Toddler Houdini turns 3!!!

That's right, Toddler Houdini's 3rd birthday is today. (Yes, just a day after her sister!) We had planned a special birthday tea party for the girls today. But we decided to postpone that after the Mighty Mrs. J's mom died, and we just had birthday breakfast with the immediate family.

TH is up for any kind of social gathering. It's one of the great things about her, how she's outgoing and loves people.


This is from the night we brought TH home. She was so tiny! It's hard to imagine how we could love this little girl so much, when we didn't even know she existed until a couple of days before. But we knew she belonged in our family as soon as we got the phone call saying she had been born...









The best part of the birthday breakfast? J's dad made the pancakes...


















Of course the cake is pretty exciting too. (That's the Mighty Mrs. J's sister on the left.)















And, of course, the gifts. Will these markers end up being used on our walls? Probably...












And my note to TH: You were a surprise to our family. And what a great, wonderful surprise you are! Your fun, outgoing spirit brings joy to everyone around you. Your mommy and daddy are blessed every day by your sweet, gentle, charming ways. We love you!

DisneyGirl turns 5!!!

Today is a special day in the J house. It's DisneyGirl's 5th birthday! We're all exhausted from the mighty Mrs. J being gone a lot the last 2 weeks. (Her mom was in the hospital. She passed away yesterday. Pray for her and the family.) So we decided to just order pizza, and watch a movie together. (Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, if you're wondering.) (Oh, and Pizza Hut.)


Here she is just before her second birthday, waving from a train in Colorado. (The train isn't moving. We won't let the kids ride on trains alone until they're 7.) She was so excited that day, running around the train museum. She is one kid who is always ready for adventure...








...and here she is tonight, as I brought out her birthday present. She is so much fun, and she is so thankful when she gets something.












Here she is with her present, a big pink scooter. Just like her brother (except that his is red). She drove it around the room for a few minutes until it fell and made a big dent in our floor. I think it's a toy for outside. I'm sure we'll be out riding first thing in the morning.













Here's a note to my sweet girl, who I'm sure will be reading this before too long: DisneyGirl, you are a special, precious gift to your mommy and daddy. Every day, we are thankful that God allows us to live with such a special girl. You have a heart filled with joy, wonder, and imagination, and you fill our days with fun and adventure. Remember: God loves you more than you'll ever know, and we are so happy and proud to have you as our daughter!

China welcomes freedom of expression...

China is really trying to clean up its country before the Olympics. By clean up, of I mean "get rid of anyone who might embarrass the government." One of the latest outrages comes from this story. China arrested a guy on parole violations after being convicted of subversion in 2004.

What is this guy's crime? Has he plotted the violent overthrow of the Chinese government? Did he attempt to assassinate Chinese officials? Not quite. He was arrested for "posting online essays" in support of another dissident.

That's right. He's part of that infamous group of extremely violent and dangerous criminals known as "essayists." No wonder he had to be stopped. Who knows when he might have written again.

The article mentions some other dissidents who have also been rounded up in recent weeks. It's obvious that the Chinese government wants to stamp out anything that might make them look bad. And they don't care about minor things like human rights and morality.

It's so bad that even these clueless people can see how bad things are. It's still amazing to me that so many of our leaders seem bent on celebrating China and its oppressive government. Not only is President Bush a big fan of the Chinese leaders, but now Barack Obama is joining the fan club. He's pulled a flip-flop after saying that Bush should not attend the opening ceremonies. Now he's buying $5 million in ads for the Olympics telecast.

Unless the ads detail the human rights abuses of the Chinese government, I'll mark this as a mistake by the Obama campaign...

China welcomes dissidents for Olympics...

When China was given the right to host the 2008 summer Olympics, they promised the International Olympic Committee that they would start allowing more freedom to Chinese citizens, and free access for foreign reporters covering the Olympics.

Shockingly, it turns out that China may not be keeping its word.

According to this story from an Australian paper, China is shipping off people who come to Beijing to protest government corruption. On the morning that the reporter was on hand, they had already sent six busloads of troublemakers off to who-knows-where.

Also, the reporters were questioned and hassled, and their interpreter was taken into a security guard office to be questioned. So much for letting the press do its job.

The article also talks about the crackdowns that are happening in other provinces, all because China is determined to present a "perfect" country to the world. And they don't care who needs to be crushed to do it.

I really have trouble understanding how US media can go over and report on all the greatest of the Olympics, with hardly a mention of the oppression by the Chinese government.

Most of all, I don't get where President Bush is in all this. I mean, doesn't he say he's committed to spreading freedom throughout the world? Isn't that one reason we went into Iraq (supposedly)? Yet, not a peep from him when it comes to China's human rights abuses. In fact, he'll be right there at the Olympic opening ceremonies, celebrating while his fellow Christians are rotting in Chinese prisons for their faith.

Why won't he boycott the opening ceremonies? He doesn't want to insult the Chinese government. I guess I shouldn't expect our president to side with people being oppressed by an evil Chinese government. But I'm still disappointed...

The cost of illegal immigration...

This is a tough video to watch, but get through it if you can. It's a poor woman whose husband and 2 of her sons were gunned down in San Francisco by some monster.

The worst part: the killer is an illegal alien gang member who was convicted of a couple of violent crimes. But he was never deported, because San Francisco is a "sanctuary city" that refuses to alert the federal authorities when they have illegals in custody. Because of this policy, this woman is left without a husband and two sons, and she has another son and a daughter that will grow up without a father, or their brothers.


