seven

Today Cooper turns seven.

I still remember being in the hospital and walking over to the warmer and having him grab my finger with his little hands.

The joy and fear that comes with knowing you are in charge of another life.

But through all the joys and trials, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Happy Birthday little man.

Val would want you to know that she took this picture

pics from Texas

small group

For those in our small group, please remember to check out the small group blog to communicate about small group meetings and information.

that's how we roll

Tomorrow we set off on our road trip to Houston for thanksgiving. In fact there are several things I should be doing right now, but I admit, I have taken a moment to check some stuff on the computer and sync my iPod for the trip. I am looking forward to listening to the Boyd-Wallis talk sometime on the trip (thanks Brenton)

I don't mind flying, I'm not scared of it and we have done it many times, but I like road trips. I like the uninterrupted time with family. I like stopping at unexpected places (like when coming back from Illinois with me and the boys we stopped at the World's Largest Truck Stop in Iowa)

My wife and I have different ways to plan a road trip. Her plan involves deciding where we are going to stay and where we are going to eat before we ever leave the house, where my planning is much more casual.

It is also good to get out of your routine for a while. Both to refresh and to appreciate what you have.

I'm sure there will be some trying times on this trip. With a 6 year old and a 8 month old there have to be, but I am looking forward to it. Tomorrow we take off, and that's how we roll.

notes

Today I sent some simple notes in Cooper's backpack to remind him to do a couple of things at school.

It is like it hit me for the first time today that I could do that because he can read.

It is strange the little milestones and the impact they have on us.

I look forward to doing that more. To remind him of stuff or just to let him know I am thinking about him.

cooper gift guide

I often gets calls from the different grands about what Cooper is into and what he wants for his birthday or Christmas.

With just 15 days until his birthday, here are a couple of things Cooper has said he would like.



First is the Gross Out Monster. Apparently Cooper saw this on a recent trip to Walmart with mommy.

"The gross out monster has tools to operate," says Cooper. "What you can do with the tools is get the body parts out."

Cooper loves monsters and halloween and associated stuff.



Next is Moon Sand.

Cooper has been asking for this since he saw the comercial about 6 months ago.

"You can make stuff with moon sand," says Cooper. "And even castles."



Lastly, is Mouse Trap.

"Mouse Trap has traps that mouses get in," says Cooper.

So there you go, a couple of ideas stright from Cooper.

"Love Cooper," he adds.

back to basics

Alright, now back to what I originally started this blog for anyway.

Here are some pics.

product placement

You are Michael Dell, the Christmas shopping season is starting and you are pushing your line of TVs. What better than some product placement.

Hollywood have departments that work in this filed, to work product placement deals out for movies, but this is the first time I've seen it at the whitehouse.

Here is your challenge, find a quote from a past president and work in a product placement that they might have missed.

For example: A Tyson chicken in every pot and a car in every garage – Herbert Hoover

Lincoln Quotes

I am a big fan of Abraham Lincoln. It is why my second son is named after him. Sometimes it is good to reflect on the voices and wisdom of the past.

So here are some quotes from Lincoln:

---

If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.

We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.

The Smartest Guys in the Room

Time for another movie you might not have seen, but maybe should.

This time it's Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room

If you want to understand better how corporate greed, deregulation and other factors came together to produce one of the biggest business scandals in American history this movie is worth viewing.

Hear it all from the people who lived it, including rare corporate audio and video tapes. I thought it was a well crafted documentary that gave real insight into what actually happened and how.

As citizens I think we need to understand what happened, how it could happen again and what role government should have in preventing it.

education

"Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in. That everyone may receive at least a moderate education appears to be an objective of vital importance."

Abraham Lincoln

stupid web tricks

Alright, another one of those things you look at and say, "Why?" But then you do it anyway.

HowManyOfMe.com

my political rant

It's that time of year again. The air is crisp, halloween is over and Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. And of corse there is the stench of politics.

Yes, turning on the TV or getting the mail is like watching a big, political, Jerry Springer show. So while I don't usually stump for candidates or issues, and this blog was really set up to let friends and family around the country in on Lincoln's latest milestone or Cooper's escapades at school, today I am going on a political rant.

SIXTH DISTRICT


Watching the ads in Minnesota's 6th District, neither Michele Bachmann nor Patty Wetterling want me to vote for them. They each want me to vote against the other. I have decided to oblige both of them and vote for independent John Binkowski.

Both Wetterling and Bachmann have just seemed to go off the deep end. Each commercial a little worse than the one before it and all of them taking the truth and twisting it into a unrecognizable distortion of reality. I just cannot feel good about voting for either of them.

I have watched a couple of debates and have been doing some research and I have been impressed with Binkowski. He is young and I don't agree with him on every issue (I think even if I ran I wouldn't agree with me on every issue) but he seems intelligent and optimistic and certainly not the venomous nature of the other camps.

EDUCATION FUNDING

I am supporting our local levy for school funding. I do think our local schools do a good job of trying to be fiscally responsible and trying to do their best to educated the children of our community. Once again, I may not agree with the way they want to spend every dollar, but I think they are trying to do their best to manage the educational system in our community.

Honest people can disagree on the issue, but what I can't stand is the people who don't have kids in the school system and don't want to support it simply because they don't think they should have to help pay for it. If that is the case then there is a lot of money I want back from the government.

This cannot be all about US or even OUR kids, it has to be about the community. It has to be about all the kids in our community and giving them at least a chance at a decent education.

To me the issue of education is much bigger than this school bond. I think we need to rework the way funding for education is done in our country. I think education may be the most important effort that the State is involved in, and to deny people a decent education based on where they live is ludicrous, and we should be ashamed. The lack of education is a form of oppression. Educating all children is a benefit to our society.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

I think George Bush missed a real opportunity to shine with Kerry incident. There is no doubt that Kerry has a bad case of Foot in Mouth disease. But imagine what could have happened if instead of jumping on it for another stump speech the president had said something like, "I don't think Mr. Kerry believes that our troops are uneducated or lack courage. We have honest disagreements on the corse this country needs to take fight terrorism, but I am not going to use a gaffed joke aimed at me to tear him down."

I really think he would have gained more support that way than he did pouncing on it to try to make political hay.

None of us are perfect, but when our political leaders say the Jesus is the biggest influence in their life and they have chances to be graceful and forgiving and humble, I would just like to see them take more advantage of them.

So, let me climb down from my soapbox and take care of my kid. I think he is waking up from his nap.

tying shoes

A while back we bought Cooper a book about how to tie your shoes. It has the bunny method and the rocket method.

Today Cooper decided he wanted to learn to tie his shoes. So he got the book out and was working on it. He got pretty frustrated at first - which he tends to do.

When he got it fiquired out he was so excited. I told him we could go out this weekend and get him some lace up shoes.

halloween

Another fun time was had this halloween. On saturday I took the boys to the community center for their parade and activities. Cooper won a prize in the costume contest.

He usually picks out what he wants to be a year or so in advance. Such as the robot last year and the werewolf. He loves monsters and stuff like that. Next year he wants to be a racecar/monster truck driver.

That night we all went to the haunted hayride at the YMCA camp in town.

Halloween night I took Cooper and Lincoln around. We went to about a dozen houses then Cooper wanted to go home and pass out candy. He enjoys that as much as going trick-or-treating.

Halloween is nice because it seems like it is the one time a year the whole neighborhood is out and everyone is in a good mood. I need to get better about meeting our neighbors and getting to know them. At least we have halloween to start.