eli met his goal

I had a previous post about how Eli schooled me in Ooh & Aah bowling.  I also mentioned that he had a personal goal to score 5000 points.

Check it out! Congrats Eli!

and i will open up my heart and let the hero let me sing

OK – I did a quick blog about Eli schooling me in coco-nutty bowling…now it’s time for a blog about Eden’s coolness.

Eden was singing “I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever” today. We are always laughing at how our kids will learn songs really quick, but they don’t always hear the words correctly. But they usually make up something that’s pretty close – and funny too.

Here are the correct lyrics for the chorus:
Over the mountains and the sea, Your River runs with love for me
And I will open up my heart and let the healer set me free

Here is Eden’s interpretation:
And I will open up my heart and let the hero let me sing.

I like Eden’s version. Kids are smart. Smarter than we think.

eli beat me in a video game

eli beat me in a video game. i had imagined this would happen at some point in our video game adventures years from now, but never expected it this early. eli is 5. and he beat me. and i was trying really hard. no joke.

we were playing “Ooh & Aah’s Coco-Nutty Bowling” at playhouse disney.

eli schooled me. he scored 4,915. i think i scored 4,300. he was trash talking me the whole way.

great job eli!

See if you can beat a 5 year old in coco nutty bowling…try it.

shake it, don’t break it

i taught them everything they know…

happy thanksgiving

I asked our 3 year old some questions about Thanksgiving…

me: Eden – what do you love about Thanksgiving?

eden: Uh, candy corn and marshmallows.

me: What does Thanksgivng mean?

eden: ‘Cause it’s fun. Do people have to go to thanksgiving?

me: no, some poeple don’t celebrate. What are you thankful for?

eden: Jesus died on the cross. Thanksgiving and Halloween. Let me write my name.

eden

Christmas tunes…

Libby and I love Christmas music.  We usually wait ’till Thanksgiving weekend to put our first Christmas record on.  That’s also when we go cut down our tree with Brett & Lori. 

But this year we broke tradition and started listening early.  It’s been cold and rainy lately, so Christmas music just works…

Here are some of our favorite Christmas albums….

• Darkest Night of the Year – Over the Rhine
• A Charlie Brown Christmas – Vince Guaraldi Trio
• When My Heart Finds Christmas – Harry Connick, Jr
• Joy: A Holiday Collection – Jewel
• Snow Angels – Over the Rhine

Now it’s your turn…

1. when do you start listening to Christmas music?
2. any favorite albums???

it’s a catpad! (the fuzzy lense of adulthood)

I love that kids see things as they are.

My son Eli (5) and my daughter Eden (3) are like little computer kids. I guess all these kids growing up now are going to be crazy computer kids.

My wife has a mousepad with a cat picture on it. Lame I know. I said something about our mousepad and Eli said “It’s not a mousepad! It’s a catpad!” We had never explained what a mousepad was…so it was a catpad to him.

There have been so many times that our kids have seen things the way they really are, and not through the fuzzy lense of adulthood.

It’s helped me take a second look at so many things, like Jesus for one.

would you quit your shenanigans!?!?

Oh the things you’ll say as a parent, even in a public place…

I met Lib and the 3 hooligans for lunch at Panera today. At one point Lib was getting super frustrated with Eli and she turned to him and yelled:

Would you quit your shenanigans!?!?

I just started to giggle, then Eli did too. I’m like Lib’s 4th kid, I laugh when she yells and then I make our other kids laugh. It’s a vicious cycle. But that got me thinking, what is a shenanigan? Really? And is this a word we should be using in public? Hmm…

According to my good friend Wikit,

A shenanigan is a deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance. The term is usually used in the plural, shenanigans. However, in some regions, shenanigans can merely refer to harmless mischievous play, especially by children.

Yeah, she was right on with her vocabulary. Shenanigan was the right word…na na na na

What’s something goofy that you say to your kids (or husband)?

taking the random out of kindness (it’s ok not to be safe part 4 of 5)

Have you ever driven by someone on the road, and noticed that it looked like they needed help – then had the thought:

maybe I should stop and help that guy!

but then you keep right on driving?

Well, I have.

A few weeks ago I was in this situation and it went down a little differently…

I was headed back to Wilmington after meeting Ben for lunch and happened to pass this couple that was waiting under a tree, they had their son who was probably 3 or 4 with them. It looked like they were waiting for a bus or a ride.

I drove by, then decided to turn around (the pivotal moment of the story).

I parked in the parking lot near them. Walked up and said I was heading to Wilmington if they needed a ride. It was funny, they were arguing when I walked up. I even mentioned I had a car seat for their son.

They said they were waiting for a ride, said thanks, they were a little hesitant because of the situation. But they seemed a little surprised by my kindness. So much so that I think they forgot about their argument.

In Romans 2:4 Paul reminds us that even in Christ’s righteous judgment it’s his kindness that leads us towards repentance.

So I had this idea that part of the Christian life is a life of kindness that’s demonstrated with the purpose and hope to somehow offer people the chance to turn around. To repent.

It sort of takes the random out of kindness.

what i learned from my mom-in-law

Libby’s mom said something to us a while ago that has really stuck with me. It’s just so wise I had to post it here for posterity.

Libby and I have been exploring how to follow God more fully in our lives. We’ve talked about everything from moving to Paris and helping start a church, or becoming a campus/university pastor or going on staff at a church as a worship/arts pastor or associate pastor. Libby’s parents were missionaries in Germany for almost 20 years. They started 2 evangelical churches south of Frankfurt, Germany that are still thriving and alive today.

