Photo Friday Frenzy - 66

Category: Camping

Instructions: Vote on your favorite two photos. You have from Friday (today) until Monday morning to make your selection.

Place votes here ===============================>

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Good Advice!

I call top bunk!

Mind. Blown.

Incooooommmiiiinnng!

Nobody here but us swans!

Star Trek Camping

VW Tent

Parting the fishing hole!

What's Your Excuse? 4.0

We all have them. EXCUSES! Reasons why we can't accomplish something.

Reason why we can't:

• Travel
• Lose Weight
• Earn More
• Have extra time
• Vacation
• Improve our skills
• Better our situation
• Eat right
• Exercise
• And many more...

This series exists to hopefully help you and I both stop making excuses. For today's post, I present Joe Salter.  As if competing in a triathlon isn't difficult enough, this man ambitiously decided to juggle during the entire event.  Yes, this means he juggled while swimming, biking, and running.  It seems a bit odd but there is something pretty incredible about it as well!  Enjoy and STOP making excuses!

Photo Friday Frenzy - 65

Category: Kids Athletics

Instructions: Vote on your favorite two photos. You have from Friday (today) until Monday morning to make your selection.

Place votes here ===============================>

Mobile Phone Users - Click HERE to see & vote on the poll.

Click on images to enlarge them.

Foot/Eye Coordination

PeeWee Baller

Grampa ain't playin!

Sucker Punch!

Now I'll never get a sponsor!

Move over Tiger. I got this!

When you suddenly rethink Karate lessons!

Helloooo Ladies!

Today's Mailbag 16.0

Texas Beer Joint Sues Local Church

A bar called Drumond's (in Mt Vernon, Texas) began construction on an expansion of their building, hoping to "grow" their business.

In response, the local Southern Baptist Church started a campaign to block the bar from expanding - petitions, prayers, etc.  About a week before the bar's grand re-opening, a bolt of lightning struck the bar and burned it to the ground!

Afterward, the church folks were rather smug - bragging about the power of prayer.  The angry bar owner eventually sued the church on the grounds that the church..."was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, through direct actions or indirect means."

Of course, the church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise.

The judge read carefully through the plaintiff's complaint and the defendant's reply.  He then opened the hearing by saying:

"I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but it appears from the paperwork that what we have here is a bar owner who now believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not."

If you have any material for Today's Mailbag, please submit it to capturedimage@hotmail.com

The Great Devourer

The Great Devourer on Ninjago

Yes...for a third day in a row I come to you asking for opinions and advice.  Not because I don't have my own plan of action but more-so to compare notes and see how you are handling a particular issue in your home.  And if you seem to have a better handle on something, I might "barrow" the strategy for our sake and give you the thanks in exchange.

So here is one that has been on my mind now for a while.  When do you start telling your children about EVIL?  Christian or not, there are some very gruesome aspects of our world that at some point will become a blip on your child's radar.  It's especially challenging for Christians like myself however, when we have a world view that includes a spiritual realm that explains the physical state of things & people.  Much like the Garden of Eden, possessing the knowledge of good and evil has its pitfalls.  A bit of innocence is lost and perhaps an unhealthy fear is realized.  I know from my early childhood that I would have nightmares of something evil chasing me around my backyard.

But equipping kids with the knowledge of what is out there is the beginning of discernment.  Case in point, my son Michael and I have the following conversation just a couple weeks ago:

Me: What did you do at school today?

Michael: At recess we played chase.  But the person chasing us was not called "it" they were called The Great Devourer.

Me: (With concerned interest) What is The Great Devourer (1 Peter 5:8 enters my mind)

Michael: A character on Ninjago that is the Bad Guy

Me:  What does he look like?

Michael: A really scary snake.

Me: Do you know what devour means?

Michael: No

Essentially my son has naivly told me that they are pretending the person that is "it" is Satan.  For Christians like myself this is not the way we desire a game of chase to be executed.  So now I have the unique challenge of explaining the word devour and what the snake represents and why I don't think that kind of pretending is a good idea OR...I can let it go and let his naivete rule the day.

