Earls Adventures

Jeremiah confesses Christ

2012-01-22T13:19:00.000-05:00

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4

Today was an exciting day for our family, as Jeremiah went forward to confess Christ, ask to be baptized and join Wakefield Baptist. My ultimate prayer is that both he and his brother do not have my faith or Pam's faith, but that they continue to grow in their own relationship with Jesus.

Pokemon Halloween

2011-11-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's late. Yes, that's normal. Regardless, here are photos of our two Pokemon for Halloween.

10 Years Ago Today

2011-09-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

If you go back ten years ago, last night would have been pretty normal for me in many aspects. I stayed up late playing video games with friends from high school and college. After taunting and assaulting each other on the wrestling game, we finally decided to turn in. It wasn't too different from hundreds of other nights I had experienced up to that moment - except one major thing. They were all at my house because they were serving as groomsmen in my wedding tomorrow.

I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking. I know I was nervous. I know I was ready to have the ceremony over and done. I was worried about sweating profusely in the tuxedo. I was hoping I wouldn't pass out. I was praying Pam wouldn't change her mind and run out the door. Lots of thoughts flooded and crowded my mind, so it's hard to really pinpoint one, but I know I was excited.

This was it. This was the moment that had been almost a year in the making since I had gotten down on one knee in the parking lot of her dorm at North Greenville, asked her to marry me and she said yes. But it had been in the making even before that. We felt a connection and a draw to marriage early on. But even before that, this day had been in preparation for all of eternity.

God had created the perfect helpmate, friend and love of my life for me to spend my life with. This was the day that God was going to join two and make one. This was the day where I would begin to learn what it means to be a man, a leader, a servant, a husband, a father.

I know what wasn't going through my mind. I had no idea that before we would celebrate our one year anniversary, I would have lost my job, we would move from our (newly discovered) dangerous apartment, and we would welcome into this world the most precious and challenging gift we could ever have received - a newborn baby boy.

I had no idea all of the challenges and difficulties that would await me and my new family. I had no idea that marriage would be so hard. I had no idea that living with someone tends to bring out all the faults. I had no idea that marriage would grow me in so many ways. I had no idea that life with my best friend could be so wonderful.

In 10 years I have learned a lot, the main thing being that I don't know it all. Perhaps the thing I have learned is that I'm blessed and I need to continue to improve to be a blessing to my wife of a decade. I'm so thankful to have begun this journey with the woman I love. I'm grateful that I have been given the privilege of serving Christ with her.

Ten years ago I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I'm so thankful that I took that step to spend my life with my beautiful wife. Last night ten years ago may have been like a lot of other nights, but today ten years was unlike any other. I won't mention anything about ten years ago tonight. ;)

I love you, Pamela Suzanne-Kelly Earls and I thank God that He brought you to me and has allowed us to spend our lives together. Let's keep falling deeper in love for the rest of our lives.

Bolivia Day 8 photos

2011-06-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

Our last day in Bolivia was a wonderful time. We were able to go out early to the university, talk to some students and have some fun. Later we went to a wonderful Bolivia restaurant and enjoyed ourselves there. Our last night was spent enjoying the company of friends new and old. Bolivia has been a wonderful experience.

Bolivia Day 7 photos

2011-06-25T11:00:00.001-04:00

Friday was another great day of time at the university talking to English students and then a night of Backyard Bible Clubs and showing the Jesus Film. Bolivia has been so fantastic ... except for the fact that I am thinking and speaking in broken English as if I'm trying to communicate to someone who does not fully understand my language. I apologize if my writing sounds choppy. Maybe it will help some of my new Bolivia friends understand what I am saying.

Bolivia Day 6 photos

2011-06-24T07:06:00.002-04:00

Thursday provided some additional rest. We had the morning off because it was a holiday in Bolivia. Then we went back out to do our second day of Backyard Bible Club's in the neighborhoods where the church plants are. Once again, we were in two separate locations, but both seemed to go really well.

Bolivia Day 5 photos

2011-06-23T11:18:00.000-04:00

Our fifth day here on the ground was an interesting day filled with some difficulties, but some extremely exciting events and developments.

Bolivia Day 4 Photos

2011-06-22T06:45:00.002-04:00

More construction and evangelism means less photos for me to take, but there are still plenty for me to post for you to enjoy. I hope these photos help you to feel as if you are a part of the team.

All of you who gave to the trip and the team members, all of you who have been and are praying for us and the work here in Bolivia, you are a part of our team. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.

To read my reflections on this day in Bolivia, go to my other blog: TheWardrobeDoor.com.

Bolivia Day 3 Photos

2011-06-21T07:23:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a nice mix of different jobs. In the morning, talking to students at a university who are studying English so they can work as translators or English teachers. In the afternoon, we helped to build a brick wall on a church plant. Our church laid the foundation for the church building last year.

To read my reflections on this day in Bolivia, go to my other blog: TheWardrobeDoor.com.

Bolivia Day 2 Photos

2011-06-20T06:39:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a wonderful day - getting to know each other, getting to know our new (for some of us) Bolivian friends, worshiping together and preparing for our work today.

Children's church singing about what they learned at church.

Thomas, an English student who has been serving as one of our translators.

Juan, a local church planter, and Warren, one of the local Campus Crusade leaders.

In Bolivia there is iPhone.

Eating ... again.

One of the several reasons why I don't ride the elevator anymore. ;)

The ginormas Catholic church in the town square.

Visiting the market.

Warren explaining the 4 Spiritual Laws booklet,

Our van ride back to the city from one of the church plants
always breaks out into a concert.

Several of the youth tried to join but we were not
prepared, but tonight we are going to be ready.

To read my reflections on this day in Bolivia, go to my other blog: TheWardrobeDoor.com.

Bolivia Day 1 Photos

2011-06-19T06:42:00.002-04:00

Here's a quick pictorial run-down of our traveling to Bolivia and our first day here on the ground.

Where we spent most of Friday - sitting in an airport.

How we began our firs day in Bolivia - sitting
at a table eating really good food.

Does the view from one of the Bolivia church plants look familiar WBCers?

Setting up the screen to show the Jesus film.

Success!

The sun setting over the field and some of the houses.

Local leaders talking to Bolivians and Americans

How we ended our first day in Bolivia - eating more really good food.

To read my reflections on our first day in Bolivia, go to my other blog: TheWardrobeDoor.com.

Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy & Santa - Oh my!

2011-04-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

Driving home one Friday after picking up pizza, the boys conversation turned to the Easter bunny. This is how it all went.

Jeremiah: The Easter Bunny left a mess out here on the roads.
Wesley: The Easter Bunny came through here?
J: Yes, he did. I think he's sad because he doesn't get the chocolate himself.
W: I think he's kinda like the tooth fairy. I don't know if I believe in the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and maybe Santa Claus.
J: What happens to your tooth then?
W: I believe there are some people somewhere with a tooth detector. They can sense when a tooth is missing. Then they sneak in the front door really quiet and take the tooth and leave the money.
J: But Wesley, have you ever seen them?
W: No.
J: Did you feel them?
W: No.
J: See, that means the tooth fairy is real. Here's what I'm going to do. When I lose my tooth, I'm going to put it under my pillow. If I don't feel anything, then I will be right. If I do feel something, then you will be right Wesley and I will say, "Wesley you are right" and I will punch myself in the face.

At this point, I'm trying to keep from dying laughing at the direction this conversation has turned. But I thought I had to interject something.

Me: But Jeremiah, what is the difference between Wesley's tooth detectors and your Tooth Fairy? How can the Tooth Fairy get your tooth without waking you up?
J: You see Daddy. The tooth detectors are people. They are solid, so I would feel them under my pillow. The tooth fairy is tiny.
Me: Well, how does that help her?
J: She can slide in the cracks under your pillow and get the tooth.
Me: Where would she put it?
J: Probably in her pocket.

The conversation takes another turn and they begin discussing about Jesus destroying 100 lbs weights because He is the most powerful. Then Jeremiah said, "Well God is going to destroy all these." To which Wesley replied, "But Jeremiah, Jesus is God."

So then we got into a discussion about the Trinity being three Persons in One. We named all the Persons in the Trinity. Jeremiah said, "Daddy, that's still kinda weird." I agreed with him and we went inside to enjoy some pizza.

My life with my boys - never a dull moment.

Jeremiah & the Hindu

2011-04-16T08:00:00.002-04:00

Recently, Pam, the boys and I went visiting with our church family. We walked around a neighborhood near the church building. For the most part, people either were "not home" or they quickly took the invitation and gift and went back inside, but one was different.

Jeremiah walked up with me to the door. The glass door was closed, but the wooden door was open, so obviously someone was at home. Not too long after we rang the door bell, an older Indian lady (nationality, not Native American) came to the door. I told her whey we were there and Jeremiah handed her the invitation.

She was polite, but she stopped me and said, "We are not Christian. We are Hindu, so we do not go to church." Then she handed back the invitation and told Jeremiah he was a sweet boy. We thanked her for her time and walked away.

I looked down at Jeremiah and he had the saddest look on his face, so I asked him, "Jeremiah, what's the matter?" He said, "She said she wasn't a Christian." He was almost in tears. I told him that was why we were visiting our neighbors out here because some don't know about Jesus.

Walking back to the car, I asked him what we could do for her. He said, "Pray!" I asked him what we could pray for her. He said, "We can ask God to show her that Jesus is the way to Him." With tears collecting behind my sunglasses, I told him he was right. Then I prayed and thanked God for giving His heart for the lost to my son and asked Him if He would do the same for me.

I love when my boys get it and when they are an encouragement and inspiration for me.

Dress-up days

2011-03-19T01:16:00.000-04:00

On the rainy days we had earlier this week, the boys broke out the costumes and ... well, I'll just show it to you.

Jeremiah was a knight.

Wesley was a dragon.

