A great woman...

This is just a quick post to publicly say I married the best mom and woman in the world.
















And she is very cute too!

We went to the zoo, zoo, zoo (another one)...

Last week the Mighty Mrs. J was off for Easter Spring break. (Of course, the college she teaches at can't call it Easter break anymore, because Easter is very offensive.) So we spent one of the days at a favorite place for us: the San Diego zoo. It's about a 2 hour drive, but the kids love to go there. OK, I love it too, but let's say we went for the kids' sake.

Here are Little Macgyver and DisneyGirl trying to figure out where the snakes are:















Little MacGyver did some crazy dancing:
















Toddler Houdini likes animals--when they keep their distance:
















Here are DisneyGirl and Toddler Houdini dancing in the aviary:



And here are my 4 precious blessings, all together:















We had a great time. And the best part is the kids slept almost the entire way home! Oh, blessed peace!

Happy birthday, Mrs. J!

Today is better than Christmas, Thanksgiving, and July 4 rolled into one. It's the birthday of my favorite person, the Mighty Mrs. J! We've got a sitter for the kids (thanks, Mercy and Ryan!), and we're going out on the town.

Of course, the town we're going out on is Downey, but that's a whole different story.

She really is the greatest wife and mother ever. I am blessed beyond anything I ever deserve, and every day I'm thankful for her. Happy birthday, wifey!

DisneyGirl needs to discover Chris Tomlin...

Yesterday, I mentioned that my boy has discovered my iPod. He belts out the Chris Tomlin in the YMCA locker room, and all the way on the drive home.

I'm a little more disturbed by what I heard from DisneyGirl, my oldest daughter, when I came home yesterday. She and the Mighty Mrs. J were dancing around, singing a great old hymn of the faith. You know the one:

Elvira
Elvira
My heart's on fire
For Elvira

As if that wasn't disturbing enough, I then hear DisneyGirl singing the heartfelt lyrics, "Giddy up, oompapa, mow mow." Although, when she sang it, it was more like, "Giddy up, chippy, chippy, waw waw."

I think we need to schedule an intervention for her...

New year's resolutions...

Since some of my friends are doing resolutions (see here and here), I thought I'd jump in. Even though my record at following through on them is not great (I still can't ride one of these, and I never made the opening-day roster of this team.)

Here's a few off the top of my head:

1. Stop using cliches, like"off the top of my head,"
2. Have fewer expectations of myself and my kids, and embrace even our mistakes,
3. Spend less money on me, and more on people who really have needs,
4. Take God seriously, but not too seriously,
5. Keep regular contact with good friends,
6. Take better care of myself, since I have kids now who'd like me to stick around,
7. Be thankful every second for the girl who had the bad judgement to marry me,
8. Spend less time griping and more time being thankful,
9. Use the internet for important things, like keeping in touch with people I care about,
10. Not use the internet for less important things, like this,
11. To live out this phrase: man's chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever. Heavy on the glorifying, heavy on the enjoying.
12. Make sure no one who ever lived in the Arkansas governor's mansion is elected president...

Why yes, my kids are adorable...

I might be a tad biased when I say this, but my family is the most awesomest ever. If you need visual proof, check out this post at my wife's seldom-updated blog...

A sad day for the J family...

It is a sad day for us. We had to have our sick dog, Maxine, put to sleep today. She seemed to recover for a few days from her illness. But she got worse over the last couple of days, when we took her to the vet this morning, there was nothing else to be done.

Little McGyver is pretty upset. The girls are a little young to get the whole idea of what's happening. And of course, the Mighty Mrs. and I are sad. Max was the first living being we took care of together.

Pray for us. I know she was just an animal, but she was important to us...

Oh, the wonder of episode 8!!!

Listen to it here!

In this episode, we answer the MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION EVER! IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!!! The question? Should retailers say "Merry Christmas" or Happy Holidays" to their customers?

Also, I wonder how God reveals Himself through the people He puts around us...

Let me know what you think...

A house divided...

Sure, to the outside world we look like a happy family. We love each other, encourage each other, have a great time together. Few people realize, however, that something very sinister threatens to tear this family apart. It seems that a horrible sickness controls 2 members of this once-happy family. The rest of us can only wonder what went so wrong.

