ELLAsode - The Dentist

I took Ella to the Dentist early this morning, and she did so well!

The Dentist and Hygenists all complimented her on how pretty and clean her teeth are, and that she’s doing a great job of brushing every morning and night.

And she was cracking them up with her funny reactions to the polisher and vacuum thingy…

Good job, Sweetie!!

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Sunday Summary - Music: June 08, 2008

Father’s Day…

Dudes - If you’ve got kids, you’ve GOT to get a copy of John Woodall’s sermon from this past week called “Fathering On Purpose”.

He outlines 3 key points to parenting: TEACH, MODEL, PRAY.

Oh wow, it was good.

We also had week 2 of our 3 week Spanish Service pilot series.

And, because lots of other stuff is going on in life today, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of this past Sunday…

WORSHIP:

East - Mike Gleason

West English - Eddie Kirkland

West Spanish - Duane Nisly

Salvation Is Here

Everlasting God

From The Inside Out (our own custom 4:30 edit)

Great, familiar tunes - and again, reaching back a bit as to assist with the translation burden for the Spanish service. Hillsong has already translated their songs into Spanish, so we have been taking advantage of that, and slowly doing some North Point - based songs along the way.

From The Inside Out is still kind of new (we’ve only done it about 5 times), but the crowd has picked it up really quick! Very surprising… That Joel Houston - he writes some guuud tunes…

CLOSER:

The closer was certainly the high point of the day - at least musically. It was the perfect punctuation to John’s incredible message, and I’m really glad we did it:

Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

Yeah, it’s a little dated, and has a bit of that “Butterfly Kisses” vibe - but GOSH!!

As a father of a little girl, I was a mess. All Tuesday afternoon while transcribing and programming the strings and tracks, I kept breaking into sobs. It was embarrassing.

And I was replacing the lyrics with: “And I will dance with my little Ella“.

Emotional torture… Good thing no one was around…

And then when we finally saw the silhouette video on Sunday morning, we were all a wreck. Mike Gleason, who sang the tune, opted to not view the video at all, just to be able to keep his composure during the performance.

He still hasn’t seen the video…

But I can’t rave enough at how great Mike was doing this tune. Sure, 4 or 5 of our other guys could have sung it as well, but he’s the only one who could deliver the song with such a convincing parental authority. He actually has raised 5 kids to adulthood, and so the performance was not only musically excellent, but from a place of authenticity.

Bottom line: message delivered, and not a dry eye in the house.

At least that’s what it looked like through the strange water that mysteriously filled my eyes…

Okie Dokie - I’ve got to go give Ella a giant hug…

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East Band - Mike Gleason, Danny Howes, Brad Long, Scott Meeder, Earl South, Jared Hamilton, Rachel Gillis

West Band - Eddie Kirkland, Duane Nisly, Danny Grady, Jeremy Moyers, Ashley Appling, Brad Gage, Keith Thomas, Rebecca Iraheta

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What touched YOU this week?

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(P.S. - POD X3 Live count - 4)

I Did Not Blog Today

(with a bounce…)

I did not blog today, today

I did not blog today

I did not blog today, today

I did not blog today

I spent all day with my fam-i-ly:

Tick’ling, eating, drawing, splashing

Reading, singing, joking, laughing!

I did not blog today

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Kiddos…

Wonderful, random pics of the kids…

Hanging upside down from my feet…

Ella’s Birthday Party

Forget gear and church - just enjoy pics of Ella’s 4th Birthday Party…

Big thanks to Papa and Yaya for letting us have it at their house!

And yes, Jennie made the cake - 3 boxes of Duncan Hines and a whole lot of talent!

Jennie’s a Stealer!!

So Jennie totally stole my blog idea for today!

So check here…

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ELLAsode: Soldiers

This morning, passing the VFW on the way to Preschool…

“Daddy, why does that sign have ribbons?”

“Those are for soldiers. When they are brave, sometimes they get a ribbon.”

“But Daddy, soldiers hurt Jesus and put him on a cross.”

Oh my….

What Bible story have YOU had to explain in more detail?

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Jennie’s Birthday !!!!

Yes, just when you were over my birthday, the sexy one in our house has her birthday!

Jennifer Greven turns 29 today!!!

Stop by her blog or Facebook and wish her a happy day.

