COPS - in Covington

The Six-Shooters

See the spur? This is how the rubber bands get loaded

Chris has Ben cornered. Like my hat?

Ben preparing his attack


Ben and Christina came over last night to give Nick his toy that they bought for him from the gun show. Nick was at a sleep over, so Ward and I took a look at the gift. They got Nick two rubber band guns (see pictures). These aren't just any rubber band guns, they are Six Shooters! So, we all started playing with these things and had so much fun! Ben and I had a shootout and ended up chasing each other all around the house with these things. We were sneaking around corners, trying for the 'surprise attack'. The kitchen island made a good 'reload' station. At one point, I had Ben cornered in the bathroom. But then he stormed me and that was the end of that!

Thanks for a fun evening, Ben and Chrissy!!

We love you lots!!

The Mighty Bruins Win!!

Coach Ward and Nick pose before the game

Nick sets up for a shot

The Mighty Bruins put their hands in for a team cheer

Nick's basketball game was at 9:00 this morning, and most of the kids looked like they woke up at 8:45... But the Mighty Bruins chalked up a win 40 to 34 against the Warriors of Covington. Nick made 6 points to contribute to the win. I sure do like basketball... it's indoors!! yay! Ward coaches their team. There are quite a few very good players on the team. It's fun to watch the boys at this age, because most have been playing for a few years now and understand the game. So, the game is more interesting than just chasing the ball all around the court. The boys understand how to run plays, set screens, and pass the ball.

Most of the pictures I took turned out blurry, but I did what I could to make them look reasonable.

Enjoy the weekend!

Chris

We are parents again! Well, sort of...

Our church (Cornerstone UMC - see link on the right) has partnered with World Vision to sponsor a community in Kenya (also see link on the right). From that partnership, many of us have signed up to sponsor children through World Vision. We got to choose from about 100 'sponsorship-ready' children, and we picked one little boy named Abdallah that was born on Christmas day. It was hard to choose just one and mind-boggling to learn the harsh realities that so many children and families suffer through day in and day out just to survive. We are truly blessed with our fortune and freedoms. So, it feels great to sponsor this child and I feel like our family has grown! I hope that we can live up to our end of the commitment. Some people talk about traveling to Kenya to meet their sponsored child. Maybe someday we will do that too. Wouldn't it be fabulous to receive a great big hug from some young adult who you've managed to help since childhood just by sending $35 a month and encouraging letters? I am really excited about the opportunity.

So, I pray every day for Abdallah and his family. I pray that for this day, they will have clean water and food, and the protection they need. Maybe you can pray for them too!

Love,
Chris

Happy Birthday Carole!!!

Carole has been a blessing to us for so many years. She is always eager to help us whenever we need it. She has been a model of hard work and motherly love to and for me. She is fabulous with Nicholas. I admire how hard she worked to raise her family, the sacrifices she made, and how she endured many difficult challenges. I am particularly appreciative of our long talks about difficult subjects. Carole, you are an inspiration!

We love you,
Ward, Chris and Nick

Little League

So, Little League is right around the corner. Nick is trying out for Majors this year. Ward and I are both on the board. Ward is currently serving as "Manager Coordinator" and I am about to join the board in charge of "Concessions". Ward will coach Nick's team again this year. And, he is also coaching Nick's basketball team, which just started last night. Yes, we weren't quite busy enough! It's a great organization for kids and their parents, and we are excited to help. See below for a link to Auburn Little League website. We will have an extremely busy spring / summer, with sports activities nightly and on Saturdays.

PS - I also started teaching again on Tuesday evenings, which continues through February. My Tuesdays and most weekends are going to be booked with studying & grading papers, etc.

Pray for our survival!! :-)

Gringos

This is a Miranda story.

Miranda is my dear little four year old niece, who is her own force of nature. She is in pre-Kindergarten at Valley Christian School; the same school that Nick & Megan attend. Pre-K is half-days, so she spends time in the after-school care. One of the teachers is hispanic and thought it would be nice to teach the kids a few words in Spanish. She rattles off a few common words and darling Miranda, who has seen most every "Dora" episode and thus knows a fair amount of basic Spanish, runs away with "uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinqo...." fluently all the way up to diez (ten). The teacher replies, "Very good! Children, let's all listen to Miranda..."

Miranda pipes up with "Yeah, you gringos!"

We are fairly certain she did not learn that one from Dora.

A Boy House

Nick and Ward build their forts

Nick's fort is complete and populated with army men

Nick and Ward's completed forts

Nick attacking the enemy (notice the grenades on his belt!)

I live in a boy house. It has boy sounds, boy smells, boy clothes, and boy toys. Even the dog is a boy. Not that every boy is dirty, but they could be surrounded in squalor and not notice or care. It's only because of me (and Yolanda) that our house ever gets clean! But, that is a different story. Nick is now "in" to army: camo gear, little plastic green men with guns, toy hand grenades and toy pistols. Not the cowboy kind, the army kind. This is something I struggle to relate to. I have no memories of endless childhood fun playing with these kinds of toys. But last night I spent quite a bit of time timing Nick with a stopwatch as he practiced running through a carefully orchestrated obstacle course that he built in the upstairs game room. At the end of the course, he would throw a toy hand-grenade into a guitar case, closing the case and then running back to the starting point, finishing up with a baseball style slide.

Today, I noticed it was unusually quiet. I found Nick and Ward upstairs constructing a Lincoln-Log fort, populated with these green army dudes. I am definitely the "third wheel" in this arena. I do love my boys!!


Chris

Happy New Year!!

We had a relatively quiet New Year's Eve at home. The Laufmans came over (George, Christy and Oliver), and so did mom and the girls (Megan and Miranda). We had a nice salmon dinner, and then played Apples to Apples with the kids. Mom and the girls left at about 10:00, and the rest of us stayed up until about 1:00ish. We lit off fireworks that were left over from the Fourth of July, and spent New Year's day watching football and napping. I've napped so much that I think I have turned nocturnal! Going back to work hours will be a shock!!

Happy 2008 everyone!!

Chris