Well, it’s been a while since I last blogged.  I suppose everybody needs a break and leaving for vacation was wonderful.  But, I couldn’t pass up this discussion from the backseat the other day:

Noah & Luke:  “Daddy, why are we wasting so much time?”

Me:  “Well, before we go to church Daddy had to work on his sermon a little.  Do you know what a sermon is?”

Noah:  “No.”

Luke:  “No.”

Me:  “Do you know what Daddy does?”

Noah:  “You talk.”

Luke:  “I don’t kow.”

Me:  “Daddy is a pastor.”

Noah:  “Just like the Pope.”

Luke:  “Yah!”

Noah:  “There are three people in charge:  Dawson, the Pope, and Jesus.”

<long pause>

Luke:  “And Mommy.”

The other night I was tucking Noah into bed.  He said that there were things he could not do because he was not allowed.  I figured I would give him a hard time:

Me:  “Well, I can do whatever I want because I’m big.”

Noah:  “No you can’t.  Your not bigger than God.”

Me:  “I’m not bigger than God but I can do whatever I want.”

Noah:  “You can do whatever you want?”

Me:  “Sure.”

Noah:  <thinking hard and I knew that he was trying to come up with the worst possible rule breaking thing that he knew I couldn’t do>  “Well, you aren’t aloud to jump on the couch and you really can’t eat chocolate chips out of the refrigerator.”

Me:  “You’re right, none of us would dare do that.”

The other day Noah and I were talking and then he changed the subject:

Noah:  “Daddy, do you wanna know about girls?”

Me:  <to myself> “Oh Lord, please help me.”

Noah:  “If they are really mean and rude to you it means they like you.”

Overall the NBA All Star Game was as good as an all star game can be.  I thought that it was competetive, fun to watch, and had a number of great plays.  It got old by the last 4-6 minutes (some could argue the 4th quarter) but hey, it’s an all star game.  If you know me, you know that I’m a huge Lakers fan and a huge Shaq fan.  So, Shaq and the Jabbawockeez was just great to see.

Oh, and then there was this.  Take that Dwight Howard.  Meet the real Superman.

Noah did a project in school where they had to write a sentence on what they would do if they were president.

He said, “As President I will make money for my country.”  I thought it was odd for him to say that so I asked him what he meant.

Noah:  “Dad, if I could make more money for my country, then I could give it away to poor people and they would have food.”

Caleb has been crying A LOT lately.

Macy:  “Hush little baby don’t say a word, momma’s gonna buy you a monkey bird.”

The other day I took the kids to McDonald’s.  The one near my house has the most amazing jungle gym so it’s a great place to study now and again while the kids go nuts.  As I walked to the counter, I noticed that there were approximately 50 employees from other McDonald’s restaurants in the area who were being trained on the new Mc Cafe which has since arrived.  They were breaking down what was in each drink and how the employees could prepare them.  Throughout the presentation, the “evil” Starbucks was mentioned as their greatest competition.  It was interesting how the management and owners went out of their way to “sell” McCafe to their own employees.  Here are a few things I picked up:

1.  Coffee is a mult-billion dollar industry that is pretty much untapped by the fast food chains.

2.  McDonald’s has the advantage over Starbucks because they have more restaurants nationwide and every one of those restaurants has a drive up window.

3.  Though McDonald’s cannot make the variety of drinks that Starbucks can, they have “copied” Starbucks biggest selling drinks and made them now available at a better price.

4.  An independent taste panel said that McDonald’s drinks actually tasted better than Starbucks.  McDonald’s attributes this to better coffee.

5.  McDonald’s was to release a huge advertising blitz at the same time around the world to lure customers away from Starbucks.  They figured as times got tougher, people would look to get their “same” drinks at around a dollar cheaper.

I’m not much of a coffee drinker so you all will have to weigh in and tell me if McDonald’s really is as good as Starbucks.  Will people make the switch?  Is there something about holding a Starbucks cup rather than a McDonald’s?  Is Starbucks a naturally better meeting place than McDonald’s?  Will the “advantage” of having more restaurants and drive up windows actually help McDonald’s?

I was most impressed with the managements ability to sell itself to its own employees.  As a leader, it was a good reminder that your people must be bought into whatever you are doing as much as you are.  Just because they are paid does not mean they will necessarily “buy into” your ideas.  The leaders started from scratch and walked their own people through every step to catch them up to the point of why they were there:  To learn how to make drinks.

Which reminds me:  People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves; even if it is a rivalry with a new competitor.

The other day I was wondering when things changed.  Luke & I went on an errand to Wal-Mart and it happened to be pouring rain (unusual for Reno).  The puddles were forming quickly in the parking lot and no sooner was Luke out of the car as he was into a huge puddle.  I was just about to yell at him and then I paused:

“At what point did I make the switch from jumping into puddles to avoiding them?  Was it an age?  A grade?  A status?  Did it just become uncomfortable?  When did jumping into puddles lose it’s joy?”

So I jumped in with him.

I was soaked and I didn’t have much fun personally but he seemed to think that his Daddy was full of good times for years to come.

…Peter Parker

aka

Spider Man

Take that mockers.

For Christmas, Miriam totally surprised me with a Flip video camcorder.  I had actually never heard of it but she thought it would be a great blogging tool (which it will be and I’ve got all kinds of ideas coming soon).  So, I’ve taken a bunch of video and put music behind this one (just cheesy Flip video music but I’m working on that).  It’s nothing special to look at because I’m new to digital video, but it’s one of the most meaningful days I have had with Caleb yet; his first bite:

*I love this video because it is so Caleb.  His little looks, shifty eyes, and surprised look at the end that 3 crackers have ended up in his little paw.  You crack me up my baby boy and I love you so much it hurts.