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.
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!
Kirsten has been keeping up with pictures on her blog. Check out pictures there...if you are interested.
We went bowling on Ezra's birthday. The shoes were sweet and so far none of us have any foot fungus.
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:
*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.*
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.
Asher didn't seem to get the concept of jumping into the leaves. Instead he just ran through the leaves. Although, as I think back about it - I am glad he didn't jump. He would have probably knocked out more teeth. 
There are new pictures of our boys on September pages of our Family of Blacks web site.
It's hard to believe that Obed was born one year ago today. Happy Birthday Obed Elijah.
In less than two weeks I will be heading off into the great outdoors of Glacier National Park for a time of retreat. I enjoy backpacking, hiking and anything else that has to do with mountains. I have jokingly said that my responsibility as a father is to teach my boys what to like at an early age. Out of responsibility I am trying to teach them how to enjoy backpacking, hiking and anything that has to do with mountains. They will come around eventually.
All joking aside - I do believe it is my responsibility as a father to train our boys to enjoy God's good creation. This happens best in the context of being out in God's good creation. I don't want our boys to grow up with the understanding that all good and fun things happen inside with electricity.
Albert Mohler recently wrote on this topic. He says
The troubling development is that many children never play outside. They prefer to play computer games, surf the Internet, or update their Facebook pages. Their parents are increasingly afraid to let them play outside, scared by the constant barrage of news stories about crimes against children. These children and teenagers are accustomed to air conditioning, sophisticated entertainments, and lack of physical activity. They are aliens in the outside world...
...God reveals His glory in creation. How can we read the Psalms with insight if we never look and see that the heavens really are telling the glory of God? Something precious is lost when children -- or adults -- are alienated from the created world. This choice for alienation is a choice to cut ourselves off from what God has given us to enjoy and to appreciate.
Here's some good news. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to provide your children with experiences in nature and outdoor play. Just open the door and point them into the back yard or take them to a local park. Take a walk in the woods or go fishing in the lake. Go where the light does not obscure and see the wonder of the night sky.
Who knows? Your children just might forget to look for the nearest electrical outlet.
