Christmas Preparations

As is normally the case with parish pastors, the last several weeks have been extremely busy as we travel through the season of Advent and prepare for our celebration of Christmas. Besides my normal pastoral duties, I've had Wednesday evening services added to my already busy schedule. Add in an unusually snowy December (and my snow-shoveling duties), and my schedule has been really quite busy. So here I am after a nearly one month hiatus getting back to the family blog.

I can report that in the past week and a half Grace has managed to begin sitting very regularly and steadily (I'll drop in a picture at the end of this post to illustrate). She's offering more and more chatter almost by the day, and we're beginning to wonder if she'll be as noisy as Lucas is, who talks constantly! She's also beginning to exhibit pretty routine separation anxiety from Mom and Dad. She'll even cry for us when Lucas is still in the room with her, which is unusual since Lucas tends to be her number one form of entertainment. Her mother and I continue to be of the opinion that she's the most lovely baby we've ever seen, but perhaps we're biased.

Lucas is ready for Christmas to come, though not in an overly-eager way. He has spent several weeks dreaming about the different Thomas the Tank Engine toys that he may receive as gifts. Dad has been scouring Ebay for a couple months finding some ridiculous deals on a whole host of items. He should be pleased, if not somewhat overwhelmed. He won't be getting the things I've purchased all at once. One thing that has perhaps kept Lucas from becoming impatient as he waits for Christmas is that we haven't really put any gifts under the tree yet. Without that visual reminder/temptation, it doesn't seem quite as imminent.

We wish everyone a very blessed Christmas. For those on our Christmas letter list, you should be receiving your letter and picture from us soon.

Jesus Loves Lucas

Update on Lucas

I realize that it's been a few weeks since I last blogged. It's not because there hasn't been anything happening; just the opposite. A busy few weeks for me personally and family-wise. So I thought I'd jot down a few lines while my confirmation kids take their quiz on the Ninth and Tenth Commandments.

Lucas has been eagerly awaiting the time when the leaves would begin to fall and snow to fly. The reason for this is quite simple: his father has been reminding him that Christmas won't come until the leaves fall off the trees and the snow begins to make its annual appearance. Both events have transpired in the past few weeks. We held onto our leaves longer than normal, it seems. A late fall provided for that, no doubt. But when they began to fall, they fell quickly. The church provides for a lawn service, for which I am truly thankful. The men worked for more than three hours this past week cleaning up our front and back yards (which aren't large), and they had all the necessary power tools to do so. If I had done the job they did myself, it would have taken me at least twice as long. Then on Thanksgiving Eve we had our first real snowfall. I didn't really think that we would see any accumulation based on what the weather folks were saying, but as it turned out we did have a sprinkling of snow that stuck. When I threw up the curtains in Lucas' room on Thursday morning, he got a glimpse of our newly-whitened neighborhood and declared that it was now time for Christmas. Naturally, I had to break the news to him that he would need to wait, but that Christmas was getting closer. I always try to use any mention of Christmas by Lucas to remind him about the Christ Mass. He seems to be catching on.

Lucas' anticipation of Christmas, however, has more to do with his looking forward to receiving additional pieces for his wooden train set. His favorite pasttime remains looking at Thomas the Tank Engine items on "Dada's computer." He pulls out his "train map" (little flyers that come with each engine) or his "train book" (the larger catalog) and works his way through requesting to see on my computer just about everything he finds in those. His memory is pretty impressive, and the fact that many of the engines are numbered has also helped him in identifying his numbers. When a cousin, whose not familiar with all the different engines, was calling each of them "Thomas," Lucas quickly corrected, "That's not Thomas; that's Diesel 10," etc. His father and he have become quite the "experts."

Besides his memory, one other thing that impresses us about Lucas is the relative ease with which he expresses remorse. He's a pretty sensitive kid, so when he says, "I'm sorry," it's pretty clear that he really means it. We don't usually have to ask him to express his sorrow about things. What's even more interesting, however, is how quickly he says, "You're forgiven." For instance, when he's been playing on the floor before, I've accidentally swiped him with my shoe as I stepped over him like a klutz. I'll say, "I'm sorry, Bub," and he'll say, quite non-chalantly, "That's O.K., Dada. You're forgiven." I haven't been around enough three-years-old to know whether or not they usually understand the concept of expressing forgiveness so readily, but we're happy to see that he's catching on.

