Foods I Love(d)

Yesterday our Junior Pastor Andrew came in to the office and offered me a free burger from Carls Jr.  It wasn't just any burger though, it was my life blood throughout high school, my mandatory stop when I was in Merced, this burger is the very reason I had to watch what I was eating starting my Senior Year of High School, it was the Western Bacon Cheese Burger.  It is terrible, and full of stuff that shouldn't be put into your body in the form that it comes, and I have done a great job at swearing off the WBCB (my pet name for it) but today I couldn't handle it anymore, I felt like Squints in the movie 'Sandlot' when his hormones finally get the best of him and he tricks Wendy Peffercorn into kissing him, except this was a burger not a lifeguard, and I ate it, I didn't make out with it.

So what's the big deal? Its just a burger.  Until today I had done really well on my diet and exercising, a slipped up a few times but today after indulging in the barbecued goodness that is processed beef topped with fried everything and bacon, I felt like everything I had done until this point had been erased.  I know it hasn't, but it inspired me to make a list of things I won't be eating ever again, or as long as I don't eat them, whichever comes first:

1. Reese's Twister from Foster's Freeze:  It is so good, the perfect blend of peanut butter, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream sliding over your taste buds sends you into a sense of euphoria.  Maybe it's a food coma I am thinking of cause this little baby, the small, allots for half of your daily caloric intake, the small!  This is tough for me as I work literally 100 yards from Foster's, and I am pretty sure the don't have fro-yo and celery sticks as an alternative.

2.  Sal's Salsa- Technically this is a lie, I will eat Sal's salsa again, just not while I am in the restaurant, they trick you by putting the salsa next to the chips, before you know it you are on your fifth basket of corn tortilla chips and the waiter hasn't even taken your order yet.  Salsa = Good, as long as it is on toast with eggs whites, but they discontinued that at Sal's due to a low demand, something about not having enough lard in the ingredients.

3.  Soda- I love soda, it tastes good, it's refreshing, they have cool logos on their cans, but a smart man once said, "Don't drink soda." I am no idiot, I listen to smart people.

4.  Cheese- Growing up my teacher's always told me about cheese being in the dairy category of the food pyramid.  If it made the pyramid, you were to eat it.  I grew up eating cheese faster than cows could produce it, or the Hilmar cheese factory, one of the two.  It was the perfect snack for a lazy teen, easy to prepare, if there was only a bit left you didn't even have to slice it, you just got a block of cheese to eat while watching the Simpsons at 5:00 and 6:00 every night on Fox. Somewhere along the line someone informed my that cheese is not something that should be consumed in large quantities, unfortunately for me it is the only way I consume cheese so I must banish it, forever.

5.  Jelly Donuts-  You would think one would satisfy your desire to have sweets in the morning but you'd be wrong, I am pretty confident these are 95% air, therefore forcing you to eat at least 7 to be completely full (someone check my math, I switched to a Communications Major for a reason).

Thank you for letting me tell you what I won't be eating for until forever, it really helped me realize how much I miss the incredible taste of processed fat.  What is your go to food when you want your caloric fill in 15 minutes?  These have all at one point or another been mine, thank God it wasn't all in the same meal, I probably would have exploded from joy or sugar poisoning, is that a thing?

This is Enough

Yesterday, Sarah and I noticed a sizable leak coming from the toilet in our master bedroom, it proceeded in the wall and into a storage closet in our bedroom.  We we lifted things off the floor in the closest they were wet and moldy.  It was a disaster, and by was I mean is, we are sleeping in the guest bedroom until it gets fixed.  On the bright side it is kind of cute watching Cooper and Micah walk around in little toddler sized gas masks.

We have been renting this house for the past few months waiting until we are qualified to buy another home to do just that.  The original intention was to buy the house we are renting, truth be told, between the leaking sewage incident and the fact that I don't think us and the owners are going to get to a price we are both happy with we have been looking elsewhere.  I mean, Sarah has been searching online, but when you are looking in a small town like Kingsburg for a home, you will probably drive by a new home for sale before you see it online.  Needless to say, we are on the hunt and have a beaut in our sights.

I won't tell you where it is because I don't want you to stalk me, actually you can stalk me, just don't put an offer in on the house we want.

