From the Message Bin

"You can't fix stupid" (Ron White).

-J

Are Your Kidding Me?

As most of your know, Shawna and I are enrolled in PhD school. This week, we had to come to Atlanta for one of our residencies. I was looking forward to it. Why? I do not know.

Everyone who is in PhD school has a lot of schooling under their belt. So, I naturally thought some things would not have to be taught (or reiterated) at this level.

I. WAS. WRONG.

I spent part of today listening to someone give writing pointers like: "Make sure you have subject verb agreement" and "Be sure your paragraphs have three or more sentences." Oh yea, I'm not joking.

Then I had to listen to a lady tell me how to search through an Internet-based library. It is an online school. If you do not know your way around the Internet, should you be accepted? Oh, and what did we do for the last seven weeks we have been in school (some even longer) with papers and assignments due? I guess they did not think we used the library!

Did you know that www.wikipedia.com is not a credible source? Seriously? Did these people attend undergraduate college at places that allowed such?

Oh, and the best part is that I have two more days of this mess.

Whew! I feel better.

-J

From the Message Bin

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature" (Ezra Taft Benson).

-J

Oh Yea, We're Crazy

Both kids asked if some friends could come over and spend the afternoon between worship services today. We said okay. Here is Kaylee watching TV with her friend, Bryson. Here is J.T. playing on the trampoline with his friend, Sara.

They had friends over Friday night who stayed most of the day Saturday. We had company Saturday night. The kids had friends over between services today in addition to our regular comany that come each week. We had a youth devo in our home after services this evening. The time is 8:30 PM and we are glad that our house currently only houses our family!

-J

I Have Moved to Middle Age...

It is not uncommon for J.T. to have friends over and stay the night. One of his friends is Jordan with whom we go to church. Here they are playing video games. Here you can see that they are competing with each other.

More unusual is for Kaylee to have friends over, much less to stay the night. However, tonight, both kids had firends over to stay the night. Here is Kay and her friend, Tamyrekia or, as Kay and other close friends call her, My/my.

They have been busy working on some art projects together.

I guess we have officially moved into middle age. My kids are having friends over to stay the night and we are crazy enough to let both of them do it at the same time! Please keep reading the family of N.

-J

Kaylee's Sickness

Yesterday, Kaylee woke up in pain. She ws showing the signs of another urinary tract infection. Shawna decided to take her to the hospital and this was confirmed. These are common for her with her condition. They are also very treatable. She got two shots (one in each leg). She got some medication. She also got a prize and then got to come home. She is still in a little pain today and running a bit of a fever. Here she is after a long night of rest. I told her she did not act like she was sick so she posed looking sick.

Then she posed a normal picture for us. She likes to look fabulous for pictures. She insisted on posting more than one picture on the blog. I told her that aunt Chelle would be so proud.

We hope she will be back to normal tomorrow.

-J&K

From the Message Bin

"Then do it" (Granny Tiger).

-J

This and That

First things first. The kids made a visit to the eye doctor. Good news for Kaylee. Not so good news for J.T. He has been having some headaches lately and now we know why. He has to wear these glasses at school and to read anything (books, Nintendo DS, and such) that is within an arm's length from his face. He has been adjusting and seems to be doing well with them. He tells us the headaches are gone. Right now, the doctor says they may be temporary. We will see. That is hard to believe if he is getting his genes from the same pool as me.
Also, Grampy came down to an event in the area and G. Jo sent gifts via Grampy. She is always so sweet to make sure everyone in the family gets something. She was disappointed she did not get to come but we enjoyed the gifts. Your the best, G. Jo!

She got this for Kaylee. As you know, Kaylee loves anything Hannah Montana.
Here is a picture of Kaylee modeling the purse. She enjoyed it so.

J.T. has been using a bath robe that Mom made for me back when I was young. He has been using it (gray and purple) to pretend to be a Jedi Knight. He asked G. Jo if she would make one for him that modeled the right colors for Jedi Knights. She agreed and J.T. wears it quite well, don't you think?Shawna got some kitchen towels to match her winter dishes (snowmen dishes).

You may remember the trip I blogged about earlier. If not, here it is. Shawna and I went to New England. We went to seven new states while there (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Deleware, and New Jersey). This meant that my patch hanging had to be updated. Here it is.

As of now, I have been to 35 states of the union and now Washington D.C. Also, I got a new set of patches from that trip to the various Hard Rock Cafes we visited as well as some other patches and pins. Here is a close up of the new patches.

Here is the entire hanging. It is a nice addition to my office. You can see the indvidual trips I have made over the years. This is one hanging of five. Maybe I'll blog about the others later.

J.T. also collects patches and has been wanting a hanging similar to mine that has the states indicating where he has traveled. He asked G. Jo and she completed it. He has been to a total of 18 states so far. We are going to have a hard time finding a place in his room to hang this. His walls are full!

It was good to see Dad and great to get the gifts. Thanks G. Jo! You're the best.

-J

From the Message Bin

"The most violent element in society is ignorance" (Emma Goldman).

-J