Go away, Hilz!

As 2017 comes to a close, I couldn't help but smile as I thought about the fact that we just completed 345 days where Hillary Clinton was not (and is not) the President of the United States. She's still in the news almost every day though. Think back to elections past. How many times has the losing candidate spouted off more than a year after the defeat? Mitt Romney, John McCain, Bob Dole, Al Gore, Walter Mondale... the list goes on and on. How many of these men whined, complained, and threw temper tantrums after they lost? None of them if you discount Al Gore contesting the hanging chads in Florida.

Hillary, I say this with as much respect as I can muster (and I assure you, I have NO respect for you or your slimy husband)... GO AWAY! For the love of everything good and decent... JUST GO AWAY! You lost. You've made it very clear you'll never graciously accept the defeat, so just ride off into the sunset and take your place in political obscurity.The next time I hear your name, I want it to be because you are being indicted for your decades of fraud and deception. Go away, Hillary. Thanks for playing!

Picky Eaters

Tami and I babysat the grandkids the last two days. Feeding them is the most challenging part of the whole deal. This menu seems appropriate for the occasion...

Sign Museum

Tami and I took a little field trip to the American Sign Museum in Camp Washington. It was so cool! If you like history, I highly recommend this quaint little museum.

The deep freeze

Cincinnati is in a deep freeze right now and I hate it!

The Skyline

This is the view from my brother's and sister in law's condo... pretty!

Post Christmas Funny

Only 364 days until Christmas!

Playing Santa

I wish I had thought of this when my kids believed in Santa...

Merry Christmas!

More than 2000 years ago a young virgin learned she would conceive and bear a child and would call His name Emmanuel (which means God with us). Her betrothed, Joseph, decided to quietly divorce her so as to not bring shame to her. Then in a dream, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph and told him to fear not because the child was the Son of God and he could Marry his betrothed, Mary, without any shame.

We all know the Biblical Christmas story backward and forward. The shepherds, the angels, the star, Mary, the wise men, the baby Jesus, the manger... But what about Joseph? He is almost an afterthought in the wondrous story of Christmas. Think about Joseph for a minute. Think about the roller coaster of emotions he must have experienced. He is engaged to be married to the woman he loves and is eagerly looking forward to marrying her. Then to find out shortly thereafter that she did the unthinkable and became pregnant out of wedlock. Despondent and dejected he knew the only option he had was to call off the wedding and terminate the engagement. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in a matter of moments. Finally, in what had to be the greatest sigh of relief in the history of the world, Joseph learned that Mary was still indeed a virgin and had not known any man. The wedding was back on and Joseph suddenly became the second most famous dad of all time (God the Father coming in first place, of course). Joseph was back on top of the world, and was able to marry the love of his life and became the earthly father to the long awaited Savior. In God's perfect plan, Joseph had unshakeable faith and listened to the angel and followed God's instructions to the letter.

This Christmas morning, we are thankful that a baby born in the lowliest conditions imaginable came to earth fully man, yet fully God to forgive the sins of the world.

The story of Christmas is truly a miracle and nothing less. Thank you, Lord, for the miracle and wonder of Christmas (and let's not forget Jospeh who played such an important role in the story).

Merry Christmas, loyal blog readers.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Almost here

Christmas is almost here...

Fire!

Her: FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! Call 911! Get the fire extinguisher! Call the fire department! Heeeeeeeeelllllllllp!

Me: Wait. Let's snap a photo first.

Psychic Barber

Barber- Hey, Buddy. How would you like your hair cut today?

Me- I don't know. You're the psychic barber. You tell me.

Barber- Oh...

Free Wife

No thanks. I already have one.

Good Idea!

I wish I had thought of this! I would love to have listened in as my kids talked to some unsuspecting telemarketer :-)
And yes, I noticed the grammatical error. The word should be "it's" not "its".

Welcome Santa!

Welcome Santa. Wait.... what? I think the kids will DEFINITELY be surprised. Satan certainly isn't the jolly old elf!

Bengal Christmas Part 2

Guess what? My photo made it onto the Bengals website...

Here are some of my students reacting to their new bikes...

Here is my principal with AJ and Dre...

A Bengal Christmas!

The students at my school received a wonderful surprise today. Cincinnati Bengals players Dre Kirkpatrick and AJ Green showed up at our school for a Christmas visit. The kids were thrilled. In addition to the visit, these two gentlemen most graciously and generously purchased a brand new bike for every student in our school. If you’re counting, that’s over 300 bikes.

A little background information… My boss is a close personal friend of Dre Kirkpatrick, and he has been to our school several times in the past. A few months ago he told my boss he wanted to buy Christmas gifts for all the kids. We had no idea he intended to buy something so expensive. Fast forward to last night… Some fellow teachers and I arrived at the school at 11:30 PM to meet a 53 foot tractor-trailer from Toys R’ Us to sneak 300 bikes into the school under the cloak of darkness. Two hours later our gymnasium was packed to the gills with bikes of all sizes and colors (see the photo below). I have to admit it was a lot of fun playing Santa Claus again since my kids quit believing so many years ago. I arrived home shortly before 2:00 A.M. and had a very short night’s sleep before waking up for work again this morning. Don’t feel sorry for me though… I totally volunteered for this job and it was completely my pleasure to do it. (and I would do it again in a heartbeat!)

Christmas came early to St. Bernard Elementary this year. Thank you Dre and AJ for making this a memorable and special Christmas for ALL our students. This is my 28th Christmas as a teacher and it’s not one I will soon forget. The Bengals may have had a forgettable season, but the acts of generosity of these two players are far from forgettable. Thanks, Guys!

Wedding Photos Part 2

More wedding photos...

Fun with cakes

These cake fails are hilarious. The cake decorators are way too literal...