It never seizes to amaze me how God reminds you that he is in control, and in ways that a lot of times frustrate teh heck out of me.  After seeing and drooling over the home we saw, Sarah came home and listened to a sermon by Brad Bell.  She felt convicted about giving something more attention than her relationship with God, I merely told her to stop listening to Brad.  She remained adamant though and has forced us to slow down and count the blessing God has given us already.

I have been thinking about the phrase, "This is enough."

As in, "God, this is enough.  You have blessed me immensely and now you are just showing off.  I have two healthy kids, a job, a wife with a job, a car that runs smoothly (most days) and an incredible base of friends and family.  This is enough.

And every time I get anxious and worry about financials or try to tell other buyers that their are ghosts in the house, I remember that this is enough.

What blessing do you have that you forget about?  Maybe they are staring you in the face and you are looking right passed them.  How about the ability to have a kid?  What about having a job, even if you hate it?  What about having enough money to food on the table every night?  What blessings are you forgetting about?

As you recount them, remember, "This is enough."

Dad Apps

Last week I talked about the apps that sit around on my phone and I don't use, my crap apps if you will. As you can probably figure I have an iPhone, we have a love hate relationship, I love it and I hate when it isn't with me. It has essentially replaced every other piece of technology I use on a regular basis other than my computer that I use for word processing and blogging. So instead of the terrible apps that have no point of being on my phone, lets talk about the apps I use on a daily basis as a dad.


1. Camera- I wish I had the money to get a camera I don't know how to operate, but I don't so instead of packing a camera and extra charger, I don't. The camera on my phone takes relatively good pictures and the majority of the pictures we take come from it. If I want to edit my pictures I have the ability to, if I want to be trendy I can instagram it up. I can instantly upload pictures of my ridiculously cute kids to Facebook. We have more pictures of our kids this year because of this app than my mom has of me, ever.

2. White Noise- This has been a lifesaver on numerous occasions. We use this app to drown out the other sounds while our kids are sleeping. This app has come to our rescue when we forget the kids sound machine and has also been incredible to not have to pack the bulky CD player or sound machine when we go on trips, again, it is in my pocket and good to go.

3. Peekaboo Wild- Kids meltdown, it is inevitable and only a matter of time. Cooper has outgrown this app and gets bored pretty easy but Micah has just discovered how incredible this is. It makes a 15 minute car ride bearable when it could have been a stressful crazy disaster.

Again, I love my phone, and for different reasons but it makes parenting easier and I am able to catch more memories because of it. There are always those times that your phone can be a distraction, so be wary of overusing technology and overusing your phone. Be present when your kids are but if used correctly, can be a great addition to your parenting arsenal.

Here's some fun Coop had on my phone the other day.

What'd I Just Say?

As I was walking into church this morning with my wife and two kids we ran into our good friends the Silvas.  They have been parents now for about 5 months and are very much into the swing of parenthood.  I know this because as we approached the church Denver asked his wife if she remembered the 'Horsey.'  He was referencing the unicornesque stuffed animal that is one of their kid's favorite toys, but hearing a man as rugged as Denver watering down a word to make it more kid friendly made me laugh a bit and simultaneously lose respect for him as a man.  I started thinking about all of the hits my manhood has taken by the change in language that occurred when a kid popped out of my wife.  Here are a few words that I never would have said as bachelor but now are in my everyday vocabulary:

1. Cute- Sounds innocent enough right?  Wrong.  I can feel the testosterone leaving my body any time I say, "Sarah, Micah looks so cute in that sweater vest and button up shirt outfit today."  It is like that word is the thorn and manliness is the inflatable raft you bought this summer at Walgreens for 7.99, if they ever touch, it is gone forever.   Sounds innocent, and that is the problem, it sounds innocent.

2.  Y, EY, IE, S- These are suffixes that have the power to emasculate any word within a five mile radius.   Even gross words are disarmed by these suffixes, poopy, toots, tinkles, etc.  If you utter words with these suffixes it is quite possible your facial hair will fall out and you will start smelling better immediately.  At first it sounds like a good trade off, all you have to do is add a Y to the end of a word and you don't have to shave anymore, sweet.  You are wrong though, who is the last man you respected without any facial hair that isn't me?  Thats what I thought, none men, and my grammar is incorrect because it made me feel more good about I as a manly.