Later, Jeremiah was ... this.

Wesley was a photographer, who said he needed a Revolutionary War hat.

Then they wanted to make a movie. If you ever need a dragon slayed, you can call JJ, but apparently that won't help very much.

Christmas in February

2011-02-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

Why is it Christmas in February? Well, because I haven't posted pictures here since before Christmas. So ... you are getting Christmas photos right before Valentine's Day and having some new pictures to look at is like a Christmas present for anxious grandparents.

It's not all Christmas photos, though. There's some from Jeremiah's first school program, which was, for some reason, patriotic themed. Some from the boys singing with the kids at church. Some from Christmas time. Plus a few of the boys playing in all the snow we've had. Enjoy.

Jeremiah is right in the middle of this mass of Kindergartners.

Here he is a bit closer up - right in the middle with the dark red shirt on.

Here the boys are doing their motions from their presentation at church. This was after the broken arm, so Jeremiah was one-armed. He became the star of the show as everyone kept whispering during the presentation about how cute he was doing his motions with a broken arm.

Here is JJ on Christmas morning with his new scooter.

Wesley was excited about the bag full of candy.

I don't know if he is trying to hide his UNO face or what, but JJ wanted to wear the Spiderman ski mask inside to play cards.

Here are both my little bank robbers playing in the unusual snow in Turbeville.

Here they are back at Wake Forest in the unusual mass of snow that was up here.

Wesley wanted to make a snowman, so we put together a Luigi snowman.

Jeremiah was busy shoving snow in his mouth and some up his nose.

Here is the finished Luigi snowman.

Jeremiah's latest broken bone

2010-12-16T22:34:00.000-05:00

This morning as the boys were stuck in the house with the crazy winter weather, Jeremiah decided to do some Mario jumping off the couch. Unfortunately, he said he "forgot to turn in the air." I'm not sure how he was going to "turn in air," but whatever he was going to do it didn't turn out well. He fell on his arm and was complaining about it hurting whenever it moved or was touched.

We called the doctor. They said it was swollen and sent us to an orthopedic doctor for an x-ray. They took some x-rays and said they thought he had a tiny crack at his elbow. He needed a cast. We have to go back next week for another x-ray to make sure it is healing right. If everything goes well, the cast will come off in three weeks.

This is his second broken bone this year. After his collar bone in April (right near his birthday), now his elbow right near Christmas. Wesley may look like his daddy, but Jeremiah got my accident prone nature. The funny thing is that with all my accidents I never broke a bone. Numerous trips to the ER, lots of stitches, but no broken bones. Jeremiah's broke two in one arm before he turns six.

I just hope he survives until his old enough to know that he can't turn in the air, even though he still thinks he can.

Here's some pictures from the doctor.

Snowtime in Wake Forest

2010-12-15T12:30:00.002-05:00

Earlier this month we had a freak snow storm. I say "freak" because the most anybody thought we would get were some flurries here or there. Needless to say, you can look at the pictures and tell that we got more than that.

It made our choice of Christmas tree buying days very appropriate. That is the first time I have ever bought our tree in the snow. It was kind of neat and "Christmasy."

Of course, the boys enjoyed it. They had lots of fun playing outside and throwing snowballs at our house (and me). I'm glad they got to play outside then because it has been too cold this week. We may get some more snow later this week. I know this much, if it falls, it is going to be frozen and it is going to stick to the ground. It is crazy cold here right now.

Catching snowflakes on his tongue

Catching snowflakes in his eyelashes

Doing some kind of snow dance

Summer X Games meets Winter X Games:
Scooter stunts in the snow

Only Wesley. Only Wesley.

Here are some photos from our trip to buy the Christmas tree:

Tree shopping in the snow

On the tire swing at the tree place

I went out into our backyard and the woods around our apartment to take some scenic shots:

One last time to throw some snowballs:

Super Mario Family: Super Late Halloween photos

2010-11-13T14:26:00.001-05:00

So ... yeah, I'm behind. Here are some photos from Halloween. We went trick-or-treating, heathens that we are, on Main Street in Wake Forest. That's where all the people are at, the houses are decorated and the candy is plentiful. We went with some friends, so some of the photos have some of the boys friends there.

Because Wesley wanted to be Mario and Jeremiah wanted to be Bowser, Pam decided that our whole family should dress up. Pam, you know, the one who doesn't even like Halloween. But I will say that her costume as Princess Peach was a lot more of a hassle than my Lugi one, which entailed me wearing a green shirt and a green hat with a sewn on white circle on which I drew a green "L." Anyway, on with the photos.


Our Mario Family For some reason JJ is holding up a toy on his finger. I think he had just gotten it at one of the houses.

Mario is just leaving Princess Peach with Bowser!

Mario: complete with 'stache, which Wesley tried to redraw
on his face the next night before he went to bed. He got caught.

Bowser & Princess Peach going into what must be a King Boo house
from the Super Mario games.

And what do Mario and Bowser do best? Fight.
Actually, I think Wesley is trying to "fix" JJ's strap on his shell
and Jeremiah does not want him to.

Has to be the cutest little running Bowser ever, right?

Mario checking all his loot from this level (house).

Bowser pulls the mask up to get a better view.

Greatest Birthday Present EVER!

2010-10-28T09:30:00.002-04:00

When Pam told me that she had bought me tickets to see Duke play at Cameron Indoor Stadium, I didn't think my birthday could get any better. Anyone that knows me at all, knows that has been a lifelong dream for me. I just wanted to step into the place if nothing else, but to see an actual game there. To see all the championship banners and retired jerseys. To chant along with the Cameron Crazies. Those tickets are a dream come true.

I mean Duke basketball has been a passion of mine since as far back as I can remember. My first sports memory is of the classic 1992 Duke vs. Kentucky double overtime game. I love Duke basketball. What could possibly top me feeling the electricity of jumping up and down in a sea of Duke blue?

Little did I know that my birthday night, the greatest gift I could ever hope to receive was being made.

My son and new little brother!

Pam and I always try to talk about the Gospel around our home. It is intentionally and not just for the boys. All of us need to be constantly reminded about the greatness of the Gospel. But one of the reasons is for our boys.

You can read my reaction to Wesley's decision to follow Christ here. That happened right before Christmas and I called it my greatest Christmas present ever. That fact has not changed since then.

Jeremiah has been asking questions about the Gospel for well over a year. Several times, he has said he wanted to be a Christian or that he was a Christian. Pam and I both knew that he was getting there, but he wasn't quite there. For one reason, he would talk about asking Jesus in his heart one minute and something funny Spongebob did the next. Seeds were definitely being planted, taking root and growing in his life, but he had not come to realization of his own sin and need of a Savior.

I read to them every night. Sometimes out of a Bible. Sometimes out of a children's devotional. Always out of Narnia. And we usually talk some about the Gospel and Jesus. I knew Jeremiah had all the facts down. He could tell you what sin meant, what Jesus did for us on the cross, that he died and rose again. He knew all that, but he didn't quite yet know it.

Last night, on my birthday, I don't think we talked much about those things. I was trying to get Wesley to stop being so upset about Nana and Papa having just left. Selfishly, I wanted to read to the boys and then get downstairs so I could study for my Old Testament test on Wednesday. I did my normal routine. I read to them and talked for a little bit. I prayed for each of them, gave them hugs and kisses and headed to cram some more OT knowledge in my skull.

Tonight when Pam was up with the boys getting them ready for bed. Jeremiah told her something. When I came upstairs, she asked Jeremiah to tell me what he had told her. At first, he said he didn't remember, so she dropped it and moved on. Then his eye lit up and he said, "I asked Jesus in my heart." He described how he had prayed after I left the room last night (the same way Wesley did when he was 5). It was, and is still, almost too good to be true.

I talked with him about what it meant to ask Jesus in your heart. He told me all about Jesus death on the cross for our sins. I asked him what he prayed. He said, "I told Jesus, 'I believe I am a sinner. Will you please come into my heart?'" [I'm crying as I write this.] Through my ever moistening eyes, I asked if Jesus did. He said, "Yep."

Later, Jeremiah brought up "going to the Devil," his phraseology for hell. He asked what happened to people there. I said I wasn't sure since I had never been there before and didn't want to go. He said, "I think I know Daddy. I think they get hurt." He said all this matter-of-factly. I told him he was right, but that the worst part was that we were separated from God forever. "Forever?" he asked. When I said yes, he broke into tears and said he didn't want to go to the Devil. He didn't seem concerned about getting hurt, but his heart was broken by always being away from God. I told him that by asking Jesus in his heart that he did not have to worry about going to the Devil.

We talked about growing as a Christian and what it means to follow Jesus. He already knows so much. He told me that it means doing the things that Jesus wants you to do, not what you want to do. I asked him what are some things he can do to know Jesus more. He talked about praying, going to church and reading your Bible. Then he said, "Daddy, I can't read my Bible yet, so you need to read it to me." That's the first time, he's ever said that. The Gospel already taking root in my little boy's life, giving him new Christ-focused desires!

I will have a lot of fun with Pam at Cameron next Thursday night. It will be an amazing experience to finally set foot in that historic building and cheer for my favorite sports team. But it is not even comparable to the joy I will experience one day in heaven, when I set foot on those streets of gold and worship my living Lord and can do that with Pam, Wesley and now Jeremiah.

Praise God with us for His displaying His grace and redeeming Jeremiah for Himself. Pray for Pam and I as we seek to raise two godly young men who love Jesus with every fiber of their being.

Greatest. Birthday. Ever.

Runner's Camp

2010-09-29T11:30:00.001-04:00

One of the highlights of the summer for Wesley is Runner's Camp. A local church in the area, North Wake Church, puts on at least two weeks of it every summer. The kids go during the day and do track and field games, songs and Bible studies. Then at the end of the week, they have a track meet.

