The Carnival

This weekend the carnival came to Frisco. We decided to take the kids, and several of our neighbors joined in. I had heard it was expensive, but entry was free. How bad could it be.

We took all three kids. Little man Caden had to stay in the stroller the entire time, but he was a trooper.

Several hours later we left with two crying kids. I guess $60 just wasn't enough.

But little man Caden never complained. What a trooper.

Birthday Pictures

Caden's first birthday.

Weekend Update

Little man Caden turned 1 yr this week. I will upload some pictures later this weekend.

Kerry tells me that yesterday a light switched on in Caden's head and he started walking a lot more. He can stand up in the middle of a room and walk. By the time I got home last night he had reverted back to crawling (he does this on his hands and feet, though).

Caden's sleeping is still somewhat erratic. This morning he woke up at 4:00 and wouldn't go back to sleep until about 5:30. You'd think that after crying for an hour or so he would be too tired to stay awake, but he mananged to milk it for 1-1/2 hours.

Madison & Collin have a birthday party today. It is a theme party and they are supposed to dress up as their favorite character. Madison is planning on wearing her Ariel mermaid costume. Collin probably won't dress up since his Superman and Pirate outfits are both too warm for this time of year.

Next week has me travelling to Houston and Louisiana for two new projects. I really like the rush and excitement of a new project. So many possibilities and no baggage yet.

Personal Improvement

For some time I've been writing in a journal. I don't do it frequently but I pull it out once a month or so when I want to take notes on something I am reading or a lecture / talk I am hearing. With the pace and complexity of life, I've always wanted to try and establish a few guiding principles in my life that are constant, and this journal has helped me keep some thoughts at the forefront of my mind.

In Philip Yancey's book Soul Survivor he talks about people who influenced his life. One of them was Ghandi. A couple of things that Ghandi believed that stick with me. One is the quote "Be the change you want to see in the world". The other is when he talks about Christianity. He says something like 'I like your Christ, but not your Christians. They don't seem much like your Christ'.

I've found that collecting quotes is easy. But applying them, living by them, making a change in your life is not. It is far too easy to just travel where life takes you, not make your own path.

Nashville Trip

Went to Nashville today to visit an old project - Brentwood Baptist Church. It was nice to go back and visit old friends on a project that was considered a success by all parties (client, architect, general contractor).

The Brentwood area is beautiful. One of those places that makes me wonder why I live in Texas.

Current Reading

Following is a list of books I have read (or more probably partially read) over the past few years. This blog is a good opportunity for me to revisit and discuss them.

A New Kind of Christian - Brian McLaren
A Generous Orthodoxy - Brian McLaren
Adventures in Missing the Point - McLaren & Tony Campolo
Soul Survivor - Philip Yancey
Good to Great - Jim Collins
Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller
Blink - Malcom Gladwell
The Answer to How is Yes - Peter Block
The Worlds is Flat - Thomas Friedman
eXtreme Project Management - Anthony DeCarlo

Currently Reading:
Wikinomics - Don Tapscot



"If you don't like change, you'll like irrelevance even less" - Ron Martoia

Camping at Lake Murray

Several dads took our kids camping this past weekend. From left to right:
Brian, Jeff, Berto, Louis, Mark, Mike.
And 10 kids. Mine are just below me - Collin has his eyes closed, Madison is posing.

What a great bonding expience with the kids - even through the cold and wet times. I quickly realized you just have to let go and accept that the kids are going to get wet, muddy, and into trouble. Relax and have fun with them.

A special thanks to Louis for organizing this and making sure it happened.