The other day, I took one of those “before” pictures. It’s my first one ever. You know, the ones you take when you’re excited to start a workout program? I’ve never stuck with any sort of exercise routine for any length of time, but I’m cautiously optimistic this time. The program that I’m sort of trying to follow are the daily workouts published on the Gymnastic Bodies site. Why gymnastics? Well, first of all, look at gymnasts. I’d say that as a group they have the sort of physique that most people would be happy with, and they get that way without lifting weights. Second, they have functional strength, meaning that the strength they have allows them to usefully move and manipulate their bodies through a wide range of motions. Third, I can do most of the movements without any expensive equipment or a gym membership. I’ve got a homemade pull up bar and set of rings ($65) That’s all I really need to get started.
That got me to thinking…how many people have “before” pictures lurking in their digital drawers, unpublished because the workout never had the intended effect? How many dusty DVD sets of P90X will be offered on Ebay and the corresponding “before” photos forever ignored or destroyed? Perhaps they come across the photos a year after they were taken, and they sadly realize that the year old “before” photo is now much better looking than any recent photo. Depressing indeed.
Obviously, my “before” pictures will never see the light of day on this, or any other, site. I’m not an optimist by nature, so my hopes are not high for any sort of dramatic transformation. Any visible change in my physique would have to involve gains in muscle mass, since I don’t have any fat to lose. It’s not like I could drop a hundred pounds and say, “look at me!” I’m hoping to make very small gains in weight via increases in muscle mass. I’m happy to report that I’ve already been making some progress in the number of pull-ups that I’m able to do. I’m also able to do a few shaky dips on the rings.
Here’s a little sheet that I made up to be hung up in our house. I thought some others might find it useful. Here’s a PDF if you want to print your own.
This is not something that I came up with on my own. I’d heard this discussed on an HSLDA interview, and so I put together my own little reminder. We’ve found it pretty useful to have around the house. We can easily refer to it and remind the kids if they’ve said something that would fall under the heading of a curse. As parents, I think we all want to discourage our kids from cursing, but then we’ll find ourselves having trouble classifying exactly what a “curse” word is. A list of “bad words” simply doesn’t cut it. As any parent knows, even “okay” words can be said in a way that would fall under the heading of a curse on this chart. Hopefully this will also help to highlight the good and loving things that our kids do occasionally say. In the chaos of everyday life, it’s easy to miss it when one child does say an encouraging or selfless word to a sibling or, better yet, to you. Feel free to print the PDF or, better yet, modify this to suit you and your family.
I caught this picture online today. I thought this was a really cool example of built-in bunk beds. These seem to be a really great use of space and very practical. They look great too.
Another picture of some cool bunks from the same architect. This is the sort of setup we need in our house with all these kids!
Still not a lot of progress on the expansion of our dining area, but the boys have certainly been enjoying their access to my tools. The most recent photos show the end of a wall that needed to be finished off. I used birch plywood (what else?) to finish off the area and tidy things up.
For Ben’s birthday, I surprised him by taking him to my cousin’s cabin in Ludington, MI. A number of things went in to pulling off this surprise. We really frustrated him in the days leading up to his birthday by dodging his questions about what we had planned for him. On Monday morning, the day before his birthday, his frustration boiled over and he exclaimed, “This is the most disorganized birthday ever!”
Another key to surprising my son, was the groundwork I laid by being a thoroughly boring and unsurprising father for the first 10 years of his life.
Monday night,the 28th, I suggested that we grab supper, just the two of us, at the spur of the moment. Of course, I had the car all packed the night before and we had everything we needed to spend the night away from home. After stopping in Grand Haven for burgers at Ray’s, I suggested we run up to Ludington to return a coffee cup that I had borrowed from the cabin the weekend before. Ben thought this sounded like a good idea. (I don’t think he realized exactly how far it was to Ludington from Grand Haven) Once we arrived at the cabin, I told him that I also had a bag in the back of the car that needed to be returned, and I asked him to go get it. The bag, or course, was our overnight stuff, and then he finally caught on.
His smile was priceless.
He got a fire going and we stayed up way too late. The next day, we walked down the beach to the lighthouse, went to the city beach in Ludington, and caught a movie on our way back home in Grand Haven.
Hopefully it will be a birthday that he’ll never forget. I know that I’ll remember that one-on-one time with him for many years to come. He’s my son, and he’s 10, and I love that guy.
Today, Lindy and I are celebrating 15 years of marriage. Woohoo! Who knew that she would posses such intestinal fortitude! Truly, I love her. I’m not one of these that says, “I married my best friend.” No. When I got married, I didn’t know my ass from a hole in the ground. I had no idea what I was doing. I knew I had found a great girl. I knew that I had somehow convinced her to marry me. And we both knew that this marriage thing was a lifetime commitment. We’d just make it up as we went along. Well, we’ve been at it for 15 years, and I’d say that we’re just starting to get this marriage business figured out.
I thought I would post the following video in honor of father’s day. Not so much talking about how great father’s are, and they are great, aren’t they? No, this video and words to this song are a great reminder of what I strive to be as a father and husband. The struggles are many, but the victories are oh so sweet. I see so many of my own weaknesses in my kids but, by God’s grace, I see some of my strengths as well. The job of being a father is so hard, but I believe there is no job more rewarding.