Last year, Wesley was one of the oldest in his group and he basically won everything he was in. This year, he ended up being pushed to an older group and he was one of the youngest in his group. For some reason, he didn't try as hard at the event as the year before. We told him that it didn't matter where he finished, but he had to try his hardest. On the last event, when he actually did his best, he won.

Jeremiah, got his first taste of Runner's Camp as well. He got to run in the sibling race and got his first ribbon. He is excited about being able to do all of the events next year. Here's some photos from the track meet.

Wesley with his age group. They called themselves the Christian Pirates. Don't ask me.

Here he is running well at the beginning of one of his races.

Jeremiah giving it everything he's got in the sibling race.

Jeremiah was excited about his ribbon.

Slip-N-Slide fun

2010-09-27T11:00:00.001-04:00

Aunt Sarah got the boys a Slip-N-Slide for their birthday this summer and we pulled it out one day to have some wet fun. Even though they had never been on one before, the boys knew how to get wet.

Pam suggested I show them how to do it. That's when the fun started.

I know how to make really big sheets of water on either side of me.

I apparently also know how to cut flips while sliding down the slip-n-slide. I'm sure my back felt that in the morning.

The boys got back on, inspired by their dad to have some fun flying down the slide. Jeremiah went back with pretty much one goal in mind - winning.

My crazy, sick weekend

2010-09-25T07:00:00.002-04:00

Most of you know I got sick this past weekend. Some of you saw the hysteric tweeting and Facebook statuses of Pam. It was pretty crazy at how quickly everything turned down hill. I'll start at the beginning.

I woke up Wednesday morning with a killer sore throat. I mean that it hurt to breath it was so sore, but eventually after I was up for awhile it calmed down. I had a little bit of a cough, but not too much. Thursday was a little more cough, but the sore throat was not as bad in the morning. Friday, I was feeling a little "run down," but not any more than I could be after a rough week. I drove down to visit my family for the weekend and just kept feeling really weak and tired. Then that night it all crashed.

I was up the entire night coughing. Not just normal coughing, but hacking and wheezing to the point where I couldn't catch my breathe. Nobody got any sleep, least of all me and Pam. In the morning, Pam and mom decided I had to go to the doctor. We headed to the urgent care in York. They took us in fairly quick. The doctor basically said I had a severe sore throat and cough, gave us some prescriptions for cough medicine and an antibiotic. On the drive back home, it really got crazy.

Pam was driving because I was feeling pretty bad. I kept feeling more and more nauseous. Finally, I couldn't take it any more and I asked Pam to pull to the side of the road. I kind of remember throwing up before I could get the door open, but I just barely remember that. At this point, Pam said, I sat back in my seat. I didn't slump over or anything. I sat there, my eyes bulged out and I was unresponsive. She said she shook me and yelled my name for over a minute, but I never moved or batted my eyes. Finally, as she is balling, about to dial 911, I wake up, totally unaware of what just happened.

We get back to my parent's house. Pam calls the urgent care back to ask them. They said it sounded like a seizure, so they told her to take me to the ER. I'm starting to run a fever at this point. They get me to the ER, so they can run some tests. Part of the tests are blood work. The nurse really struggled at finding a vein and so as she's digging in my hand, I'm turning really weird shades of green, sweating profusely, while I'm freezing cold and about to go out again. They finally get the IV hooked up to me and they wheel me around to get chest x-rays and CT scan of my brain.

I didn't even have time to get my hospital gown on and tied shut before people were coming in, so half of the nurses in Cleveland County, NC saw my underwear. For that, I am sorry. After all the tests were run, they said everything looked fine from their end. They just told me to keep taking my medicines from the urgent care.

When we got back to my parent's house, the second time, I started to run a fever again - really bad. It was spiking out around 102. All of this time is kind of a blur to me. I was all weird. I would be in a fever haze, just laying there, lethargic, cold and not wanting to move. Then when the fever would crash, I would be sweating and hungry. The fever would come again and the cycle would go again. That pretty much happened all day and night Saturday into Sunday morning with the same horrible, endless cough.

I felt a little better Sunday afternoon. We drove back up to Wake Forest. I made it the whole way without being sick. When we got here, my fever went up again to just under 100. Sunday night, I coughed all the time. It was horrible. I was so tired and wanted to sleep so bad, but I could not stop coughing. My medicine didn't slow the cough down at all.

Monday morning, we got an appointment at our family doctor here in Wake Forest. He heard the whole story and then checked me out. He said that what the urgent care had diagnosed me with and given me as an antibiotic was wrong. He thought I had walking pneumonia and/or bronchitis. He also wanted to do some blood test for mono, the flu and some other things. Thankfully, this time the blood came out a little easier.

The blood tests came back negative for the other things, but he said that he did see something in there to show that I was fighting off the things he had first thought. He just told me to keep taking my medicines. I knew by Tuesday that those were working a lot better. I was able to go to class. I was still exhausted because I was fighting the sickness and I was still coughing all night long, but I knew I was getting better.

This week, I have coughed less and less at night. I went back to work on Wednesday and Thursday night. I was definitely not back into the shape I needed to be for work, but I survived for a little over two hours each night.

Hopefully by next week, my cough will be all gone and I'll finally have my strength completely back. Thankfully, no one in the family got sick (besides me). I'm just glad to be putting all this stuff in the rear view mirror because it was on crazy, sick weekend that I do not want to repeat ever again.

Nine years ago today ...

2010-09-01T06:30:00.002-04:00

On this day nine years ago, I began one of the great journeys of my life - marriage with my beautiful bride. I've heard so many married couples talk about how they love their spouse more than they did when they first got married. I never really understood that - until I got married.

Photo from WeddingByColor.com. Pam had a Precious Moments cake topper for our wedding, but she had to special order it so that it would have a black haired groom and a blond haired bride. This one is not it, but it does have the hair color close and it is with a princess, which is one of the things I call Pam in my musher moments.

I'm not sure if it's more, as much as it is deeper. I feel like I loved Pam as much as I possible could when we got married, but that love has deepened over these nine years. Before I loved her despite some of the little things that she did that annoyed me or that were different from me, now I love her because of many of those same traits.

She compliments me and completes me. I have no idea how I could have possible managed my life without her. I am so grateful that she said, "Yes," almost ten years ago and that she said, "I do," exactly nine years ago. God has blessed me so much with a wonderful helpmate. I'm so thankful that I can celebrate my anniversary and look forward to many more.

Wesley's birthday camping trip

2010-08-30T11:30:00.000-04:00

We went to Ocracoke Island one weekend on a camping trip for Wesley's birthday. Yes, Wesley's birthday was in June. Yes, it is almost September. I am a little behind, but I have lots of photos for you to look at so you have to forgive me.

We had a little bit of storm roll through when we got there.

But we got the camp set up nicely for supper that night.

Once it cleared up we headed over the dune

And down to the beach

It is absolutely gorgeous there on the island.

I do believe I am the only person who can resist that face. I know Pam can't.

At the beach again, early the next morning.

What was I doing at this time? Why, I was reading for my Molinism paper that I just turned in a few weeks agao.

JJ doing his Wii Yoga on the beach.

I promise Jeremiah survived. He didn't drown in the wave.

We pretty much spent most of our time at the beach. During the hot part of the afternoon, we drove around the island some just so we (read Aaron) could have some AC. It got pretty hot there with no where to go but the beach or a tent.

Wesley stepping on British soil. There is a graveyard on Ocracoke Island that has British soldiers buried on it and the land is actually British land.

JJ was looking through a torn down fence at another graveyard.

Last stop on the way back home was Dairy Queen for some birthday ice cream.

Photos from Jeremiah's first day of school

2010-08-26T22:14:00.000-04:00

It is absolutely crazy to think that Jeremiah started kindergarten today. But honestly, it seems like he has been at home forever. I guess it's because we have went through a LOT of changes since Jeremiah was born. I still think back to when we first moved up here and JJ had just turned 3. At that point, he did things like this. Now, he's going off to school. Here are the photos Pam managed to take in between tears this morning.

Before school, with big brother, ready to go!

Getting into the car, already with the teenage look that says, "Mom, stop taking pictures!"

Pam parked near the school and walked them the rest of the way. Here he is at the school sign.

Ready to go in the building for his first day!

Getting closer to "Goodbye," outside his classroom door. Can you imagine Pam at this moment?

Playing and anxious for mom to leave so he can really start having fun!

I picked Jeremiah and Wesley up from school and I could barely hear either of them because they both were so excited about school, their new friends, all they did today, on and on and on. Jeremiah even earned his first war medal, though I think Pam is the one who really needs the medal.

The boys are back in town

2010-08-08T14:39:00.000-04:00

After not having the boys for a MONTH, they are finally back home. I was doing fairly well for the first three weeks. For better or worse, I am good at compartmentalizing. I can push something out of my mind, if I focus on something else. I was head deep in school work, so I just plowed through with that. But as it got closer and closer to when I was going to get to see them, it got harder and harder.

The last week I had to force myself not to think about them or I would cry because I missed them so much. I was taking my final Friday morning and something triggered my mind to think about them and I had work really hard to refocus my mind on the exam.

Now they are back home and it's time to get things back in the normal routine. No more spontaneous date nights with Pam. No more quiet afternoons and evenings. No more just leaving and going to a dentist appointment or the store without have to make plans for months in advance. No more thinking I heard them, then realizing they weren't here. No more wishing I had somebody to tickle, read to and wrestle with.

Without the boys, life is easier. Without the boys, life is emptier.

Missing the boys

2010-07-25T01:05:00.003-04:00

The boys have made their way from Nana & Papa's to Mama Rose & Grandpa's. While I have enjoyed spending the extra time with my wife and being able to read (and sleep) in peace, I really do miss the boys. I was looking at some pictures of them from a few years back and thinking about how much they've changed. I know I'm going to be amazed at how much they will seem so bigger after them being away for a month. For now, I have to be satisfied with photos. Now I know how all of you feel. Here's the photo I see every time I cut on my phone.