3.  Potty- Being in the midst of potty training with Cooper I say this word hundreds of times a day, in fact the most commonly heard phrase in our house right now is, "Cooper, do you have to go tinkles on the potty?"  Really!? A twenty year old version of myself would have beat me up for saying anything even remotely close to that.

4.  Paci  (Pass-ee)- Is in Pacifier shortened.  This is a word that I thought was a good compromise at first because I wasn't going to be caught dead saying "binky."  It doesn't matter if it is binky, paci, or meemer, they all sound like sound effects for a terrible action movie.  You know how Chuck Norris is going to die? I do.  He is going to say the word 'paci' and roundhouse kick himself in the mouth for saying it.

5.  Bah-bah- As in bottle.  Bah-bah isn't bad, for a one year old they can say it and they know what you are referring to so it isn't so much baby talk for the sake of baby talk but rather for the sake of communication, it is his evil twin brother with a creepstache that stays home online talking to hot chicks that I have an issues with, bah-bahs.  It is an abbreviation of the actual word combined with the emasculating suffix of 'S' that causes this word to be so disarming to manhood that if uttered you are forced to buy an American-Girl doll and take it with you everywhere.  It is a terrible occurrence but I have seen it happen, twice.

In reality I don't have beef with any of these words as I use them on a regular basis but still enjoy watching baseball even if I don't understand the rules or chatting over a warm cup of coffee cuddled in a soft blanket with my BFF. Crap.

Moms and Dads, what are some words that entered into your home when a baby did?  I really am interested to hear these, please leave your comments below.  Happy Monday.

Musings on the Week

Since I am at home a lot now I don't get a chance to talk with adults as much as I used to, because of that I have a lot of thoughts run through my head that I don't get to talk about to people over three feet tall.  That being said, here are my thoughts throughout the week:

1.  I drank more coffee than I should have this week, I believe it is related to getting less sleep than I should have but I am not confident in that assessment, I will let you know when my children wake me up at 5:30 tomorrow.

2.  Complaining about Facebook on Facebook is like complaining about animal rights while cooking a     t-bone.  Don't like it? Switch to Tofu.  Don't like tofu?  Good, Ron Swanson would be proud of you.  Don't know who Ron Swanson is?  That means you spend too much time watching Meredith Grey sulk and not enough time laughing your head off.  Don't know who Meredith Grey is? Congrats on being the .5% of our population who is living their own adventure rather than watching someone else's.
(Note: I am not part of that .5%)

3.  Mark Zuckerberg is every bit as awkward as me my Sophomore year. (I was a late bloomer, you want to fight?)

4.  Don't fret if your kid isn't reaching benchmarks before all of their punk friends, with their dry underwear and their ability to remember the number 15 when counting to 20, God made them perfect and they will hit their benchmarks when they are ready and God has planned.

5.  When potty training sometimes you just have to throw underwear away.

6.  When your kid is potty training sometimes you just have to throw underwear away.

7.  A well timed poop joke is the best fodder for comedy.

8.  Audiobooks are great as long as you want to listen to the same person talk for five hours straight without remembering a word of what they said.

What are some of your random thoughts throughout the week?  What about Facebook's announcements or the Dodger fans that finally have something to cheer about (the inevitable collapse of my favorite team, the Giants)?  Have a good Friday, I hope as you read this I am asleep or drinking my third cup of coffee.

The Couch

When we got a new couch two years ago we paid an extra fifty bucks to get it insured.  Not insured like the Lord of the Dance's legs, but insured like if my youngest son vomits all over it and me at the same time people would come to our house and clean it, for free (or for fifty bucks, I'm not really sure how it works).  I'm not sure how it works because we have never used it.  The thought of calling some dude to drive 30 minutes to my house to shampoo my couch and clean off boogers doesn't appeal to me.  By the time I clean up my entire house so it's presentable for the tatted up college-aged shampoo guy I could have scratched to snot off the sofa myself, plus I wouldn't have to clean my house.

You are asking yourself two things right now:
1. Why would you clean your house for a guy to come clean your house?
     Good question, ask my mom the same thing about our house cleaner who came every Wednesday when I was 10.

2.  Why did you pay fifty bucks and not take advantage of what you payed for?
      Again, good question, but this time don't ask my mom, she will be embarrassed that I wasted my money, also, don't judge me.