This evil that infects 2 of us? I hate to admit this, but the Mighty Mrs. J and Disney Girl are...morning people! Yes, they are from that disgusting group that greet the sunrise with a smile and a song. They can hardly wait for morning to come. Meanwhile, the normal part of the family just hides their heads under their pillows, praying for the madness to end.

But they are kinda cute. Here they are earlier in the year, when we celebrated the finalization of Toddler Houdini's adoption:















It's a difficult path we walk. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers...

Joining the digital age!

Well, the Mighty Mrs. J and I have gone all high-tech and fancy--we both got iPods! I know what you're thinking. "That's really big news--about 5 years ago." OK, we're just a little late on the gadget bandwagon.

What finally convinced to take the plunge was a conversation I had with one of the guys we church with. One Sunday when we were at his house BBQing and worshiping, I mentioned the great music that was playing in the background. He showed me that it was all coming from his little iPod Nano that he had plugged into his house's intercom system. He said his family really enjoyed traveling with music, books, Bible teaching, whatever--all on their iPod.

Now the thought of carrying audio books everywhere we go was too much for me and the Mighty Mrs. J. We had a Costco gift card, and it just covered two of the 2GB Nanos. So we took the plunge.

I think I've created a monster. The Mighty Mrs. J just spent the better part of the afternoon downloading songs and podcasts and whatever she could from iTunes. And I've got mine loaded up too. (Maybe I should post what I'm listening to on the side of this blog. If I can figure out how to do that.)

To show you just how spiritual I am, I should tell you I have Christian music from Chris Tomlin (the album "Arriving" is awesome), Terry Clark (I love his music!), and several old gospel quartets. Of course, I also have several episodes of the "Dogwatch Social Club Cigar Show". They might not be quite as Holy Spirit-inspired, but they are good for my soul.

It's good to be part of the 21st century...

p.s.--The pic is of the Mighty Mrs. J corrupting the World's Sweetest Toddler by letting her listen to the iPod. It won't be long before all the kids want one...

Are stay-at-home dads happy?

Am I happy being a stay-at-home dad? I thought I was. Then I saw that this blog had been linked to in another blog. The topic at that other blog? (Yes, there are other blogs. I know, shocking!) How unhappy the marriage of the blogger is with her stay-at-home husband. It got me thinking about my whole situation.

You probably should know that I tend toward being slightly dramatic. When I see a commercial for some new medication on TV, I always imagine that I have the ailment the medicine is supposed to cure. Even though, as the Mighty Mrs. J has often pointed out, it would be very hard for me to be suffering from the traumatic effects of menopause. So, I started thining that maybe I wasn't happy after all. I wondered, am I really happy?

Answer? Yeah, I really am happy with where I am right now. And not just because I have a writing business I operate from our house. (The blogger woman suggested that the only happy SAHD's are ones who work also.) In fact, I came up with a list of reasons why I'm happy to be a SAHD:

1. I have a profound impact on my children's lives. Much more than I would if I was at an office 10 or 12 hours a day.
2. I have a terrific wife who realizes that marriage is a partnership where both of us have to give up things to make the family work. I give up some of my self-identity by not working outside, and she gives up some of her time with our kids.
   
3. We get to show our kids that families comes in all shapes, sizes, and configurations. I hope our 3 musketeers grow up to know that they aren't bound by what society says is normal.
4. I get the challenge of doing kid stuff, and working to run a small business on short amounts of time and money.
5. We see every day just how good God is to us. He provides in miraculous ways, even when we don't understand how He's doing it.

Will this arrangement last forever? I have no idea. If the writing business takes off like I think it will, then maybe both of us can stay at home full time. That would be ideal.

By the way, if you want to read the blog that prompted this post, here it is. I gotta warn you. If you go there and find something you don't like, don't blame me. I don't vouch for anything there. Or anything here, for that matter.

And just to prove how deliriously happy we are, here's a picture of us. Try
to ignor that I look all doped up (more than usual). This pic just goes to prove the old saying, the couple that takes cheesy pictures together, stays together.

10 reasons why the Mighty Mrs. J is the best mom/wife ever!

