At home in Omaha

what a change,

2010-02-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

Hi followers,
I finally found my log in. Not that i was being anti- anything. You can't post unless you can get into your blog.
Since you heard from me last, the family and I have moved. That move included a change so that I am no longer at home in Omaha. I am no longer a stay-at-home dad.
I hope to make one more posting to this blog,,, and that will send you to my new blog,,, that as a minister in my first call. I will be able to post, yet respect the great deal of comfidance me congregation has shown me. The life of a pastor is never dull.
A huge thanks to my wife and kids that are along on this trip we call life. I am blessed with a loving wife and family that is supporting me in my new career. I didn't realize I even wanted to be a pastor, but now that I'm here,, it feels like home.
Thank you!
Mike

Changes around the bend?

2009-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Due to some harassment, I decided it really was time to blog. Well, about the time of the last blog, I started doing pulpit fill down the road in Ashland. Many of you know I've been taking classes the last 2 1/2 years, so Yeah cool, I preached 2 Sundays as an interview. I've gotten to preach ever since while they go through there decision making process. It has been awesome! Great group of people, warm congregation, Ashland is a very nice little town(pop 2200), complete with coblestone streets in some parts.
So, one of the reasons I'm up and doing this is because tomorrow morning it will be brought before the congregation. Imagine that,,,I can't sleep,, lol.
So far the Call committee approved, next the board unanimously approved, so in the morning the people in the pews decide.
I've kidded that I needed to decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. As I've worked my way out of a job(kids in school) I knew I was going to have to decide soon. This gig ended up in my lap,,,,,, and here I am.
Some how, as much as I know I need to leave it in the lords hands,,,,,, it's tough. If it was just me,,,, no biggy. But I'm asking Diane and the kids to move. Only 35 miles, but,,,. New home, new schools. But, I'm blessed to have my awesome family along,,, cheering me on.
I am so blessed!!!!
Wish me luck!
I'll keep ya posted,
ow dear,,,, if I move,, I won't be "at home in Omaha" any more,,,lol

Time Fly's when you're having fun,,,,

2009-01-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

Hey all,
Well,,, the old saying, Time fly's when you're having fun,,, then I must be having a ball! I really have to get better at this updating my blog thing. Thanks to my readers that prod me on!
My big thing,, and it's related to time, is how fast the kids are growing up. Ben is is 2nd grade, and Abby will be in Kindergarten next year, and I'm in denial. That my kids are that old all ready. I'm workin my way out of a job here.
That's the neat thing. Getting to look at how they're growing, and becoming little people. They think and process, and give feed back,,, and that's my work. The fruits of my labor. God I love my Job!!! But, as I work my way through this one,,, I look forward to what God has in mind for me down the road.
Hang on,,,,, it could be a hell of a ride;)
for what it's worth,,,

I Wish I Could

2008-10-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

The athomedad.org web site had a thread on "what is your theme song". Some days it changes,,,lol,, but this is my theme song. The words are for a little girl,,, but it's my thing on kids in general. They are such a gift,,,, can't imagine life without them.
Hope you enjoy.

School is in session and I'm busier than ever

2008-10-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks,,,
Well,,,, we got the first report cards,,, and we are having a great school year. What I find absolutely crazy,,,,,, I thought that once the kids were in school,, I'd have time to do this blogging thing on a more regular basis.
I'm still busy with all the yard work. Love working out side,,, and of course when the kids come home,, they love it outside & I can get my work done.
I haven't chronicled it well,, but I've spent this summer redoing the front of our house. Tore out the old retaining wall,,,, steps and sidewalk. Installed the new landscaping block wall in a new design. Poured cement for a new sidewalk and to patch the drive to accommodate the changes.
Now I'm mid-project on capping our stoop to look like a traditional country front porch with railing etc. The Deck is built and I'm planning on starting the railing today. I have high hopes,,, but,, to quote a famous line,,,,"the road to hell was paved with good intentions". LOL,,, hope this isn't one of my pavers,,,,LOL.
Oh,,,, I decided to attempt loading a pic. For my birthday,,, shortly after my last blog post,,, I got inked. My very first tat,,, and I love it. Thanks Di,,, the wife gave it to me,,,;>) This pic is within days of getting it,,,, had to show it to some friends.

