Living in the USA

$5 paddle boats

2008-08-19T13:37:00.002-06:00

We took the kids to Shawnee Mission Park to play when Camille decided she would use her $5 to go paddle boating.

Camille's Black Belt Ceremony

2008-08-06T22:14:00.002-06:00

Mr Cummings, 5th Degree Black Belt (there are nine) and Camille, now officially a 1st Degree Black Belt.

Dom and Camille both started around the same time and received their Black Belts today. Dom's hard work in Taekwondo is a true inspiration.

Mrs. Cummings, 5th Degree Black Belt is one of Camille's teachers and trained Camille during her Black Recommended period, the few months preparing before Black Belt Testing.

Moments in life where Mommy and Daddy are ultra proud of their daughter.

Primary Election

2008-08-05T10:09:00.002-06:00

Free Car for Life

2008-07-30T15:28:00.004-06:00

I came in to work this morning and with last night's heavy rain, half of our parking lot was flooded. We lost 14 cars the last tally said. The rental vehicles just down the hill from us literally floated down Indian Creek as police officers called the owners at 5am. The imagery of cars floating down the river reminded me how cars are just stuff and the money we spend on them also seems to be floating away, never to return. Fortunately, God has provided a way out of that.

I have been in the Volkswagen selling business for two years now and I see people happily signing up for huge amounts of car debt everyday for as long as 84 months. Next to a house this is the second biggest purchase we all make. Heck, Andi and I bought a brand new Chrysler minivan for 60 months 7 years ago right about the time Gabe was born. While it was the most basic of minivans we justified, we just now financially recovered from that mistake. The truth is, we never really understood how one could ever not have that expense. We will always need cars or some mode of transportation, so car payments are inevitable and easily justifiable we told ourselves. Not anymore.

I am just finding out that there is another way. A harder but much smarter way. This is not some scheme I divised on my own in the last two years, but rather a perfect gift God has handed me this morning amidst the chaos of moving cars back after the storm.

Could God have guided my feet here two years ago just to teach me this lesson as a good Father teaches his son? Moving to car sales was a little frightening for us, but there was a young Christian man name Donald who detailed cars here when I first started. I believe my Father put that young man here for at least three purposes - one was to comfort me as I made the transition to car sales. Donald has since moved on to be a police officer with the KCPD, but the second purpose is this - in the first few weeks after I started, Donald handed me a book from Dave Ramsey called The Total Money Makeover. This book, inspired by biblical principles, helped us get out of $22,000 worth of debt in the last two years. We now have a small emergency fund, no credit card debt and hope to have no debt at all except for the house by May next year. The verses from Proverbs 22: 6-7 have never been clearer: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." I never even realized these two verses were side by side.

As a salesperon I've sold everything between $16,000 Rabbits and $70,000 Diesel Touaregs. Millions of dollars in inventory. If I'm not selling the car myself, another salesperson is, and the phrase "I will always have a car payment" is commonly heard around these parts. Car purchases are so emotional it becomes comical how people will justify their purchase. The fact is most people do need cars. Do they need new cars? Probably not. However, in order to have used cars we must sell new cars. But really, new cars should be reserved for the people who can really afford them, with cash. Don't be a servant to the lender.

Anyhow, the third purpose Donald was put in my way is something I learned this morning by watching this short video, and it is to live a rich debt-free life. This is another one of Dave Ramsey's nugget of truth which will surely set you free from car debt bondage. If you're already free as I know some of you are, know that you're doing it right.

Enjoy: Free Car for Life.

Olathe North West Cheerleaders (in training)

2008-07-15T21:08:00.001-06:00

Black Belt Testing

2008-07-13T13:06:00.005-06:00

It has been over 2 years since Camille started Taekwondo and the moment came Saturday to test for her black belt. The testing started with Physical Training including most in one minute of push-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts, front kicks, side kicks and straight leg kicks. Camille went on to show her Red Belt Form which is the video below. Then there was self-defense ground grappling, sparring and finally the dreaded board breaking.

2008-07-04T21:46:00.001-06:00

Happy Fourth of July!

