Recent Pictures

Well, since I have decided to try and update this blog as much as possible, I decided to put some more up-to-date pictures of the girls. Emily is now 3 1/2 and Callie is almost 9 months. Time sure does go quickly. Emily is doing pretty good on potty training. We have had some setbacks in the last couple of days. Callie is into everything. It is so funny because everything goes in Callie's mouth and she seems to be attracted to outlets. With Emily we didn't have to worry about either one of those things. Oh well, each child is different. Yesterday, I had a moment of panic after watching some of the 24-hour news channels. I had to remind myself that no matter what happens, God is in control. We only see the here and now, He sees forever. I take comfort in that! Anyway, here are pictures of the girls.

Emily being a princess.

Callie going where she doesn't belong.

Emily being a princess again (she does that often.)

The girls playing together.

The joy of masking tape

So I decided to start updating our blog site again. Today, I want to tell about one of the cheapest forms of entertainment I have found for my 3 year old. If you know her, you know that she is always moving. She cannot sit still. She is also a very loud child. I have heard that she is alot like I was when I was little. Oh, did I mention she is pretty strong-willed. I keep reminding myself that she will make a great adult. She will not be able to be pushed around and she will not take no for an answer. Anyway, back to my original thought, she is fascinated with masking tape. I love it because it last a long time, is relatively inexpensive, and won't break or tear anything (unless she tapes a book.) She will put it on our walls and I can just take it right off. She will put it on her toys. Again, I can take it right off. The only thing I have to watch for is making sure that my almost nine month old doesn't follow behind and take it off to put in her mouth. Well, that is my thought for the day.

One funny story (I will probably send this to Reader's Digest.) The other night we went out to eat. We were waiting for our food and Emily was getting a little impatient. She asked me what we were waiting for. I told her we were waiting for them to deliver our good food. She crossed her arms looked at me and said, "I don't want good food, I want our food at home." I thought that was so funny!

The Pikkula Family & Hurricane Ike

I just talked to Amanda and they are doing fine. They do not have electricity, part of their fence was blown down, and some siding blew off their house. It was a rough night, but the boys slept through it. Coleman has been asking about watching something on TV, so it might be rough for the next day or so. Amanda's parents are doing well. They actually still have electricity. If I hear anything else, I will be sure to post that later.

Olympics 2008

With my students back in school, it means that summer is over and the Olympics are here.  So far, it has been a fun week watching all of the different events and cheering on the USA.  Every time I watch of think about the athletes, I can't help but think about the dedication and hard work involved.  My wife always says it would be cool to know you were one of the best in the world at your event.  I think I would personally choose the beach volleyball if I could have actually had a chance at an Olympic appearance.  I really like the team mentality and I am usually pretty decent at volleyball.  

Michael Phelps continues to blow me away!  To race 17 in a week is plain crazy.  Over and over they have mentioned his daily schedule and it is so hard.  For these few days, his complete focus is on swimming.  He doesn't have any time for anything else.  It is pretty much eat, swim, rest, swim, and sleep for a few hours.  He swims more than one race a day and really doesn't have much down time.  

What if we as Christians applied this kind of focus to our walk with Christ?  Instead of spending four years preparing for the next Olympics (and yes, I realize many prepare from a very young age), what if we were this intense everyday focused on following Christ for our entire lives.  The truth is every Christian should be able to qualify as a disciple the same way these athletes are expected to qualify for the Olympics.  While it would also be very cool to hold an Olympic or World Record, they are being broken left and right.  Sure your name is placed in the history books, but when all is said and done do these records really matter?  Don't get me wrong, I think going for records are great but our focus has to be on Christ and what will matter for eternity.  

I hope you enjoy these two weeks and GO USA!  

Emily is Three!

On Friday, Emily turned three! It still doesn't seem possible that we now have a three year old along with a soon-to-be four month old. All that Emily really wanted to do was play on the playground at McDonalds. We did this last year and it is quickly becoming a tradition for her birthday. It was an overall fun day celebrating life. Here are some pictures of Emily's day. It beings with a trip to the beauty shop for her second haircut.

We will soon be posting more pictures of the girls in our online Web gallery. There is a link on the right side of this page. 

Sisters

Here are some recently pictures of the girls.  They sure are growing up fast!  This Friday Emily will be three.  It doesn't seem possible that she will be starting school in a little over a year.

Emily sharing her "iPod" with Callie.  

Callie sitting up with a little bit of help.

Two Are Better Than One

When Theresa and I first launched into the world of blogging, we both knew it would be a challenge. Now that we have two children it has become an even greater challenge for the both of us to add content to our blogs. In an effort to keep everyone updated on our family, we have decided to combine our blogs into one family blog. We all know that two heads are better than one and hopefully for us two bloggers are better than one blogger. We shall see. Here's to our family blog!