Happy Birthday Gavin!!!

January 9, 2009 By nick 4 Comments

gavin-incredible

My little “oldest” son Gavin turns 6 years old today! I must say that I am extremely thankful to God for giving Gavin 6 healthy years of life, for protecting him in ways we’ve known (through a horrible car accident 3 years ago) and in ways that we will never know. I am thankful that the Lord has given Gavin abilities that some children do not have as well as gifts and passions such as art, soccer, and doing anything creative that comes to his mind.

I love my boy. I love how he thinks he is strong enough to beat me up, how he helps his younger brother Tristan, how he hugs me in the morning, before he goes to school, before he goes to bed, and just because. I love that his way of showing me love sometimes is a drawing or doing something out of his passions and gifts. I love to watch him get excited about something and watch his words get scrambled trying to explain what he’s excited about. I love his faith and purity in believing that Iron Man would answer his invite to his birthday party. I love to hear him pray at meals and before bed, especially when he prays for the “sick, the hungry, and the poor” – I think you could understand that I could go on and on all day about all the ways I love Gavin, so I’ll stop here, however…

I have to admit that as I think about Gavin turning 6, it is a little saddening to me as well. I use to hate hearing adults say, “It seems like it was yesterday…” But, the fact is, that is reality, especially once you become a parent. Time flies by, years literally seem like days, and as I reflect back on 6 years with Gavin, I realize that the next 6 years will be here in what seems like a few days. If I had my way, I would not let him grow up anymore. Even though children are challenging to raise, I don’t want to lose what I have with my son where he is now. I will no longer have a 5 year old Gavin, and reality stinks sometimes!

So while I am joyful for the life my child has been blessed with and who he is as a person…I am a little disappointed that I no longer have him at 5. Happy Birthday Gavin!!!

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Am I a Bad Parent?

December 4, 2008 By nick 20 Comments

gavin-bw

Ok, I want you to be honest here today! I want you to answer the question, am I a bad parent? Of course it is impossible for you to tell if I am a bad parent based on this one situation, but you can answer, was this a bad parenting decision…or a good one?

The Situation: Gavin loves the Christmas tree. If the lights are off, he plugs it up, he is the watcher of the ornaments, as Tristan, his 2 year old brother likes to take them off the tree. So, we made Gavin “responsible for the Christmas tree.” His duties involved 2 simple things #1 Unplug the lights when he goes to school (there is no need for them to be on during the day when he is not there) and #2 Turn off the lights when he goes to bed (they can’t stay on all night).

What Happened: Last night Gavin went to bed and did not turn off the lights on the Christmas Tree. I was busy working on some stuff and did not notice until he had been asleep for about 30 minutes. Nicki told me to let him sleep, I wanted to wake him up, after all it is his responsibility. I woke him up…it took me about 5 minutes, but he got up, walked in the living room and unplugged the tree. He didn’t remember even having to do it this morning.

My Reasons: I believe that children learn a lot of valuable lessons at an early age (Like in this Post) and because of what  Proverbs 22:6 say’s. Gavin is becoming more and more aware of people who are in need, because we are teaching him and he prays for them everyday. I had a very traditional upbringing that taught things like, “Do it right the first time.” “Be a man of your word, if you say you are going to do something, do it, no matter the time or the cost.” Etc…So, since turning the lights off is Gavin’s “responsibility” which he accepted, I decided to wake him up to do his job. Sure, I could have simply unplugged the lights, but what would lesson would Gavin learn from that? That dad will always finish the job if he forgets or just doesn’t want to do it?

Join the Conversation: Am I a bad parent for waking Gavin up to unplug the Christmas tree? What would you have done differently if you think I am to teach responsibility to your child?

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Conversations with a 2 Year Old

December 2, 2008 By nick 4 Comments

tristan-with-bow

…about “Onalds” (Translated: McDonald’s)

Everyday Nicki has to drive by McDonald’s to take Gavin to school…everyday Tristan begs to go to McDonald’s. McDonald is Tristan’s hero, he can be asleep and if we come within 3 miles of a McDonald’s his special radar goes off and he starts calling out for “Onald’s!!!” “Onald’s!!!”

The typical conversation goes like this…

Tristan: “Onald’s!!!”
Mommy: “No Tristan, we don’t have the money for McDonald’s”
(Repeat 10-20 times)

Today, this is how the conversation went at home…

Tristan: “Onald’s!!!”
Me: “What Tristan?”
Tristan: “Onald’s!!!”

