our gardening this year has been rather nominal: Caleb and I bought some plants (4 tomatoes, 2 cukes), dug some holes, put out a soaker hose, and pretty much ignored everything ever since. so I figured we wouldnt have great success, especially since I didnt clear the weeds too well when we started, but the veggies are starting to trickle in. so here are the kids rather excited about our first harvest. we enjoyed them with dinner, having a wonderfully ironic contrast of fresh garden veggies and hot dogs (when mama’s not around for dinner, daddy often scrounges)

we took the kids to see Wall-E this past weekend…the first time we all went to a movie together. Caleb isn’t into loud or scary things, but this one seemed to be free of too much fright. there were a couple times with the loud spaceships that he would literally tremble (he was on my lap the whole time) and then jump a little with a loud noise, but overall he really liked it. he said his favorite part was when they were dancing together, and I’d have to agree with him…a very sweet moment. we always love animated stuff, and this one was as good as advertised.

I’ve been realizing lately that I’m not a very good conversationalist. this is actually nothing new. I enjoy being around people, but all too often I never know what to say, and sometimes it drives me crazy. the same goes with Michelle, whom I love dearly but all to often do not communicate to well with.

we’ve been discussing such things, and recently I decided to have “question time.” usually over dinner, in order to get a little conversation started, I’ll come up with a question for her. sometimes the questions aren’t very serious, and really anything goes. it’s been good to get to know eachother a little better, as I’ve realized how complacent I’ve been in this area. the kids have joined in too, so I hope they can learn to be a better conversationalist than I am.

for a long time Alice had pretty much no hair. of course she was still the cutest kid around, but we wondered just when she’d start growing a little hair. Caleb, you may recall, had a big bushy head of curls, and still does when we let it grow out.

but in the past year, Alice has more than caught up, and her super-curly locks are quite a conversation piece whenever we go out. I love to watch her run around becayse the curls bounce so much. so here’s a pic of our curly girl throwing a rock on our little hike last week.

the picture also illustrates her most favorite color: pink! she is into everything pink and purple and it’s so cute to see her be so girly. she loves her dolls, and loves taking care of them and putting them to sleep. she’s also been into snuggling more lately which is a lot of fun. we think that she’ll really love having a new baby in the house (once she gets over the shock of less attention). she and Caleb have been having a good time playing together a lot lately. of course sometimes they spar a little, as he likes to control everything and she often wont put up with it (and she knows how to push his buttons). but especially when they’re on their own a little they’ve figured out how to have a good time together.

I’ve been trying to take the kids out on “daddy dates” more lately. it started with taking one of them grocery shopping. it does us all good to get out of the house, and it’s fun doing activities with them. but groceries are a little mundane even if it is nice to have some individual time with them. so last month it was Lookouts games: one week I took Caleb by himself (while Alice stayed home to have a tea party with mama) and the next week it was Alice’s turn (while mama and Caleb had a “nature walk” through the neighborhood).

tonight I had an evening with both of them and I decided to go for a little hike down the Glen’s Falls trail. we all thoroughly enjoyed our time together, and we’d take turns pointing out things we would see: little flowers, rocks, sticks, boulders, bugs, leaves, trees, an empty bird egg, and one of the most beautiful birds I’ve ever seen. we came upon a very large fallen tree across the trail, and near it there was a small pool of water, and a Scarlet Tanager was bathing in it, so we all got a good look at him splashing around. and scarlet is quite right: he was the brightest red I’ve ever seen in a bird, and it was a little dim in the woods. anyway, I’m usually pretty quiet in general, but I try to point out all the beautiful stuff around us when I’m with the kids in such a setting. it’s cool to hear them take the cue and start pointing out stuff themselves.

once we got down to the “falls” it was a very small trickle, due to the generally dry weather of course. but there was a small pool at the bottom, and the kids took right to throwing rocks into the water, which they could have done for hours I’m sure. it was getting dark so we made our way very slowly back up, and the kids took turns being carried and/or refusing help altogether, depending on the mood of the moment. it’s safe to say we all had a great time, and it’s so cool to have such a place so close to home.

