Where's my Mommy?

hi everyone. i hope you liked reading about my tooth. i've lost 4 now, but the rest hurt so i've been chewing a lot. my new big teeth are coming in before my old teeth fall out!

but that's not why i wanted to talk to you. i wanted to let you know that my mommy all of a sudden isn't around all day. i miss her, but she comes home pretty happy, so that is good, and then she and dad play with me. where is she? well, she got this new thing called a JOB, where she goes sometimes during the day. i heard her say it's at someplace called Williams Sonoma Home, or something, but all i know is she was very excited about it and seems to enjoy it a lot so far. and she says she works close to dad's office too.


on a side note, i see my parents posted about that little girl Hayden coming over to play. well, i didn't really like that. she got ALL of the attention for a whole day! how is a puppy supposed to compete? i was pretty sad and don't like sharing. after she left, mom and dad gave me lots of backrubs, played tug of war, and we ran around the house to make up for it, which was fun.

A Day With Hayden is a Day of FUN!

Lynne and I had quite a President's Day. Since I had the day off from work, we got in touch with Mark and Lynn Hults and arranged to take Hayden, our favorite little person in the whole world, to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Lynn was coming to Indy anyway to visit some friends, so from 10am until 7pm, we got to play!

Well, Hayden LOVED the museum and did a such a great job. Despite running into her normal scheduled nap time, she had tons of energy, and there were no tears or sadness, only games, a carousel, Curious George, doll houses, mazes, and enough interactive displays to spend a week working through. After only about three hours there, I was pooped, and don't know how parents do it! Oh, and did I mention that it was one the few annual "free days" due to the holiday? I've never seen so many kids packed into one place. If I was three, I think I would have balked at the chaos of it all, but Hayden didn't mind and held her own with the kids (many much bigger than her).

After the museum it was nap time for both Hayden and Kirk on our new guest bed and trundle, and then fun with coloring, Dora, and Otis. Hayden loves to pet Otis and chase him around in circles. If only Otis would stop viewing Hayden's little hands as delicious snacks! Overall it was such a great time, and despite being exhausted, we always miss her so much after she leaves. Thanks Mark and Lynn for giving us quality time with your "fancy nancy!"

Hayden loved working the cash register and selling us fruit at the Curious George station. I loved it too since she charged me two $1 bills and gave me a $10 bill as change!

While running her farm stand, Hayden ran into her neighbor friend from home! What're the odds?
Move over Danica - Hayden's getting ready for the 500!

Lynne and Hayden had so much fun riding a pretty horse on the carousel!

Hayden was very interested in playing the giant Connect Four...not so interested in the rules though :)

Lynne and Hayden sitting with the bad "couch potato." Hayden seems to enjoy being a couch potato if Dora's on the TV.

Kirk and Hayden aren't quite as tall and the man in the yellow hat

Hugs for Curious George!

Greek Conference & Old and New Friends

Yes, I know, we have neglected our blog for some time, so I am playing catch-up here. Back on February 1st and 2nd, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the annual conference for Greek InterVarsity in Indianapolis. If you don't know what GreekIV is, it's a Christian organization that ministers specifically to fraternity and sorority students on college campuses. I was heavily involved at Purdue, and Lynne and I met on a mission trip (Global Urban Trek) through the parent organization InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

So, after attending the conference 5 times as an undergrad and being too busy with grad school to ever volunteer, I made the trip (a whole 20 minutes) to lead a small group at this year's conference. I got to meet 5 terrific students from all over the midwest in the World Changers track, where we talked about what the "Kingdom of God" really looked like and wrestled with what the message of the Gospel really was. It was a fantastic session, and I know I left re-energized to serve the Lord, and I hope all of the students did as well. Also, the conference has abundant large group time of worship, skits, stories, and a great speaker, and it also allows greeks from different schools to interact and hang out in the largest sober party of the year.

The entire conference was a blast, and it definitely made me miss my undergrad days, but I definitely felt old trying to keep up with the young-uns. Did I really used to stay up until 3am most nights? How?!?! It was also a great opportunity to reconnect with some friends who are fellow alumni. My fraternity brother Ryan Riggs drove down from Kokomo to volunteer, and Lynne and I were blessed to have him stay with us on Friday night. It was great reconnecting with him, and the many other friends I got to see. My ATO little-bro Grant Yost flew in from Texas, and I can't ever get enough of the Yoster Toaster. Also, I got to have dinner with some of the new ATO guys (ATO took around 20 guys to the conference!), which was a great opportunity, and it's so exciting to see the ministry still going on in the house long after I've left.

Unfortunately, I got a nasty case of the flu from those college kids, and it took over a week to get over it! Overall, I'd still say it was worth it though :)

ThE tOoTh FaIrY is cOmiNg to my HoUSe!

I lost my first tooth and it was a sharp one! I can’t wait to look under my bed and see what the tooth fairy is going to leave for me! I have another loose one that is going to come out soon and I am worried about getting a lisp, but as long as I can eat my puppy food I guess it doesn’t matter. Well, have a great weekend everyone and if the snow goes away maybe my grandparents will take me on another long walk (hint, hint)!