In a fairytale the 50 dollars for a cleaning any time you want sounds great, but in reality, with two boys, spilled milk, snot, blood (at times), and poop, lots of poop, things get dirty everyday, new spots get a home everyday.  And everyday, or every other, they get cleaned up.

Right now we are renting a home in Kingsburg, CA, we like it, but I never noticed how much damage two kids and two active dogs could do.  I hope my landlord isn't reading this, but the week we moved in, the old cat door to the garage was snapped in half, not by my dogs, by Micah.  Who doesn't want to play with broken plastic and at the same time make a hole into the garage?

On the Fourth of July our dogs flipped out and tore off two screen doors, one of which I am pretty sure survived the great depression without being turned into firewood, but couldn't stand up to our loveably hyper animals.

Our couches double as jungle gyms, our beds as trampolines, and our lawn as bathrooms (for the dogs, mostly).

Rarely is there a day when there is more sitting on our couch than there is jumping.  And for us, that is okay for now.  When Cooper and Micah start to weigh in at 50-60 lbs, our couch won't be able to handle the stress of body slams and tackling drills anymore.

Our house doubles as a jungle gym, what does yours double as?  Office? Gym? Media Center? Church? After school hangout?

Boxes

When I was about 12 or 13 I remember watching TV with my Dad and he turned on a show that featured some dude pulling a string out of his stomach and twenty minutes later he was gravitating in the middle of the street and all the boys on the stoop were blown away.  It was David Blaine before he started doing things like trying to set world records for publicity.  At one point I remember one of my Junior High Friends asking me is I thought Blaine was the Anti-Christ, I was concerned at the time, then I realized the Anti-Christ would probably have better things to do than impress girl scouts with his ability to find their card.

One of the dumbest things Blaine every did was try to live in a box suspended over England's River Thames for 44 days surviving on merely 4.5 liters of water per day.  Incredible? Yes.  Stupid? Yes.

Since Sarah and I switched to a single income we sold my truck since we weren't going to be able to afford to have two cars.  It was an easy decision for us, and truthfully it hasn't been too difficult, we just have to plan our day better.

But because we have one car, Sarah takes the car to work during the week which leaves me and the boys at home.  At times it makes me feel like I am suspended in a box over England.  The furthest I can go is immediately related to the maximum distance the boys can travel without melting down or about 300 feet.

Obviously I love our house and where we live but not having the ability to do something as simple as run errands wears on the psychy.  So here we sit on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays playing in the back yard, cooking food all day, coloring at the table, and trying to get my oldest son to stay in bed during nap time.

Is it the same as living in a box?  No, it is smarter.  But there are times it absolutely feels isolating, especially when our roles feel like they have been flip flopped. Sarah was made to be a mom, to love and nurture and care for those that used to live inside of her.  I feel like I was meant to make money for our family and support us in that capacity.

Needless to say we are still trying to figure out how this year is going to work.  We will do it to the best of our capacity and eventually I am sure we will get back to where we are most comfortable but until then it is walks to the corner and back for the boys and me.

Is there anything about your daily life that makes you feel like you are an illusionist trying to stay in the spotlight a bit longer by being locked in a box?

Crap Apps

I am a big fan of all things i. I got an iPhone as soon as I could afford one and a Mac before I needed to replace my old computer. I wasn't originally an Apple person, I thought Steve Jobs was creepy in a college guy going to a high school party kind of way. I thought he was trying to show me how to be awesome without in fact being awesome. I don't trust anyone whose neck I can't see, it is just my standard rule.

All that being said, I always have my phone on me, always. Today I wanted to let you in on some of my least favorite apps. I get sick of the apps that people hock all over the internet telling people how awesome Evernote is and how Facebook is now more accessible than ever so today, just the Crap Apps that for some reason are still on my phone.

Compass: I believe this was rolled out in the release of the 3Gs, I was excited to see it and play with it and obviously go exploring with it to find buried treasure. This is the biggest waste of space on my phone, I have literally never used it and Steve refuses to let me delete it off my phone. Good call turtleneck, force me to keep apps that I will never open, Voice Notes falls into the same, I will never ever use you, category.

