Saturday, December 05, 2009

All I want for Christmas

Our second son Asher has always been able to stop his falls with his front teeth. He's chipped them, loosened them and knocked them up into his gums. The dentist finally said it was time for them to go. A little goofy gas and some good dentistry...and they are gone. He's only 3 so it may be 3-4 years before he gets more teeth. We still love him.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Bookshelves

I finished constructing the bookshelves for my office this morning. They are floor to ceiling shelves. I loaded them this evening.
Now...if I only knew how to read.

I'm in love...


...with this woman. We celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss in January. I can honestly say that I love her so much more now than I did 10 years ago. She's a fabulous woman, wife, friend and mother. God has been good to me.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Tribute on 11.22.09

I'm 22 days into a 120 day beard event called Whiskerino. The participants are not to shave for 120 days and post a picture every day. Today I posted a tribute picture of two very important men who died on this day in 1963.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Ezra's 1st Soccer Game

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Solomon Hosea Black

Solomon Hosea Black was born at 4:39 AM on Saturday morning. Mom and baby are doing well and the big brothers are excited for the boy to come home...unless he cries a lot.




Friday, July 31, 2009

Lesson Learned

Monday, July 27, 2009

Name recommendations?

Greetings Kids! Many of you know that we have a baby coming any time in the next month. We know that the baby will be a boy. We are looking to you all for name recommendations. We don't know what to name this child...so please help us!


Submit your name recommendation to us in the comments section.






*We have a name picked out. Your recommendation is for your own satisfaction. Thanks for playing.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Young@Heart


Last night we watched the documentary Young @ Heart. I'd recommend it. Coldplay, the Clash and Jimi Hendrix will never sound the same once you've heard the Young@Heart chorus, a group of Massachusetts senior citizens who thrill audiences worldwide with their unusual -- and unusually poignant -- covers of rock songs. Stephen Walker's humane and heartwarming documentary follows the elderly ensemble as they prepare their new show.

Check out THIS VIDEO from one of the performances. Fred Knittle, the man who sings the song in this video, died in January of this year.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Trip to FTC...good.

Kirsten has been keeping up with pictures on her blog. Check out pictures there...if you are interested.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Yes, that's snot.

That is snot and dirt.  You can read why this mixture has occurred HERE.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Birthday Bowling

We went bowling on Ezra's birthday.  The shoes were sweet and so far none of us have any foot fungus.  

Monday, May 11, 2009

Ezra Jude - 5 years young!

Five years ago our first son came into this world.  I cannot believe it has been 5 years.  He is by far our favorite oldest son!  
May 11, 2004

May 11, 2009

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

NEW at The Town

There are a few new things on The Town blog.  


1. We will be posting our prayer updates (Tuesday for The Town) every Tuesday.

2. I have started a new series called "A Walking Tour of Old Town."  I will post information about the businesses on College Ave. to help us understand our future home and mission field.  

Friday, April 24, 2009

Things I never expected to say...

Context:  Asher is sitting at the table eating a peanut butter and jelly samich.  He drops peanut butter on his sock.  I look over and see him doing something and I say:

"Asher, please don't lick peanut butter off of your sock."

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Another one

We found out on Monday that our newest child will most likely be a boy.  We also found out that he has a face and a foot.  We have pictures below to prove it.  My wife is a good woman.  She has to put up lots o' Black boys (me and the dog included).  

Friday, April 10, 2009

Great Gadgets!

I recently found a neat little gadget that makes days like today great! It is a one cup coffee masterpiece.

Step 1. Grind enough coffee for one cup and place it in the filter.
Step 2. Grind more coffee and place it in the filter.

Step 3. Place gadget on top of a mug.

Step 4. Pour hot water over the mound of ground coffee.

Step 5. Remove gadget and prepare yourself for yummy goodness.

Step 6. Stare lovingly at the product of the gadget - the yummy goodness that is coffee.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

This just in...

We received word that The Town was added to the Acts 29 site this week. Click here to see its listing as well as the other future church plants.

A good friend!

I've been hinting for a while that someone should buy a new album for me. Stephen proved to be a good friend and picked up on my not-so-subtle hint. He "gifted" the album to me on i-Tunes. The Decemberists are an interesting band out of Portland. Their new album is a concept album. The music does not stop. Each song leads into the next song. The entire album is a story told through 17 tracks. It is different and I am learning to appreciate the story. Thanks Stephen.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

It's here...

The blog is ready and the web site is under construction!

Monday, March 23, 2009

It's coming...



Ouch.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Here's to Saint Patty

Do you know anything about Patrick?  Yeah, me neither.  Read a brief history of the man HERE!


“I am a servant of Christ to a foreign nation for the unspeakable glory of life everlasting which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Patrick

Monday, March 16, 2009

Friday, March 13, 2009

Garbage Days (Kirsten's blog)

My smokin' hot wife has a blog.  She does a fantastic job of documenting the goings-on of the Family of Blacks.  Check it out HERE!  Below is one of her recent posts.