Well folks,,, off to play group,,, I'll keep ya posted on the porch. Also hopeful that the next post will have pics of the project.
Later
Mike

Summer Vacation

2008-08-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,
Sorry that I haven't posted about our vacation,,,, but, it has been so busy,, I haven't had a chance.
If you recall,,, i found the resort we stayed at,,, on the Internet. There was a part of me that was praying it had not been miss represented. Well, we had a pleasant surprise. The place was everything they said it was,,,, and more. You can't take a picture of a place,,, and capture it's personality. The Cabin was built in the 1920's and I would say was more of a house. The living and dining room,, were every bit as big as we have at home. Awesome fireplace(we don't have one at home). It was we furnished with pretty decent furniture,, and some nice antiques. All in all, a great time.
Now,, 2 things that made the trip less than ideal. The fishing was awful. I don't mean bad,,, I mean awful. The locals even said,,, too bad you chose this year to come up,,, the worst fishing I ever remember,,, and I've been around my whole life. Great,,,, I paid that much,,,, to stay on a lake,,,,, to restock our freezers with fish,,,,, to hit the one year in history with the worst fishing. But,,,,,,, you know what? I bad day of fishing,,, still better than any day I had at work,,, back when I worked out side the home.
The final issue,,,,,, Thursday morning early,,,, I got woke up with lightening and thunder. I didn't turn on the tv,,, I just figured it would be a little rain storm,,,, washing things off,,, no problem. Well folks,,,,, 80 - 100 mph winds accompanied that rain. Trees were busted off,, or uproot. What a mess. The boat?,,,, I made the poor judgement of leaving it tied to our private dock,,, after a busy day of tubing,,,, wake boarding,, and skiing. Being fat and happy after dinner,,, I was too tire. Bad call! When I got to the dock,,, the boat had been swamped and was sitting on the bottom of Big Stone Lake. Well,,, a long story short,,,,, we got it bailed out(of course we don't have a bilge pump),,, pulled it out,,,, followed the directions in the owners manual(yes,, this must happen on a relatively regular basis, since they include a special chapter in the book on such happenings). I'm very happy to report, by 1 in the afternoon,,, the boat was running,,, and we were running around the lake. I didn't ever think,, looking at that boat Talley submerged at 8 am,, that by lunch,, it would be running. I just thought I was taking it home,,, to try salvage. Glad I was wrong.
A big huge thank you to my buddy Jeff,,, his friend Jen,,,my wife,,, and the Baseball team from ElkPoint SD. that helped us get the boat afloat.
Enough excitement!!
Until next time,,,,,,,

2008-06-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
It has admittedly been a long time since I've given you all an update. Ok,,, it's actually embarrassing how long it has been. Any way, couple of things that kept me busy,,, and I'll share.

First off,,, I am in training for ministry,,,, well, a friend and ministry class mate of mine is the fill in pastor at a small church, in a town between Lincoln and Omaha. He has needed to be off a couple of Sunday's,,, so I got called in to fill in. Yep,,, it's a prestigious spot,, to be the fill in,,,, of the fill in....lol. Any way June 15th and then June 29th I got to preach at the Congregational Church in Ashland. All I can say,,,is that it was an awesome experience. They are such a warm and welcoming group. Small,,, but so warm. Many a church could learn from them. The 15th, Fathers Day was great fun,,,, and the organist Peg, helped lead me,, and it went great. The 29th was out of the ordinary because the regular organist was gone,,, so 1 acoustic guitar, 1 bass guitar, another singer and I led the service. Mary and I sang parts,,, and it was great. It was what some would call folk,,,, but I feel it took us back to a time when you worshiped with your neighbor, and didn't necessarily have an organ or piano. But the important thing is,, you gathered together and worshipped God. It was an experience I will cherish through out my ministry career.
Finally,,, Sunday marked a day that,,,,, well,,, I may need my head examined, but,,, we now have a kitten. My sisters cat had kittens,,, and well,,, the kids having been wanting one,,, so,,,, what's a dad to do. And it is awefully cute. Any way,,,, we had a family meeting,,, and decided since our dog has a fancy name(aka fancy nancy books) of Raphael,,, that our kitten needed a fancy name,,, so,,,,what could be more fancy than,,,,,,,,,,"Fancy". So our family has grown. I'll keep you posted how it goes with the dog,,,,, so far they are kind of,,,,, "not friends" yet. But I think they have potential.
If you don't hear from me,,,, have a great,,, and safe 4th of July.
Well,,, till next time.