update: I’ve been writing songs lately so I was inspired to put down this song.

it’s been a good day of family time. mama’s feeling a bit better recently, so she was more herself today. she took this as a good sign (which it is of course) but then got a little carried away and overdid it a little. this is completely normal, by the way, so we’re not too worried.

anyway, the kids and I were talking about seasons during lunch (warm in summer — like today!, cold in winter). Caleb’s in the “why?” stage a lot, so he was asking why a lot, and it soon came down to “because God made it that way” as it often does.

that got him thinking about heaven, and he came out with: “can I bring my stuffed animals to heaven?” there’s so much to this little question that I love, but I had to tell him no, we cant take toys to heaven, but it will be so wonderful there — we’ll be with God! — that we wont mind. he seemed to be OK with the compromise.

today we otherwise had a blast in the little kiddie pool and got a few things done around here. by the way, if anyone is looking for pictures and such on the family website, I’m in the process of moving them to flickr.com since the old family site has been feeling under the weather. it may take a while but hopefully we’ll keep up with posting more once we’re moved over.

about a month ago I wrote a whole bunch of songs (with words), almost at once. that was a lot of fun, but almost just as suddenly I stopped. I actually remember feeling one day “it’s gone” although that may be a self-fulfilling prophesy. anyway, I still try to pick out ideas and work on them, but just this week it seems like the muse is back. I wrote a bunch about/for Michelle: Mystery, Love Me Too, Be My Nancy and another old Chattanooga story: Ed Bass.

most still need some work, but they’re getting there. I’ve got tunes in my head for all of them, and a draft recorded for the first, but nothing worth hearing yet. it’s a little weird to put them out there just as lyrics, b/c it seems rather mediocre poetry without it being set to music, but oh well. I guess the sweet spot for a good song is that it reads great without music. perhaps someday I’ll get there.

I’ve been learning in lots of ways that I need more and more humility. some of this has been quite significant, and it’s an ongoing process. as pastor Cal said Sunday (I’ll paraphrase)…why do I try to do so much of this life on my own, without seeking God? because deep down I think I CAN DO IT. wrong!

some of the stories about this are too long and involved and ongoing, but here’s a quick one from work. the project I’m usually working on here is rather large. lots of hands in the pot, and it’s a continuing project that’s gone on for years (there’s at least 4 updates a year). so I was called on to fix a small bug. no problem. I got it fixed quickly and easily, but that caused another problem that wasnt so quick and easy. so I dug in to the layers upon layers of complexity. and when I see how a couple things were done a while ago, I start thinking stuff like:

what the heck? why would someone do it this way? it makes no sense! crazy stupid people! why wont my fix work?!

and then I stumble upon what my problem really was. it wasnt that someone else made some screwed up code that couldnt accomodate an issue like mine. it wasnt that this system is so overly-complex that it needs to be scrapped and re-engineered. it wasnt that whoever made this page didnt know what they were doing. no.

it was because I didnt see one very small piece of code that I was missing: return;

if this is what it means to be a republican in Tennessee, count me out. I highly doubt I’ll vote for Obama because of some of his policies and such, but such foolishness is, well, foolish.

sports fans are well aware of the most recent Mitchell Report, which detailed the use of steroids and such in major league baseball. a significant event in sports, no doubt.

but I recently became aware of the OTHER Mitchell Report, which had far more significance in “real” life. did you know it was the same Senator Mitchell who helped broker the Northern Ireland peace talks? (he also produced another Mitchell Report on the conflict in the middle east)

since I’m visiting Ireland and don’t remember much about the history, I got Mitchell’s book from the library and found it to be a good read. it was often overwhelming just reading his overview, so I can hardly imagine living it for years on end. in the book it seemed like he was trying to put the best face on all sides of the issue (which was certainly his job when he was chairman of the talks), but that’s understandable considering that the peace that was made was still pretty fresh when the book was written. considering the long and terrible history of the conflict, it is rather amazing that an agreement was made.

so it was a good read, and it made me a little sad that Mitchell will likely be more remembered for this foolishness in baseball as opposed to his contributions to (among other things) the Northern Ireland peace process.