Tuesday and Friday mornings are exceptionally happy times in the Black house. Why, you might ask? Well, those are the mornings the garbage truck passes our house, not once, but twice! Usually, shortly after breakfast, we hear the low rumble of the engine of the garbage truck. All three boys race to the back window, climb up onto the bench, and wait in eager anticipation for the garbage truck to pass down the alley. Then, the second the truck is out of sight, they race to the front window, going through the same process to watch as the garbage truck passes by the front of the house. Now, I'm not absolutely certain that Obed actually understands what all the excitement is about... but he does get excessively excited - mostly spurred on by the excitement of the brothers. The greatest joy comes when the garbage men riding on the back wave back. It doesn't happen every day... but when it does, much celebrating occurs!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

2 things I don't understand

1. Why the radio chooses to play the worst song from an album of otherwise good songs.  

2. Why movie previews show the best clips from an otherwise bad movie.  

Friday, March 06, 2009

Bedhead submissions

As many of you know we have a page on our family web site that is devoted to the great styles of bedhead.  We have always been open to submissions from others who believe they have great bedhead.  There are two rules to keep in mind when submitting something to the gallery of bedhead.  1.) You must be willing to have your image posted to our site.  2.) Your image must be of you or of someone who has given you permission to submit their photo.  

Last week we received three submissions for the bedhead page of our site.  Only one of the images has been accepted by our qualified team of bedhead specialists.  

The Henry

The two images above were not accepted because we did not receive permission from Nick Nolte or Michael Jackson.  

Please keep in mind that we are always accepting submissions for the Bedhead Hall of Fame - if you think you have what it takes.  

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

# 4


Projected due date: August 27th
Projected gender: girl or boy

Projected name:  __________?

Friday, February 13, 2009

24 Things that are about to disappear

I read an interesting list a few days ago about 24 things that may disappear from American culture.  You can read the detailed list HERE.  Below I have simply mentioned the 24 items.  Read the rationale at the original site.  It's quite fascinating.  


24. Yellow Pages
23. Classified Ads
22. Movie Rental Stores
21. Dial-up Internet Access
20. Phone Landlines
19. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
18. VCRs
17. Ash Trees
16. Ham Radio
15. The Swimming Hole
14. Answering Machines
13. Cameras That Use Film
12. Incandescent Bulbs
11. Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys
10. The Milkman
9. Hand-Written Letters
8. Wild Horses
7. Personal Checks
6. Drive-in Theaters
5. Mumps & Measles
4. Honey Bees
3. News Magazines and TV News
2. Analog TV
1. The Family Farm

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Recent Conversation #2

*Context is helpful for this conversation.  Last week the Black house was in the midst of stomach funk hell.  We all had the stomach flu and were releasing data from portals 1 and 2.  One morning we were sitting at the table for breakfast talking about how terrible it was that we were all sick.*


Ezra: Daddy, do you think Warnie will get sick next?
Daddy:  I don't think dogs can get sick from humans.
Asher:  (with confidence) Ezra, Warnie won't get sick.  He doesn't have a bottom.  Just a pee-pee.  

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Recent Conversation #1

Asher: What's that daddy?
Me: That's a new restaurant that just opened.
Ezra: What's it called?
Me: Ruby Tuesday.
Ezra: Are they only open on Tuesday?
Me: No, but that's a really good question.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Worth of Pollock

Today is the birthday of Paul Jackson Pollock.

Interestingly enough I just watched a documentary on Monday called - Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? It is about a tough-talking truck driving woman who bought a painting at a flea market for $5. She bought it as a joke for her friend. It wouldn't fit in the double-wide trailer door so she decided to sell it at a yard sale. Someone approached her at the sale and said "I think that's a Pollock." The owner didn't know anything about Pollock (hence the title), but she thought she could get rich on the painting. The documentary follows the next ten years of research from forensic scientists and art historians. It was never decided if it was truly a Pollock or not but the woman was offered $25 million for the painting. She is holding out for more money.

I began to wonder if there was anything in my life that I held on to like this painting. What is of worth to me? Who decides the value of such things? Did Pollock believe his "art" was of any value? Would he be shocked that his "mess" would be worth $25 million? Today he would have been 97 years old and as one great mind says, "he knows better now."

When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well. - Jackson Pollock

Monday, January 26, 2009

Books

At one time I had a blog called Partially Read Books. The intent of the blog was to write brief reviews of books I had been reading and to hold me accountable to actually finishing books I had started reading. It didn't work so I deleted the blog. Below is a list of popular books I have read (actually cover to cover) over the last few months. I won't write about any of the books but if you have questions about any of them please ask in the comments. I may answer. I will tell you this - all of the books below are books I would recommend - some more than others.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Still snowing...

This picture was taken on January 3rd.  The chainlink fence is three feet tall.  
This picture was taken today (1.13.09).  The chainlink fence is under the snow and still three feet tall.  

Monday, January 12, 2009

New bedhead

January 11, 2009 was a good day in the Black house for bedhead. Click HERE to see all of the entries. Send us a picture if you think you have what it takes to enter the bedhead hall of fame. There is one new entry of an "unknown" entry. See if you know who it is.



Thursday, January 08, 2009

Anniversary - 1.8.2009

It has been the best 9 years of my life. 
It has been the best 108 months of my life.
It has been the best 469 weeks of my life.  
It has been the best 3289 days of my life.  
It has been the best 78,936 hours of my life.
It has been the best 4,736,160 minutes of my life.
It has been the best 284,169,600 seconds of my life.

I love my wife.  She is a gift from God.  

Saturday, January 03, 2009

On our way to a record

The chain link fence in our back yard is three feet high. We now have 30 inches of snow on the ground and we are well on our way to an all-time winter record. Do you want to come visit?

Friday, January 02, 2009

From Us to You - BONUS TRACK

I hope you enjoy the bonus track.  I know many of you have downloaded the entire Christmas album and we are glad we could help make your holidays so much more enjoyable.  


Please enjoy the BONUS TRACK.