mom

Mom

May 15, 2013

Katney picked this week's Headbanger's theme.  We are going with "Mom."  Check out my  pals for their interpretations on this theme: Fishing Guy, Katney, Imac and Lew.

Moms are so important, and never appreciated enough.  I love my kids, but if dads had to spend as much time dealing with their childrens' shenanigans as the moms, we'd have a lot more cases of lost kids and hunting accidents; do you know what I'm saying?  Of course, I always make it easy on my wife and never contribute to frustrations in the house. (cough, cough)  The pic in my header is my D2 with my mom and her mom (Mrs. Craver.)  Next, I show D1 with her son and her mother.

Um, that's not how you steal a kiss, not that you'd have to steal one from Nana anyway.

 

Craver's family tree with Mom & Dad.  (side note: Why am I the only one with a moustache?)

ask me a question

My daughter uses a pen name. I wonder where she got that brilliant idea. (You don't really think my parents named me "Craver," do you?) She submits writings to a web thingy called Teen Ink. Most recently, she wrote a song and of it she says,

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"I wrote this for my dad's birthday this year. I think one of the best gifts is a song, and I did my best on this one! I could always ask him my questions, and I don't always understand his answers, but he's always happy to answer. Love you Daddy!"

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I'll admit that I got choked up a little, when I read it. Would you please click on the link to see the lyrics? If you feel so inclined, please give it a generous review by clicking on the stars on top of her page.

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Sheila Zyra's Ask Me a Question

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My birthday is not until July. Maybe she'll have the music by then.

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By the way, that first pic was taken a couple years ago. Here is a more recent one:

mangiare

Sunday afternoon at the Olive Garden. L to R: My wife and me, our two youngest, Mom & Dad.

happy campers

A few of our young people attended a week's worth of intensive training to supplement their home education. These are a few of our scientists. As we drove back home from Wisconsin, the incessant download of information kept switching back and forth between the academic experience and social exchanges. I'm glad my daughter had a good time while she was learning. In case it is not obvious already, my daughter is the one in the middle.

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Clear, blue skies made way for brilliant sunlight as the students packed their bags in their respective minivans. I already had my new Pentax in hand, because I had been taking pictures of the trees, so I asked if I could get a shot of these girls together. They lined up on one side of the road, facing the sun. They were squinting at the camera, with cabins and busy-ness behind them. I suggested they take a few steps to the other side of the road. Wanting to avoid silhouetting from the strong backlight, I used an external flash for fill-in.

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I guess they had already traded emails and phone numbers, because presently, they were just engaging in light conversation. Perhaps they had already said their goodbyes. I finished my second cup of coffee, and hopped in the Caravan, ready for two and-a-half hours of cheerful gabbing.

15 years ago

This time next month, my redhead will be holding her own baby in her arms. They grow up so fast! Mr. Big Eyes there turned nineteen this week.

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Fast-forward another fifteen years... the Mrs. and I will probably be part-time greeters at the local Wal-Mart.

hamster haven

D2 bought a camera with the babysitting money she earned. Perusing her saved files, I noticed that her memory card is jam-packed with a bazillion pictures of her pets. I get a kick out of how she sets up and poses her hamsters. I could learn a thing or two from her. There was one I like a lot, that I intend to duplicate... she snapped a shot of her hamster peeking out at her from the inside of a bag.

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(sigh) We have a dozen hamsters in our house. Anybody want one... or seven?

kisses

I took D2 to a pet supply store this weekend and walked right up to a big, beautiful bird that seemed to want attention from me. I have never been good with birds, and it is much easier to generate fondness for almost any other creature, but something happened on my last visit that made me want to say hello to this fella.

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Last time I saw one of these big birds, it was moving back and forth, making noise and trying to make somebody notice it. I stood close by, just watching it. A store worker told me that it wanted to be picked up, held and stroked, the same way I might handle a cat. I thought for sure the bird's body language was saying that it was restless and felt like biting somebody. But there is just a smidgeon of adventurous spirit in me, so I picked it up, and I'm telling you that the only catlike element missing was purring! It liked to be rubbed all over its neck--front, back, sides! How strange is that? Plus, it would touch me with its beak, and at first, I thought it might bite, but found that these were just gentle kisses. What a pleasant surprise. I never considered myself a bird lover, but this was an experience that could grow on me.

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Now back to this weekend. I put my hand near the cage, and this manic razorbeak lunged at me! I nearly jumped out of my skin! Okay, so you don't want to be my friend... I get it. Moving along.

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Well, we came to an open area with medium-sized birds. A pretty, green one starts doing the "hey, look at me" routine. I spoke softly, and brought my hand near. Palm-down, because they like to do little kisses. YEAH, RIGHT!! This one bit me right on the knuckle. I shoulda let it have all the rest of the knuckles, too! (shaking fist)

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What am I saying?! I would never punch a bird. Seriously. Birds are not for punching. Choking? Maybe. Stupid bird. I had enough. I left that part of the store, and went to the fish section instead.

perspective

This was D2's idea. I liked her picture so much, I snapped my own photo. I told her how much I liked the idea, but also that she could find something that would make an interesting shot. This hamster is only a few weeks old, but it looks huge because of the tiny furniture. It's a matter of perspective.