As I looked down, Tristan was holding up a penny, asking to go to McDonald’s. Tristan always amazes us with his memory. If we tell him something, at two years old, it is seared into his brain…that’s why we make very little promises to him…he will hold our feet to the fire. Unfortunately, he does not have a perception of money, because a penny doesn’t buy anything, but he doesn’t care, for all he knows, it’s money and mommy never has enough to go to “Onald’s” – Today she is taking the boys for ice cream at Onald’s with Tristan’s penny. It truly was the most adorable thing I’ve seen in a long time! :)

Join the Conversation: What is the most adorable thing you have seen, besides my profile picture, lately? :)

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Conversations with a 5 Year Old (Part 5)

October 8, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

…about his hearts sin condition. Straight from a 5 year old’s mind and heart to his lips. (This conversation took place at MeMaw’s house)

Gavin: MeMaw!

MeMaw: What Gavin?

Gavin: (With hand placed over chest) I hate this sin in my heart

MeMaW: You hate the sin in your heart?

Gavin: Yes, how do I get rid of it?

MeMaw: You have to ask Jesus to get rid of it for you

MeMaw: How did you know about the sin in your heart?

Gavin: From 3D (Our children’s program at church for K-5th Grade)

As a parent I am excited to hear my son acknowledging the ‘sin in his heart‘ and even more his desire to get rid of it and to get it out of his heart…at the age of 5. I am reminded of what Proverbs 22:6 says about teaching our children the right things at a young age so they will stick with it at an older age. That is my daily prayer for my children…that they stay on the right path when Mom and Dad are not around.

I believe education, both secular and spiritually start at home, however I understand that we cannot expect to be the only voice in our children’s lives. That is why I am so thankful for the other voices in my children’s lives, such as 3D at TCAG, my mom-in-law, “Mr. Shane,” and many others who have taken a vested interest in my family. I appreciate my pastor pushing our children’s teams to provide environments that are second to none for the children in our church and the children in our community that have yet to be reached. Just a thought…don’t go at this parenting thing alone!

Other Conversations with a 5 Year Old Posts: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4

Join the Conversation: Any interesting conversations around your house recently?

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Finally!!!

September 10, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

We should have bought one of these 6 weeks ago:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUnX7jNrQA]

Yeah watching a baby sleep in a swing is not that exciting, but when you have a baby who has colic, it is heaven on earth!!! Hailey has not fully adjusted to the swing, but she is getting there, we’ve only had it for one day.

Funny how priorities change in life. I would have rather had these:


For the same price as the swing, but I am happy to settle with the swing for Hailey, I am sure it will payoff big time over the next several months, as apparently it helps colicky babies to be moving.

Join the Conversation: What tricks have you had to learn with raising your children? (Animals can be included in this conversation! :) )

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Conversations with a 5 Year Old

July 29, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

…about the rusty water from the toilet pipe. Straight from a 5 year old’s mind and heart to his lips. Just keeping it real, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sometimes you get the sweet like HERE and then you get the…

Gavin: “Daddy!!”

Me: “What Gavin?”

Gavin: “There’s brown water behind the toilet!”

Me: “I know, I’ve got to clean it up and see where it is coming from, I think a pipe is rusted or something.”

Gavin: “Well I think I may know what it is!”

Me: “What do you think it is?”

Gavin: “Well, sometimes, the poopy logs are bigger than the pipe hole, so that could be what is causing it to leak out the brown water!”

Me: (Trying my best to hold back laughter) “Oh! Did you tell your mom your idea about what could be causing the brown water on the floor?” “Give me five for being so smart and go tell her!”

This is the first time I have ever posted “Conversations with a 5 Year Old” so close together, but when Gavin and I had this conversation I could not resist in sharing.

Join the Conversation: What’s the funniest thing you’ve heard from a friend, family member, or perfect stranger of late?

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Hailey and Daddy in 16 Years

July 25, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

This is me in 16 30 years when Hailey wants to date, except I will probably be holding a gun. Oh, the joys of having a daughter!

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1420891&w=425&h=350&fv=id%3D120707]

Join the Conversation: Anyone with a daughter out there? What am I in for? Has anyone been “the daughter” what do I need to know to look out for, to be sensitive to?

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Conversations with a 5 Year Old

July 24, 2008 By nick 14 Comments

…about new sister and Jesus.

Gavin was in the bathtub at MeMaw’s house yesterday and here was their conversation (some of which is not exact word for word being that it was told to me, but was totally unaided and unprovoked…straight from a 5 year old’s brain & heart to his lips):

Gavin: “We need to go get Hailey a balloon and a blue balloon from the store.”

