Edge Games, Potty & Prayer

Things continue to chug along at the Gates Home. I've been busy with work, both with the veterinary side and with taking on a few more small roles on the business side. The latest is developing material for a website for the clinic.

Lincoln is growing up, one day at a time. On Thursday, Jenn took Lincoln to get a new potty. He loves it! He doesn't use it for it's intended function yet, but he loves to sit on it, sans diaper, for long periods of time. When he was showing it to me on Thursday evening after work, he sat there for a moment, and then looked up at me and said, "Close." So I nodded, not knowing exactly what he meant. Then he stood up, walked over to the door and shut the door in my face. Hmm. So I promptly grabbed his How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? board book, opened the door, handed it to him, and then shut the door behind me. He stayed in there for another five minutes or so. Then I went back in the bathroom to find him playing with some of his bathroom things in the drawers, still sans diaper. I picked him up to take him to his changing table to get him ready for bed, and as soon as he realized I was taking him out of the bathroom he started crying and saying, "Poop. Poop. Poop." I said, "There's no poop in the potty, and you were playing anyway." He settled down after a minute or so. In the 36 hours since then, the potty novelty has yet to wear off. We're not going to tackle actual potty training for a while, but we want him to like the potty, and that seems to have been accomplished.

The Edge Games started last night. You may recall my posts about taking photos at last year's Edge Games (post 1, post 2). This year, as an Edge Small Group leader, I'm a team coach. My small group is part of Fiji. I should explain that there are eight teams: Cambodia, Togo, Uruguay, Fiji, Aruba, Bahamas, Djibouti and Iceland. These eight teams are made up of a couple of small groups and all the friends they can invite. There were around 500 kids there for the first night of the Edge Games, and there were two sets of games, relays (involving a dizzy-bat race and Spam) and a fun game in the gym where each team was assigned a corner, and then had to make it across the gym to the opposite corner either crab-walking, crawling, rolling... whatever the game leader decided to call out. It was utter chaos in the middle of the gym when the teams collided! Then there was a "capture the bacon" style game where the kids run to the center and send yoga-balls and inner-tubes back to their corners. The game always ends with about 15 middle schoolers attached to an inner-tube trying to get it back to one of their corners. Again, it was chaos.

Jenn took Lincoln to Toddler Open Gym last night. When I arrived home from Edge Games and asked her how Lincoln enjoyed it, she said, "Well, all the other kids had fun!" Apparently he was a bit "clingy" for the first 40 minutes.

Another of the neat things that Lincoln has been into recently is praying before our meals. We've always prayed before bed time and he's learned to fold his hands and bow his head. Sometimes he even says, "Amen," at the end. But lately he's been very interested in praying at lunch and dinner time... even mid-meal. Yesterday, he and I prayed five times before I finished my ramen... and he wasn't even eating. He had been play with his tool box, then he walked over to the table and said, "Pray." So I thanked God for Lincoln, my meal, the blessings God gives us and the forgiveness that is ours. Lincoln stood beside my chair with his head bowed and hands folded. When I was done, he went back to his tool box. He came back four more times.

Shower & Sled

Jenn and I were both off of work today, and it's been a big day for the three of us. Lincoln now does very well in the shower with me, and he even enjoys making the shower look ship-shape when we're all done.Jenn and I have been giving some thought to taking Lincoln sledding. We thought he might enjoy playing in the snow. Well, not so much. He was okay with watching me throw snow balls. But as soon as he got snow on his shoes, the interest was lost. He let us tow him around a bit, and he and I went down the hill once (one of the hills back around Virginia Kendall Park), but with the snow flying up in our faces, and with his having snowy eyebrows by the time I stopped the sled half-way down the hill, he checked out in a big way. There's always next year.On another note, we've been enjoying our Christmas gifts in a big way. Jenn and I played Wii Sports Resort last night and had a good time. Lincoln's been playing with all of his new toys, too. And a big "THANK YOU!" to everyone who gave Lincoln clothes. He's wearing them all (he tends to get messy at times and wearing two outfits in a day happens at the Gates Home).

Aperture Learning Curve - Early

Jenn's Christmas present to me was Aperture 2, Apple's RAW photo editing software. I LOVE IT!!! I'm cleary not an expert at this stage on the learning curve, but I'm already fascinated at what this program can do. Again, I want to say at the outset that I am a very amateur photographer. I'm not a professional, nor have I taken any photography courses. I do not claim expert status. There, I feel better!