Lucas had lots of fun playing with his cousins over the Thanksgiving weekend. He actually had the opportunity to play with cousins Sarah and Nathan for an extended period on four straight days. He and four-year-old Sarah finally have begun to mesh in their play together, as Lucas has seemed to catch up with her on a imagination level. The past two evenings were spent "going to school" and "making meals" in our downstairs playroom. While there is still the occasional fight over this or that item, those fights have begun to take place much less frequently. It's obvious how much Lucas has begun to enjoy this play time because when it comes to an end he has an emotional meltdown (though he recovers quickly).

That's a little update on Lucas. An update on Grace is coming soon!

Standard Time & Costume Critique

It was nice to "fall back" into standard time the other night. The only drawback these days is that children can't figure out the difference, of course. Lucas was asking to have someone get him at 5:30 A.M. this morning. I broke the news to him that it wasn't time to get up yet. He took it like a champ and kept quiet for another half hour or so (though I'm sure he didn't fall back to sleep). Grace, on the other hand, is still sleeping at this point (my suspicion is that she's going to be the type of girl that we have trouble getting out of bed when she's a teenager). Our two children continue to be a study in contrasts.

When one of the members of my Wednesday night Bible study arrived this past week on the evening of October 31, he gave me some instant feedback on Lucas' Hallowe'en costume: "Lucas was really cute." Judge for yourself. (He's Buzz Lightyear for the "Toy Story Uninitiated")

Reformation Trick-or-Treating

As a Lutheran pastor especially, I always stress that today is first and foremost a celebration of the Church's Reformation, marking the anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg (October 31, 1517). Naturally, the world knows this day as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day (November 1), when it was thought that the souls of the dead would return to this world and haunt the living (Jack o' Lanterns were put on the doorstep to spook these spirits away). Luther's posting of his Theses was calculated since he knew that the next morning a large gathering would assemble at the church for the All Saints' Day Mass, though these Theses (points designed to provoke debate) were written in Latin and not meant for the common German people. Within weeks, however, Luther's document was translated into the language of the people and circulated throughout Germany and eventually all Europe. The Lutheran Reformation had begun.

With that short history lesson, I will also report that Lucas will be gathering candy this evening masquerading as Buzz Lightyear. Grace will go along for the ride, dressed in a blaze orange outfit with a little black cat on it. Best of all, we'll have some candy in the house!

Perhaps we'll shoot a few pictures and post them in time.

Settling Back In

Our family is settling back in after ten days of vacation. We had the pleasure of spending several days with family and friends in remote places, but we also got the chance to unwind over the past couple days at home. We loved every minute of it. Most of all it gave Tarren and me an opportunity to get away from our very busy every-day lives and to spend some quality family time together. We are refreshed and ready to go.

We had the chance to do plenty of driving and saw some beautiful places in our beautiful country. Many places we visited were beginning to take on the colors of autumn. Surprisingly many of the trees in our hometown remain perfectly green. The weather has been mild, so I suppose that's the leading factor in keeping the trees looking summerlike. We hope to see the dazzling reds, yellows and oranges soon!

An update on the children ... Lucas is perfectly potty-trained. He has been accident free for at least a couple weeks and continues to do very well. His logorrhea can be wearing on the nerves (it's a relief to our ears when he finally hits the hay), but his imagination is endless and his boyish enthusiasm fills our family life with joy. Currently his favorite pasttime is to look at Thomas trains on Dad's computer. During vacation he got his first chance to experience bowling; it was a hit (see pictures below).

Grace simply adores her brother. It's funny to listen to her squeal as she is being carried upstairs, watching Lucas climb the stairs right in front of her. For some reason she gets a real kick out of that. Right now she's suffering from a slight cold, but she's obviously developing both physically and mentally right on schedule. Every day she's becoming more nimble in her ability to grab things and manipulate them the way she wants. And her grip is made of steel!

Here's a few shots from our vacation:

Where have you been?

Perhaps some check this blog from time to time, and you've been wondering outloud: Why haven't they blogged? Actually, my wife asks me this question about every other day. I've told her repeatedly that she's can blog herself, but she demurs. So the simple answer as to why you haven't seen anything new on this blog recently is this: I've been a busy man. Conferences, meetings to prepare for, meetings to attend, with pastoral work in between; a visit from my sister Beth; a birthday for Lucas; and two sick kids.