Baseball Night

2008-06-20T20:44:00.000-06:00

Worlds of Fun

2008-06-17T20:32:00.000-06:00

Mission: paint house & seal deck

2008-06-15T17:03:00.002-06:00

The house exterior paint, after only six years, was faded rather badly. We bought this 32' ladder with leveler legs and started painting. This ladder is huge but still doesn't reach the top of the house. We'll have to hire someone to finish that part, because this is as high as I'm willing to go anyhow. The ladder is tricky to handle as it is. I can't imagine anything higher. We also started refinishing the deck with a clear sealer.

Friends

2008-05-25T11:49:00.002-06:00

Lily and Camille at Sylas and Maddy's ice cream parlor.

Camille and Annie having Nutella crêpes.

Ben Stein interviewed on Faith and Family

2008-04-23T22:06:00.000-06:00

Ben Stein interviews on Richard Land's show.
Click here for the mp3.

Expelled

2008-04-20T05:19:00.009-06:00

I went to see Ben Stein's Expelled No Intelligence Allowed Friday night. Contrary to the Kansas City Star review (not surprisingly negative and only given one star), the movie does a great job of exposing the dividing wall between those who embrace researching the validity of Intelligent Design (ID) and those who are protecting the failed theory of evolution. There is no doubt that teachers, journalists or those in government positions will loose their jobs if they even mention the idea that ID might have some credence. If you doubt it, try it. This type of censorship attitude is reminiscent of communist East Berlin which imagery is used throughout the documentary.

Ben Stein is not a comedian here. I found him rather solemn, sarcastic of course. He uses funny cleverly placed spots from old movies or cartoons to ridicule or emphasize his numerous interviews. On the ID side: William Dembski, Guillermo Gonzales are just a few among the many scholars. There are those who got fired or shunned for daring to mention "ID" in a positive or even neutral manner. Another blogger mentions a few of those names "Cambridge physicist John Polkinghorne; Oxford mathematician and philosopher John Lennox; journalist Pamela Winnick, who has received hate mail for covering the issue; and biologist Caroline Crocker, who was fired from George Mason University for discussing intelligent design in the classroom." On the pro-Darwin side we find Richard Dawkins and the skeptic Michael Shermer among many others. Their statements are rather telling. Dawkins actually says, design couldn't be from God, but because of its obvious complexity it could be coming from an intelligence from outer space. Hello Houston, come again?!

I truly enjoyed watching the computer generated cell moving about our bodies which the attached clip shows only a small portion of. Some wonder why God hides himself. After watching the complexity of the cell, does he really hide? I always tell Camille and Gabe that God is too big to fit into something as physically small as a body like ours. However we do see God's presence when we look into the complexity of the human cell and that's only the physical. The complexity of the human soul, which I believe leads the process like an orchestra is directed by a maestro, would even be more amazing.

For more information about the movie, you can download the Leaders Guide from the Expelled website.

2008 April Tournament

2008-04-08T08:29:00.002-06:00

From April 2008 To...

Regional Taekwondo A Tournament in Kansas City. Camille won third place in eXtreme Martial Arts (XMA) and Fourth place in Forms. We had some audio problems that we'll have resolved next time though I don't believe that affected her place. There were some tough competitors in XMA. It was a lot of fun to watch. I'll include some videos of the other girls competing with Camille.

Gabe won second place in forms and third place in sparring.
Taekwondo provides a way for the kids to set goals and achieve them, moving from one belt to the next.

Tournaments are a way for Camille and Gabe to play the game, just as basketball players practice and play against other teams to see how good they are and improve their own game. After the tournament, Camille and Gabe set the goal to be more flexible and do the split both ways comfortably, so that their kicks would be higher and more controlled.

After the tournament we tried a Red Robin restaurant which has incredible burgers, cooked to your taste (I like mine rare and they were able to do that). Then we went to see Nims' Island at the movies. It was a good show about courage and living your own life, not the life of some person on TV or in People magazine.

From April 2008 To...

Cats

2008-03-23T18:28:00.006-06:00

From Cats

We took Camille to see Cats this afternoon. It was quite a production. The cats jumped off the stage and ventured in the first few rows so Camille got to see them real close. She thought Rum Tum Tugger sounded like Elvis and was really cool. There was a bit of a sexual overtone to his demeanor though, but after all he's supposed to be an animal (not that humans don't behave that way). Camille loved the way the cats were doing back-hand springs and flips.