Baseball season is over for the Earls

2010-07-07T20:51:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah had his last T-ball game tonight & with that marked the end of our Spring/Summer baseball voyage. I think the boys had fun. They made some new friends. They got better at some things as the season went on, but I don't think they can relax in school and count on a baseball scholarship to pay for college. I'll be putting up a final post of photos for each of them soon (maybe I can get to that tomorrow). So for now, the baseball background is no more and life gets back to normal - which if it doesn't mean anything else it means books, books and more books, at least for me anyway.

Whet your Wesley & JJ appetite

2010-06-24T21:42:00.003-04:00

We are leaving in the morning to go camping at the beach for Wesley's birthday. I have several games worth of photos on my computer that are waiting on me to post them. Once we get back, I'll have even more photos to post. To hold you over until that time, here are a sampling of photos from the past few weeks.

Second week of Wesley's games

2010-06-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Wesley has had two weeks of games since his first one. Here are some photos from that second week of his games. This is the first game.

Here's some from the second game:

Jeremiah T-ball Recap

2010-06-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah had two games last week. Here are some photos from those chaotic scenes.

Scenes from Raleigh DT

2010-06-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

After the museum, we walked around downtown Raleigh. We found the old statehouse, statues of the US Presidents from NC, war memorials and a very photogenic and historical Episcopal church. Have I said how much I love having a camera again?

Earls invade downtown Raleigh

2010-06-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Wesley wanted to go back to the museum his class visited this year. So after spending the morning at the Farmers' Market, we risked downtown to find the museum. After driving in a few circles, we found it, parked (for free!) and headed inside to the NC State Natural Sciences Museum. It was a nice (free!) museum and the boys enjoyed themselves, especially the dinosaur parts, as evidenced by all the photos from those displays.

Memorial Day Grilling

2010-06-12T16:26:00.003-04:00

We ate outside Memorial Day weekend with some burgers, hot dogs, veggies and watermelon. The boys enjoyed it and Jeremiah wore it.

Bubble explosion

2010-06-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

The boys, especially Jeremiah, have been enjoying playing with bubbles outside. They put to good use the bubble guns Nana sent them.

Rain means puddles

2010-05-31T10:00:00.000-04:00

The past few weeks we've had a lot of rain. Rain means puddles. Puddles mean ...

Our Boys of Summer Begin

2010-05-30T18:07:00.005-04:00

The boys had their first baseball & T-ball game this past Thursday. Yes, both of them. I got the boys ready to go and we went to Wesley's game at 5:30 before it started at 6:00. Pam met us there after she got off work. Her and Jeremiah stayed for awhile, then left to get there early to practice for his game, which started at 7:00. After Wesley's DiamondJaxx won(!), me and him drove to catch JJ's game. The controlled chaos there (heavy on the chaos, light on the controlled) lasted until a little after 8. I think the Cardinals lost, but it was hard to tell who scored when and how much. We got home, showered, got in bed and prepared to do it all again this week.

Jeremiah's birthday

2010-05-28T22:24:00.005-04:00

Yes, Jeremiah's birthday was a month ago. Yes, I should have already posted pictures from this. Sorry. The end of the semester takes up a lot of time. So here is the baby boy celebrating his 5th birthday. Did I just say that? Jeremiah turned 5. I cannot believe he is 5 years old and will start Kindergarten this fall. I think Pam's already crying just thinking about it.

For his birthday, we went to the Carolina Mudcats game. The boys seemed to have fun.

If you can see the board, they had Jeremiah's name up on it. That was his favorite moment.

The new tradition of our family: getting a hat with the first letter of your name. Wesley got a "W" Washington Nationals from a pastor friend on his 5th birthday when we were on a mission trip in Memphis. Jeremiah and I took a special trip to the mall the Sunday after his birthday to pick out his "J" hat.

The next week, Nana and Papa came up to celebrate with Jeremiah. He enjoyed telling people he had two birthdays and two cakes ... as if the child isn't vain enough.

Photo of the Day

2010-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Proud as a peacock, just not proud enough to spread his tail feathers out.

Photo of the Day

2010-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

I took so many photos on our trip to DC (and I've taken so many besides DC as well) that I thought it might be nice just to put up a photo every day (or at least as many days as I find the time to do it) on both of my blogs. So here is the first photo of the day for the Earls Adventures blog.

Pam and the boys almost left me when I stopped to look at this walkway in DC. I think it was at the Dept. of Agriculture. The interplay of the lines and curves, the light and shadows really intrigued me. As soon as I saw it I said, "This would make a great picture."

One of the things that helps me take pictures is that I tend to see things photographically. We I see a scene, I imagine it as a photo. Anything that catches my eye, my mind turns it into a virtual photograph.

This image definitely caught my eye as we were walking around DC.

How do I know it's spring?

2010-04-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

I know when it's spring outside when I smell these.

My sweet little boy

2010-04-08T22:29:00.002-04:00

Occasionally, knowing how young Wesley was when he prayed to receive Christ, I wonder about his faith. How is it growing? How much did he understand and what does he know now? Then sometimes I just see Jesus in him and it makes me feel so blessed.

The week leading up to Easter, when he would pray before we ate, he would thank God for Good Friday and "dying for our sins." On Easter, he prayed and thanked God for "coming back to life." He said it earnestly and with full belief. Honestly, I fought hard not to just ball every time he prayed.

On Easter Sunday, Wesley had heard Pam talk about how she was allergic to the pollen that was everywhere outside, coating everything. He saw the car was covered in it and he made sure to run ahead of Pam, so he could open the door for her. He said he didn't want mommy to have to touch the pollen because she was allergic to it. Nobody asked him to do it. Nobody even gave him the idea. It was all him or at least Christ in him, thinking of others.

Nothing pleases me more than to see him walking with his Savior. I'm so excited to see how God is going to work in his life and how he is going to follow Him.

Tire swing dare-devils

2010-04-08T22:04:00.003-04:00

They boys love visiting Nana & Papa's. One of their favorite parts is the tire swing. Of course, they like to make this as dangerous as possible. This time, it wasn't me that was pushing the envelope. Pam was pushing the tires and making them swing close to one another and occasionally bumping their tires together. Nobody got hurt and they both enjoyed it - perfect time.

Virginia Beach: The End has Come

2010-03-31T22:41:00.006-04:00

Our mini-vacation marathon came to an end all too soon. I wish it would have been warmer, so the boys could have gotten in the ocean. Oh, who am I kidding? It was freezing cold with 20 mph wind gusts and the boys were running in and out of the water. I just wish it was warm enough that I did not feel slightly guilty for letting them do it.

A couple and their smaller kid walked past us (all in coats) as the boys were splashing around in the waves. He asked, "Aren't they cold?" I answered, "Yeah, but they get over it." He said, "I don't know," laughed and kept walking. I'm not sure what he meant by "I don't know." They did get over being cold and we went in as soon as they said they were done. I sure didn't force them out in the water. My boys are just crazy. Pam and I can be pretty strict on them with a lot of things around home, I wanted to give them a break and let them do as much as was safely possible. They were cold, but they had fun and that is what the vacation was for. So with that soap box lecture out of the way, on to the photos.

While Jeremiah was a bit more cautious this morning ...

Wesley was wide open into the waves. Yes, those waves are as big as they look. No, those waves are not as warm as they look. Once again, it was freezing cold out there.

We checked out of the hotel around 11:00 and said goodbye to this gorgeous view.

Then we decided to go across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It is an over 20-mile long bridge with two tunnels that go under the water. We stopped along the way a couple times to take photos.

We started our trek home according to Google's directions, which became laughably bad the further we went. It turned off roads only to turn back on to them 100 yards later, on several occasions. We had to make an annoying time funny, so we did. We saw "a van down by a river" Instant laughs. We saw an old KFC building, complete with the Colonel's face not being removed but simply painted over, reopened as J&L Grill & Buffet: Chinese and Sushi. By the looks of the building J&L stood for Jimmy and Larry and the sushi would have been Vienna sausages and rice rolled in a tobacco leaf.

The long drive was at least made interesting by the insane stuff Google took us through, but we made it back to Wake Forest safe. Time to get some sleep, pack again and head back to SC for this coming weekend.

Virginia Beach: The Earls have landed

2010-03-31T09:52:00.009-04:00

So after a good night's sleep, we set out to explore Virginia Beach, but first the boys spent most of the morning in the indoor pool. Then we went out to find some lunch. We walked a few blocks, passing a lot of closed restaurants, until we found Planet Pizza. Perfect. It was an alien-themed pizza place. The boys and Pam showed their alien faces.

After walking down the boardwalk some ...

we found a playground on the beach. The boys climbed over, around and under the Pirate ship.

After dinner, the boys wanted to go out to the ocean. They were the only ones even close to the water and they went out in it. Need proof of both?

Here they are playing in it and the aftermath of a couple tumbles in the waves.

Jeremiah, unbeknownst to him, drew the state of Florida with his toe in the sand.

After bringing them in and giving them a hot bath, hot chocolate and popcorn we hung around and watched some cartoons until they fell asleep ... under the moon.

The District: Day 3 - Final Assault

2010-03-30T22:42:00.000-04:00

The plan Monday morning was to go to see money printed. Once again, we did not make it up and out in time for that to happen. It was drizzling a little, but thankfully it stayed mostly a mist at most during the day.

We headed back over to the American History museum to see the things we missed. At this point we realized that weekends are much better at DC than weekdays. On Saturday, we walked straight into the museum with no line at all. Monday, even though it was raining, there was a line out of the building (it was an even longer line at the Natural History museum).

We are glad we went back because this ended up being the boys favorite museum. They had a lot more interactive exhibits. Here are some photos of them playing there.