I won't bore you with details about the professional aspects of my life over the past several weeks, but I will expand on Beth's visit and Lucas' birthday. My sister came last Tuesday on the train and was able to be here for Lucas' birthday. We took Lucas to Toys 'r Us so that he could pick out a birthday gift from his aunt Beth. He chose a Thomas the Train set that ended up not being built very well. Tarren returned it the other day, and Lucas picked out a couple wooden Thomas trains instead. Beth's visit was short, but we enjoyed the time we had to spend with her.

Lucas officially turned three. We had a small party the weekend before with Tarren's family; a nice, cool afternoon. Naturally, Lucas got many more presents than he needed or deserved (can someone who is leaving their "terrible two" year behind really deserve anything?). He's at the point where he appreciates the gift he just opened for about a nanosecond, and then he wants to open another one. Once he has all of his unwrapped gifts in front of him he's able to be a discerning judge as to which is his favorite, though I can't honestly tell you what judgment he's made. As of this moment he seems to enjoy the wooden Thomas trains that he picked out last week best. Actually, the gift he asks most about is the Toby train that Tarren and I purchased for him for Christmas when we were at Toys 'r Us. (For the uninitiated, Toby is one of the engines from Thomas and Friends). They had a nice sale, so we decided to buy a few. He wonders daily when he's going to get Toby, and we tell him that he needs to wait until Christmas. So, of course, now he wonders daily whether today is Christmas. He's beginning to make more and more of those types of logical connections these days, and his Mom and Dad are noticing. He's growing up to be a nice, three-year-old boy!

After the birthday festivities came to an end, both of our children received one last "gift," an upper respiratory virus. Grace was running a fever around 102 and had a dry cough. One day she slept for about 18 of the 24 hours, which was a little cause of concern, especially for Momma. But once again, we noticed a difference between our two children. When Lucas is sick, we often have trouble getting him to sleep. When she's sick (granted, this was her first real bout with illness), she sleeps. And even though she was sick, she was quite liberal with smiles.

Lucas got it next, and he developed croup. He sounded pretty bad for a few days, but now he's almost entirely cleared up. One thing that was surprising to me was that the doctor didn't prescribe any antibiotics. I'm not complaining about that, but we've become so used to running to Walgreens in this family that I expected yet another trip. But both children have overcome without any prescription assistance, which is just fine by us!

So there's the update. I'll add a couple pictures since it's so easy to do.

Doctor's Orders

I was gone the last couple days to a pastoral conference, but while I was away Tarren took Lucas to the doctor. He had been quite crabby for the past week or so. Crabbiness is not terribly uncharacteristic for this almost three-year-old boy, but the level of his crabbiness was uncharacteristic. We wondered if it could be allergies or an ear infection or both.

Here was our logic: In the past a rise in crabbiness had often indicated that he was suffering from an ear infection, so we wondered if maybe sinus congestion from allerigies had led to an ear infection, which in turn would lead to his crabbiness. Tarren had been giving him Claritin from time to time.

Anyway, Sunday was the kicker for my wife. Lucas was especially uncooperative in church and later at the church picnic, so we decided it was time to go to the doctor.

The doctor indicated that his ears were clear and that he may be suffering from some minor allergies, but he strongly suggested that we stop giving him Claritin, as they can lead to behavioral problems.

Then, interestingly, he proceeded to give Lucas a short lecture about listening to his Mom and Dad. Lucas cowered but didn't cry. He wondered what we did when he misbehaves. Tarren told him that we put him in timeout. How long? For three minutes. Not long enough, said the doctor. Put him in his room and make him stay there for thirty minutes.

Tarren's conclusion: I really like this doctor!

Sunday School? No Problem

This past weekend Lucas had another first: his first time in Sunday School. He was excited about going, especially since he knew the other children that would be there (though cousin Sarah wasn't there due to illness). He was the youngest one in the class; not actually three just yet with a birthday coming up in the couple weeks. But his teachers reported that he did well. He wasn't at first interested in sitting with the class as they went through their lesson, but eventually he joined them. Several times throughout the class he commented that it was "time to go see Momma now," but he never became upset when told that she would be coming in a little while to pick him up. All in all it was a successful endeavor, and of course we relish the fact that he is beginning his formal education in the truth about our Savior Jesus and the salvation he provides. We pray that he will continue to gladly hear and learn the Word!


