Slimed 2

Patsy also got slimed the same day. She got it worse than I did. She is such a good sport! You can also see this video on Youtube here.

Slimed 1

On Sunday July 20th was Slime Sunday and I got slimed. Next year though we should fill it up with more slime. You can see the video on youtube here.

Happy birthday Tanner!

Tanner and I say this is our song. Happy 9th birthday Tanner!

Two more books

We have recently read two kid's books and thought we would rate them both at the same time. However Patsy did not get to hear enough of them to comment.

The first book is an older book called the The Castle in the Attic.

Tanner 4 stars. Tanner liked it when the boy played the recorder to drown out the noises in the tempting forest.

Blake 4 1/2 stars. Blake liked the journey to the castle and seeing the dragon and going through the tempting forest and helping the man at the apple tree.

Marty 3 stars. I liked the combination of adventure and learning some good moral lessons. the boy did lie a lot at the beginning though

The second book is the last one in the A to Z series by Ron Roy called Mayflower Treasure Hunt.

Tanner 5 stars. He liked the plot to trick the bandit that Ruth Rose had.

Blake 4 stars. He liked the whole idea of treasure hunting and the bad guys chasing them.

Patsy 4 stars. She likes all the A to Z Mysteries because they are not too hard for kids to figure out. this one really brings history to life.

Marty 3.5 stars. I liked how he used a little mystery to peak interest in history.

Because I am a Children's Pastor

I was listening to my friend Karl Bastian’s new podcast and it got me thinking about all the unusual and fun and weird things that I have experienced due to the simple fact that God called me to be a children’s pastor. So I came up with a list (I love lists!) of 21 things that I have done, experienced or observed because I am a children’s pastor.



1. I watch episodes of Phineas and Ferb
2. I toured the underground tunnels and the Magic Kingdom
3. I have been given the gift of a booger
4. I shed a tear ( I really did) when I heard Big Idea went bankrupt
5. I took a boat trip down the Zambezi River and came about 20 yards from huge bull elephant
6. Taught Zambian pastors the importance of Children’s ministry and some practical ideas on how to do children’s ministry
7. I found a way to teach God’s word using Legos

8. I have tasted chocolate through my nose
9. I climbed Mayan ruins in Central America
10. Slept on a dirt floor in a coffee village in Mexico
11. I have several alter egos and no one wants to commit me to an asylum
12. I know how to run a smoke machine, make slime, apply a fake wound and do the robot
13. I have purchased intelligent lights, chalkboard paint, a large snake puppet and extremely powerful magnets
14. I have worn tights
15. I have kissed a frog and my wife has kissed a frog and we have kissed each other!
16. All the caricature artists, clowns, balloon artists, carnival equipment dealers, jugglers and ice-cream trucks in town know me on a first name basis
17. I know a good price on plastic molded chairs
18. I own several wigs
19. I love Steve Spangler

20. I got paid to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
21. I have digital images of myself as a super hero, a Lego mini-figurine and an M & M



Check out Pastor Karl’s podcasts for more inspiration!

The Dark Knight

We had a sick bat in our yard this weekend and with the kids and pets we had to get rid of it. Animal control wouldn't come out so the true hero went to work. Thought we would have a little fun with the video footage. No animals were harmed in the making of this video!

Tanner's Triops

By Patsy:
I am often baffled by my own actions and find myself in situations where I am shaking my head in wonder and feeling the need to check myself into some type of mental clinic. Why is it that no animal can come across our path without it turning into a beloved family pet? I am sure my mother will swear under oath that this is NOT a trait I acquired from her. She had more sense than I do.
However, we are now the proud owners of a new pet. No, this is not the dog that my sister-in-law asked us to keep while her family moved over seas to South Korea onto an Army base.
No, this pet is not my nephew’s lizard, Leo, that also was unable to travel overseas. Although Leo has captured the hearts of each and every boy in the family, one must admit that he is not the smartest of all animals. He often walks around his aquarium looking for crickets to eat, the whole time the crickets are riding around on his back. He’s not too intelligent, but he sure is funny.
No this new pet of ours is a lot worse than any of our other pets. You see, when Leo came into our home, so did about 3 dozen crickets for him to eat. Within 48 hours, I had set up a little cricket house and looked on line to determine their favorite foods. Did you know that crickets eat oatmeal? It’s true. We fed the crickets that were in Leo’s cage and then we set up another container for the rest of the crickets. They have some nice warm bedding to hide in and little toilet paper rolls to play in, a little dish with a wet sponge for their drinks (apparently, they are dumb enough to stick their whole heads in water to drink and then drown themselves) and a little corner of oatmeal, fruits and veggies for them to snack on.
As embarrassing as this is, however, the worst part is that I have also set up a little box of dirt in the cricket container for them to lay eggs. At this time, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first cricket hatchlings as they incubate on top of our living room TV.
Then on top of this Tanner bought some “triops” at the homeschool convention we went to in Richmond. The nice thing about these guys in this video is they only live about a month!
Pray for me!!!!!