French Breakfast in OP

2008-03-11T15:48:00.003-06:00

Andi and I love to have breakfast (when we can, which is not very often) at this French Bakery in Overland Park called Artisan Français. The Patissier is French. It's the best French Bakery in Kansas City. I probably eat way too many pastries when I'm there. We (I) had a croissant, an almond croissant (my favorite), a tordu (the twisted bread with chocolate chips) and a pain au chocolat (a square croissant with a bar of chocolate in the middle). Overall it's a delicious breakfast!

Artisan Français
6759 W. 119th St
Overland Park, KS 66209
913-345-1699
www.artisanfrancais.com

The Cat in the Hat

2008-03-07T18:55:00.002-06:00

From The Cat in th...

Camille dresses up as the Cat in the Hat for a reading at school.

Bowling in the USA

2008-02-17T21:10:00.000-06:00

From Bowling USA

We celebrated Camille and Gabe's high grades at school by bowling today after church. Camille received a couple Applebee's free meals for getting 100% on her State math and reading pre-assessments at school. Gabe is far beyond his grade level in reading, so we took advantage of the free lunch and then played three games of bowling. Gabe gets easily frustrated when he does not win, and Camille likes to remind him that he is not winning. Areas we'll keep focusing on.

Igloo

2008-01-02T06:45:00.000-06:00

From Igloo

Coming back to Kansas City from our trip to Battle Creek, MI we were greeted by lots of snow. Gabe and his friend Carter built an igloo big enough to have lunch in. This was a rudimentary igloo built by just packing snow on top of a five gallon bucket and digging out the inside. It was noticeably warmer and quieter in the small igloo we built. Watch the video. I'd love to go hiking with the family on snow shoes and camp in an igloo we built ourselves for the night. That will have to be added to the wishlist for now. For "correct" igloo making visit Grand Shelters.

Christmas Day 2007

2007-12-25T14:35:00.000-06:00

From Christmas Day...

We celebrated Christ's birth at Grandma Jane's church where this beautiful crêche was displayed. We opened presents with the family on Christmas Day. More pictures from Christmas Day 2007.

Battle Creek, MI

2007-12-23T22:23:00.000-06:00

From Battle Creek, MI

Andi, Grandma Jane and Aunt Suzie. More family pictures from Battle Creek, MI.

Chelsea's wedding

2007-12-23T20:23:00.000-06:00

From Chelsea's Wed...

Our reason for taking this trip was to attend Chelsea's wedding (Andi's cousin) in Battle Creek, MI and to visit with Andi's grandma and relatives. We are always fond of Grandma Jane's and Aunt Suzie's hospitality. We had a great time dancing with the family the night of the wedding. Gabe was adopted by the marine corps (groom is a marine) and tried hard to catch the garter (good thing he didn't I'm thinking). More pictures from Chelsea's wedding.

Chicago

2007-12-21T17:05:00.000-06:00

From Chicago, IL

We traveled to Battle Creek, MI to attend Chelsea's wedding (Andi's cousin) and see Andi's Grandma Jane. Before getting there, we stayed in Chicago at a hotel called the W Lakeshore. We walked to the Sears tower the first night there and truly enjoyed walking in the Chicago streets at night.

View Larger Map

We had dinner in a rather disappointing overpriced unsatisfying Chinese restaurant. The next morning we had breakfast at a safer Panera's and rode the El. It was the first time the kids rode in a subway. We took the afternoon to visit Shedd's aquarium. We all loved the dolphins, baluga whales and the penguins. Gabe loved the Komodo dragon. See more pictures from Chicago, IL.

Gates BAR-B-Q

2007-12-19T16:07:00.000-06:00

Decided to go to Gates Bar-B-Q for lunch today. Gates is a well known barbecue place in Kansas City with six different locations. I work near the one in Leawood and I thought I'd document the experience.

There is nothing fancy about the building or the furnishings, but this is the type of establishment that gives Kansas City Barbecue a good name. The staff greets you with a loud "Hi, How may I help you?" with a bit of attitude and you sense that you better be quick about placing your order.

Famous is their sauce and spices which they sell at the counter.

I placed my order for a burnt end sandwich, large cut fries (I mean large), coleslaw and barbecue beans. That is actually way too much food for one and could be split for two.

Took it to go and ate it at work between taking ups.

The whole thing was delicious.

The ticket was a bit high setting me back $15.

Regionals

2007-11-17T19:52:00.000-06:00

Camille (red decided) and Gabe (camo decided) each win second place in forms. Gabe also got third place in sparring.

11172007_Regional Tournament