This was her mom’s advise…

Don’t expect to go on the mission field (or into ministry) and start doing something you’re not already doing here, because it won’t happen.

That’s just pure wisdom. This comment alone helped me realize that worship leading will be part of the next steps in our journey of following God – no matter what it is.

What’s something you learned from your in-laws?

driving, cooking and getting married

Some random comments from Eli & Eden tonight…

I asked Eden if she was done on the potty.  She said yes, then she said no.  The she said, “Daddy, do you know what yes-no means?  It means almost.”

While driving home from worship practice, Eli informed us that he doesn’t want to drive or cook or get married when he grows up - because they’re all too dangerous.

trick or treat

~~i can’t wait to go trick or treating tonight~~

Eli will be buzz lightyear and Eden will be a ballerina, I’m sure Silas will be some cute and fuzzy animal, like every other 6 month old who can’t eat candy!

What was your best costume as a kid?

Pictures from the pumpkin patch this year:

keeping it real

Lib is always reminding me that I can’t do 2 things at once. So typical of me. What gives?

Just to keep things real around here, I thought I’d tell a little story from my day to demonstrate that she is absolutely right (again).

I was driving down North Scott street in Wilmington, and I came to an intersection. I figured I had enough time to mess with my tape cassette player (lame I know!) while I was waiting for the light to turn green. I was fiddling for a couple of minutes and looked up to check to see if the light was green. It was then that I realized I was at a 4-way stop. Awesome.

I love it when stuff like this happens. Do you have any equally lame driving stories?

brothers of influence

In reflecting on this past year, I realized that some of my brothers have really helped me along on my journey of life and faith.

My friend Jimmy encouraged me yesterday that things will happen for me in God’s time, and that I don’t need to worry about my resume looking good because that’s not what it’s about. He’s a good friend. He is always there for me and has so much compassion.

I was sharing some fears to my friend Ben the other day, about how I have this fear that I lack some technical abilities in leading worship, and that I have some doubts about going after that as a vision for my life. I loved his response – he said that what I lack in technical skill I make up for in awesomeness. That really encouraged me. Ben has a way of inspiring me to do odd things, like taking homeless guys out for lunch. He’s a source of light for people.

Rick has been a great listener to my ideas this past year. We’ve spent hours sharing with each other, and he is awesome at listening and giving good advise. One of the things he said awhile back was to start taking small steps of action, testing the waters so I can hang some of these thoughts on something tangible. That has proven to be good advise. I feel like I can tell him anything, and he’s my pastor – that’s just pretty cool.

Jon just generally fires me up whenever we meet, I can’t get enough of that. He’s an amazing story teller and visionary. It’s been fun to get each other fired up with Frank Sinatra playing in the background at Fa So Latte. And he also got me back into the Beatles, added bonus.

Brett has taught me not to be afraid to be open about my faith at work, and reminded me that if you ask them, they will come. He also reminded me that brothers are really important. REAL brothers are awesome because you don’t have to prove anything to each other, and you can always count on your brother. I’m glad Eli has a little bro too.

Ryan has reminded me that believing in God is a journey, and that families can grow together. He also has some amazing ideas on how to reach those who don’t believe – like meeting them @ a British Pub for darts and drafts. He has also shown me how to serve unselfishly.

Bryan has reminded me to go after the Kingdom work, and he has never doubted me. That’s been a huge source of encouragement for me to keep pushing. He also taught me that we can recover from the hard things.

Vinnie has reminded me that running a business can be a Godly accomplishment. And that the inner faith in God is more important than looking like a good Christian to those in the church.

Who has influenced you this past year?

lightning & plans (it’s OK not to be safe part 3 of 5)

Tonight was “daddy night.”

Here’s the official Foester Family definition of “daddy night” – Lib goes out for the night and leaves the 3 little ones to me, it’s that simple. I look forward to daddy night. My kids are fun and I love to hang with them. And they still think I’m cool, which is an added bonus.

Being the thinker, I usually have a plan for “daddy night”.

Here was tonight’s plan…

• dinner
• building block lesson (Eli the little engineer gives me a lesson)

  

• wrestling
• movie time (Toy Story 2)
• bed time routine of brushing teeth and reading books and prayers

THEN, it’s time for daddy to get out his guitar and record some music with the Presonus Inspire Firewire recording thingy. At least that was the plan.

But here’s how it went down…

Silas (5 months) was being a stinker so he didn’t go down ’till 9. I had planned for him to go down at 7. That didn’t happen, but he’s cute so he can get away with it.

I finally got Eli and Eden down a little after 9 and I was getting set up to play some music.

Then the storm came.

Eli and Eden sleep on our third floor so they can hear the rain and thunder pretty clearly in their room. I wasn’t surprised to see them standing outside my door, almost hugging each other in fear.

So I took action, I unplugged the computer and TV and turned all the lights off in our room. We all hopped into our bed and cuddled during the storm. It was one of those loud storms with lot’s of lightning. They had lots of questions about lightning that I couldn’t really answer, like how does lightning come into the TV and computer?

Then we prayed. Eden prayed for our computer which I thought was funny. Eli prayed for his mommy’s safe trip home.

Man, I was floored with the power of God tonight. I actually got a little afraid of Him during the storm. I was reminded how powerful He is and how little control I have over the way I plan things out.

I was reminded tonight that I’m trying to force some things in my life, and trying to make them happen on my plan instead of trusting in God and having true faith that he will see things through.

So I’ll try to keep having true faith and not get too caught up in my plans.

What plan are you holding onto too tightly?