cathy picked out a couple of little pumpkins for the kids to have for I don't know, Pumpkin Season or something (hey, aren't those supposed to rise out of the pumpkin patch on their own?). Mikey got to slide down the giant blowup slide they had out there, while Hannah and I discovered a ride of her own... leaning the stroller aaaaaaaalllllll the way back until Hannah's head is almost on the ground WOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! and then tilting back forward WOOOOOOOOOO! hehehehehe. (That last hehe was Hannah giggling when the stroller is back level.) After that we had dinner at the revived-again Casa Bonita on 21st & Sheridan and then went over to Papaw Angel's house for a bit and Mikey got to hang out with his little black dog Skipper. Mikey is sometimes nervous around dogs that are excitable, and Skipper is one of those super-friendly dogs that just wants to be all up in your business. Papaw has been in the habit of locking Skip up in his carrier whenever Mikey comes over, but this time Mikey and Skipper got to have some quality time together and I don't think Mikey's scared at all now.

Sunday we actually skipped out on the second service (BOOOO ON US!!!) to blow out of town to OKC to visit the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Mikey has been studying cowboys in his schoolwork, and the museum was actually mentioned in the curriculum. I had mentioned it to Cathy as a good location for a "field trip" quite some time ago, but it didn't sink in until it actually came up in the curriculum. Anyway, we went on out and had a great time! Mikey especially liked the "Children's Corral" area and the huge beautiful garden out back (the weather could hardly have been more perfect, although it was kind of windy... it was sunny and warm enough to be comfortable but not sweaty), and he particularly got a charge out of throwing twigs into the little strem they have running through the garden area and watching it go over the mini waterfalls. Not that cowboy-ish, but definitely kid-ish! His other favorite part is the little Western town, "Prosperity Junction", that is actually inside the museum. You can go inside most of the buildings and see antiques from the Old West, and kind of get a flavor of how it might have been back then. I've been to something similar at the East Texas Oil Museum, which we hope to get to visit as well once he gets to the unit on energy. Hannah enjoyed Prosperity Junction because she discovered that there was a pretty pronounced echo in the room. She kept going "AH!" and then listening for the echo. By the time we got done in Prosperity Junction she had gotten to where she would make an echo and then applaud herself... clapping her hands is a new thing she's picked up recently. We also went through the areas about old-time and modern cowboy life, Western heroes in entertainment, rodeo, the army, and more. Oh... did I mention the several HUMONGOUS statues that they have in the place? I kept seeing pictures of the statue of a cowboy on a horse in the entrance atrium (it's called "End of the Trail") but didn't realize how HUGE the thing is until I saw a picture of it with people next to it! It's amazing, as are the other beautiful statues in the place.


Anyway, we had the perfect amount of time to take in the museum, and then we stopped by Cracker Barrel on the way home (to kind of maintain the cowboy theme a little!) and then came on home and went to bed. It was a great family time! We're going to research some of the other museums, in Tulsa as well as in OKC, and try and do a Saturday like this every month.

Caturday 10/25/2008

moar funny pictures

More Wishes And Love For Elizabeth

About a month ago I told you about our family friend and former worship leader, Elizabeth Sheehan, and how she has left that position and is pursuing other interests. This week we found out that her appendix had ruptured and she had been taken to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy! The operation was Wednesday, and last night (Thursday) we went over to the hospital and visited with her for a bit. It was funny... we went into SouthCrest Hospital where she is, and Cathy said her name to the receptionist, and she knew the room number off the top of her head. Apparently it had been non-stop partying in Elizabeth's room that day! Anyway, she was her usual sweet self, and I think she really was glad to see Mikey and Hannah. Her friend Jen picked up Hannah and didn't give her back until we had to leave.

So we just want to extend our good wishes to Elizabeth again. We know that tons of prayer has gone up for her quick recovery, and we also know she's strong and depends on the Lord and she'll be back on her feet before you know it. To update the previous post a bit, Elizabeth has now completely left her duties at Grace, including volunteer duties in the Worship Arts Ministry; we'd like to say again that we have nothing but confidence that her future is brighter than ever, and we are so excited to see what God is going to use her for next!

Christmas Prodigal: My First Rehearsal

This year I tried out to be in the Grace Church Christmas production, an original play called "The Christmas Prodigal". I've been familiar with the script for several months, since the initial idea was for the WIT songwriting team to write original music for it (I actually wrote a ton of somgs for it, but with the shakeup in leadership in the fine arts area I think maybe original music may have fallen through the cracks). We did some read-throughs at the WIT meetings, and I had so much fun reading the script out loud that I decided to go ahead and try out. I'm playing The Annoyed Yet Henpecked Innkeeper ("NO! THIS IS A STABLE! YOU CAN'T STAY IN THERE!") It's a rather small part, with only nine lines in one single scene, but it will be fun to just be part of the whole thing. Besides, I have more lines than Mary, who only gets to be hustled in by Joseph while saying "Joseph! Help me! The baby's coming!"

So last night was the first rehearsal I've been to. I've been working on my lines, so I pretty much have them memorized, but I forgot to work on which lines they come after (it's good to be able to say your lines, but it's even better to say them at the right time!!) so I was still a little bit shaky all rehearsal, but it was still fun. Maybe I'm wacky in the head, but it's so fun to pretend that you're someone else for a while. Or maybe it's the feeling that you know exactly what's going to happen (okay, you know exactly what's supposed to happen) and the appropriate way for you to respond to the situation. It's all planned out ahead of time! It's a lot easier than the improv that each of us does all day every day!

Oktoberfest 2008

all picturesSaturday we went to Oktoberfest. We always do, for various reasons. For example: Cathy loves the food, and since I won't eat sauerkraut it's like her one chance all year to eat a cabbage-based dish. The main thing I look forward to is a family tradition of ours: every year since we've been married, Cathy and I have found a way to get out there and buy a Christmas ornament from the one exhibitor who actually has ornaments imported from Germany (a few of the other exhibitors have ornaments, but if you look closely you find they are from Poland or China, or I even saw some this year from Wisconsin. The ornament was a kid with a big cheese wheel, and the cheese wheel actually said Wisconsin on it!) So we've slowly accumulated this collection of ornaments... this year Mikey even bought one with some of his own money, so there's a bonus ornament this year!

And of course, there's just the general atmosphere of fun and German-ness out there. I've actually been to Germany once (one day hopefully I'll get to take Cathy with me and go again!) and it's my favorite country I've been to since the U.S. (it's a short list anyway... Germany, Austria and Switzerland... Switzerland is right up there in the running, too... and then Mexico and Canada, and Paris France) so it's fun to kind of get a taste again once a year. Mikey said he just likes to go and have fun!

This year there was a special treat for us... a friend of ours was performing in one of the tents and we got to go see it and kind of support her. I can't tell you who or what because my wife was sworn to secrecy, but our friend did a beautiful job and we thoroughly enjoyed the performance. And we did eat some German food, and we did get our annual ornament(s), and we did have a great time! Mikey even rode a ride! (The rides were incredily expensive this year... $2.50/$3.00 for a little kiddie ride. Outrageous!) Want to see all the pictures? Here's the whole batch!

3 & 2

No win today - Mikey's soccer team held them to a tie at zero again, but this team beat them in the shootout at the end. The kids played a good game, all of them including Mikey, but since it was Fall Break this week they didn't have practice Thursday, and I think maybe they were a tiny bit rusty. Good thing is that there's always another chance to play even better the next week!