Gunnar's b-day bike.

Gunnar on the bike we got for him via the Moscow police auction.

"Thanks" for the horn Grandpa and Grandma. It's sound was quite
audible for the first couple days. It helped mom and dad to keep
track of him by ear alone!

Signe without training wheels.

Bike maturity evidence!

Go Signe! I still remember my first time without training wheels
outside our house in Longmont, CO. If she forgets, at least I have
photographic evidence.
The wheels on this lil bike are so small that she has to pedal rapidly
to keep going. It's cute to watch and she's so happy with the results
despite falling down on occasion.

Bikes

Signe can now ride without training wheels!

Funny tweet quotes

Tom Siedell is the twitter persona 'badbanana', a marketing guy out of Lincoln, NE (yes, mom, Nebraska.  Let's not make a big deal out of it.)  He has lots of funny quotes on Twitter.  I thought I would list some of his faves here.  Call this your May 20, 2010 laugh-o-the-day. 

More on Tim Siedell:

• Hometown: Lincoln
• Career: Co-owner and creative director at Fuse Industries. He founded the brand communications studio with Yayle Roncka in August 2000.
• Education: M.A. degree in Journalism, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Blog: badbanana.typepad.com

To get a better idea of Siedell's sense of humor, it's worth checking out his favorite tweets from other users on Twitter: twitter.com/badbanana/favorites.

In no particular order, here's 10 of Siedell's favorite tweets:

@jasonmustian: "Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Waldo, Not Waldo"--Where's Waldo Audiobook

@BillCorbett: Tea Party? No thanks. But I would join a Mr. T Party. Let's take this country back to its fool-pitying ways!

@luckyshirt: Misery loves company picnics.

@michaeljnelson: Tomorrow, I'd ask that you celebrate a low key Earth Day so as not to make Wind and Fire feel bad.

@RexHuppke: Do these new boxer-briefs make me look like I should wear pants in the office?

@jordanrubin: How do you deal with a friend that drives you crazy by twittering everything that you say? (asking for a friend)

@michaeljordan: I'm so sick of using batteries.

@toddlevin: 40 push-ups today! That's the most I've ever eaten in one sitting.

@ConanOBrien: If anyone's curious what I look like with a beard, it's this ?:^(0) Coincidentally, that's also my ATM pin number.

@adamisacson: This milk's brand name is "Organic Valley." I can't drink it. Too grossed out picturing livers, spleens and pancreases sitting in a valley.

Gunnar's 3rd Birthday.

Here's Gun-Gun on his 3rd birthday at Wawawai Park on the Snake River.

It was Gunnar's b-day on Sunday...

Gunnar made it through the "Terrible Twos" without ever being terrible. He's really a sweet li'l guy who wants to please, loves to play with his sis, and thinks firetrucks and army men are cool.

Pioneer Nick Palousing it.

aka "Man vs. Prairie".

We went to Wawawai Park yesterday along the Snake River.  This is from the trail above the park.

Rob Sentz sent me this pic.  Thanks?

Interesting stuff about the Crusades and modern Muslim/Arab nationalism

Rodney Stark clears up many of the misconceptions about the Crusades.  Read all of it, especially the last section.  Quite good.

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Crusades-for-Christ?offset=0&max=1&showAll=1

B Zay Zay.

One more for my sis-in-law, Bobbie Lou.

Govt budget done right... by New Jersey!

I hope and pray that the other states in the Union will follow New Jersey's example.  Our national and state governments somehow seem to think they can SPEND their way out of debt.  Since when did gravity make you fall up?


Read about New Jersey's answer to the financial crisis here, http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/ab-stoddard/97603-nj-gov-sets-tone-for-us?sms_ss=twitter

Confession and Repentance

Powerful stuff from Toby Sumpter, pastor of Trinity Reformed, our sister church.

http://havingtwolegs.blogspot.com/2010/05/glory-of-repentance.html

For my sis-in-law, Bobbie Lou.

As posted on Twitter by badbanana.

Grandparent's Day at Logos Preschool for Signe and Greta (video).

Signe and her cousin Greta recite a poem for Grandparent's day. Click on the title for the video. Signe is wearing a black cowboy hat and Greta is wearing a pink hat.

Grandparent's Day at Logos preschool.

Grandpa and Grandma's visit.

Signe, Gunnar, and Zane really enjoyed having Grandpa and Grandma here for the weekend!  While Grandparent's day at Logos was fun and Signe recited her poem to perfection (we'll try to have a video up soon), nothing beats a Costco dog with Grandpa and Grandma.  PS. Tikki says sorry for all the dog hair.  Spring, the time when flowers bloom, temps change, and black dogs divulge their secret hairs... all over the place.

To the point...

From Ashley Lyman, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Statistics, University of Idaho:

It is a bit tiresome to continually hear the story of a “Sovereign Debt Crisis”. This is absolute nonsense, it misses the point, and it appears to be the best strategy that governments and socialists have at deflecting attention from the real crisis. The real crisis is excessive government spending. Excessive spending is the same as excessive size. People in government do not produce anything useful. They are the ultimate leaches on the backs of people who work. Those who work must work hard and long enough to supply the food, clothing, cars, vacations, entertainment, medical care, etc. for those in government! Those in government, perversely earn higher incomes and have better retirement plans and better health care plans than those who must work to make this possible. The truth of this problem seems to never get much attention.

It is second nature and tempting for an academic to stay within the confines of professional writing and third person analytics. However, the problem we face in the United States and elsewhere in the world, never seems to get any smaller. And maybe some acerbic and critical commentary will be productive. It certainly can’t hurt. 

Up early with Zane.

B zay-zay joined me for breakfast at 6:30. (This is the nick name that
seems to have stuck to him so far!)