This is the real cost of illegal immigration. When we don't control who comes into our country, scum like this murderer are going to come in and destroy innocents. That's not to say that every illegal immigrant is a killer. Of course that's not true.

But the inescapable fact is this: if this guy had been deported and not allowed to return, these people would be alive today. And this family would not be paying for our unwillingness to secure our border...

God in my image?

“You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

--Anne Lamott

China welcomes diversity for Olympic games...

The Olympics are just a few days away, and the Chinese government is sprucing things up for the occasion. How? By clearing out undesirable things, like pollution and traffic.

Oh, and blacks and Mongolians...

According to this story, Chinese bar owners in one district of Beijing have been forced to sign a pledge to ban certain activities, like dancing and serving blacks and Mongolians. Apparently, blacks are viewed as a criminal element by the Chinese government, and they don't want blacks hanging around, messing up their Olympics. (There seems to be no truth to the rumor that this policy was instituted to keep Kobe Bryant away from Chinese women.)

Seriously though, why would any black athletes participate in these Olympics? The only reason I could see would be if they planned to win their event, then protest at the medal ceremony. The Chinese government grows more despicable every day...

Mike Farris has taken over my iPod...

I should probably admit that I don't listen to a lot of modern Christian music. That makes me sad, because I love music, and great music moves me like nothing else. But a lot of what passes for Christian music, especially worship music, bores me. The lyrics are shallow and man-centered, the music is flat-out boring (like bad James Taylor clones), and the singers (especially the men) sound like wimpy wallflowers. Not exactly inspiring stuff.

But in the last few weeks, I've listened to one album about 52,000 times. It's called Salvation in Lights, by a guy called Mike Farris. He signs straight from the gut, like what he's singing means something to him, and should mean something to you, too. And he picked a group of old spirituals, along with some new songs, that overflow with hope, grace, redemption, and joy.

I've got a clip of one of the songs, but this doesn't do the album justice. Go get these songs right now! If you don't absolutely love them, please check your pulse. Your heart may have stopped...

Abortion as big business...

As much as I dislike politicians (especially this whiner and this snake), I gotta commend one that's got it right. Michelle Bachman is a congressman (woman? person? human?) from Minnesota. She gave this speech in the House chamber last week:


She's got it right: abortion is big business. Planned Parenthood brings in a ton of money every year to kill unborn babies. They get millions in government grants to carry on their nasty business. Then they funnel campaign contributions back to the same politicians who help them get their grants. It's all very convenient.

Who loses? The babies of course. But since they can't give large campaign donations, they aren't considered.

And Bachman brings up a good point: every dollar that goes to Planned Parenthood Is a dollar that won't go to centers that try to help women who are going through crisis pregnancies. That means it's up to those of us who value life to pick up the slack. This is a good place to send your money if you want to support a great pregnancy resource center...

Another thing homeschool kids are lacking...

...lessons in racial sensitivity.

Wait, all my kids have foods they don't like. Am I living with a bunch of racists???

Homeschool kids miss out on religious diversity...

Remember, it's homeschool kids that face religious indoctrination. These kids? They're just learning about tolerance and diversity...

Another thought: When these kids go through this, are they considered Muslim converts? If they are would they be considered apostates if they go back to Christianity? Because it seems like Muslim apostates don't do too well...

a message for daddy

to y
?xrtyklllk daddy d d a dd i love
you




samuel

Something else homeschool kids don't get to be a part of...

...peaceful discussion of different religious traditions...

July 4...

Just a quick Independence Day greeting from the J house. Remember that even though we have our problems,we still have a country that is unlike any other in history. It's a country where stuff like this doesn't happen.

We have more challenges today than in a long time. And many of those challenges are more serious because they come from within the country, from people who see this country as a downright mean place that they've never been proud of. Unfortunately, there are more people who think like that now than ever before, and they have a louder voice in society than they deserve.

Only people who understand our unique place in history can help us become what we can be.

Seriously, how many countries could have come up with something as good as the Muppets?

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

A tennis mystery...

My guess? Michelle and Emily, enjoying Wimbledon...

Toddler sings the blues...

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago. My terrific family took me out to lunch at one of my favorite places--a blues club in Long Beach. Lunch time there on a Saturday isn't very busy, and they have live music (and great food).

So we enjoyed our lunch, and just as we were finishing up, the band took the stage. They were really good, and it wasn't long before the kids were up and dancing. Well, the band played a few songs, and they seemed genuinely amused by the kids enjoying the music so much.

Then, the leader of the band invited the kids on stage to sing along! The older kids got a little scared, but Toddler Houdini jumped right up there. The song was Nite Train, and her job was to do the train whistle sounds (whoo! whoo!).

Here's what it looked like:


You can barely see her behind the amp, but she is there.













There she is, belting out the tunes...














Finally, DisneyGirl joined in the singing...
















And the band rocked on!



















Here are the kids with Bob Crail, the leader of the Blackouts.

Thanks guys, for making this an unforgettable birthday memory!

Little MacGyver graduates...

It has been a while since I flooded the 'net with pictures of my kids. I will now attempt to correct that, starting with pictures of Little MacGyver's graduation. His kindergarten graduation was a couple of weeks ago. It was held at a smallish church sanctuary close to where we live.

Here he is in his little suit. He is a handsome boy. Not sure why he's so serious...


















All the kids dressed up and ready to go. Toddler Houdini REALLY likes to take pictures!

















The sanctuary, just before the festivities...














Going down the aisle.













Here's the little man, talking to the head guy at the school...














The very proud mom...



















And the happy dad. The afternoon was nearly perfect. The only problem? The whole ceremony reminded me of one thing: he is growing up really fast...