October 2011
1 post
Terrapin: little stream, Camp Branch,... →
wakingwives:
little stream, Camp Branch, flowing
through the ever-renewing
woods on the steep slopes,
by what name did the Shawnee call you? We live briefly in time
longer than we will live to know
When we who know you by name
are gone, what will they call you?
When our nation has fallen as all things…
July 2011
1 post
The 4th of July is that day that the historically literate must pause and begrudgingly acknowledge that we’d be no where without the French
June 2011
4 posts
Now I remember why I quit tumblr
Have they still not added a comments ability? Is it still only like or reblog?
Unsure of which tech company - Facebook, Google or Apple - that I am paranoid about, I thought I’d come back to tumblr for a bit.
(Plus they have a nice new iOS app.)
January 2011
1 post
“Owen: “When you’re in the shower with a girl, you point to the water...”
June 2010
1 post
Lost
So based on several quality endorsements I decided to start watching Lost season one (via Netflix streaming). This is a dramatic shift from watching very little TV or movies in the last decade. I am nine episodes in and so far I am enjoying it. I am somewhat sad to not have been part of the six-year discussions as things unfolded each week but I am thankful to be able to watch when I want and...
May 2010
2 posts
Baby Jack
McSparran baby #4 has arrived! This one could be best one yet. All are well and blessed.
Lost
Is it really worth starting 6 seasons of episodes now that it is over?
April 2010
1 post
1 tag
March 2010
1 post
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to...”
– Deuteronomy 29:29
February 2010
1 post
Bedtime time talks with Owen 2-19-10
*long period of silence*
Owen: does George Washington eat chicken?
Me: what? Why do you ask son?
Owen: did he eat meat or only healthy food? You know, like fruits and vegetables?
Me: he ate chickens and cows.
Owen: so he only ate meat?
Me: no, we was an omnivore.
Owen: if you had a goat, you wouldn't have to throw much in the trash, right?
Me: go to bed, son.
Owen: wait, you didn't say what of plants George Washington ate!
January 2010
2 posts
Bedtime talks with Owen 1-19-10
Owen: what's so special about trees?
Me: they breathe in Carbon Dioxide and exhale Oxygen?
Owen: I already knew that about carbon dioxide, I was just being silly.
Me: ha ha, great. honey, lets play a game called be quiet and go to bed.
Bedtime Chats with Owen 1-13-2010
Owen: Daddy, when I grow up I want to sleep in a bed by myself
Me: Ok son.
Owen: The wife can sleep in a different bed. I don't want to get squished.
December 2009
3 posts
“6-8 Black Men” - David Sedaris on...
Owen on Christmas Eve
Owen: Hey mom, I know what I want to play with you!
Karin: What?
Owen: Open another present!
Karin: HaHaHa, no.
Toddler Theology
Me: Ian, do you love Jesus?
Ian: No, Bob the Builder!
November 2009
4 posts
shannadipaolo:
last night i was kind of tricked into seeing new moon. i mean, i dunno, that’s probably giving myself too much credit. some friends of ours wanted to see it and for about 20 minutes the ak and i were swept away in some kind of weird twilight hysteria. by the time we came to our senses, we were sitting in the theater waiting for the previews to start.
i intermittently laughed and...
The three McSparran children in the shower together are wonderfully illustrative of entropy, the degenerative chaos at work in the universe.
“Over heard from Emma to her 5 year old brother “Owen, that is humiliating....”
If posting to Tumblr were like breathing I’d either be that kid at camp who won the breath-holding competition or I’d have died a month ago.
October 2009
2 posts
“Lord, throw down the Jezebel of our unbelief, and let the dogs devour it.”
– Charles Spurgeon, Morning, October 17th
Intrinsic motivation
Emma: Daddy, can I do pretend homework?
Me: umm...sure.
Emma: Yah!
August 2009
1 post
July 2009
1 post
Not good enough for the Salvation Army
Today I tried to go drop off some items at the Goodwill and/or Salvation Army. They would only take about half of what I brought. I found out today that I have lower standards that the Goodwill since these were items from my house. They were both very polite in rejecting my item. The best item to be rejected was a long, low dresser. There was nothing wrong with it except that a drawer fell out...
June 2009
3 posts
One time I stayed up until 3 am making a new chart to plan out all my classes for next year. I’ve only been out of school a week; I am such a work-a-holic dork.
May 2009
5 posts
If I had one more labor-saving device I would...
Do you ever find yourself picking up a technological device in order to be productive (like I just picked up my touch to use the calculator) only to find yourself X minutes later being anything but productive?
Owen's Questions 5/14/09
Owen: Daddy, how many mean things are there in this whole wide world?
Me: *pause* I'm not sure, son
Owen: Well, dinosaurs only counts as one.
Me: That's helpful to know...
Kid prayers 5-9-09
Owen: thank you for making people smart so that they could invent clothes
Emerson: (sung to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas) thank you for el-le-le-phants
Owen: thank you for door knobs
Emma: thank you for feathers and hair clips
Owen: wait, I didn't mean door knobs, I meant grass...
Owen's Questions 5/2/09
Owen: who would win in a race, a pizza or a person?
Me: what?
Owen: I mean if a pizza had two legs and could run...
April 2009
9 posts
Swine Flu
Swine flu is yet another reminder that YHWH was right about that whole pig issue.
While I am not in fear for myself, I am concerned for the global poor who don’t have the benefits of good nutrition and Tamiflu.
Let us pray for God’s redemptive work to be evident.
Waterboarding Used 266 Times on 2 Suspects -... →
Observations on youth soccer 4/17/09
Youth soccer coaches are very fond of saying “hustle” and “let’s bring it in”
A plus side of poverty + three kids
From my TaxCut software:
“In simple terms, the Marginal Tax Rate is the tax rate that you pay on your last dollar of taxable income. It is the highest federal tax bracket that affects your tax calculation. The Effective Tax Rate is the percentage of your total income that you paid in taxes. For 2008, your Marginal Tax Rate is 10% and your Effective Tax Rate is 0%.”
Short diakonos trip update
It is amazing.
(More to come.)
Kids prayers 4/3/09
Emma: thank you for pandas, and the Earth, so we don’t have to live in space.
Emma: Please help the beautiful rainforests, where the little pygmie marmosets live.
Owen: please help poisonous lizards.
Emma: you mean the thorny devil?
Owen: no, a different one! And plain lizards too!
Emma: I want to pray that echidnas have good lives and don’t get eaten by dingos.
Kid prayers 4/2/09
Me: any “please helps” you wanna pray for?
Emma: please help owls have good days.
Owen: Daddy, can owls eat rats or only mice? Can a rat eat a shark or only piranhas?
April Fool's Day is not funny.
March 2009
14 posts
Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is so very good. Check it out all ye hipsters!