Jen’s the greatest wife and mother to our kids that I could ever hope or dream to have. She is an incredible woman of God, and she makes life wonderful. Ella, Cooper and I are so blessed to have her in our lives.

And she’s hot. And teaches kick boxing. And could maybe take me in a fight… Maybe.

Here are some of my favorite pics of her, taken at the beach last summer (and 7 months pregnant with Cooper!).

Work it, girl! (Oh man, she’s gonna kill me…)

Happy Birthday to HER!

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My Birthday

I was born on Wednesday, March 26, 1975

This will be Wednesday March 26, 2008

I will be 33

Jesus was 33

(no pressure!)

I believe this WILL be the most important year of my life so far.

I’m glad you’re sharing it with me!

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Jelly Bean Martyr

Ahh, the curse of being the dad when the Jelly Beans are opened.

Here are the ones Ella left for me:

Do YOU like the licorice ones?

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ELLAsode: Money

The 4 of us, pulling up to the drive-through ATM…

- What are we doing?

- Depositing checks

- What’s themoseling hecks?

- (slower) Depositing… Checks…

- What’s checks?

- They’re money

- What’s money for?

- Life.

- What’s a life?

- Something we used to have…

What do YOUR kids ask about?

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Have you seen my kids lately?

Some pics of Ella and Cooper. Man, we thought Ella was a talker, but even at 4 months Cooper is talking up a storm! It’s “goo goo” this, and “ga ga” that….

Like a Chatty Cathy doll pulling its own string….

Cooper - stealing Mommy’s Diet Coke…

Cool hat and a high five:

Posing…

Fun with the hair dryer…

Show me frowny!!

Cutie!

How’s YOUR family doing?

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4.5 years too late…

Yes, we have the house for sale. So what better time to paint the last room plagued with that nasty, chalky builder’s white flat paint nastiness?

Seriously folks, paint your house. There’s no reason not to.

We (stupidly) had one last, solitary guest/kids bathroom that we just never painted - the last room in the house with that horrible builder’s white.

Until today.

And Ella helped!

Before:

During:

After:

So what color is it? It’s actually a darker tan / khaki, but these pics look like everything from olive to caramel.

Mmmmmmmmm… Caramels…….

(Yeeeccchhhh - olives. Gross)

What do YOU need to do around the house?

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ELLAsode: The Circus

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was in town at Phillips Arena, and Ella and I got to go this past Friday.

The show was great, and kept Ella fascinated. It was over 2 hours (with 15 minute intermission), so keeping her attention was a big deal.

Tigers, elephants, trapeze, tight rope, human cannons, horses, zebras, Chinese acrobats, Wheels of Death, 70 foot swing towers, trained dogs, clowns, a singing Ringmaster and a live band. And that was before intermission…..

Click on the picture thumbnails for larger pics. The tigers and Gymnasts are especially cool…

When’s the last time YOU relived your childhood?

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ELLAsode: The Dispenser

Ahh! A new feature! My daughter Ella is nearing her 4th birthday, and the world is full of wonder. Thus, our adventures with her shall be the “Ella Episodes”, better known as Ellasodes…

Around the backstage areas at church are several “single” bathrooms meant for stage and production personnel. They’re off the beaten path for the general public, and are great for a quick pit-stop before heading on stage. Or even between songs (yes, I’ve done that…).

They’re evenly divided between male and female, but it’s an unspoken acceptance that that rule is merely a suggestion, since the band and production team folks consist of about a 4 male : 1 female ratio. Maybe even more lopsided than that! So it’s not at all uncommon for men to use the female room.

Well, what a perfect answer for me having to take Ella to the bathroom! Any of the women’s is far nicer and cleaner than the men’s, especially after the onslaught of a Sunday morning. And they’re singles, so no worries of unwanted company.

But I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy…

I’m sure you know about the “dispensers” in women’s restrooms. Yep, you know what I’m referring to. I was unfortunately reminded of their existence after Ella asked me what it was.

“Aahhhhh…. Ummmmm… Eerrrrrr… It’s for older girls and ladies.”

“What comes out of here?”

“Geee… The things for old girls and ladies.”

“Is it medicine?”

“Yep. Sure. Let’s go with that. It’s medicine.”

“When I’m grown up, will I have that medicine?”

Good Lord, shoot me now….

What’s embarrassed YOU lately?

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