MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

"Action"..."Take Five"...

So, one of my goals for 2005 was to get more involved with my hobby...short film making. Church work and family life can be so overwhelming that there is no time for me to develop skills or have fun in other areas. So, I set out to expand at least this one fun area of my life. I took some great strides this year with this little hobby. Deep down inside there is a budding documentary film maker learking. I was able to make a number of fun short segments for our church (baptisms, land dedication, "man-on-the-street" videos, etc.).

I also took on a bigger project this Fall that took me about a month and a half to complete, one of my longest attempts yet. I made a documentary film, 58 minutes, of "The story of Cade and Dominique". I tried to tell it in third person, with personal interviews included. It was a good try and ended up being my anniversary present to Dominique for putting up with me the last ten years. The hardest part was trying to keep it a secret from Dom until the time of rendering and production. If nothing else we now have documented video history of how it all began for our kids to have in the future.

Last week I watched "The March of the Penguins". What a magnificant documentary and love story. It got me to thinking of new project ideas, maybe next on my plate will be "The Tantrums of a Ten Month Old" or "The Silly Saying of a Seven Year Old". Lucas and Spielberg had to start somewhere.

living in the moment

On Tuesday night I took our oldest two boys with me over to Prince of Wales Island to the town of Hollis. The father of a friend of mine passed away, so we went to the memorial service. It was a three hour ferry ride and I was a little nervous about taking the two boys, but am so glad I did. It was a celebration of a man's life that had an amazing impact on his four sons and their friends. I left feeling completely inspired. The legacy of being a good, strong, Godly father was so evident in his son's lives that it made me want to be that to my sons. I appreciated the fact that all of his sons could see the significant contrabution their dad had made in their lives. It was nice to see and hear younger men giving honor to and recognizing their fathers effort to encourage them and support them - all in different ways. The other thing I will take away from this trip is the power of living in the moment. Where ever I am and what ever I am doing to do it as best i can in that very moment. No more thinking about it or planning for it or dreaming about it, but to just do it in that very moment.

Sprouting with joy

Tonight was the night to try brussel sprouts for the first time.
What did we think of them?

Noah:
"chhhhaaak"
Which i think means "yuck" in 7 year old language, the expression on his face and hands around the neck said it all.

Brock:
"ummm good"
With an actual smile on his face (that's my boy).

Charlie:
"zzzzzzzzz"
She was asleep on the couch at the time, we'll ask her when she wakes up.

Simon:
"mmmmmmmm"
Not only did he eat them, but also is wearing them.

Dom:
"Much better than I remembered them."
I think that was because she was the one cooking them.

Cade:
"No comment"
I plead the fifth.

If you have not done it today, try something new! Even if it means testing out the sprout.

Timmmmberrrrrrrr!

Felt like Clark Wilhelm Griswold Jr. today - one of those challening days only the holidays offer. After breaking glass ornaments on our carpet, fighting with strings of lights that don't work (not sure they ever did), and having our Christmas tree fall over on little Charlie and flood our living room floor, I'm about done with Christmas already. I should have known, it being a Monday and all. My boys were the ones to hold us all together though; they were smiling though the whole debacle. After everything was said and done Noah had the insight (i mean guts) to ask me "Dad, where did all your holiday spirit go?" Classic, I couldn't help but smile, on the outside anyway, at that one. So, after many unpleasant words uttered under my breath and after pulling out plenty of pine needles and glass schards from my socks and hair we have successfully resurrected our tree, with ornaments, and strung the lights (new ones - again - from Wally's World). If you're wondering, don't worry, Charlie thought it was so cool the tree actually fell completely over and water was soaking her feet she didn't feel the need, or forgot, to cry.