1. She laughs easily, at herself and at the ridiculous situations we get into.

2. When someone she loves is in danger, she turns into Rampaging Mama Bear, ready to pounce on anyone who threatens her cubs.

3. She thinks gross medical stuff is cool and interesting. So does my son. They're weird and wonderful like that.

4. At her core, she is happy and content.

5.She loves to read. She loves books so much she has trouble getting rid of them. Even if she's never going to read them.

6. She is teaching our kids to love reading as much as she does.

7. She's smart, and she's not afraid to challenge me when I'm muddle-headed (which is most of the time).

8. She's patient with our kids, even when they're trying to drive her insane.

9. She loves me just the way I am. But she supports me when I try to make myself better.

10. She's more like Jesus than anyone I know. Our kids will grow up to love Him partly because of what they see in her.

And, a bonus reason:

11. She doesn't complain when her husband wants to smoke a cigar outside, even though I know she doesn't like it!

Happy Mother's Day, baby!

Saving the kids from themselves!

I think I've finally recovered from the various ailments that have sapped my blogging strength. Good thing my strength is returning, because I need it all to deal with my kids.

A couple of days ago, the World's Sweetest Toddler choked on a piece of toast. The Mighty Mrs. J gave her back blows and finally the toast dislodged. We had to call paramedics, then rush her to her doctor.

She is doing fine now. But it reminds me that these little lives that seem so healthy and strong are really very fragile. I was standing just a few feet from her when she started choking, yet she was in real trouble by the time I realized there was something wrong. I hate to think what could have happened if there hadn't been an adult in the room.

Sometimes I joke that my #1 job is just to follow the kids around and make sure they don't kill themselves. But there's a lot of truth to that. Until they can take care of themselves, I'm their best defense against all kinds of dangers. I've got to admit though: I've never thought of the dangers of toast before...

The Easter CD is finally done!!!

It's been a tiring couple of days. We've been working on a project that will hopefully be a blessing to the people who are part of it. Every Christmas, our little ministry participates in Angel Tree. Angel Tree is a program where local Christians buy Christmas presents for kids who have a parent in prison. It's a great chance to show God's love to people who are often forgotten by society. Last Christmas, we got presents for 25 kids.

Anyway, we are reaching out to these same families in a really cool way. We asked several independent Christian musicians to let us use one of their songs, and we put together a CD. The CD has 6 great songs, a reading of passages out of the Bible, and a short message I recorded on what Easter really means. We mailed copies of the CD out to each of the families we gave gifts to. (Plus a few others we've had contact with recently.)

It's kinda labor intensive to put the CD's together, and get them set up and put in the mail. So it's been a couple of let nights for me. But, we know that the folks who get them will be blessed. The work is totally worth it.

And a great thing for me is that my boy helped us work on it. (The pic is him and the Mighty Mrs. J holding up the finished CD. She designed the cover. Yes, she's as talented as she is cute!) We explained to him that the CD would help people hear about Jesus. He was really excited! He worked hard to put mailing labels on envelopes, and stamps on postcards that we included in the mailing. People can write prayer requests or needs on the card, and send back to us.

It's very exciting to know that this CD will be a blessing to a whole bunch of people. But as a father, it's a lot more exciting to see my boy eager to help other people hear about Jesus. One of my goals as a parent is to help him see his faith as not just something he possesses, but something he lives and shares with everybody around him. I want him to learn early on that God lives and moves in this world through him and the other believers he chooses to church with. It's taken me a long time to learn that. I want him to pick it up early.

BTW, there are links on the left to some of the musicians who donated music. They are terrific! The fact that they are so generous with their talents shows they have their hearts in the right place. Check out their music. I guarantee you will be blessed!

Wifey, and Disney

I just realized that I have not posted a picture of The Mighty Mrs. J. She's a beauty! Smart, too. But you figured that already, since she married me...

On another subject, why do they call Disneyland the Happiest Place on Earth? I hardly ever see happy people there. Mostly, I see really tired people dragging their crying children from ride to ride. Look at the faces of Little McGyver and DisneyGirl. Happy? I think not. The wifey looks chipper, though. Must be the new meds. (That's a joke, by the way. She's naturally, and almost nauseatingly, cheery.)