The first photo was taken at dusk on Grand Turk. Ever since I started playing around with a long shutter speed in the dark in Salt Lake City, I've looked for cool opportunities to practice. I set the shutter speed to 1/4 second, set the aperture to 2.8, and set my ISO to 100. This is what I got:Pretty cool, if I do say so myself, for an amateur. I was attempting to get the ship to light up on the "film" more so than it did to our own eyes, and that came out alright. Of course the sky was also lightened in the process, but that was alright with me.

So then, taking Jenn's gift, I monkeyed around with one of the pics in this series (I'm only showing you one of several here to save you the boredom) a bit and came up with this:Richer colors. Less bleaching. Manipulating shadows. It's been a blast to play with the color, light and exposure of my photos. My more experienced photo-friends (you know who you are) may be rolling their eyes about now, but for this novice, dipping my toe in the photo editing software pool has been a lot of fun.

Oh, and JOSH CRIBBS FOR NFL MVP!!!

Rose Bowl Winners!

GO BUCKEYES! There was much relief in northeast Ohio, as well as the whole state. Even when they were winning, Tressel-ball was making me nervous.

Jenn, Lincoln and I enjoyed our New Year's Day pork and sauerkraut with Grandpa Doug, Grandma Paulette and Aunt MarySue.

We had a fun trip down to Columbus to see the Parkinsons on Saturday. Lincoln warmed up right away and we had a fun time catching up.

And I'll say it again: JOSH CRIBBS FOR NFL MVP!!!

2009... Over and Out.

This will be the final post of 2009. Holy cow! This has been an eventful year.

Lincoln, January 2009

When we think about where we've come as an immediate family, as an extended family, as a nation... wow. All of the stories that we could revisit (see the blog post list to your right for the details) all illustrate that you never know where life is going to take you. Through all of the twists and turns of 2009, God has been very, very good to our family, and we're very thankful for his provision.

We've got plans for New Year's Eve with some friends (provided Lincoln doesn't get sick), and then on New Year's Day, Jenn plans to get her sauerkraut fix at Grandpa Doug and Grandma Paulette's house. It'll be low key with just close family... and the Buckeyes!

Auntie Em got to spend some good time with Lincoln this Christmas break.

We wish you a great 2010. Pray and seek the Lord's will and guidance, and you'll be able to look back, as 2011 approaches, with great satisfaction.

Christmas 2009, cont'd

After much noise from the public, I've set aside the pressing needs of my home and posted some Christmas photos of Lincoln. Enjoy!

On my way out to Phoenix I spotted another Lincoln in the airport!

We went to a Train Park in Scottsdale. Lincoln was into the sights and sounds.

Clearly I've been blessed.

The carousel ride was... interesting. Lincoln did not like going up and down without me sitting behind him on the horse, but when the ride was over, he signed, "More! More!"

Lincoln can do the smaller slides by himself now.

But he loved riding beside his Auntie Haley!

Snack Time

Lincoln received his very own tape measure...

... as part of his very own tool box. Was this a great Christmas, or what?!!

The concept of receiving and opening presents wasn't terribly exciting to Lincoln, but he did enjoy unwrapping a few things.

Grandpa Dave, Auntie Haley, Lincoln and I stacked blocks for a long time. The stacks always ended with Lincoln taking his very own hammer to the towers.

The plane-ride home was much better than the trip out.

Flashback: October 2008

Lincoln actually napped on this flight... a HUGE help!

Lincoln now has his own chair!

And his own Pooh!

Belly Laugh

Lincoln gets along quite well with his Uncle Jeremy.

Dec. 21

I was bouncing around on Flikr earlier today and I stumbled across photographs from last Christmas. My how things change in a year.

Lincoln enjoys sitting in Grandpa Doug's chair in his new Christmas sweater-vest from Grandma Paulette.

Sunday was Donati Family Christmas. We began a new tradition this year. Rather thang going all-out on presents for each other, each family chooses a charity or a need to which to make a donation in the name of the Donati Family. It was a very nice Christmas, with family contributions made to provide healthy goats to families in need in Laos; to provide assistence for women below the poverty line in Erie county, PA, to receive job training and follow-up; to provide mosquito nets for the needy in Africa; to provide bee colonies to produce honey for sale and pollenating capabilities for the needy in Central America; and to provide needed resources for the Salvation Army of Nashville and middle Tennessee. The focus was more on providing for needs, which was exactly what Jesus did for us in Bethlehem 2,009 years ago and on Calvary 1,976 years ago. We also had lots of good food! The Donati Family was disappointed that Lincoln was away, but I told them that he'll be in Ohio next Christmas and for future Christmases as well.

And getting back to Lincoln, Jenn took him for his first haircut last week. I'm still waiting on the photos to share with you, but she said he did very well. He got to sit in a racecar and that he actually liked it. Yesterday she took him to an event in Scottsdale where Winnie the Pooh was, and he walked right up to Pooh to say, "Hi."