They also had someone who let the kids come up and help print a card with an old ink and stamp machine. Here's Jeremiah getting his done.

The last exhibit we went through was about Abraham Lincoln. There was a line, but Wesley did a report on Lincoln at school, so he wanted to go through. Again, it was more interesting for me and Pam than the boys. They did like looking at Lincoln's old top hat and seeing how tall he was. Here's Wesley beside Honest Abe.

Next we made our way to the zoo. Well, that's not entirely true. First we found somewhere to eat. Surprise, surprise it's was McDonald's for the eighty-eleventh time on this trip. After walking forever and a day from the Metro zoo stop to the actual zoo we walked some more all through the zoo. First we stopped off at the visitor's center, where Jeremiah took this photo of me and Wesley.

But the boys really, really enjoyed the zoo ... once we found some animals. The first several exhibits had no animals in them or at least the animals were being smart and were somewhere inside away from the cold drizzle. We we finally started seeing some animals they started having a good time. Jeremiah especially loved the statues of the animals all through out the zoo. Here he is making the face I mentioned in an earlier post in what might be my favorite photo I took so far. I love this photo.

Jeremiah kept trying to talk to the animals (I had to provide the animal voices). He was asking the elephant to run. Wesley said, "Jeremiah, he can't understand you. He doesn't speak English." Later Wesley clarified that the Wesley spoke "animal."

I won't bore you here with a lot of the animal photos I took. Some turned out really good. I may post them later here or at Wardrobe Door with the architecture photos from DC after I get all the photos of the boys up here.

Finally, they boys became interested in dinosaurs after the zoo had a big skull on display that you could touch and even crawl into ... or at least that's what my two decided to do with it. Jeremiah got a nice sized knot on the back of his skull during his crawl back out of the T-Rex skull. (And no the photo here is not when he hit his head, that's just JJ, again, acting.)

The boys favorite and most memorable part of the zoo was the orangutans. This photo is from before their favorite moment, of which I did not and could not take pictures. The orangutan was eating leaves and decided it would taste better if he puked those leaves up, smeared them on the glass and then licked it back off. The boys thought it was the funniest thing ever. I'm getting queasy just writing it and thinking about it. This is of a much less stomach-churning moment.

After we had seen all we could see at the zoo and walked as much as we could possible walk, we headed back down to the Metro. But not before we stopped and had some ice cream.

Then, we made it back to the hotel, got in the car and tried to follow Google directions from DC to Virginia Beach. This led to what Wesley called "another Daddy driving adventure." We went down the wrong road, had to drive for awhile before another exit came up, that exit only let you go to the right, then when you finally got back going down the road to where you should be able to turn left back onto the highway, it wouldn't let you, so I had to go down the street some more. Some cars were a bit farther down, just starting out after a light change, so I gassed it, squealed some tires and threw a U-turn in the middle of DC. After that wild ride, we headed toward Virginia Beach where we arrived safely, but tired yesterday.

The District: Day 2 - The Earls Invasion

2010-03-30T00:44:00.010-04:00

With sore legs, we set out again on DC Sunday. We tried to make it to Capitol Hill Baptist, but got there too late. Pam and I were upset and so were the boys. They kept asking when are we going to church (love that they are in that habit and expect us to go even on vacation, which we normally do).

With no church, we walked around Capitol Hill - National Archives, Supreme Court and Congress. Here they are in front of Congress. (I also took a LOT of scenic photos - buildings, flowers, etc - that I have to go through and pick out some of my favorites to post later.) We didn't venture too close to the Congressional steps. Besides the boys not being too interested in that, the guard at the top was sporting a very conspicuous assault rifle. No reason, to make him raise his voice (or his barrel!).

Here we all are in some of the cherry trees beside the Capitol. Not surprisingly, in the one photo of us with the Capitol Building in the background, Wesley is staring at the ground and I'm making my usual "If-I-ever-got-drunk-this-is-how-I-would-look" face.

We thought the Air & Space Museum would be fun for the boys ... we were wrong. Pam and I kept saying, if we were here by ourselves this may would be interesting. They walked around and looked at stuff, but the main request was "I want to go somewhere else." Plus some of the exhibits in there haven't been changed since the 1980's. I can spot those 80's fonts and design anywhere.

After that, we walked around until Pam found us a pizza place for lunch. Jeremiah enjoyed the large slice of pizza.

We found a carousel in the National Mall. The boys enjoyed riding it. The little girl behind Wesley? Not so much.

Next, we made our way to the Natural Science Museum. We figured animals, dinosaurs, the boys had to like this one. Ehh, not so much. They did like it better than the Air & Space, but it still was not their thing. Here JJ displays the mock face he makes when he sees animals. This is a face that returned repeatedly in numerous humorous places.

Once again, we thought the boys might enjoy a 3D Imax movie. Big screen. Big dinosaurs. Fun stuff. Right? Wrong. Wesley spent most of the movie with his glasses off because he was too scared. Jeremiah stayed in Pam's lap. I think they will remember themselves having more fun than they actually did at the moment ... or at least that's my hope. Here they are with their goofy 3D Imax glasses.

After seeing everything in there, we had a little time to kill before we were meeting Pam's cousin for dinner, so we went over to the American History museum. The boys actually seemed halfway interested in this one. We only saw a small part, so we planned to come back to it on Monday. We rested outside at the fountain, where the boys posed. At this point, only the photos can do justice to some of their antics.

After supper with Pam's cousin, we came back and crashed. But not until after I found out that Duke had won and was going to the Final Four. I missed the entire game, but my boys had an exciting day so that was fine (especially since they won!).

Unknowingly, we saved the best for last. Monday was the boy's favorite day with some of my favorite photos of them, which I'll post while I'm (hopefully relaxing) Tuesday.

Taking over the District: Day 1

2010-03-27T22:46:00.005-04:00

The spy museum was our first stop out in DC. It was fun, but a bit too old for the boys. They did enjoy some spy gear they got. "Spy" coats because it was freezing this morning. Wesley bought spy sunglasses that lets you see behind you. Jeremiah bought a mini pretend camera that flashes and makes noises. (Yeah.)

Next we walked through the National Mall where the kite festival was going on. The boys sat down for a second on a park bench.

After making the long walk to the Washington Monument, the boys decided to rest in the grass.

Wesley was excited to see the monument since he wrote a report on it for school. He gave us all the facts about how long it took to make it and loads of other info.

It was a long walk down to the Lincoln Memorial, but we made it (with only a little whining).

Darn you Kick Buttowski! Wesley now looks like a DisneyXD gang member.

Jeremiah and Pam found time to wrestle at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

We got a bit mixed up in trying to find the nearest Metro. We settled for a not-nearest Metro and walked around DC for awhile. We did see some neat things and I got some nice photos. Here's JJ walking under some trees in bloom.

When we were all walked out, it was time for the Metro back to the hotel, where I got to ride beside this guy who thought he was the coolest guy in the train.

Beautiful Day

2010-03-26T16:31:00.004-04:00

Last week, I was able to go outside and play with my new camera, snapping some shots of spring arriving (finally) to Wake Forest.

Spring means chalk time

2010-03-26T04:00:00.003-04:00

Daddy Afternoon

2010-03-21T16:14:00.004-04:00

After Pam's morning with the boys, it was my turn to have an afternoon out with them. Pam didn't get to sleep, she got to clean. I think I had the best of that deal.

Our first stop was Sonic because it was hot outside (finally). That ended in disaster as I spilled Wesley's slush all over him and the car. This made our second stop back home so he could change clothes and wipe the slush out of the car.

After we finally got going, we went down to Adventure Landing to play putt-putt. The boys had fun with that. When they paid attention to what they were doing, they did pretty well. When they didn't pay attention, it was a string of 5's and daddy helping to mercifully end the hole. The sun was blazing, so we were sweating after our 18 holes.

Next we went bowling, so we could be inside and cool off. The boys, especially Jeremiah, like Wii bowling, so I thought we would try the real thing. They really enjoyed it, especially Jeremiah.

Why did Jeremiah enjoy it so much? Take a look at who won.

That's right this little boy won.

In my defense the boys had the guard rails up when they bowled. But they had fun and Pam got to clean - successful afternoon for me.

Mommy Morning

2010-03-21T00:35:00.004-04:00

I haven't had much sleep this week, so Pam took the boys out for a "Mommy morning." They went to Waffle House for breakfast and then to a local park to walk & ride bikes. Here are some photos from this morning (courtesy of our new camera!).

Wesley gets a ticket

2010-02-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Wesley has had his share of problems at school. It's not that he doesn't know what is being taught. He has always been ahead of his grade level in almost everything (handwriting excepted). He has just always been talkative and unfocused.

In kindergarten, if they misbehaved in class, they got tickets. Unfortunately, Wesley got a lot of tickets. He followed that up with a similar year in first grade. The teachers always loved him and said he was extremely bright, but they just could not get him to stop talking and stay focused on his work. This year started out fairly similar, but he has really been making improvements since they started back after the Christmas break. Every day except one, he has gotten the best behavior marks he could.

Today, he said that he got a red ticket. When I heard that I was starting to be disappointed. I remembered all the tickets from kindergarten. I knew that this year, the worst possible behavior color is red. But before I could get too upset, he told me it was a good thing.

Apparently the teachers can give students who do really well a red ticket and that gives them a chance to win a prize on Friday if their name is called to the office. I just really proud of him for his improvement at school. I know his teacher is glad, too.

Earls Family Update

2010-02-08T16:11:00.003-05:00

Jeremiah awoke Sunday morning and he told me that he talked to God Saturday night and invited Him and Jesus to come and play in his room. He said, " I told them they could come and play and I didn't care if they made a mess."

Just adorable...

Wesley had another great week at school, he was out M-W but had to go Th, Fr and Sat. Jeremiah is now registered for k-5 next year. I am having a hard time getting my head around my baby starting school, he is growing up way too fast.