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Naturally I have a Western mindset, since I was born and raised in the USA. This morning, I read something from a man who's world view is distinctively Eastern. I loved it!! He is from Korea. His main principles were familiar, but the way he communicated them was so different. I was able to gain a fresh understanding as if through somebody else's glasses.

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Looking from where you stand, do I see what you see? Can I learn anything new about an objective truth by taking a different, subjective angle of sight?

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Perhaps you have heard the Indian parable about the blind men and the elephant? Since they each only felt one part (leg, tail, side), their descriptions were completely distinct. I have heard people say that they were each right. My own opinion is that they were all wrong. The elephant is not like a tree. It is not like a rope. It is not like a wall. Sure, each of those descriptions has an element of truth. Nevertheless, they each fall short of the complete picture. These blind men need to learn from each other's perspective, if they want to get it right.

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[Soapbox: Multiple perspectives is not universally beneficient. Some sources will be more reliable than others. God's self-revelation (i.e., Jesus & the Bible) for example, is not equal to my opinion, or anyone else's opinion. His statutes cannot be improved or changed by popular consensus.]

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Anyway, the point is, that generally, it is helpful to listen to other people, because we may learn from them. Just like I learned of a cute technique from my own daughter.

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Can you name something that you learned from someone else? Anything that was illumined by a different perspective or somebody else's experience?

negative subjects

My wife and kids made Father's Day really special for me. This was the best one ever, and I hope to tell you more about that later. Mrs. Craver is so great! But it was not a perfect weekend; we suffered a couple of low points on Saturday.

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You may know that I serve as assistant coach on my son's soccer team. Sadly, one grown up argued with a ref, and I have to give him the news this week that the board of directors banned him from the field. I wish I could go back to Saturday morning and give him the Vulcan nerve pinch just in time so he would refrain from speaking instead of letting the situation escalate out of control. He's a big boy though, and I'm not his daddy. The fact that he cannot attend any more of his niece's games is a consequence that he brought upon himself. I must fully support the board here, because if the young ref was my own son, I wouldn't want a grown up giving him grief, either.

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Soapbox: We have offered several training classes for the families, and this uncle never went. People, if you're given the opportunity to go to one of these Positive Coaching Alliance trainings... GO! Be a part of it. Learn what youth sports is really about, and let's keep the environment fun for everyone.

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Then we went home, and one of the dogs killed two hamsters. My daughter cried so hard that day, and there's not really a whole lot we could do to console her, so we just held her and let her cry. I'm sure she will be just fine.

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Things got busy, as they do EVERY Saturday. The pain did not disappear, but it became less noticeable as we engaged ourselves in the rest of life. Father's Day came, and we all had a great time together from sunrise to sunset.

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Do you think you can identify any the flowers in the negative collage?

food, fun and fellowship

1. D2 makes a dandelion wreath
2. S1 does a dive-roll on the lawn
3. Cup game*
4. New pals

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1. A glowing D1
2. Silly poser!
3. D2 with Daddy's unwieldy digicam
4. My sweet Mrs., trading shot for shot

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Two parties were held at State Street Church. This is still part of our "Kentucky" weekend, though the church is just North of the border in Indiana. The first party was for SIL and a fellow graduate on Friday. Then on Sunday, they had a time of more food and fellowship after the ordination. What a nice bunch of people! We had a good time with them, and the kids enjoyed the spacious lawn on the side of the hill that the church was built upon.

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*At Friday's graduation party, I finally tried Mrs. Craver's cup game. It's a rhythmic passing game she learned from some young girls at camp. You go faster and faster until contestants can't keep up. It was an excellent ice-breaker with people we didn't really know yet. I already miss them.

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I am glad that D1 & SIL made this their home church while they were living down there.

celebratory ceremonies

Graduation

1. Procession behind school banner
2. Big Al hands Wes the coveted diploma
3. A graduation kiss from Wifey
4. The siblings minus D1, who was taking a picture

Ordination

1. D1's amazing song
2. SIL's family watches with great joy
3. Craver gave the Charge to the Ordinand
4. SIL's dad (also ordained) prays over him

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More photographs forthcoming!!

last week in pictures

1. red²--red tailed hawk with red squirrel
2. experimenting with kinetic photography--block glass window
3. looking straight up into the sky
4. more experiments with kinetic photography--street lights
5. This tree tried to kiss me!
6. with D2 at a local playground
7. with S2 at a local playground
8. balloons from health clinic's charity event
9. plenty of eats at aforementioned charity

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I just read an article on the dangers of eating too much fat and drinking too much and it scared the heck out of me. So I told myself, "That's it!"

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After today, no more reading.

vampire daddy

A friend took this shot of me biting my daughter's hand at a picnic. You see, at home, we don't like to use the paddle when kids behave badly; that's so 1950's. Here, she swiped the cap right off my head and refused to let it go. So I bit her.

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Lest you begin accusing me of being too harsh, let me say something in my defense. Do you know how many times she swiped my cap after that? A bunch of times, actually. She is just a twisted little nut and that's all there is to it. But that's not my point.

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(My original point was supposed to be that my friend can go to picasa.google.com and use that to edit and store photos.)