The flight out to Phoenix was tough, Jenn said. Lincoln didn't want to sleep in his seat, and with the long day, he got tired after a while. On top of that, he threw up just as they turned into the driveway at Grandpa Dave and Grandma Laura's house. Uuuggghh. Jenn began feeling sick before the trip, and it's taking her a while to get back to feeling good again.

But he recovered well the next day, I understand. He's had a bunch of marshmallows from his Grandpa Dave, he's starting to put two words together with consistency, and he's making Jenn laugh lots. I can't wait to get out there and see him again.

The Browns won yesterday!!! Josh Cribbs ran two kick-offs back for touchdowns (100 & 103 yards, an NFL record) and Jerome Harrison ran the ball for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns, the third best rushing day in NFL history. There's no hope of playoffs this year, but I thought I'd make mention of this unbelievable day as a bit of a historical marker. Also, I pretty much called the Browns quarterback situation back in the preseason, and I'd like to get out in front of the following issue. I haven't consumed a lot of sports media lately, so I don't know if anyone else has come out saying this, but I'd like to make a case for Josh Cribbs for NFL MVP. He won't win it because the Browns are lousy, but there's not a player in the league who is more valuable than Josh Cribbs. Not Peyton Manning, not Brett Favre, not Drew Brees. Josh Cribbs does it all. Literally. And he ought to be named the league MVP this season.


I'm having a hard time letting this blog post pass without commenting on the dark day that this will be marked as in American history. However, I've made attempts to keep this blog from getting political. With only a few lapses, I've stuck to this plan, and I intend to do so today, because I've got a lot to say. However, if you are interested in my thoughts about what has transpired today in the Senate, click here to visit my column at XEKE.com. Keep in mind that by clicking on the link, you are actively choosing to enter my mind and read my thoughts, and I am not forcing my opinions upon you. Enjoy.

Holy Cow...

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

Pictured here is our first opportunity to utilize our basement. The guys would rather wrestle/beat on each other or play Wii the whole time, but we always spend some good time in Bible study and discussion. This was post Bible-study.

It's been a while since we've added a photo of Lincoln, and this has been one of the funnier ones of late. I actually took this a few weeks ago, and Lincoln has improved significantly with his spoon since then. He used to flick the spoon out of the bowl, but now he picks his food up appropriately. The new food fascination is the graham cracker. It has become his dessert. I'm not sure exactly how he got into them, but I suspect it was at Grandma's house.

And speaking of Grandma and Grandpa's house, Lincoln loves all of the Santa Clauses around. He's not sure what it's all about, but he's into them. Between all of the Santas and a few other objects such as doors and books, we've been practicing counting. He can get to three, which I think is pretty impressive at this point. But gettin back to the Christmas things, he's also quite entertained by the jingle-bells on the Christmas tree. He started out being allowed play with one jingle-bell, but that has progressed to somewhere between 5 and 8.

He's also been very interested in the Disney Sing-Along playlist I've put on the iPod in the car. We (Jenn and I) were starting to go crazy with a playlist of about 16 songs (each played over 200 times. So I downloaded Volume 2 and now I've got "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" stuck in my head. I even had a dream about it last night.

Pictured below is our new dining room furniture and the view of our great room from the entry way:

We're back! After the move and all of the unpacking, both Jenn and I were pretty content to some of our non-work time to sit around and not do much. No, we haven't been lazy, as there hasn't been much time to be lazy with, but when that time has come, we've enjoyed the break. We were also without internet service at home here for a while. We're now with AT&T U-verse, and we love it.

Most things are unpacked, and there are only some things in the garage left to put away. When Jenn takes off to Scottsdale in mid-December I'll do some of the little projects that need done. Thankfully, there aren't many of them, which is why we LOVE this house.

I had my first middle school small group in the basement last Sunday and it was great to have their noisy mouths downstairs while Lincoln was sleeping upstairs.

Our new dining room furniture arrived, and we're looking forward to hosting dinner parties once the new year comes.

Lincoln is shooting up (growing into the length of his pants!) and talking a BUNCH. His appetite has also decreased over the last two weeks. He still eats a good variety, but just less at a time. This is good for his pants' waistlines.

It hit Jenn today that she'll be in AZ in one week! Holy cow!

We haven't grown less thankful for this house. We love living close to my work, we haven't gone any further from church, and we're anticipating good walks on the sidewalks when the weather improves (60mph gusts right now outside!).

It's been a while since I've taken photographs of Lincoln, so when I get back into that swing, I'll post them here.

Christmas is coming and we're looking forward to the family time that's approaching.