Simons Says

Nate is a 5-12 Band Director and musician from Council Bluffs, IA. He lives with his wife, Angel, 3 awesome kids, 2 rat terriers, a guinea pig and a turtle.

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Making cookies (Taken with instagram)

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J.R.R. Tolkien biography

     (image taken from www.amazon.com)

"J.R.R. Tolkien" is another book from Thomas Nelson publishers in the Christian Encounter Series and is written by Mark Horne.  The book is obviously a biography about the life of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Silmarillion," "The Hobbit,""The Lord of the Rings)]]" trilogy and many more.  However, this book doesn't spend a great deal of time on these subjects as they are covered in a plethora of other books about Tolkien.  The main idea of this book is to familiarize you with the life and times of Tolkien and the events that shaped him, from his stint in the military to his teachings at various universities in England.      I have always been a HUGE fan of Tolkien's Middle Earth writings.  I can remember receiving a box set of "The Hobbit" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy for one my birthdays as a young teenager.  After I read those I hunted down some of the lessor known books involving Middle Earth and Hobbits.  I thought a lot of this book would focus on that period of Tolkien's life....while he was writing these books.  What I discovered through reading this book was that the books weren't written in one sitting and actually took years and years and many revisions.  Tolkien was always revising his stories and was never truly happy with them.  That being said, much of the book focuses on his early life, growing up, his family, his academic career (and how much he moved around because of that) and his time in the military.       I was surprised at finding this book published by a Christian group.  I never really associated Tolkien with the Christian faith but was very interested to find that it was him that converted C.S. Lewis.  The difference between the two writers was that one didn't "push" religion on you through his writing (Tolkien) and the other did (Lewis).       This is a short book to cover such a large person (about 130 pages)but the book does a fine job of giving you the "cliff notes" of Tolkien's life.  If you need more than that, plenty of books on the subject exist. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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What the hay?

So I obviously haven't posted in awhile. I'm taking forever reading a JRR Tolkien biography that I will be writing a review on. Never fear...a new review is near!

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I'm crazy saxophone mustache man! Give me some candy! (Taken with Instagram at First Christian Church)

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Book review: "God's Love Letters to You: A 40-Day Devotional Experience"

This is my review of ebook version of "God's Love Letters to You: A 40-Day Devotional Experience" by Larry Crabb.    

I can't think of how many different devotionals I have purchase over the years.  I have purchased devotionals for couples for my wife and I to do.  I have purchased devotionals for husband.  I have purchased devotionals for fathers and devotionals for fathers to do with their children.  I start off reading each one with the mindset that as a result of reading it, I will be gain a better understanding of the bible and learn some life lessons on the way.  I get really excited.  And then....I start to read them.  I guess I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but I can just never fine a devotional that fits me and where I currently am in my journey.  

     I really wanted "God's Love Letters to You" to be the devotional that made the difference for me in my devotional search....but it wasn't.  The book is set up with a title page for each devotional about the topic and then also a scripture to go along with it.  The next page is the devotional reading.  These are written from God's perspective.  Some of "God's" love letters are a little blunt and to the point....they could almost be called God's "Tough love" love letters.  With that in mind, some don't seem very uplifting which is something I would expect in a love letter from God.  The next page are some thought provoking questions and a prayer.  I'm reading an ebook version and I don't see anywhere that I could take some notes following each question if I wanted to, but that might be a good spot to put some space for writing responses to the questions.  

     So my two biggest gripes about the book (which is okay....there are just ones I probably like better) are I need God to me more uplifting in his love letters to me and the questions need some spaces to be able to write responses (so I don't have to keep a separate journal).  Still in the hunt for the perfect devotional for me.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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The day that almost wasn't

So tomorrow is the day that wasn't supposed to happen.  I had sworn off teaching forever at the end of last year.  Then the good Lord beat me senseless and told me what for and I'm at it again tomorrow.  Don't get me wrong....I absolutely LOVE teaching!  I think it's the constant fights that I run into...keeping kids with their crazy class schedules and requirements and after school sports activities and homework and babysitting siblings IN BAND.  The kids I work with are awesome and the people that I work with, and for, are even better.  It's just always been really frustrating for me to get over kids that drop out because of those reasons and my favorite one...."it's just not fun anymore."  I actually haven't heard that one in a long time (don't start now).  I have a lot of ideas for this school year that I hope I can implement while still doing the other stuff I'm supposed to do.  

Here's hoping for a great school year!

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Home again

Jacob got to come home on saturday morning.  It was a long night without mom with us, but we did okay.  He's doing much better.  The biggest thing is that he doesn't like the taste of his pain killer so he always says nothing is hurting.  Then the meds wear off and he gets very upset and starts crying and all the other theatrics that go along with it.  He doesn't understand how much the meds are helping it not hurt. 

Tomorrow we head to the Dr. to have the packing that is stitched to the roof of his mouth removed.  That should be a fun trip.

Again, thank you to everyone for their prayers and thoughts and also to everyone that visited him in the hospital and at home AND for all the gifts he's been spoiled with.  It's really helped to brighten his day.

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Extra night

Well, Jacob has to stay an extra night in the hospital. They took his IV out hoping he would drink more but the opposite happened. He's drinking now but also has the IV back in. Taking medicine great and also doing some walking. He's not happy about staying so a little more motivated to do what he is supposed to be doing.

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"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you'll be a mile from them, and you'll have their shoes."

Jack Handy

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A little better

Jacob didn't do too bad today.  He was pretty cranky but he deserves to be.  He didn't want to talk at all and used my iPad to type what he wanted to say.  No blood out of the mouth anymore.  Biggest thing is he isn't eating anything and he's drinking very little.  He was supposed to be out of the hospital tomorrow but I'm afraid that if he isn't drinking more than 3 - 5 oz the whole day, it's not going to cut it for the Dr.  I suppose we'll see. 

It was great to have so many visitors today.  He didn't show it much but he really appreciated it.  He's sleeping great right now so hopefully he'll stay that way all night.

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Not too bad

The night didn't go too bad for young Jacob.  Just a lot of getting up to wipe his mouth.  He finally went to the bathroom.....which is a good thing.  He says he's not in hardly any pain which is weird because he isn't on any pain meds (everything has wore off).  Today's task is to get him to begin eating anything.  He's really picky so our choices are VERY slim. 

Here are the fun activities for today: play Yu-Gi-Oh with Jacob if he feels up to it, work on my Pokemon Black game, redesign my Cityville city, and take care of the boy....maybe try and get some sleep in too.

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After a round of golf with some friends, we saw this fox along the road.  It just a little before noon so it was kind of weird to see this little guy out and about.

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I stumbled upon this great site through another site about the same thing.....inexpensive (or sometimes free) books for your Nook.  I don't have a Nook, but my wife does and I have the app on my iPad. To visit the site, click on the heading above and you'll be taken there.

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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny..."

Isaac Asimov

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Up late

My son Jacob was born with a bilateral cleft lip and pallet and has had multiple surgeries over the years to get everything corrected.  Today he had a bone graft to reattach his pre-maxilla to the rest of his gum line.  Pretty big deal. Surgery lasted about 4 hours.  He's drugged up now, but blood keeps drooling from the sides of his mouth so I'm constantly wiping him up.  Wish that would all stop.  I'm super tired but I can't let the blood just pool up on his chest and wait for the nurses to take care of him....he's my boy. 

Hopefully over the next couple of days I'll figure out how this whole blogging thing works and I'll get my page a little more interesting.