Just look at this smile of anticipation and joy before Momma dropped him off for class! You may notice that he's standing in front of his father's bookshelf (Lucas' Great-Grandpa Prange actually bought this bookshelf to hold his pastoral books). Now this bookshelf holds, among other things, several multi-colored volumes of Luther's Works (Lucas' Grandpa Prange actually bought these back in the day and gave them to me when he retired). It will interesting to see whether or not Lucas ever has any interest in having me hand any of these things down to him some day.

Other Pictures

Here are a few other pictures for your enjoyment, the first three of which are from our visit to the Z-O-O last week.

Motherly Concern

Tarren is worried that those of you who look at our blog will be so enamored with the video of Grace that you'll fail to notice my blog entitled "A Father's Love." So after you watch the video below, make sure to scroll down further and read my other entry from today!

"Punka" Video

Here's a video of Baby Grace, or "Punka" as I call her (short for "Pumpkin Pie"). If you can view the video, make sure to have the sound up on your computer, so you can hear the sounds she's making these days! You'll notice that she's also rolling over, though Momma has to give her a little help in this particular video.

A Father's Love

Lucas made his first purchase last night at Barnes and Noble. We had gone there after dinner so that he could play with the Thomas and Friends trainset that they have set up in the children's department. Naturally, they also have their display of Thomas trains for sale right next to the trainset. When there was no Thomas engine available for play, Lucas noticed with excitement that there was a Thomas available in the box. His father played the part of the ogre by telling him that we couldn't take Thomas out of the box because we would have to pay for him first. Besides, he already had a Thomas engine at home.

Within a few minutes it was time for us to leave, but before heading out of the store I decided to stop off for some Starbucks. As I was putting some half-n-half into my coffee, Lucas noticed a penny on the floor. He picked it up and ran to me with a bright smile: "Look, Daddy, now we can play (sic) for Thomas." Tarren and I looked at one another, realizing that his penny wouldn't cut it, but reluctant to undercut the sheer joy of his "good fortune."

We went back downstairs to where the trains were, and he selected an engine by the name of Salty. We escalated back upstairs to the cash register, Lucas proudly plunking his prodigous penny on the countertop with profound pleasure. When papa provided his "two cents worth," Lucas was the proud owner of a new Salty engine, and he had a nickel's worth of change to spare! What a deal!

On the other hand, when one considers what our heavenly Father has graciously given us, there is no comparison. Besides freely giving us everything we need for this life (all things, from the food we eat to the air we breathe to the life we live), he also graciously bestows his greatest gifts of forgiveness from all sin and eternal life, purchased and won solely by the precious blood of his only Son. All these things he gives us, though we stand before him completely penniless, empty-handed, spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and destitute. "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4,5).

I became twelve bucks poorer to purchase a train for my son which will give him hours of joy and happiness. Christ Jesus surrendered all riches for you and me (2 Corinthians 8:9) to purchase and win for us an eternity of bliss and freedom from sin and death.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! ... This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins: (1 John 3:1; 4:10).

A picture of Lucas and his new engine Salty:

Muffins

We have muffins in the house today. I returned yesterday morning from my confirmation class to find the house filled with the wonderful smell of bakery goods. Niece Sarah was here for a couple hours, so Tarren decided to involve her and Lucas in some teamwork by making muffins together. Though I wasn't there to witness it myself, the report I heard was that they worked together very well.

And the results are delicious!

Today we're hoping that Sarah can join us for a visit to the Z-O-O (we're spelling that word outloud in our home these days, because any mention of those three letters together results in instant pandamonium). Lucas enjoys seeing the animals, and we have a wonderful, free Z-O-O available to us nearby. Perhaps we'll snap and post a very photos for your future enjoyment.

School Days

Today is the first day of school - not for our children - but for the children of our church's grade school. I headed over to the classrooms this morning to greet the children. There were lots of bright and smiley faces, though I also saw some apprehension on a face or two.

