Toward the Goal » Pictures http://www.toward-the-goal.net Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:23:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Birthday Girl! http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/02/03/birthday-girl/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/02/03/birthday-girl/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:23:30 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1779 My birthday girl is SEVEN today!

We love you Jenna!

]]> http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/02/03/birthday-girl/feed/ 0 The Skies Proclaim… http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/01/19/the-skies-proclaim/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/01/19/the-skies-proclaim/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:28:28 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1770

Psalm 19:1
1The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Amen.

]]> http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/01/19/the-skies-proclaim/feed/ 0 Mr. Construction http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/01/08/mr-construction/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/01/08/mr-construction/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:37:21 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1762 I find it a bit ironic that my pastor preached this morning about the differences between men and women.

Why? This afternoon, we got a first-hand example.

Background… My son received some tools for Christmas. He’s just NINE years old, so maybe that’s weird, but it’s something he was absolutely thrilled about. And we’ve seen that he certainly has no aversion to using them (case in point here).

This afternoon, he showed us yet again that this is the case. This time, though, he didn’t stop with just HIS tools. He managed to sneak into my shop which I was napping (recovering from a migraine), and he used some of my POWER TOOLS.

Here’s the end result:

You see, Jeffrey just wanted to customize an old remote control car he found yesterday. He had another vehicle (a green Jeep Cherokee) that didn’t work very well anymore, and he thought it would be cool to put that body on the RC car.

Taking the body off was no issue at all. A couple screws, and mission complete.

The problem lay in attaching the new body to the RC frame. Short of a couple screws and holes, or tape (which he’s QUITE fond of, by the way… I need stock in 3M!), it just wasn’t gonna work.

So Jeffrey simply did what any industrious nine year old would do… sneak into Dad’s shop, find the drill and appropriate drill bits, find a couple screws that would work, and go to town.

Before I was awake and Nancy realized what he was up to, he was already done.

Well… Nancy was justifiably freaked out. POWER TOOLS! A NINE YEAR OLD! SERIOUSLY?!?**

My response was quite a bit different:

An ear to ear smile. “Nice work buddy! Next time, though, let’s have a bit of adult supervision, okay?”

My son was beaming (of course, you see that above). He still was when I tucked him into bed, actually. The jeep is parked on his headboard.

I don’t know. I guess he’s developing his inner Phineas and Ferb.

Which is SO much better than frying his brain with video games.

I’ll take it.

———————————————
**Just to be clear, Nancy is 100% supportive of Jeffrey’s creative construction urges… she was just concerned about safety. Obviously, I am too. We don’t expect another surprise like this again. Jeffrey’s future construction projects using power tools WILL be supervised!

]]> http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2012/01/08/mr-construction/feed/ 0 If You Give a Kid Some Tools… http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/26/if-you-give-a-kid-some-tools/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/26/if-you-give-a-kid-some-tools/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:45:22 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1739 If you give a kid some tools for Christmas…

… you’d better be prepared for him to use them!

Yep, that’s what’s left of our Swiffer.

]]> http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/26/if-you-give-a-kid-some-tools/feed/ 3 Christmas 2011 Snapshots http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/25/christmas-2011-snapshots/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/25/christmas-2011-snapshots/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:35:26 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1731 What can I say… I’ve got family that needs to see a few photos from Christmas.

For those of you who are bored by this… these are my kiddos, and it’s my site. Yes I’m gonna share. :)


A bit wound up on Christmas Eve!


So calm and peaceful here when everyone’s in bed…


So excited!


There’s a monkey on my back!


My Christmas gamer…

Hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

]]> http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/25/christmas-2011-snapshots/feed/ 0 2011 Christmas Greetings! http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/22/2011-christmas-greetings/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/22/2011-christmas-greetings/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:49:08 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1721 Yes, we’ve finally given in to the trend… this year, we put together a photo card.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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It’s a big deal, for sure. Literacy allows knowledge to recorded and passed on. It allows children’s minds to expand and soar. It enables hopes and dreams.

And it allows kids to read wonderful books such as these:


Yes, you’re reading those titles correctly: “Walter the Farting Dog”, and “Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder: Bubble in the Bathtub”.

Literary classics, indeed.

(For the record, I was definitely not searching for these books… just happened to run across them in the Barnes and Noble childrens’ section as Nancy and I were shopping last night, and had to share!)

]]> http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/12/17/literary-classics/feed/ 0 Water Fun! http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/07/09/water-fun/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/07/09/water-fun/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2011 04:17:48 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1634 Today, we had a blast… some serious fun at the lake with the kiddos and my folks. Unfortunately, Jenna was sick today, so she had to miss out (Nancy too, since she stayed with her at the house to take care of her), but Jeffrey and Allison LOVED swimming in the lake and tubing!

This series of photos about sums up the day…

Before:

During:

After:

Yep. A bit of apprehension from both of them at first. Then a TON of fun. And exhaustion.

Definitely a great day.

]]> http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/07/09/water-fun/feed/ 0 All of Mom’s “Kids”… http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/05/10/all-of-moms-kids/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/05/10/all-of-moms-kids/#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 01:48:32 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1621 Mother’s Day was last Sunday… the kids and I did our best to make it special for Nancy. We pulled out almost all the stops… breakfast in bed… cards… gifts… everything a mom could want except some peace and quiet. That’s a rare and precious commodity as you know.

Anyway, while I’m reasonably certain she enjoyed everything we did for her, I’m much more certain it’s moments like this one that made her day great:

Yep, a rare family photo of all of the kids she loves so much… even the one with four legs. :)

]]> http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/05/10/all-of-moms-kids/feed/ 0 Horrible Blogger… That’s Me. http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/04/13/horrible-blogger-thats-me/ http://www.toward-the-goal.net/2011/04/13/horrible-blogger-thats-me/#comments Thu, 14 Apr 2011 03:41:57 +0000 John http://www.toward-the-goal.net/?p=1608 Wow. It’s been over two months since I’ve posted anything here. Guess that makes me a pretty horrible blogger, huh?

I’ve got excuses, of course. Life has been eventful!

It started with Valentine’s Day. Ever the romantic, I spent the entire day with Nancy. Granted, it’s because she decided she REALLY wanted to spend some quality time with me… so much so that she slipped on an icy sidewalk and broke her right ankle to make sure I was home. We spent the next couple of days together getting treatment… and I spent the next several weeks realizing just how lost I would be without her. I am DEFINITELY not cut out to be a single parent!

Once Nancy got a bit more mobile as her ankle healed up, we had another big change in our lives… the addition of a new family member! Granted, this one has four legs… but I’m learning the puppies are almost as much work as kiddos. Jeffrey LOVES his new buddy Beasley. The girls… well… they both do too, but it’s clear that there’s not nearly the connection there right now that Jeffrey has with our puppy.

So that’s the main things happening in the Stickley household right now. Hopefully I’ll have more time for writing again soon!

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