We are all doing great, Aaron has started his classes and I started mine (maybe bit off more than I can chew, we'll see). Please keep us in your prayers as our family goes through this semester.

Wesley shares his snack

2010-01-27T22:21:00.002-05:00

I love when Wesley "gets it," when he shows that Christ lives in him. We are so blessed with two great boys and they show it often.

At school the other day, a little girl did not have a snack. I'm not sure if her parents forgot to send her one or what was the reasons. Anyway, Wesley found out and instead of not doing anything about it or even telling the teacher, he just split his snack with her.

He told me about it on the ride home. Nothing gets me more excited and emotional than seeing or hearing about my boys doing something above and beyond - not just doing what they are supposed to do, but really showing special, showing God's love.

They don't always do the right thing (neither do I!), but so often they make me proud and, even more so, their Heavenly Father.

Boys with Christmas toys

2010-01-17T16:33:00.002-05:00

With the boys down at Nana & Papa's this past week, I've had to be content with Skyping with them and watching some videos I took after Christmas. Here they are with some of their new toys.

Wesley's Thanksgiving Poem

2009-11-25T17:26:00.002-05:00

Wesley wrote a poem for Thanksgiving at school. I guess the poems didn't have to rhyme, but I thought you might want to read it.

Thank You, God
Thank you, God for all that you gave me.
You gave me 5 senses.
You gave me eyes so I can see.
You gave me ears so I can hear.
You gave me a mouth so I can taste.
You gave me a nose so I can smell.
You gave me a face to put all of this stuff on.
You gave me hands so I can touch.
Thank you, God.
By: Wesley James Earls

He also drew a picture of God, I think, at the bottom. God has a big gold crown, a bald head with a big brown goatee. He is wearing a red shirt, blue jeans and a pair of black shoes, standing on, I think, clouds.

Anyway, I love the fact that Wesley thinks about spiritual things even when we are not around and even does things like that which we don't know about it. It encourages me that his faith is real and growing. Makes me thankful, not just today, but every day.

Musings on turning 30

2009-10-26T16:09:00.004-04:00

So today I am officially old. I can no longer call myself a 20-something. Thirty seems to be one of those milestone birthdays, so it caused me to think a little about life - past and future.

When I look back, I wonder how much did I really accomplish in the 30 years God has given me so far on the Earth. I can get a little discouraging studying Charles Spurgeon, who founded a college and built the largest megachurch the world had ever seen - all before he was 30.

How much time during those 30 years did I waste with things that have no real significance and will not last? How much more could I have accomplished for Christ if I had been more sold out? If I had been more concerned with what He thought about me and less concerned with what others thought of me? If I had been more passionately pursuing Him instead of lesser things? If had been chasing His holiness more than my sin?

But in the end, those years are gone ... whether I want them to be or not. They are spent. Some, maybe many, squandered wastefully. Hopefully, some spent in loving obedience to Christ. I have the time, how much ever it may be, He has planned to give me in the future, what will I do with that?

What is really sobering to me is to think about Jesus beginning His own earthly ministry at about my age. This was the time he was tested in the wilderness by Satan, baptized by John and preaching "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

I'm sure Jesus was an amazing 20-something, but God didn't see fit to tell us how Jesus lived then. He did give us a detailed look at 3 years of his life in his early 30's, my age. How much did Jesus accomplish during these years? How much can I accomplish in the time I have left here on Earth, whatever that may be?

I have been blessed with a great 30 years from God. Hopefully, I have a ton more to serve Him here. But regardless as I cross into the 30's, I'm trying to be even more aware that every year, every day, every minute is a gift from God that can only be spent once. I can use those gifts to glorify Him or I can try to greedily hoard them or throw them away on myself.

I'm grateful for the former years and genuinely excited for the adventure that He has waiting around the later years for me and my family.

Cleared to work

2009-10-21T16:57:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if this is good news or not, but ... the doctor cleared me to return to full work on Monday. He said my ankle was healing well and as long as I was not in pain, I could do my normal job.

Physical therapy people seem to be pleased with my progress as well. I have been doing my exercises there without my brace on to strengthen my ankle and leg muscles. I still have to wear my brace normally, but I'm thankful to have the improvement.

The boys are getting used to things going back to normal - Wesley in school, Jeremiah back at the babysitter. They have been really good this week considering how much change they have been through over the past few weeks.

Life without the boys

2009-10-14T15:30:00.001-04:00

Things are weird without the boys - eerily silent may be a way to describe it. Having them stay with Nana & Papa this week has definitely helped me out with all the stuff going on up here - car repair issues, doctors appointments, physical therapy, reading and exams. I also can sleep in the mornings not having to worry if Jeremiah has climbed on top of the washing machine to sneak some bubble gum and smear it into the carpet.

Having said all that ... I miss them. As much as I want to sleep in the mornings, I miss waking up to Jeremiah coming in the room and playing on the bed. As much as I enjoy having quiet, peaceful afternoons to get some things done for school, I miss Wesley telling me about his day at school and all the things he is learning.

I know they are having a great time this week. Pam and I are enjoying the break. But I still miss them. They are one of the reasons I get up in the morning and go to work at night.

Life is a lot easier without them here, but without them here life is not really life. I'm always thankful for the chance to spend time with just Pam and to get some extra school work done, but I always miss them and end up thinking about them a good bit. I can't wait to see them on Friday ... even though I know they will not feel the same. Nana and Papa's is a lot more fun than our house. ;)

Raining bananas

2009-10-14T01:44:00.002-04:00

Pam loves to use mixed metaphors, so I figured I'd use one in the title. It's a combination of "When it rains, it pours." and "Problems are like bananas, they come in bunches."

We've had a bit of a bad streak going on. First I had my injury at work. Just as that was starting to straighten out, I hit a deer coming home from work. After I got the repair and rental car scheduled, the van cut off on Pam while she was driving it on vacation. We had that fixed at a dealership at the beach, but on the way home it started jerking wildly to the left. It got so bad we pulled off to the side of the road and didn't trust it to go any further. We had the van towed to a Wal-Mart where (thankfully) they were able to fix it, as it was a torn belt inside of the tire which had knotted up and was causing the van to jerk. Today, Pam, following in my footsteps, fell at work. She's OK, just some scratches and a few bruises, but it just seems like it's one thing right after another.

I've heard a lot of people talk about spiritual warfare taking place when they were in seminary - how they would go through stretches where everything would go wrong, causing them to doubt their decision to go to school. I'm not sure if that is what this is, but I do know that God is sovereign and our job is to trust Him.

Spiritual warfare or not, the string of incidents does cause me to ask one very important question: What is God trying to teach us? That's what I really want to know - what is the lesson that we should draw from all of these small, but challenging problems?

I can't really complain about our lot in life, even if I thought I should. When you sit in class and you hear prayer requests about spouses, parents or children dying or jobs being lost or especially the lostness of the world, having my car break down is nothing. I have a loving, beautiful wife. I have two smart, healthy, wonderful little boys. Our family has two jobs and health insurance. We have two vehicles. I am able to attend a wonderful seminary with top-notch professors for free thanks to scholarships and grants. Most of I, I have Jesus. What more could I ask for?

Sure, it seems like it's "raining bananas" a little bit right now, but to mix another metaphor in: when life gives you bananas, make banana bread. Life is good because God is better.

At the beach

2009-10-04T00:58:00.002-04:00

We are enjoying some relaxing time at the beach. We will spend a few days with Pam's sister Patti and her little boy Norton (bro-in-law Stuart had to stay home).

Pam has some photos up on her Twitter. This is where I miss "my camera" from NGU. I loved to take pictures of the boys and of scenery, especially at the beach. I still think my mind works like a photographer or at least a graphic designer. I see things in terms of how nice it would look as a photograph. (We did have a pretty nice CoolPix but the lens messed up so we can't use it at all.)

On Monday, we are going down to Myrtle Beach to join my parents for some more vacation. My goal is to enjoy time away with the family and to get some reading and writing done. We'll see how that goes.

Ankle Update

2009-09-28T16:55:00.003-04:00

I just got back from my appointment at Cary Orthopedics and I guess the news is ... OK. I definitely do not have any breaks and I will not need surgery. All those are good things.

On the bad front, it is a confirmed grade 3 sprain. I tore two tendons off the ankle bone (one ripped a bone chip off with it). I'm still on work restrictions until my next appointment on Oct. 12 (thankfully one of those weeks will be vacation). I do have to go to physical therapy twice a week because the range of motion in my ankle is so limited.

They gave me a much better brace. It is a sports air cast, which is more form fitting and slides in my shoe better. It also gives me more support on the base of my ankle.

On the non-medical front, I'm moving around better. The swelling has gone down considerably. Only the outside of the ankle where the tendons ripped off is still swollen considerably. The bruising is going down. My foot and toes are starting to look a little more normal, not quite like the wild berry fruit roll-up I called them before.

That's the news for now. I don't have an appointment for physical therapy yet, but I'll post something about it as soon as I go there. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Update on my ankle

2009-09-18T19:52:00.004-04:00

I went for my check-up on my ankle yesterday, hoping to get work restrictions lifted. That didn't happen ... at all.

The doctor said that my sprain was a very severe sprain, which still doesn't sound like much. I mean I had sprains in high school playing basketball all the time. I just had to hobble around for a day or two and then everything was fine. Apparently, sprains get a lot worse than that.

From what I could gather the only thing that didn't go wrong with the Gatorade bottle I tried over was that I didn't break anything. Both doctors I have seen have mentioned Grade 3 sprains. From About.com:

Grade III ankle sprains are complete tears of the ligaments. The ankle is usually quite painful, and walking can be difficult. Patients may complain of instability, or a giving-way sensation in the ankle joint.