The start of school means that the Prange family will be forced into a little more structured schedule as well, since I have catechism class Monday through Thursday beginning at 8:30 A.M. That means far fewer "lazy" mornings when I can kind of hang around the house and help out with children as needed. All of which leads Tarren to conclude that we need to find Lucas some additional stimulation outside the house, playing with other children. Being the oldest, he doesn't have older brothers and sisters to occupy his time, which means that Mom and Dad normally have to occupy it. Without a lot of kids around his age (other than cousin Sarah), it's hard for him to keep from being "bored," (can a two year old be bored?) and his boredom usually leads to mischief and sometimes an outright rebellious nature. So we're going to start looking into possibilities for getting him out of the house to be with other children two or three times a week. It will be interesting to see what we find.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

As I peer outside this morning the skies are once again threatening rain. We have had one rainstorm after another the past week or so. We had perhaps our most serious storm yesterday afternoon with severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in the area. We didn't see any of that most severe weather, but we had plenty of wind and rain. Before church last night I went downstairs in the church basement to see if we were taking any water on. The water was just pouring down the stairwells that lead into the church. Thankfully we have strategically placed drains in all the appropriate places to catch the water. Our new preschool room got the worst of it, but even this was managable. Thankfully, our own basement is still dry (at least the last I checked!). I'll head down there now to make sure that such is still the case.

Tomorrow they are predicting sunshine. I'll believe it when I see it!

New Pictures

A couple pictures for your enjoyment, one with Lucas wearing his Dad's glasses.

Back from Busyness

Tarren has been wondering when I was going to post again. I told her that she could post, too, but she retorted that since my picture is on the blog I'm the one who is responsible for writing. Fair enough.

We've had a busy week. Last Friday we left for a weekend with Tarren's family at an indoor waterpark resort. It was a good weekend to be inside, since "Mother Nature" was providing us lots of rain and cold. I was a little concerned that Lucas wouldn't be that crazy about the water, but he ended up taking to it like a fish. I was also concerned that he wouldn't want to wear his new molded earplugs - and that he'd simply deposit them somewhere without our knowledge - but he managed to keep them in and even was upset when Tarren took them out for a moment (he didn't like the sound of the loud, rushing water). He had plenty of fun playing with his cousins and the other kids who were there.

Grace enjoyed the waterpark, too. Though she didn't spend much time in the water (more than her father, though!), she simply enjoyed sitting poolside on her Dad's lap. The sound of the rushing water was very soothing, and she was ripping off some "monster yawns." She even took about an hour nap on my lap, facing forward, which has been a pretty rare occurrence (she almost always falls asleep when she's facing you with her head propped up on your shoulder). We never did get our camera in from the car, so we didn't get any pictures. But Tarren's brother and sister-in-law have promised to share some with us, so once I get them I post a few of the best ones.

Since we've returned home, I've had lots of things to catch up on, especially as I get ready for a new school year with confirmation classes and Bible studies, as well as some long-range church planning. I had my first public school confirmation class last night; I have a nice group of kids for that. After a slower-paced summer, it will be good to get back into a regular swing of things.

Potty Training

Lucas has been getting plenty more attention these days with the advent of his using the potty. Tarren and I are running to that small chair with him about every other hour during the day, and he's been almost accident-free. He has reveled in it, of course, and seems to be developing on almost every front. Recently, Tarren has mentioned more than once that he's eating us out of house and home. His limbs seem to get longer by the hour, and he's putting thoughts and words together much more ably. It's amazing to watch each of these "tumblers" click into place according to God's great developmental plan.

Now if only I can teach him an appreciation for J.S Bach! Isn't that the next tumbler?

The way the Cubs are playing recently, I might encourage him to skip that discouraging tumbler and to become a Cardinals fan. But I suppose he's doomed to cheer for the losers in Blue.

Museum travels

On Sunday night we had the privilege of hosting my classmate, Steve Pagels, and his family at our home. Then yesterday morning we headed to the Museum of Science and Industry, my first visit there since about the sixth grade. Both Tarren and Lucas had been there once in the past couple years. It was a beautiful day for a morning drive down the lake shore.

Lucas served as the trail blazer most of the day, forcing the pace for the rest of the group. More than once Tarren and I said to one another that it would be nice to come to this museum without a two-year-old! We lasted until about 1:30 P.M., though Lucas was insistent that he wasn't tired. Of course, he feel asleep as soon as the car started moving. A nice day.