Snapshots of 11

Forever Young

OK, I am a sap for 80s songs and a sentimental fool for my kids. So I brought them both together for Blake's 11th birthday. Whenever I hear this song (since Blake was born), I have thought of Blake and soit's sort of "our song." Tanner and I also have "a song," but more on that later. Se sure to leave a birthday wish for Blake here. Two more years util teen-dome !

Relevant or Interesting?

The word relevance has been used and abused a lot lately in church circles. I think it originally started with the meaning of trying to reach people where they are. You know trying to break out of the church bubble we sometimes live in and talk real English to people and relate to the world as whole where they are at.
Sounds good to me, after all Jesus told stories that his audience could grasp and understand, right. But from my viewpoint the idea of relevance has warped a bit. It has come to mean “cool”, whatever that means.
Let me illustrate, does a person have to wear clothes form a certain store to be relevant? Should they have a my space page? Maybe a goatee or some stubble? How often should they frequent Starbucks? Is an SUV a must of perhaps a hybrid? What kind of shoes must a really relevant person where. Let’s no forget the attractive quotient. Unattractive people may not be relevant! How about your tech IQ? Certainly in order to be relevant you must have and iphone or at least an ipod!!
Now I am not slamming on these things, but does any of this really make you relevant? Would they be things that Jesus spent time worrying about. It smells like image management to me, which has a very Boomer feel to it. Actually it smells like high school and I am “so not there!”
So for me I am now using the term interesting. We should seek to be something that people find to be interesting. Our talks, our presentations, our writings and services, our outreaches and our methods should make people think, react, understand and turn on their light bulbs. Boring is not godly! We also have to change and evolve to be interesting. The same old same old is not interesting.
Can we please move beyond the adolescent need to fit in and have the most friends on buddies list? Well I gotta go my woman text messaged me to pick her up white chocolate frappucino grande and my itunes download is finished anyhow!

Annual 4th of July Dancing

I spent the July 4th holiday with my best friends - Patsy, Blake, Tanner, David, Brendan and Chase. Here is what our holiday looked like.

6:30 a.m. first boy crawls into bed

7:00 a.m. Four boys snuggled in bed watching Elmo while dad tries to squeeze in a little more sleep

8:30 a.m. Red, white and blue pancakes for breakfast

9:00 a.m. wake Blake up

10:00 a.m. mow backyard then shower

noon lunch and watch Nathan's hotdog eating contest on ESPN. Overtime win for Joey Chestnut!

1:00 p.m. Massive squirt gun fight. Patsy cheats and uses hose.

2:00 p.m. jump on tramp with boys and then to my hammock

5:00 Grilled steaks and boiled corn on the cob

7:30 pack up van and head to fireworks

8:30 Traditional fireworks danced performed by the Martin 5

9:30 ooohs and aaahs

10:30 in bed

What a great day!

Our Independence Day

Summer is time for Camp

Blake and 15 other kids went to camp last week! I was up there a couple of days. We switched camps this year to the official Wesleyan camp. I like the facility better at the Master's Inn but the programming and services better at this camp. Still not sure what we will do about next year. Wish we had a camp like this one or this one!

Enjoy a couple of pics

Family visit

My dad and new step-mom just visited and we had a great time with them. It is always so cool to see your kids interact with their grandparents. i have lots of good memories with my grandparents and I want the same for my kids. My mom was sick for so long I don't think my kids will have too many great memories of her, but Bonnie has really filled in so great. They took Blake and Tanner to see Wall-E Monday and had a great time. Blake came back covered in ketchup and popcorn butter. The little guys adored them too. They were asking where they were this morning. Tuesday evening we set off some firecrackers whiel they were still here. the kids are so fun to watch with these - all 5 of them. Blake and Tanner like to pretend they are shooting machine guns and the little boys just stare in wonder.