Magic Piano: As much as I enjoy playing 'The House of the Rising Sun' on my phone over and over again because it is one of the only free songs on this App, it stays in my Entertainment folder and gets opened once every 3 months. It is another incredible app put out by Smule that I never use. It allows me to pretend to play piano without actually pressing any keys but merely tapping my screen over and over and over. I get bored faster than Tim Lincecum pitching to the Dodgers.

Dragon Dictation: I love the concept of this app, speak into it, it writes down what you say, awesome right? Yeah, as awesome as he Dodgers winning a World Series. Here's the problem, it takes longer to speak into the phone, correct the mistakes, and then send your message than it would to just text the message in the first place. It's a great idea, but until it gets a bit further down the developmental freeway, it will sit in my Productivity folder feeding me empty promises about how great it is .

I have a ton of apps that I use and love on a regular basis, Twitter, MLB At Bat '11, Blogger, Zombie Freeway, ZOMBIE FREEWAY. You have an iPhone or Droid? Awesome, whats your Crap App on it? Don't have a smart phone? Congrats, what technology do you have that is a total waste of it existing?

I'm a Student of My Work

I have been a part time stay at home dad now for about a month and I decided that it is time to let you all know about some of the best things I have learned since staying at home.

1. My wife is way better at staying home than me- I needed to get that out of the way because since being at home I can finally appreciate the work she has put in with our boys by staying at home.  I am more tired at the end of a stay at home day than I am after work.

2. You have to feed your kids 3 meals a day- Granted I knew that, but I am pretty sure I am cooking for 16 hours a day right now.  And it isn't just cooking one meal that the boys and I can sit down and eat together, it is differentiating meals for my 1 year old, 2 year old, and myself and frankly... I'm a picky eater.

3. Tangled is the best thing on Netflix- I am pretty sure I have seen different parts of this movie about 100 times, my kids still aren't tired of it, nor am I.  Flynn Rider is my hero, mostly because his facial hair mimics my own, a patch on the chin and nothing else.  It is about time we get rid of this idea that manliness comes with a full beard, I am starting to equate manhood with a smallish patch of hair on the bottom of people's faces, right now.

4.  Cooper loves his brother to the point of pain- 99% of the crying that happens in this house is due to Cooper trying to hug his brother, or move his brother, or tackle his brother.  Trying to explain to a two year old that he can dominate his little brother and he needs to be careful is like explaining to a horse that I am terrified to get on his back.  It doesn't register, and now matter how much I talk someone is still going to get hurt.

5.  White floors are not conducive to raising children- Really? Who installs white laminate anywhere? Thanks landlords for making me clean my floors hourly.

6. Deadbolts are non-negotiable- Coop has a desire to sneak outside any chance he gets, he is like David Copperfield without the terrible wardrobe, bad hair, and womanizing ways.  He can reach the knobs now but the deadbolt is still out of reach, gotta keep 'em locked, always.

Yup, six things I have learned since staying at home, mostly common sense, but to a man who has to live it to appreciate it, some of these have blown my mind.

Stay at home moms and dads, what is the funniest thing you have learned since being at home?

Sunday Video of the Week

This is from Tripp and Tyler over at TrippandTyler.tv All of their videos are incredible but I was a big fan of this little guy.  Enjoy!

Focus IV and My Waistline

I turned 25 and my metabolism broke, at least that is what I have told myself as an excuse as well as a reassurance of the possibility that it may indeed fix itself. In this whole idea of focus I haven't talked much about my focus, but I did tell you briefly that my declining health had reached critical mass as had my waistline. 

Now I know some of you are thinking, "Peter, don't be ridiculous you are the very definition of man," and for that I thank you, but I have also begun to realize that I am not 17 anymore and I don't burn 1,000 calories a day swimming in a speedo (you're welcome for that mental image). I have also realized that there is this crazy thing called metabolism that God created to keep us honest about the foods we ingest and about the same time we are forced to pay taxes he slows this thing down, way down. I don't listen to country music much anymore, but it reminds me of the line in Trace Adkins song "Hot Mama" that says, "you want that body back you had at 17." So in case you were wondering, yes, I want to be a hot mama.

In my study about focus this little diddy came up in 1 Corinthians 9:27, "but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."

Dangit.

