To be or not to be potty trained...that is the question!

This morning Brock and I were downstairs getting ready to eat his favorite breakfast food - cheesy bread. I was over working on his breakfast, he was sitting in his chair at he table drinking his juice, when all of a sudden I hear him say "PooPoo". I looked over at him and he was pointing at his diaper saying "Poop". I scooped him up, ran upstairs, took off everything but his socks and shirt and sat him on the baby potty seat.

This was it...he was going to poop in his potty! So we sat their for a while and he started noticing all his bath toys. There was his bath sea creature that he wanted only to give it a kiss, say "night night" and then threw it in the bath tube. Still no poop! Then it was, play with dad's unshaved face and try to pull out the whiskers. (That was really cute. As he would pull it, he would say "Ouch" every time.) Still no poop!

So I was done sitting there! I picked him up, put on his clothes, and it was off to Piper's house for the day! Better luck next time!

TIMMMMMMBERRRRRRR!

So Brock's new thing now is stacking blocks. This past week Brock and I were playing upstairs in the playroom, climbing under his play table, building tents, and just having boy fun. I then started stacking his little colored blocks as high as we possibly could. It was so much fun! It was Brock's turn to try. I really wasn't sure how well he would do with his little unstable fingers and lack of coordination. But he did a great job! It was so interesting to see him try and figure out how to stack the blocks higher and higher. He would start putting a block on the tower of color and see that it would start falling and would try to correct the position to keep it standing...that was until I showed him the coolest part - playing bulldozer. Then the game was let daddy stack it up high and Brock bulldoze it down. It really was a fun game!

A Night Featuring the "Brock Star"

Last night was Halloween Night. It was filled with me running around and finding all the last minute additions to all our costumes. We definitely are going to have to do a better job next year at figuring out what we are going to be earlier so we can be better prepared. I have to tell you...deciding on what we were going to be as a family was a stressful endeavor. I never would have thought a Halloween costume could cause so much anxiety. But I guess that is what you get when you want to have the best one ever. The only thing is it only puts that much more pressure on next years costume design.

Last night was an absolute blast though. At about 4:00pm that afternoon I started working on Brock's jacket. See we were late! We had taken one of his old blue jean jackets and cut the sleeves out of it, put so iron on designs on the front and back, and then I took a tool with a sand paper tip and sanded the jacket down. It look legit!

Christin went as an over-zealous fan...or groupie. She cut up a shirt, made it look 80's, and put "I "heart" Brock" on the front. Her make-up sold the outfit I think. I tell you she would have been a hottie as an 80's groupie - and that can't be said about many in the 80's.

Here is part of the Brock Rock Star Make-Over. I spiked his hair with gel and hair spray and then colored it blue. He did not like this at all. He screamed and yelled and baby cussed me! It was pretty funny. If I can figure out how to put the video on here I will.




As you can see from the picture below I was Brock's personal body guard. When he saw me he didn't know what to think.

And here we all are together...the Brock Star family.

Brock's first night of real trick or treating was filled with lots of treats as we went to the McManus house with all our other friends for some food. We then headed over to a church and "trunk or treated". It is a Christian alternative to the other. It was a lot of fun. Props to the church that put it together.

Next year is going to be a lot more fun as Brock will be better at the games and the idea of walking around and collecting candy. Keep me posted with ideas for next year's costume.

Cool Dude!

Finally...we found a pair of glasses that Brock likes. Last night I found these glasses and was wearing them around. When my son got to the Plex he saw me wearing them and wanted to put them on. He did and he loved them! He did not want to take them off! We then went outside so he could see what they were really used for. I don't think he understood, but he still wore them!

Pumpkin Carving at the Jones's

A couple nights ago Christin had this great idea for family night this week. We would cook chili dogs, go get dessert, and then come home and carve a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. I wasn't sure how Brock was going to handle carving a pumpkin because you get a little messy and Brock can't stand it when there is something that gets on him and sticks to him. He will run over to me or mommy and say "uuuhhh ohhhh" until someone gets the junk off him. Then he is ok!

So I cut the pumpkin and Brock wasn't sure what to think about the mess that is stuck to the top of the pumpkin. I started cleaning the insides out and it didn't take Brock long before his hands were in that pumpkin cleaning as well. After a while it turned into a war as I would take the guts out and throw it on Brock and he would laugh and roll back on the table.

It was now time to draw the face on the pumpkin and cut out the face. I sat Brock in my lap and actually had Brock put his hand on the knife under mine and he helped me cut out the face of the jack-o-lantern. He thought that was a pretty cool thing, but I am not sure mom thought that was a good idea. I heard a few gasps from her. Then it was time to put the candle in and take it outside.