Summer Vacation Plans

2008-05-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

It was pointed out to me that it has been way too long since I had posted a blog. Thank you to any one who checks my blog out, and,,, sorry I've been so bad at posting so infrequently.

Can you believe that there is only a little over a week left of school for the kids. This one snuck up on me. But I'm excited. I sent in the deposit to the resort we will be staying at for the family vacation. I've also talked my good friend Jeff and his two youngest in to going with us. We've rented a cabin at Big Stone Lake on the South Dakota/Minnesota border. The Rustling Elms Resort. I found it on the Internet and the pictures are awesome. Have no first hand experience with this resort, wish us luck. Sounds and looks good on the Internet,,,, so we'll give it a try.

The wife and her family have been going up to Bemdji Minnesota since she was just a little bit about the age of our daughter. But,,, with small kids that is such a long hall from Omaha, we decided to try something closer. Big Stone Lake is about half as far. We decided to give it a try this year, and we can always go to Bemdji next year again.

My thoughts on this vacation thing can be summed up with my favorite saying back when I worked out side the home,,,,,"A bad day on the lake fishing is still better than a good day at work".

Good luck to you all as you plan your summer vacation. Hope it's exactly what you need, exciting or relaxing, But best of all for me,,,,, spent with my family and friends.
Until next time,,,,

Mom & Dad Escape

2008-04-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,,
Just needed to post about the wife and I having a little get away. Yes,,,,this was the first time in 2 years that Diane and I had gotten away overnight with out the kids. Not even for Wedding Anniversaries. I know, hard to believe.
So, a good friend of ours gave us a comp. room from her rewards card at the casino. Can I say nice room. We started out by taking the kids with. Can't have an indoor pool available in April in Nebraska with out taking advantage of it. After our swim, we went to a family favorite, Cracker Barrel. As always,,, good. Then my folks met up with us and took the kids home with them. Oh, had to stop at our house to pick up the dog.
We had such a great time. We had such a great time. Let me say that again,,, We had such a great time. We love our kids sooooo much, but it was so nice to get away one night without them. I call it "turning off the momy/daddy alarm" and boy can you sleep good when that alarm is off. All you parents know the alarm I'm talking about. The one where the kid rolls away from you in bed in the middle of the night, and your up and flying arround the bed before they hit the floor. Or their bedroom door opens and you sit up in bed before they step through.
So at 10:00 at night we went down to the sidewalk cafe and had the brownie hot fudge sundae. Was that a work of art or what. Oh man!!!
The only draw back, in the morning when the sun got high enough, it shone in the crack of the drapes, hit the mirror, and relected it right in my face. Which woke me, turned on my brain,, and the day was on. But that didn't happen till,,,,,,,,,8:am, yes read it and weep. I slept in. See, it could happen.
A big thanks to my folks,,, Nana & Papa, for giving us a break. Love you.
Till next time.

Spring Break

2008-03-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,
Well, the kids have been off of school for a full week. The oldest has a the flu twice,,,, the youngest has a runny nose. Will I ever get out of this house?!?!?!?!
I had great plans for going to the Y, story time, crafts, the works. Well, we made it to the zoo one day. Of course that was the day that half of Kansas was in town for the NCAA Men's Basketball playoffs. Didn't realize so many people could stand in the middle of a walk way before. Must be unique to Kansas. It is not physically possible to get through the Jungle on a path for two, if multiple families decide to discuss the heat in the dome,,,, at length,,,,,, standing in the middle. Can't be done. I finally said scuse me, coming through, 3 yr old needs the potty;),,,,, they let us through,,, ha ha. Who can resist a dad on the way to the bathroom with a 3 yr old.
Any way, we got out of there, went back to the beginning and branched the other way, and only a hand full of people where at the petting zoo,,,, smooth move dad.
Hope everyone had a great Easter, yes even the people from Kansas. We in Omaha are lucky to have a great zoo and so we do appreciate the visitors.
Till next time