Perfect Pairings

Exodus 13:12

...And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way...

photo credit goes to The Captain - great shot, honey! Go here for more Perfect Pairings and add your own! Have fun!

When Harry Met Maggie

H: "Hey Baby, did you win best in show cause you sure look like a winner to me. "
M: "I'm looking for my alpha dog and honey, it isn't you."

H: "You're kinda cute. Can I get your license number?"

M: "You wish, but I'm waiting for a real hot dog."

H: "Aww, come on, just a little smooch. I'll buy you a liver treat."

M: "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

H: "Aww, honey, don't make me beg."

Harry tried everything he could to "have a good time" this weekend. He has another moniker now, and the would be "Dirty Harry" if you get my drift. My mother in law had another name for him, but we won't go into that here. Isn't he a little young for that? Poor Harry, doesn't he know that true love waits?

Harry + Maggie = TLA

40 X 3

Forty years in the grand scheme of things is a drop in the kickable bucket, just a few steps up the inevitable aging hill – right? Well, I'm just trying to make the Captain and his nigh-on-to-elderly triplet siblings feel better. Really, you three are getting just plain old. I have one more year to say that and I'm running with it. So I thought I would get the scoop from my old decrepit husband. Words in italics are IAPilotWife add-on's.

How do you feel about turning forty?
It’s all good – but thought I would have more done on my personal to do list. (not my wife’s) But the good thing is I only look like I am thirty five. (ok, maybe 36)

How does it feel to be a triplet?
It’s all good too. Always had someone to hang out with (read bounce around the womb with) Always had someone to learn from, share success with and had to learn to cooperate and empathize early on.

How does it feel to be a forty year old triplet?
Since we are separated by thousands of miles, I miss them, but it is always fun to get together with all the kids.

What is your birthday wish for Kim?
Wishing her many “Calgon moments” in the future-she deserves every one. (amen to that)

What is you birthday wish for Chris?
That he stays the “Red Rocker” that he is and that he continues to live out the faith hope and love that the three of us know in Jesus Christ.

What are your plans for the next forty years?
Start my own business; become an entrepreneur, eat more fiber, continue to glorify God with my life. Love my wife, girls and others and break 100 on my golf score.

Do you think your wife is a dork?
Only when she inadvertently calls me a turd. (Sorry honey, I was just talking about the mechanism of action.)

What do you consider your greatest accomplishment to date?
Being a daddy to Marissa and Maren and not crashing a 50 seat jet.

Kanye or Taylor?
I strongly dislike crossover teenage country pop, so I have to give it to Kanye only because I dig his tatooed haircut.

Seriously honey, have a happy birthday. Glad to be spending it in OK with your family. I love you A LOT! : )

Falling (Barrelling?) Into Fall

As Labor Day becomes a distant memory and the end of daylight savings time draws near, I have given up the fight. Resistance is futile. Fall seems to have fallen. No need to test the water, might as well jump in.

So, we did. At the Hospers Swimming Pool for a Last Day of Summer Labor Day Hurrah. THIS was my old stomping ground. I spent many a summer day at the Hospers pool. I can smell the baby oil and the burning flesh (my own) as we speak. The pool looks much better than it used to, after the town gave it a much needed overhaul a few years back. Zero entry, clear water, and an "AWESOME" (Marissa's word exactly) slide that leaves you off short of the water by a good three feet or so with a little acceleration and force. See?Here's the Captain. Like a shot out of a canon. Like a bullet out of gun. Like a movement out of a bowel. (Sorry, I'm a nurse.) Marissa voted this "the best slide ever". Maren decided she would go off the board "all by myself" (with a little help from her lifejacket) so she wiggled to the end of the board and delicately stepped off. No problems or help from mom and dad.

Then it was on to the "Barrel of Fun". I had forgotten about this marvelous piece of playground equipment until my classmate, Liz - a former Hospersite herself- mentioned it on Facebook. Have you ever noticed they just don't make playgrounds like they used too?

We rocked. We rolled. And just generally felt like a bunch of overgrown hamsters on a wheel. We did have a "Barrel of Fun" though. Come on, sing it with me and feel that polka beat, "Roll out the barrel..."
That last day of summer plumb tuckered us out.

Better stick to my day job.

Friday Night Fights

Sweet Marissa has a good friend named Abby. They were in the same class in second grade and we found out that she lived just down the street. They get along like butter on white bread and have been steadily wearing down that street between our house and theirs ever since.

Last week Friday, we invited her parents, Sue and Dennis over for dinner and a couple friendly Wii boxing matches. Actually, the Captain and I didn't say a word about the boxing matches, but we did make them sign a waiver the minute they stepped in the door that anything they might say or do in the course of the evening could be used against them in this blog. Then we served them a nice steak dinner. NAHHHH! Well, we did serve them a steak dinner, that much was true. It was a nice relaxing enjoyable meal with good conversation and good company. I almost felt like an adult.

But, as the following pictures show, we did entice them into a couple matches of boxing. Nothing like seeing a man and wife try to KO each other. To protect the names of the innocent, I won't tell you who went down for the count. Dennis.

We laughed. A lot. We laughed until we snorted.

We laughed until we snorted, cried, and had to run to the bathroom. I love this next shot of Marissa and Abby at full cheer in the background. Too cute.

Seriously, we are so thankful that Sweet Marissa has found such a good friend in Abby. She is sweet and respectful, and she challenges and encourages Marissa to do things that she might not have done on her own. I think that is a very positive reflection on her parents. Dennis and Sue's older daughter Miranda is working with YWAM in Taiwan. You can follow her blog here. Her spiritual maturity and love for Christ is so apparent and very inspiring in a twenty-something year old. Another positive reflection on her parents, I think.

The adults were accused of "hogging the Wii all night". What? We just played a "couple" games of bowling, golf, tennis, boxing, and Mario Cart. Ok, girls, maybe you're right. Sue, Dennis, we're up for a rematch. Anytime. Game on and thanks for making last Friday night so enjoyable!

Sk8!!

SKAAAAAATE! This is the Captain's battle cry when he decides to challenge his almost 40 year old body with another go at the skateboard. He seems to have passed his enthusiasm, his talent, and his actual skateboard on to his daughter. She has been a little leery about this in the past, but gave it another chance this weekend, and by gump, she likes it!

She says her skateboarding motto is "Safety before fashion". I am sure those soccer socks pulled up to her knees will be the next big thing in skateboarding fashion mags. She may have some of her mother in her after all. Both the safety and the fashion.

She skates goofy foot. Not sure what you are? Check here. I know you are dying to find out. Goofy foot suits Marissa too. She likes goofy in all things.

She's looking pretty good, eh? Like a chip off the old goofy block. She also had her first viola lesson this week. A string instrument is new and uncharted territory in both the Vaas and Beaty clans. She taught herself to eek (or should that be shriek) out "Twinkle, Twinkle" this week with a little help from her friend Abby. A study in contrasts -goofy foot skater and viola player. That's my girl.