I'm looking forward to this coming weekend. Why do you say that Andy? It's because Jaime's going out of town. No no, it's not what you think. Since she's taking Evan with her to see her friend Bethany, it means that I get to spend the whole weekend with Noelle. Just some Daddy / daughter time. I'm starting off the weekend spending time on Friday night with my friend Matt and his kids. Sat is wide open, but I expect we'll go out to breakfast together, then to the Farmer's Market. I'm sure we'll spend some time at the park before coming home and watching a movie together. I might even make some fish with Noelle since Jaime hates the stuff.

What about you other dads out there? What do YOU do with your kids while the wife is out of the house? Games? Movies? Playtime? Spill the beans and share with the rest of us. You never know when you might learn something or, better yet, teach someone else something new.

This little boy wanted to show off his very first broken bone. At 10 months old, Evan has fractured a bone in his left ring finger. He had pulled himself up on the couch, which is basically how he lives these days, and somehow managed to fall down in exactly the wrong way.

This happened on Tuesday - Andy thought Evan had hurt his hand or wrist, but nothing came of it that day. Wednesday and Thursday he was so incredibly moody, but a 10 month old has lots of reasons to be moody so I let it slide. But Thursday when Andy came home from work, he noticed Evan's finger was starting to swell and was a little purple.

So on Friday morning we went to the doctor, and she sent us to the hospital for an x-ray. Sure enough, it was fractured. I was kind of surprised, actually, I figured it would be just a sprain or a jammed finger. No wonder the boy has been moody!

Now we are on a strict schedule of motrin and tylenol, and we're keeping his ring finger and middle finger "buddy taped" together (see figure 1). Poor little guy! Hopefully he heals quickly, because we miss our cheerful little man.

I learned of a book called My ABC Bible Verses through a blog I read, and thought it was a great idea to get for Noelle. It has 26 verses, one for each letter of the alphabet, and an application story to go along with each verse. We are doing roughly one verse per week, making sure to go back and repeat previous verses to keep them in Noelle's memory. It really is amazing to hear my child quoting scripture!

Today is our first summer Monday with no school, and we are pretty bored around here. Noelle asked me to watch a movie, Elmo in Grouchland, and I told her I'd rather read her a book. She insisted she'd rather watch a movie, so I made her a deal. I said if she could tell me all her Bible verses A through G, I'd let her watch it.

A soft answer turns away wrath.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

Do all things without complaining or disputing.

Even a child is known by his deeds.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life.

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

After Noelle had said them all, I was beaming and told her I was so proud of her. I said that having those verses hidden in her heart will be a big help to her as she is growing up.

She said, "That's nice. Can you turn on Elmo now?"