Big Sister

Grandpa & Grandma Schulz Visit

We enjoyed an unexpected visit from grandma and grandpa Schulz today. Ella was SO excited to see them. They surprised her by being there when she woke up. Jackson hasn't eaten any baby food in the last week (ever since I introduced people food to him). Today he ate like a champ at Palmer's Deli. He loves turkey, chicken, applesauce, and bread.

Big Boy

Ella and Jack sat on the coach together, watched Barney, and ate a snack today. They are such good friends. It is fun to see them interact. Their favorite thing to do together is to wrestle around.He loves his cheerioes!Jack started to crawl on Thursday. He sat up for the first time on his own from laying down on Friday. Today he actually walked half way around our coffee table. It is hard to believe he will be a year old in just 2 months!

Date Night

Friday night we enjoyed a triple date with our good friends the Ryans and Tjernagels. We ate at Ranallo's in Ankeny.

Cousins

The Kids

Jackson started to crawl today. He is very slow at it, but he finally figured it out @ 9.5 months!

Happy Birthday Grandma Sue!

Thoughts on C.S. Lewis

As is his custom, John Piper is giving a biographical sketch of a great believer at his annual Pastors Conference. This year's subject is the much-anticipated C.S. Lewis. Here's a quote I thoroughly enjoyed,

"He loved the wisdom of the ages, not the whimsy of the passing present. He called himself a Neanderthaler and a dinosaur. He didn’t read newspapers. He never wore a watch. He never learned to type. He did not own or drive a car. He cared nothing about cutting a good appearance and wore the same old clothes until they were threadbare. He was incredibly free from the addicting powers of the present moment."

You can read or listen to the rest here.

Optometrists Divorce Less Than Clergy

I read this today:

Optometry has one of the lowest divorce rates—about 4%—among any profession. Indeed, O.D.s are more likely to stay married than clergy members (who have a 5.6% rate of divorce), according to a study of divorce rates among different occupations published in the online edition of the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology.

Other jobs with the lowest divorce rates include media/communications equipment workers (0%), agricultural engineers (1.8%), transit/railroad police (5.3%) and podiatrists (6.8%).

Occupations with the highest divorce rates are dancers/choreographers (43%), bartenders (38%) and massage therapists (38%).

via Review of Optometry

Look-a-Likes

Today I received the following email from a crotchety, old, John-Deere-loving friend of ours:

"Congrats to iTodd Schulz for launching his debut album "Applause of the Rain" on iTunes! The freshman album by the cornfed Iowan is quite a work and is being touted as "one of the best freshmen break-out albums in the genre of "punk-pop-cornfed-bluegrass-gospel-funk band-jam"! The humble break-out release is under the alias "Christopher Jak", a name inspired by his road manager Christopher Ryan and his son Jack. The album name "Applause of the Rain" is an apparent reference to his Northwest Iowa farm heritage and his memories of the drought of '88.

Join me in congratulating the upcoming star!"

Here was my reply:

"Very funny Mark. This Jak guy looks healthy and strong.

Regarding your reference to the drought of '88, I don't remember much ... since I was just a little kid. But I'm sure the events were seared into your mind, since you were 27 at the time.

Also, if we're going to talk about look-a-likes ... I've always thought you looked like Harry Connick, Jr. The resemblance is eerie."

Ella

Here are cute photos of Ella reading to her monkey and holding hands with Jack.

Silly Jack

Why Postmodernism Fails

From an address by Ravi Zacharias:

I remember lecturing at Ohio State University, one of the largest universities in this country. I was minutes away from beginning my lecture, and my host was driving me past a new building called the Wexner Center for the Performing Arts.

He said, “This is America’s first postmodern building.”

I was startled for a moment and I said, “What is a postmodern building?”

He said, “Well, the architect said that he designed this building with no design in mind. When the architect was asked, ‘Why?’ he said, ‘If life itself is capricious, why should our buildings have any design and any meaning?’ So he has pillars that have no purpose. He has stairways that go nowhere. He has a senseless building built and somebody has paid for it.”

I said, “So his argument was that if life has no purpose and design, why should the building have any design?”

He said, “That is correct.”

I said, “Did he do the same with the foundation?”

All of a sudden there was silence.

You see, you and I can fool with the infrastructure as much as we would like, but we dare not fool with the foundation because it will call our bluff in a hurry.

(HT: JT)

We Will Miss You Anna!

For the past three months, I've been providing part-time day care for Anna, the daughter of a friend of ours. Ella has really enjoyed waking up to find out Anna was there, and she has loved having someone else to play with. Some of their favorite activities included reading books, jumping on Ella's bed, eating snacks together, and playing in the play kitchen. Ella also enjoyed leading Anna by the hand and showing her things all around the house. It was cute. Jack liked having Anna around, too. We will all miss you, Anna.

Time-Lapse Rescue of Flight 1549

From CNet,

"More than enough has been said about what happened to that flight and about the heroism of its pilot, Chesley Sullenberger. But perhaps not enough attention has been paid to the fact that that poor airplane, its engines blown to smithereens by Canada geese and its dignity bruised by a belly-flop landing in the river, had to lie, submerged, in the Hudson for days."

The video, shot by David Martin is, as Todd Lappin wrote on Laughing Squid, "haunting." It's also amazing and beautiful.

Posted on Kontain.com - [Flight 1549] from David Martin on Vimeo.

As Lappin put it, "Can someone please get that jet a cup of hot cocoa?!"

The Big Squeeze

Apple Live Event

It's a big day for Apple.

Follow the action here (happening now (12:10pm).

5 Things: Unexpected Camo

We had planned on a short road trip yesterday, but another "storm of the century" quickly diverted us back to Bass Pro Shops. Here are 5 things we didn't expect to see camouflaged.

1. Furniture
2. Neck pillow

3. Booties

4. A crock pot

5. Unmentionables

Allison's Dedication

Jackson: A Compilation

Jackson: a compilation from TMS on Vimeo