Summer is slowly creeping to an end. Forecasted temperatures over the next week dip considerably. We are looking forward to fall!

Deers Captured and Other Pix

Lucas and I were finally able to snap a few photos of our neighborhood deer. I'll add a couple other pictures which give you a flavor of our afternoon walks, as well as a couple of our little Miss.

Screaming Earplugs

We took Lucas to the audiologist yesterday afternoon to get some molded earplugs made for him. He graciously and enthusiastically accepted her invitation to come back to her office to do so, but I heard his screams of horror from the waiting room within minutes (I was holding Grace, who was sleeping, so Tarren went with him while the two of us waited). After about ten minutes of these cries for mercy, Tarren came out to get me. They had managed to get one of the molds made, but she was worn out from fighting with him and so asked me to serve as her tag-teammate. Lucas found out that his Dad is stronger than his Mom, and we were able to mold the other earplug within a few minutes. I felt sorry for the little guy, as he is sick and tired of doctors picking at his ears, but we'll hope that these earplugs help.

On a few happier notes, Grace did better yesterday with her additional medication and Lucas continued to make strides in his potty-training. He's also excited about going to Grandma's house today. Great-grandma Vance will be there as well.

That *Other* Day

So hopping out of bed before Mom and Dad came to get him didn't turn out to be the only "first" for Lucas yesterday. All of sudden he decided to show an interest in using the potty as well. We had certainly tried to encourage him in the past, but he never seemed to understand the concept. Yesterday he caught on and managed to get through the day with only one slight accident.

There was no walk for Lucas and me in the afternoon, as severe storms were travelling through the area at the time. Hopefully we will find a window today to get out with the stroller and the camera to "capture" some deer.

Tarren took Grace to the GI specialist yesterday morning. The doctor will be doubling Grace's current prescription for the time being but didn't seem to suggest that there was anything terribly unusual about Grace's condition.

Today we will be making a trip to the doctor for the firstborn. Our pediatrician has suggested that we get some molded earplugs made for him due to his continuing ear infections (even with tubes he has gotten them from time to time). Our family is keeping the doctors in business!

That Day

"That day" finally came today, the day Lucas figured out that he can get himself out of his bed. Up until this point, whenever he woke up, Lucas would cry out to have either his Mom or Dad get him out of bed. Last night about 1 A.M. Tarren awoke to the sound of a certain young man opening the door of his bedroom. He spent a few minutes in our bed before his mother escorted him back to his room. Then this morning at 6:03 A.M. he popped his head out of his bedroom door and, finding his parents still asleep, he lightly slammed his bedroom door shut.

Now if we could only teach him to turn on the TV and make himself his own breakfast. When that day comes, I won't be blogging at 6:30 in the morning! By then, of course, his little sister will probably be at the same point he is right now.

On another note, Lucas and I took the camera along with us yesterday on our afternoon walk, hoping that we might capture a picture of "our" deer. Nothing doing. We did spot one, but it was amongst the myriad of trees. Hopefully we'll find one out in the open soon so that we can give you idea of what we see on many afternoons.

Grace has an appointment with the GI specialist this morning. We will see what he has to say about her situation.

The Evil Reflux Monster

Grace continues to suffer from acid reflux. So far the pediatricians have put her on three different prescription medications. All of them have worked effectively for about a week, and then their long-term effectiveness seems to wear off. Tarren called the doctor today, and he has put us in touch with a GI specialist, since this latest medication would normally do the trick with most who suffer from reflux (apparently its the strongest medication available). So we'll see what the specialist has to say about her situation.

Lucas and I have been taking afternoon walks through the park pretty regularly the past few day. We normally stop off for some "swings and slides" afterwards. There are deer where we walk (very tame), and they aren't spooked even when we pass within twenty feet or so. There has been one young family of deer frequenting a particular spot on our walks recently. Lucas greets them as if they were his own.

The Very Latest Pictures

First Post

Tarren and I are sitting here watching the Cubs lose. Oh well. You can't win them all, can you? The intention of this blog is to give anyone who cares the very latest on what's going on with our family. You're welcome to check back from time-to-time to see what's going on, but we're not making any promises. The fact is, this might be the only post I ever publish because I might forget tomorrow that we even have a blog.

Tarren thinks that we should write about our children because they're more interesting than we are. I happen to disagree. I think that our lives are fabulously interesting!