MeMaw: “Ok, we can go get Hailey a balloon, but why a blue one?”

Gavin: “The blue one is not for Hailey, its a thank you balloon for Jesus.” – “We can send it up to him to tell him thank you for giving us Hailey!”

I am so thankful that I have a 5 year old son who already has a heart to please Jesus. I was speachless when I heard the story, and as MeMaw told the balloon lady, she began to cry. Needless to say, I was blessed with a brand new Beautiful daughter this week, but I have already been blessed with two awesome sons, for which I cannot thank God enough for. We always hear how God will ‘open the windows of Heaven and pour us out a blessing’ and so many times people automatically think of financial blessings, but I know that it does not always come in the form of finances (that would make things a lot easier) but it comes at times like these conversations, becasue I would take a son with a heart for Jesus over all the riches in the world.

If the video comes out ok I will post it so you can see Gavin pray before he sends Jesus his ballloon.

Blessed,

Nick

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Blog Pirates

July 10, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

A Blog Pirate: Someone who tries to steal the spotlight from a more successful blog in order to make their blog noticed and to increase their traffic stats.

This is usually done by pointlessly criticizing posts in order to drive traffic to their blog. Most blog pirates surf the “What’s Hot” on the front page of blog hosts (I.E. WordPress.com) hunting their next victim. They also search through the tags pages to see what blogs have the most comments (thus a high level of traffic) and rips into the author of the blog and/or their content. If you have ever crossed a Blog Pirate you will see why they have to steal the spotlight, its usually because their content is not good enough to draw their own crowd and keep them.

Blog Pirates know that most authors will defend their content thus linking to the pirate and driving their readers (traffic) to the pirate’s site, they also know that when people search for key words pertaining to the victim’s blog in Google the searcher will be driven to the pirate’s blog as well, thus attracting extra traffic. Blog Pirates are interested in one thing, signing on to WordPress and immediately going to their daily stats and seeing how many hits they had that day…nothing more, nothing less.

Watch it! You may be hijacked by a Blog Pirate today :)

Join the Conversation! Have you ever been attacked by a Blog Pirate? Know anyone else that has? I’ve been attacked and I know others that have been attacked as well.

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Conversations with a 5 Year Old

April 24, 2008 By nick 6 Comments

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Nicki was reading the Bible story of Jesus’ first miracle to Gavin out of his Bible story book. It got to the part where Mary told the disciples to do whatever her son told them to do. So I was trying to convey to Gavin that he could be a disciple of Jesus and part of that was doing whatever Jesus tells him to do…

Gavin: “I asked Jesus to come live in my heart, but I don’t know what he’s doing in there. I don’t know what he says, I won’t know what he says until I get to Heaven!”

I love the innocents of children. Everything is pure and simple to them. I was so excited that he was talking about asking Jesus into his heart…this was news to Nicki and me. Nicki talked about it with him about 6 months ago, but she did not know he asked Jesus in his heart or even remembered the conversation. We are continuing to talk to him about “asking Jesus into his heart,” as he had trouble remembering ‘why’ he did it.

We finished the night by talking about miracles. I told Gavin that a miracle would be like Jesus turning a cup of water into a cup of chocolate Milk (His favorite beverage of choice).

Gavin: “If I went to the store and bought a watch and prayed that Jesus turned it into an Omnitrix watch, that would be a miracle!” – [Yes! He understands miracles...]

Me: “Yes, that would be a miracle!”

Gavin: “Well at night and in the morning I prayed that Jesus would give me an Omnitrix watch, but I never got one!”

Me: “Well, Jesus doesn’t always give us what we want, but he promises to give us what we need. You can pray and ask Jesus for extra money so you can buy food and mosquito nets for children in Africa…” (We are trying to teach Gavin to help other people less fortunate than himself) “That would be a miracle for those little kids.”

Gavin: “Well I ‘need’ an Omnitrix watch because when mommy goes into the hospital to have Hailey, when someone comes here to watch us, I will need an Omnitrix watch to turn into an alien to beat up the bad guys if they break into the house.”

We still have a long way to go, but Gavin did agree to start sorting through his toys to give to less fortunate kids. We discussed him living outside and having to sleep in the grass. He didn’t like that, because bugs would bite him, so since he has been taught that bugs bite little boys and girls all the time who do not have a house to protect them from such things, he is going to bless them with his excess. Little by little, I hope we instill healthy lessons in our boys. It is tough!

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