Wednesday, December 19, 2007

A Very Disney Christmas


Disneyland at Christmastime is something to see. You have to be impressed with the amount of work that goes into changing over the whole park. Lights and ornaments are everywhere. In some cases, the industrious Disney drones have given complete makeovers to popular attractions. The Haunted Mansion, for instance, is now "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas' The Haunted Mansion." I can't even imagine the number of man hours involved in the Yuletide transformation.

And therein lies an important difference between men and women. I walked around with a dropped jaw, amazed at how much work had been done. Lisa and James enjoyed the pretty lights. I think they were better off than me.

We had a great time, overall. The qualification is due to the stresses of doing anything with a six-year-old boy. Here's a question to those of you familiar with six-year-old boys: Do they ALL climb on everything? 'Cause I remember being six, but I don't remember all the climbing. And hanging. And jumping. And there is a great deal to climb on/hang from/jump over in The Magic Kingdom (tm).

Our boy has been a bit of a challenge lately, thus the easy choice of making Greg the winning entrant in the last contest. There really are times that shipping him off in a box seems like the right thing to do, the sane thing to do.

Congrats are due here to Randy, so confident of his status that he didn't even need to submit an entry there at the end. Randy, you are hereby granted the title "Caption Master." Honors and privileges already at the age of forty......something.

(Which reminds me that my current favorite line in "A Christmas Story" is: "Then you used up all the glue...on PURPOSE!")

We are working hard as parents to correct our boy's oft-errant behavior while simultaneously keeping our heads from exploding. It's exhausting work, but we are plowing through it. And, no, it's not the climbing/hanging/jumping. We accept that as the nature of the beast. It's the defiance/disobedience/tantrum-throwing that is more the problem. But it's a phase right? Please tell me it's just a phase.

Because we have plenty of boxes. And we know most of your addresses.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Caption Contest #6

Here it is! The final entry in the Great Caption Contest of 2007. The score so far: Randy 2. Sandra 1. Mystery Mase (Laser, is that you?) 1. And Wendy 1.


Before I continue, some serious props to Cecil, Greg, Judy, Carolyn, Blake, and Holly (did I miss anyone?). There are some serious funny bones out there. That made no sense. Let me try again. There are some hilarious bones out there! That's not better. You get my drift. You guys crack me up.



And so here's your last chance. Will somebody step up and tie the recalcitrant Randy? Will he score 3 out of 6 and make it a runaway? Or will there be a new name on the winner's list?



We leave tomorrow for the Magic Kingdom, so the results won't be posted until Tuesday. You have that long to find your hilarious bone. With that:




"OK, I promise not to do it again ... PLEASE don't send me away!"

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Caption Contest #5

And it's Mase with the winning entry, just under the wire!

I really liked the "bat breath," but then I liked the "spider breath" comment just as well, so mom and daughter cancel each other out, much like two Academy Award nominees from the same film.

Randy doth protest too much.

And with two days left until Christmas Vacation, I refuse to let Cecil remind me of teacher-type stuff.

It should be a wild and wacky three weeks off. It begins with a trip to Disneyland, cruises through a couple of sermons and holiday celebrations, and winds up with getting my wisdom teeth pulled before the end of the year. So there's that to look forward to.

And this:



"Ve haff vays uf makkink yu blog."

Monday, December 10, 2007

Caption Contest #4

Yesterday, we ordained three new elders of the College Church. The message of the day was one of servant leadership. The five incumbent elders washed the feet of the three new ones. Our children wished them God's blessings through song. They were charged to lead through their own example. And during a sweet time of fellowship and invitation, the entire church went to all of our elder couples and briefly encouraged them.

After all of that emotion, we had a wonderful Communion together. The elders and their wives passed the emblems among the body and afterwards, went to the front of the auditorium where, joined by their families, they faced the church as they sang "The Lord Bless You and Keep You."

Not a dry eye, I tells ya.

It should be pointed out that the church didn't bat an eye as husbands and wives passed Communion. There was a time that this would have caused an uproar (for reasons which remain odd and cloudy to me). But this was accepted as a simple act of service.

It was a memorable day for the entire church, and one that I was so honored to be a part of.

And now, with no transition at all, I present the following picture for comment:



"Morning breath is a whole lot worse when you've been up all night fighting off the forces of evil."

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Intermission

I truly couldn't help myself. There were more hilarious entries to the third leg of the contest. And, yes, Randy again cracked me up. But Sandra's comment cracked me up more, albeit at the expense of another.

If I go forward tomorrow, can I escape retribution?

Consider this weekend a brief hiatus between the first and second halves. Regroup. Gather your wits. And in the meantime, enjoy a video which makes me inexplicably happy.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Caption Contest #3

Every teacher has experience with that one student who just has to answer every question. One of the things that we counsel our student teachers to do is to approach such students quietly, praising them for their participation and study, and asking them nicely to give the other students a chance as well.

Randy? Could I see you out in the hall?

KIDDING! All comments welcome. If you got it, you got it.


"DADDY! Please tell Mr. Wray to put some long pants on! His legs are blinding me!"

Monday, December 03, 2007

Caption Contest #2

Oy, you guys are good!

The first round of captions were VERY hard to judge. Randy got the nod because, not only did his entry totally crack me up, but he actually had the idea for the contest.

Feel free to leave more captions for Contest #1 if you want. Here is your next opportunity. Do be kind.



"Daddy, why do you make this face when you dance?"

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Caption Contest #1

Randy had a great idea that we have a contest for who can write the best caption for a picture on this site. So without further ado...here is your first entry.




"He's behind me, isn't he?"

Leave your caption in the comment section and I will announce a winner.

I mean, sure, I could get all deep and personal and theological...or I could spend a week or so sharing pictures of my pride and joy. I'm going with pride and joy.

Today on the way to church, James said from the backseat: "How great is the love the Lord has lavished on us. John 3: 1." It was a good day.

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