So yeah seems like I screwed up my ankle pretty good. The second doctor said she wanted to schedule an appointment with a foot/ankle specialists so they can do an MRI to see how much damage there is to the ligaments, tendons, etc. Then after all that I may have to do physical therapy. Physical therapy for an ankle sprain? That's exactly what I thought, but I guess when you mess up the ligaments you have to do some rehab work.

At work, I'm sitting down in front of a conveyor belt flipping small boxes and letters over so that the label is up, making it easier on the guys down the line to sort them. I also scan some of the boxes, which helps UPS make sure those boxes are making it to the right place. Basically, I'm doing busy work so that it does not count as a lost time injury for UPS.

At home, I'm sitting in a chair and crawling up stairs to the bed and the bathroom (Curse you upstairs bathroom!). Pam and the boys have had to help me get stuff and move. It's driving me nuts.

At school, I'm struggling across the campus on my crutches. I've got to take several breaks in between the trip because my foot starts to swell and hurt and my arms get tired.

I'm waiting to get a call about my when my appointment with the specialist will be. As soon as I found anything else I'll let you know.

Home Alone 3: Car Problems

2009-09-06T18:52:00.002-04:00

Well Pam and the boys are visiting Mama Rose, Grandpa and new baby niece Mattie. I'm here alone reading, watching football and sleeping. Hopefully, I can get ahead of the reading with everyone gone.

Unfortunately, both of our vehicles have been struck with some problems. My car's battery died and it is "leaking" power. Pam has it, so I hope she got it fixed.

The van has squealing brakes that are getting worse. I've talked to a seminary student here that will look at them for free and if need be, fix them for a good price.

I just hope we can get both vehicles running right.

I miss having both of the vehicles running well, but I miss my family more. Looking forward to them getting home tomorrow.

Playground fun

2009-08-19T21:40:00.004-04:00

The boys have been playing out on one of the playgrounds at our apartment.

While we were out there, we saw a baby deer that seemed a little confused about where he was. I always see deer around the apartment when I get in at night, but that was the first one I had seen in broad daylight. I hope it wasn't his daddy that smacked my car last year.

Wesley's birthday camping trip

2009-08-14T15:58:00.004-04:00

We have a ton of photos from Wesley's birthday trip to the Outer Banks. I will put some of them up here and try to get some of the others up later (here or somewhere else).

Our (kinda) new place

2009-08-01T22:47:00.003-04:00

Well it was new a few months ago, not so much any more, but for those who haven't had a chance to see our new townhouse-style apartment. Here are some photos Pam took.

Here are two photos of the living room. I had to crop Wesley so he would be decent. My children have no shame ... but the curtains Pam got look nice!

Here's the kitchen. It's a lot bigger than our last closet/kitchen.

Here's the bedroom with the new bed spread and curtains Pam got (notice a color theme?) along with the piece of art I made for Pam out of her grandmother's blanket that she was going to reluctantly going to get rid of because of the holes in it.

If you want to see it for real, feel free to come on over. Please call first though, so we can make sure the boys have clothes on.

Pool time

2009-07-18T23:49:00.002-04:00

Daily Earls Adventures

2009-06-13T20:36:00.002-04:00

I haven't had as much chance to post stuff here as I would like, however you can find out what is happening (at least from my perspective) at my Twitter page or you can check over to the right to see the most recent ones.

Hopefully, Pam will have some photos of our new apartment up soon. We have done a good bit more decorating in this place than the last.

Earls Update

2009-06-10T16:00:00.002-04:00

We are moved into our new apartment here in WF. (If you need our new address, email one of us and we will send it to you.) The boys like the new place - especially the stairs and the cable. Pam loves the new place - especially the bigger kitchen and the cable. I like the new place - especially the cable.

I've got my grades back from last semester. I'm a little disappointed in my B in Greek, but I'll take an A and two B's. I start Greek 3 next month. I'm hoping I can pull a B in there and then move on to Hebrew in the Fall. This time next year, I will be done with Greek and Hebrew.

Wesley is almost done with 1st grade. Jeremiah is doing good in the new place. After messing with an egg one of the first days we were here, he has stopped getting food out of the kitchen. Pam is still doing really well at work with possibly even more opportunity to move up in the future.

Daredevils: The Movie I and II

2009-05-28T19:38:00.003-04:00

Here is some long ago promised videos of the boys riding their bikes down the big hill behind our (soon-to-be old) apartment. No children were harmed during the filming of these videos ... I promise.

Swimming at Mama Rose & Grandpa's

2009-05-28T18:54:00.002-04:00

This past weekend and earlier this spring, the boys have enjoyed swimming in the pool at Mama Rose and Grandpa's new house. It was pretty cold this past weekend and the boys jumped in anyway [that's a link to a photo from Memorial Day].

A month late - JJ's bday

2009-05-26T13:07:00.003-04:00

With the end of the exam, blogging took a back seat. So now that I'm on break (for a month and moving in less than 2 weeks), I can put up some photos that have been waiting to be posted. Here are some from Jeremiah's birthday at our house - with his two new Wii games and a cupcake.

He started off really liking Wall•E and not really paying much attention to Mario Kart, now he wants to play it everyday.

Hopefully, it won't take a month to put photos up of Wesley's birthday in June. We'll see - Greek III starts in the beginning of July.

Famous Bros? Maybe one day

2009-05-05T16:22:00.003-04:00

Yes, it has been awhile. Tests, 18-page research papers and 300-page books tend to take up a lot of your time. But nonetheless, I wish I had been able to put up more stuff.

Here is some photos from Pam and the boys trip to the NC Outer Banks, where they learned all about another pair of brothers - the Wright Brothers - and their famous flight. Oh, and they also had fun at the beach. Pam has posted all of the photos at her Facebook page.

Monsters vs. Aliens vs. Mr. Incredible

2009-04-23T11:01:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah had a cartoon smackdown outside the other day with all his Monsters vs. Aliens toys along with Mr. Incredible.

One alien decided to be good and pick flowers for Mommy.

Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

2009-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

I can't believe Jeremiah is 4 years old today! It only seems like yesterday that Pam and I were flying to Greenville in the middle of the night. I was watching the NFL Draft worried about how in the world we were going to deal with two boys.

Every year when I hear talk about the NFL Draft, I know it's time for my little linebackers birthday.

Here's a photo from his first day and some from his first few days with big brother.

Dare devils to be sure

2009-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Here's some photos of the boys riding their bikes down the gigantic hill behind our apartment complex.

Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but videos are worth millions. You will have to settle for the thousand today. I will post some video of them riding down the hill later.

In Danger? Call Batman!

2009-04-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Notice the bold superhero stance, hands on hips ready to defeat bad guys where ever they may pop up.

In case Batman is not enough to defeat the evil villain, he always has his trusty sidekick ~~Robin~~, er Pumpkin Bear?

Fort Flaherty*

2009-04-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

The other afternoon, after me finally finishing up all my school work for the week, me and the boys went outside to play. They rode their bikes for awhile (dare devil pictures to come) and then we went in the woods, where we made a really cool fort.

*Flaherty is the name of our school housing area.

Nana and the boys

2009-04-19T15:28:00.002-04:00

This is from Easter when we went down and visited my family. The boys (especially Jeremiah) like to get up early in the morning. Nana is always up at that time, so they cuddle in the chair. I took this picture, so it was obviously NOT early in the morning.

Budding photographer

2009-04-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

I featured some of this up-and-coming photographer's work here on the blog before, but I awoke the other morning to yet another masterpiece. Somehow, his work almost always involves himself. I'm not sure what message his art is trying to convey, except to say "Daddy is asleep and I can do whatever I want."

Buttermilk Wesley

2009-04-17T20:52:00.003-04:00

Wesley accidentally knocked Papa's buttermilk out of the refrigerator and it exploded all over him. His only real comment was, "It kinda stinks." Heh.

It's Junior's Fault

2009-04-07T20:18:00.004-04:00

It's Junior's fault, he blacked the eye
I tried to stop him
He said he had to demonstrate his eye bopper.

The eye bopper worked just fine,
But bopped and made Jeremiah whine
It's Junior's fault, he blacked the eye, it's true!
And that's the tale I have to tell to you.

Junior got tossed onto the bed with Jeremiah (he had brought all his blankets and stuffed animals into the living room). Unfortunately, Junior's hard plastic eyes hit JJ in his eye. Junior won.

Jeremiah doing his yoga

2009-04-06T19:50:00.002-04:00

On the WiiFit, there is some yoga poses/exercises. Jeremiah has been doing those some. He has shown off his yoga at the babysitters a couple of times.

More help is on the way

2009-04-02T22:07:00.002-04:00

I just found out today that the foundation that has basically paid for my seminary education so far, also gives money for summer school. Greek Exegesis, here I come! Sounds exciting, I know.

Passed 'em all

2009-04-01T15:32:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, Pam found out that she passed her last test required test at work. You have to take and pass (90 or above) 15 tests in a set time period in order to keep your job. Pam passed all of them very quickly. There are still people who were hired well before Pam who are trying to pass them all.

She gets an automatic (small) raise for that, plus it makes her eligible for other performance based raises. She can also go on now to take more test, get more raises and move up the ladder at the credit union.

I still remember when we first moved up here with no jobs and no prospects, the Raleigh News and Recorder top headline said, "Job forecast down" (or something similar). I told Pam, in one of my few moments of inspired faith, "We need to buy this, so we can look back at how much God blessed us."

Even though we didn't buy it, I still remember that and I still look back (and forward) at how God has blessed us so much, not only with jobs but in all the other ways as well.

But it hurts

2009-03-27T08:30:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah is visiting Nana and Papa this week (he and Wesley will swap places next week). So while we're not seeing him up here, I thought I would put a picture up of him.

He and Wesley went out into the woods to "hunt for treasure." One place where they went had some briers and JJ pricked his finger on one. It was the end of the world and desperately needed a band-aid.