This idea of remaining healthy and staying fit has always been something that was in the back of my mind even when I could wear a size 30 speedo and my man thighs didn't rip the bottom seam of my suit. I knew my whole life I was going to have to be aware of my weight when I got older because my Dad struggled with his weight as he aged.

About 5 weeks ago I hit a weight that I never wanted to be and beyond that a waist size I can barely count to. I decided something needed to change, I needed to focus. I needed to make my body a slave to the discipline that not only are we called to as Christians but also to my commitment to be on this earth as long as I can for the furthering of the message of Christ and for the well-being of my family (yes, they are better off with me here, at least at this point in our lives).

This focus hasn't been easy and as I write this we are having some friends and family come over to eat pizza and hang out with babies. A perfect night as long as I don't give in to the temptation of blurring my focus. The fact is that it is easier to blur your eyes when they are in focus than to try and focus them when you need glasses.

Focus needs to remain at the forefront of my thoughts, the verse that has torn my to shreds is 1 Corinthians 3:13-14 (which I talk about in my first post) and in that passage the term "strain forward" shows up. In order to focus I have to strain forward, and that word strain conjures up feelings of pain and constancy, which is what we have to endure in order to focus. At times we need to endure pain and we always must remain constant lest we fall back into our old habits.

So my weight is not yet under control but I have remained focused in my pursuit to get it there. In other words I have 5 weeks down and about my whole life to go. Focus, it isn't always easy, but my straining forward will allow me to reach my desired goal.

What goals do you have that you need to strain for? What areas of your life do you need to discipline? How big is your waist line? (Just kidding).

Have a good weekend all.

Focus III on Poop

When I was being potty trained it was really easy for me, so easy that I don't even remember it, which means it couldn't have been that insurmountable of an obstacle.  I must have been drawn to the porcelain naturally, consequently, I still am, hmm.  

Cooper has been in the midst of potty training for the last twoish weeks and he has been a champ when it comes to onesies (the act peeing in the toilet, not the popular baby clothing).  He even sleeps through his naps and the night without wetting the bed, pretty awesome.  Twosies thus far have been an issue though.  By issue I mean he went numero dos in his underwear and as I was cleaning that up he squatted again and pooped on the floor, while 4 of my best friends were chatting with me on Google+, awesome.


I started thinking about the change that Cooper is trying to make.  For two and a half years this kid has done his business in what he was wearing and continued on his way as if nothing were wrong, because in his mind, there wasn't.  Now he is at a point where he has to change his entire way of thinking.  It isn't just the act of going to the bathroom in the toilet, it is the act of recognizing that what he is doing is no longer acceptable and he needs to change that habit.


I read this verse this morning and the thought of focusing has ripped me to pieces lately:


"Romans 8:5
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit."


When we focus it isn't just that we need to know what we are doing and the direction we are headed, but we need to make sure our thinking is changing from the flesh to the Spirit.  We need to make sure our focus is on the Spirit and what He has for us, not what we wish we had ourselves.


That's when I thought about the change Cooper is making into self-sufficiency, and obviously we have a ways to go before we can wash our hands of helping him in the bathroom or even dressing him for that matter, but he is on his way to  life change because he is recognizing that the old way of doing things is no longer okay, their is a new better way to do his business.


We need to focus on the new, better way of doing our business, focusing our minds and our sights on the Spirit, not on the flesh.


What is something you have had trouble focusing on because it was difficult to attain?


Mine is staying in decent shape.  We will talk about that tomorrow.

Micah Turned One

We had Micah boy's first birthday party here about a month ago and Sarah was a champ and did just about everything herself.  With some great last minute help from my Mom, her husband Loyd and Sarah's parents the party was great.  I thought I would share a few pictures from the festivities which was an All-American Baseball theme.

Papa Loyd

Juniper, Cooper, and my cousin Becky 

Sarah's best friend Lissa Sander

My friends Denver and Corey (Lissa's husband)

Sarah's Mom Susan 

My favorite moment when Sarah's grandpa Dick tried to give Micah some of his Dr. Pepper

Ryan (Sarah's Brother) Brad (Sarah's Dad) and Bergie (Sarah's Grandpa)

 It was a great party overall and Sarah was a champ completing this party after her first week back to school in a new grade.  We love our Micah boy and feel so blessed by those who are a part of his life both near and far away.