Brock thought this part was pretty cool. After a while of seeing the glowing face Brock began to get scared for some reason of the jack-o-lantern that he was once having fun with. The cool air started getting the best of us all and it was time to go inside and clean up. Brock gave his first jack-o-lantern a kiss and said good-night. I can't wait to see if he remembers all this when he see it in the morning.

Road Rage - Learned or Genetically Inclined?

Ok, so there is one thing about me that needs to be aired out on the internet. I have a small case of road rage. Now I don't mean that I drive around shooting people the finger and pulling up beside people who have cut me off and cuss them out. I am more of a to-myself kind of road rage guy. Really it may not even be considered road rage by definition. Here's the bottom line, I believe that the world would not have problems on the streets if everyone just drove like me. My mom would never agree with this. I think she believes I am the worst driver ever. When she rides with me in Dallas/Fort Worth traffic she is the biggest passenger driver there is. People are breaking 100 yards in front of me and she is making sure I know that.

Anyway, I just don't have patience with dumb drivers. The most irritating is when I am on the Interstate in the passing lane and can't pass because there is a car in the slow lane and one in the fast lane (passing lane) going the same speed. Get out of my way! (The sad thing is that I am almost for certain that I have been that slow car in the passing lane.) I just hate it when I am the one that is stuck behind the slow car. So lack of patience is my biggest deal.

So the other day I am taking Brock to the sitters and we are taking our normal route, checking out the cows in the one pasture we pass every morning, driving by Fossil Ridge's football field where Brock every morning says "Booot Ball" (football) and points to the players.

We pulled up to the light by the high school and were waiting behind a lady for the light to turn green. When the light turned green she just sat there, and me being the nice guy, by not honking my horn, sits there for a second, get frustrated and then yell out loud, "Go, Go, Go!" Then I honk!

It wasn't 2 seconds after I yelled this that I hear from the back seat a little voice yell out the words, "Go Go, Go", as clear as could be. I turn and look at these two precious little eyes looking back and me and then a huge grin fills his face. My son followed in my foot steps of road rage - that is not good. Really, I figured that he would not even remember! That is until the next day when we started heading the to sitters again, and while we were sitting still waiting for our turn to go through the four-way stop sign, I heard a little voice from the backseat yell, "Go, Go Go!" and he looked up at me and smiled as if to say, "aren't you proud of me, I am just like you"! Yikes!

Oops!!!

So we are starting the process of potty training. I know it seems that he might be a little too early, but we think "why not get a jump start on it". So Christin went out the other day and bought a seat that fits over the regular potty seat. Well last night I put Brock on the potty before his bath thinking that I might as well get him used to sitting there. Nothing. So I put him in the bath and he plays and I bathe him and we get out and start getting ready for bed.

Usually when I take Brock out of the bath tube I let him play on our bed while I go get his diaper and PJ's. Well on this particular night I put him on the bed, go get his clothes and come back in the room to a concerned set of "uhhh ohhh....uhh ohh...uhh ohh". Brock is so upset and concerned about mommy's pillow. I let him know that it is ok and as I walk over to the bed I see that mommy's pillow is saturated...no, not with the remainder of the water on Brock's body, but he has strattled mommy's pillow and peed all over it. Then I see that it is not just on the pillow but in spots all over the bed. I must say that he has pretty good distance already.

So noted to self...either put plastic sheets on our bed or potty train that kid!

Evening at the Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend our NorthWood Team decided to head out to Flower Mound to visit the pumpkin patch. Our Team had a great time and our family had a great time too! Here are some pictures.

Night at the State Fair

This past Friday night my mom came in a came up with the idea of going to the State Fair. We have not been in several years so we thought it would be a great idea. It was the last weekend and our thought was that it would not be very busy because everyone has already gone...well we were wrong. We got their and found a parking place and had to walk a mile to the gate...or so it seemed. Brock loved it! There were so many lights and tractors and trains to see. When we got to the little kids rides Brock wanted to ride everything...the only problem was that he could only ride like two rides...and of course he had to be accompanied by a parent...and of course it was me...and all the rides go in circles. These rides make me sick but Brock loved them... so what did I do...got sick! Brock got made cause he couldn't ride anything else and wanted to. I really thought maybe I could talk one of the workers into letting him ride anyway...they were as strong willed as Brock and the answer was always NO. We managed to get away from the rides and moved on to Big Tex. The coolest part of the evening, besides seeing Jessica Simpson in concert (not really) was the trains that rain around Big Tex. Brock loved it! Check out the pictures of the evening!

NorthWood's Home Makeover Weekend

Last weekend was an incredible weekend for NorthWood and four families from Haltom City. For those who don't know what this weekend is, let me tell you a little background. We have been working with the Academy of West Birdville in Haltom City for years now. Last year we had this great idea to go in and remodel four families homes in the school. The kids of the families submitted a letter telling NorthWood why their family needed a home makeover. NorthWood then went through all the many letters and picked the top 4. Talk about a hard decision...how do you pick just four. After the four families were picked NorthWood split up into four color groups, RED, BLUE, GREEN, and YELLOW and worked for 36 straight hours in one weekend. The works was a blast as people worked together on one project. The relationships that were built were great! The working together was great! The whole weekend is truly great! So after the work is done and the families are spent from their day at Six Flags, it is time for the family to come home and see what has been done. The reactions and emotions are incredible. Check out this video...it will say a lot.