You can see just how bad it was with this picture. Look at that sad face behind that massive wound.

Employee of the Month

2009-03-26T12:01:00.000-04:00

As much as I don't feel like driving to work while normal people are going to sleep, UPS has been a good job for me and it has great benefits. I try to think about doing my job for the glory of God, but anyway ...

Our belt won Belt of the Week for our shift two weeks in a row (we would have won three weeks in a row if our supervisors would have turned in some safety evaluations). We won our supervisor a nice fleece pullover because we had so few misloads (boxes loaded into the wrong truck).

Personally, I haven't had a misload on our belt in over a month. Three weeks ago, I had one misload on another belt because they keep pulling me from my belt to work other belts when they are missing workers and are backed out. I guess for a lot of those reasons and because I never call in to work, I was named Employee of the Month for February.

Pam has been doing well in her job, as well. Her boss is putting her in charge of things before others because she does so well. She has passed all but one of her tests (to pass you have make over a 90) and she is waiting to hear if she passed that one (she took it a few weeks ago).

I look back and simply have to praise God for giving us these jobs in the midsts of a horrible economy. It is encouraging to see Him honor our obedience. It provides reassurance that we are following Him.

I'm still counting down the days to when I don't have to work the midnight shift anymore. ;)

Dear President Obama

2009-03-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

At school, Wesley was learning about famous Americans including Presidents. Their class wrote fill in the blank letters to President Obama. When I read it in the car after picking him up, I almost cried. When I showed it to Pam, she did cry (then she took it to work and made multiple copies and has been handing them to people like political flyers).

Hopefully, this means we are doing something right. Here is his letter.

Dear President Obama,
I can do a lot to make America great! I can build more church's. I can also tell people to pray 5 times a day. I think it would be great if I tell people to move here. Most of all I can tell more people about Jesus. That's how I can make America great!
Sincerely,
Wesley Earls

As long as he didn't put "toward Mecca" after the praying 5 times a day, I think this is the greatest letter possibly to send to President Obama or any one else.

End of the season

2009-03-25T20:55:00.003-04:00

Wesley ended his basketball season this past weekend. It was probably his best game all year. Nana and Papa stayed around and got to watch it, so I guess Wesley wanted to show off.

He didn't score, but he did have three rebounds, two steals and several really good passes. He also played some great defense and hustled up and down the court the whole game. His team won 23-6. It looked like a #1 seed versus a #16 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The game before last, they handed out medals. They told Wesley that he made the longest shot of the season. His one goal all year long was the longest score.

Everybody was excited. Wesley has been wearing the medal around the house like his Michael Phelps ... well let's not use that comparison ... like he is an Olympic gold medalist. But I think the most excited was Jeremiah.

Next up for Wesley once summer comes is runner's camp. The boy loves to run. Pam signed up for one in his age group that is run through a local church.

Personification of cuteness

2009-03-17T14:51:00.001-04:00

Not many can resist the power and allure of The Cuteness. Behold, the most adorable spelling of a name EVER.

Playing outside and studying Greek

2009-03-14T23:03:00.004-04:00

My first day of Spring Break - snowing. My last day of Spring Break - 70. Middle of this week - sunny and 80. End of this week - 40 and rainy. During that window of nice weather, I took the boys outside to play. Here's some photos.

What was I doing while all this fun and excitement was going on? I was going through my big, fat stack of Greek vocabulary cards before my two tests this past week.

Gospel-centric parenting

2009-03-08T15:13:00.003-04:00

Or I could say Grace-centered or Christ-focused, but however you want to phrase it, I heard a great way to do it from a chapel service.

Mark Driscoll was preaching about the differences between religion and the Gospel. He gave an example of how he tries to delineate that for his five kids.

God's grace says that He loves us regardless of our obedience. However, our love for Him should flow into obedience. Religion says that we can please God and earn His love by obeying Him.

Driscoll said that when he talks about obedience with his children he always first asks them, "How much does Daddy love you?" To that they respond by saying, in essence, a lot. (When I did this with Wesley, he said "Ten bunches." ;) Whatever that means.)

After they verbalized their understanding of how much he loved them. He asked them, "So if Daddy loves you that much, should you disobey or obey me?"

I loved that! It perfectly illustrates God's love for us and the best way we can respond to that love. He does not hand out his love based on our performance. We don't (or shouldn't) do that with our children. We love them because they are ours. We want them to obey because we are trying to help them develop into the adults God created them to be.

When their obedience is seen as a result of our (and their) love instead of a requirement for our love, it reaffirms them and reinforces the concepts of the Gospel and God's love for us.

More silliness at the IMB

2009-03-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here are the boys and Jackson acting silly again.

Earls Adventures travels to ... the IMB

2009-03-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Weekend before last, all of us traveled up to Virginia with some others from our church to visit the International Mission Board (IMB). It was really exciting to hear how God is at work around the world in the midsts of peoples who have never heard His name.

Hopefully, it stirred a passion in our family to be obedient to God in however He would like to use us to glorify His name around the world. I hope the boys have God's heart for the peoples of the world.

In case you haven't noticed it on this blog, to the right side, you can see a people group that is considered unreached (less than 2% know of Jesus).

Here are some of the photos from the trip. (For some others, including a good one of Wesley and Jeremiah, you can visit Kelly's blog)

This is a painting in the chapel of the IMB.

One of the directors at the IMB was a big hunter and had wild game heads all over his office. One lucky warthog had a KrispyKreame hat on.

This is one of my favorite pictures - Wesley looking at a map of the world with people from those different regions with the phrase "That All Peoples May Know Him."

Jeremiah showing off his Googly the Monkey button. The boys loaded up with stuff - books, stickers, DVD's, etc. Those are things I don't mind because they continue to remind them of God's mission and their part in it.

Wesley and JJ standing outside of the IMB, with Wesley pointing out his favorite island (Borneo).

Pam talked me and the boys into eating at an Indian restaurant with a bunch of others from our group. While I'm not exactly craving some more anytime soon, we did find some things we could eat.

Wesley liked the chicken.

On the trip, the boys got to know some friends from the church a little better - especially Jackson. Here all three of them are acting silly.

More snow scenes

2009-03-02T15:51:00.006-05:00

Here's some more shots from last night. I used a couple different settings on the camera, so you see a few different things.

Snow Day ... in March?!?

2009-03-02T15:32:00.003-05:00

On my first day of Spring Break from classes, me and the boys played in the snow. That's just weird. Even though they keep saying we might get it, I didn't think it would happen. I was confronted with the reality of the snow last night when I had to drive home with about an inch on the roads. After all of it finished falling early this afternoon, we probably ended up with five inches or so.

This is a shot of the snow last night when I got in from work. If you look carefully, you can see mine are the only tire tracks out in the snow. My car is the one right under the branches - last one in the row on the left.

Here's some shots from our playing outside today.

When we got inside we had Nerd flavored snowcream. We've still got a lot of snow left, Wesley had the idea of using our slushie flavors to add to the snow. Great idea! We are going to try that later.

Banged up by Brown

2009-02-26T17:31:00.003-05:00

I've got a rather nice (or not so nice) stretch of injuries from UPS going right now. Previously, I had the normal wear and tear, bumps and bruises. These past two weeks I've taken some pretty painful shots.

Last week, I dropped a 60+ pound long box on my pinkie toe. It has been killing me since then. It might be broken, but there's nothing that can be done for it regardless. There no use in paying a doctor to tell me whether it is or isn't. It just hurts.

Tuesday night (really Wednesday morning, but it was dark, therefore night), I almost got a great trip to the ER. As accident prone as I have been over my life, I haven't been to the emergency room in awhile. That streak just about stopped when I reached down to pick up a box.

I was loading with another guy in a fairly busy truck. It had slacked off for a second so I went to the back of the truck to pick up a box lying near the wall. When I reached down to grab, I knew my finger started hurting really bad. I looked at my finger and saw a piece of the wooden wall lodged under my fingernail.

A loose piece about the size of the base of a fork prong had been sticking out a little and when I reached down to pick up the box, it went under my nail, past the base of it.

My boss told me to go up to the office to see if they had some tweezers. As I was walking up there, I began to have cold sweets and start feeling light-headed. When I got to the office I told them what happened. I asked if I could sit down. The next thing I remember, they were asking me questions and I'm wondering why I couldn't move my arms and my face was smushed on the desk. I had passed out - for the first time in several years.

When I woke up (I don't think I was out for long), I sat there, trying to collect myself and dig at the splinter for about an hour. That had to be the most painful thing I've ever felt. They told me if I couldn't get it out then they had to take me to the ER. I was praying that God would let me get that thing out.

Eventually, they got some finger nail clippers and I was able to cut my already short nail (bitting nails - bad habit) down enough to grab the tip of the piece of wood with a pair of needle noose pliers and jerk it out. That whole night is a bit of a blur, like a dream or more specifically a bad dream.

Right now on my left side, I have a throbbing toe and foot (from walking strange to compensate for the hurt toe) and a very tender finger. Ahh, the life of a manual laborer. Have I said yet that I miss my desk? ;)

Scenes from our world

2009-02-25T12:01:00.000-05:00

Here's just a collection of photos from our family's life in recent days.

Jeremiah's curls are back now. It didn't take them long to come back after a too short (and too expensive) haircut.

100 Days of School, 100 Pennies. To celebrate their 100th day of first grade, Wesley and his classmates had to bring in something that was 100. Wesley decided to make a fish out of 100 pennies.

Wesley may look like his daddy, but apparently Jeremiah loves the camera like his daddy. The main difference being, Jeremiah likes to be both behind and in front of the camera. I'm not sure how he took this photo of himself, but this is one of the 20 or so I found on the camera one morning last week.

Greatest food ever. Pam found a recipe of bacon-wrapped, fried macaroni and cheese. Yes it is as good and as fattening as it sounds. One of my new favorite foods!