And again, even if you are not a Christian, you know these names and references and at a bare minimum realize that Satan is the symbolic personification of the ultimate expressions of evil.  Most parents, no matter the world view would probably not love the idea.  Where we may differ of course is in the reaction and explanation.  But forget the specifics of this scenario for a moment and instead answer this question from its broadest angle.

When and how do you as parents talk to your children about our world and the evil it contains?

Paranoid Society

Yesterday I vented my frustrations over being asked to limit the way in which I filmed my children during Field Day.  The not-so-subtle implication was "tun the camera off" but in effort to stay cordial the impossible request that I only film my kids and not let anyone else enter the frame was proposed.  As is normally the case, my venting allowed the steamy buildup caused by this situation to release and therefore put me back in a relative state of happy.

But then commentary began and it gave birth to the realization of larger problems.  This is just a symptom of our paranoid, pansy society and other examples are endless.  You need only be born a few generations ago to see it.  We rode in the back of pickup trucks, rarely wore seat belts, never wore helmets on bicycles, won or lost sports competitions, stayed outside until dark with NO supervision, and played tackle football...in THE STREET.  We have scars that tell a story of a time when paranoia didn't rule the day...where kids like me could go anywhere we wanted so long as I could hear my dad's whistle to return home.

However, before I give you the impression that I am some lone rebel trying to recreate these experiences for my kids, I must make a confession.  I go outside and supervise the kids.  They can't run anywhere in the neighborhood and just know to come in when the street lamp comes on.  They wear seat belts and helmets.  Their only experience in the back of a pickup has been in one that sits idle with the ignition turned off.  I must go further and confess something even crazier.  I prefer it this way to some extent.  Obviously as yesterday's rant implies, I have a limit in which I call foul and demand for a day where we return to some semblance of rationale.  But there is a parental part of me that is glad that our kids are more protected than we were.  In some ways its a miracle we survived.  Its not like head injuries, horrific car accidents, or child predators just became a reality.

No, these dangers have been around for ages.  If anything it makes me think WHY in the world my folks let me get away with so much!  So here I sit precariously dangling between a childhood that I would never trade and a parental responsibility to deal with the reality of our world and the dangers it has in store for my kids.  What is one to do?  How do you obtain balance? I for one am tired of letting paranoia rule the day.  But where is the line?

Field Day Rant



Michael with Somebody he knows.

Mackenzie with unknown classmates.

I excitedly arrive at my kids school to watch them participate in their first Field Day.  Memories of my own experiences bring a smile to my face as I spot Michael & Mackenzie decked out in their special shirts.  Tug of War just ended and Mackenzie has a look of disappointment on her face.  She certainly inherited my passion for competition and displeasure for losing.  I guess that means I cannot get too upset with her about it but I give her some words of encouragement and ask her to lift her chin and smile.  After all the next event is about to begin.

I conduct "on-camera" interviews with both kids and a few of their closest friends about how the day is going.  Then it happens.  Like a hawk stalking its prey, I am ambushed and given "the speech". 

"Excuse me, sir.  We would like to ask that any video you take be only of your own children.  So please zoom in so that none of the other students appear in the frame and do NOT publish any of the videos on Facebook, Youtube, or any public sites!"

What kind of horrible, litigious-minded, lawsuit-happy people have we become?  Have we really come to a point where I need to walk around getting parents to sign a release just so I can film my children having fun, playing sports, or accomplishing their goals?  This is a PUBLIC SCHOOL and we are in a PUBLIC situation are we not?  Is there an expectation of privacy?  Is this against school policy or the law?  My guess is neither.  I am placing all bets on this being a PC move intended to protect the school and administration from any potential backlash.

Either way I put the obvious, shiny-silver video camera down and elected to mostly take IPhone pics.  I did get a few short videos of the kids on the phone but my mojo and excitement for capturing the moment had been smashed.  Perhaps the most frustrating thing about it was not knowing who to blame.  I certainly don't blame the messenger.  So how did we get to this point?  What would you have done?  Am I alone in this frustration?

And don't get me started on how EVERYONE was a winner and no blue ribbons were handed out!