I do not beleve you have realized love’s full potential until you are able to love your own child.

I am thankful for Abigail and Porter and for Shannon, who has done such an amazing job raising them. Shannon has a great post about the kids on her blog:

Abbey, you are our little half-pint. You are smaller than your brother but only by about 4 pounds. You are dainty and have the softest touch.

don dilego

Don DiLego - Courtesy of Jennifer Bruursema

I was listening to my The Shins station on Pandora and this catchy band I’ve never heard of, Don DiLego, comes on. The song was “Falling Into Space.” I loved the song, so started digging a little further and it seems Don is not signed and actually has his own label, Velvet Elk.

Of course, once I found the Velvet Elk MySpace page, that only led to more awesome music with Beautiful Small Machines. Either Don is in that band or they are just on his label. I can’t tell, but all of the music from both bands is superb.

Really some of the best stuff I’ve heard in a very long time.

Lutherans Song – by Lost and Found

The song is a little inside, but Lutherans should find it funny.

Lost and Found were the only Christian band I ever enjoyed growing up in the Lutheran Church. I’m still Lutheran today and Lost and Found still gives me a good laugh. If you ever have the chance to go see them – they still play at Churches and Christian Colleges – no other Christian band that I’ve ever seen has their amount of character and relativity.

The YouTube embedding code is not available, so you’ll have to click on the link above.

porterAbbey1

Abigail and Porter in their backyard

I’m not one for long stories. Check out Shannon’s blog for more on the kids. I think surviving the past two years actually calls for a drink, so I’ll share the recipe of our favorite cocktail with you. A toast to our hilarious kids and their loving, beautiful mother. My wife calls these “Depressings,” because it is very sad when you get to the bottom of the glass.

Caprioska:

1. Fill old fashioned glass to brim with ice cubes.
2. Add 1.5 to 2 shots of vodka.
3. Pour contents into shaker.
4. Add about two tea spoons of sugar.
5. Cut one whole lime into 8ths and squeeze them into the shaker.
6. Drop the lime rinds into the shaker.
7. Shake contents until the ice is muddled and the shaker is freezing to the touch.
8. Pour all contents back into the old fashioned glass.
9. Top the drink off with a splash of sprite. (DON’T STIR)
10. Sip with a straw.

Porter and Abbey will have to settle for a limeaid.