Northwood Home Makeover '08 from Chris Johns on Vimeo.

It is finally here!

It is finally here...the Bible that I have been waiting for since the middle of June - the ESV Study Bible.

Brent Minter is a great friend of mine, go check out his blog www.worshiply.com, came in this past summer and told me about a Bible that is being worked on that is supposedly going to be the best study Bible out. So he showed me the website that they created for this Bible to start talking about it, and I fell totally in love with it.
I know that sounds so crazy to fall in love with a Bible, but I did. In fact, something to know about me is that I am a pen snob and a Bible snob. I hate to admit this, but I sometimes love the idea of getting a new Bible over reading it...I know not good.

So anyway, I saw that this Bible was going to be released in October and that you could pre-order it and be one of the first ones to get it. So I did just that! I can honestly say I have never thought about pre-ordering a Bible. But here is where it gets even better. So the day before the Bible releases on the shelves of bookstores all across the world Kyle and I decided to stop by Lifeway to get another book. While we were there I asked the Bible Man there if tomorrow was for sure the day that they will be on the shelves and how much they would be. Keep in mind I have already ordered one but me being the impulsive person that I am think that I might just go ahead and get one before mine arrives on Friday. So the nice Bible man gives me all my information I asked for and then says, "Would you like to see one?" I really thought that there was a display he was going to take me to, but no, we start walking to the back of the store and he takes us to the "Holy of Holies", the place only staff can go - "the back". We are actually in the back of LifeWay - tell me, have you been there.

So he is showing us these never been shown before Bibles...I am totally wigging out because I amd in the presence of the coolest Bible ever written. He is telling me about the different types and some of the cool features of the Bible and which one is not going to tear-up the quickest. So after looking and coveting the Bible that I already pre-ordered and is going to be in my hands Friday, I jokingly ask the Bible Man, "so you want to go ahead and give me one now?" There was a long pause and then he asked me, "Do you know which one you want?" What a dumb question to ask someone who has been looking at this Bible since June.

All this to say, after that visit to Lifeway to get a book, I ended up with my dream Bible - the ESV Study Bible. So here is the principle - you have not cause you ask not.

Really, I would recommend this Bible to anyone who wants to get into the Word of God. Go check out the website at www.esvstudybible.com.

What a Ham?

I know what you are thinking...what a ham! There is one thing that I can say about my son - he has a since of humor and likes to let others know that about him.

Not too long ago we decided to surprise mom for lunch. So we stopped by our Friday fast food joint - Chik-Fil-A and got our usual - 4 count kids meal and apple juice with the fruit cup. We have decided not to do the waffle fries yet despite their awesomeness. Then it was off to mom's school.

So we are sitting at one of the tables eating our food when my mom, who is there but not in the picture, decided to put the bag on his head as a hat. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. Of course it didn't help that Christin and I were cracking up...that only feeds into the "hamming it up" mentality that he already has. So what happened next? Christin and I decided to put bags on our heads as well. This is what you call reinforcing the behavior! So really what I am getting at here is that the reason our son is so goofy and a huge ham is because we feed into it. Maybe not a good thing for later years, but right now it makes for great blackmail pictures for later.

Blown away by student's obedience!

This past Wednesday Susan, the girl's pastor at NorthWood, and I were getting ready for an incredible Wednesday night service for our middle school and high school. We get a call from our pastor Bob Roberts telling us that he needed to see us in his office. Just so you know, any time I get called into the principal's office, I get nervous. I knew I didn't do anything, just get nervous. Anyway, Bob proceeds to tell us that there is a situation with a lady in the area who needs some help. This was the first time that Bob has ever called the student ministry to the table to meet the need.

So there is a lady from Kosavo who has been living in the States now for several years. She has 6 kids ranging in age from 26 to 11. She also has a girl who is in a wheel chair with Cerebral Palsy. Right now she is living in a condemned trailer with all 5 kids, all sleeping in one king size bed, with no Central heating or air, barely making it on daily basis. She told our pastor that most kids envy another kid's X box or bike, not her kids, her kids envy others beds.

So Bob asks if our student ministry wanted to help this lady out and get her beds for all her kids. The goal was to take up a offering in both youth services and see if we could help out. That night I told my students the story of this lady and her family and asked if they would help out by giving any amount of money. That night our students gave over $1,000. The cool part is that we will be able to take that money and get them other stuff because we had all the beds donated that night as well.

Family Vacation