31! Wow, what a year you are having, what with wells and houses, dogs and a log cabin—and a BABY! Now that’s an amazing birthday present in itself. Mary, we can’t wait to see what the rest of the year will bring, but you always supply delight, joy, laughter, and love, and we don’t expect anything less from Sebastian! Have a great, great celebration. Enjoy the next few months as a prelude to one great adventure. Ours has been grand and glorious because of our children and you and Casey will learn the thrill of nurturing yours in the fear and admonition of the Lord. xoxoxoxooxoxoxo

Click on the image to see a larger “Word Cloud” of family names associated with Edwards folk. To do your own Wordle, go to Wordle.

Watch the trailer. On Fox, this Fall.

“I don’t know what that is . . . ” John Cusack, Grosse Pointe Blank.

Click on it to find out.

Hi everyone–it’s the 4th of July! And we are celebrating with a backyard BBQ with home group and friends, and family, 4-7PM. It appears there will be no rain. The grass is cut, the tables are set, the croquet and badminton are on their way. Two grilles, no waiting! Wave those flags, boys, wave those flags. i have put together an iPod tribute to America, featuring Johnny Cash, John Wayne, John Philip Sousa, and James Cagney to play during the late afternoon.

Behold our new logo, the transformation of IDEAL into the Center for Online & Blended Learning. Behold our new mission, to rid the world of false notions about distance education and the need to slavishly imitate the work of Van Gogh.

The news is out: Mike Edwards is to start a new career as the (very) mobile instructor designer at Rhodes State College! To facilitate this impressive accomplishment, naturally he is moving to Findlay, OH! Rumor has it that a new Eat n’ Box will be going up soon near the fashionable Hillcrest area. We are all terribly proud of him, as are Pseudo and Kidogo, two local friends who hope that he will have the faucets ready for their frequent visits over the next year. With them, we say:

Congratulations, Mike!

How good to be a Dad. I am here sitting near a special neat gift, The Beach Boys boxed set of singles. You can click on it for a larger view. Wow. Each of the 16 CDs come in a sleeve resembling the original 45 rpm jacket. I even still have some of those. Takes some planning and foresight to get such a gift and I am grateful to my family for taking the trouble. I am on a list of Beach Boy announcements and got one earlier this week. How ironic given that Brian and his brothers had such a hard time with their dad that their music could be such a great Father’s Day present.

The real present, though, is wonderful children, a great wife, and a good dad like Bruce Edwards, Sr. We are going to see him today in the grand old city of Twinsburg, OH, outside where he grew up. We’ll take the Wii so he can bowl on his 79th birthday, and watch the Indians battle the Padres. How about that? On Father’s Day, the Indians are playing the Padres!

Happy Anniversary to the lovebirds and real estate wizards and kennel operators in Willow, AK! How do you have time to do all that? Is it because of the extra sunshine? In your hearts, I mean?

Greetings and Blessings to all dads, dads who are expecting, and dads who have gone before. (Don’t read the Old Testament to find out how to be a dad; too many absent landlords and golfers there to provide good examples. But, anyway, go Tiger, Torrey Pines, and California sunshine!)

Courtesy of http://indexed.blogspot.com/

How long have we been wanting to write that headline? Or, “it’s a girl!” God knows what he is doing and Mary and Casey’s revelation that Someone was coming was enhanced yesterday by the news now that He is coming.

Being a dad is the world’s greatest thing, and having grandchildren is the second greatest thing. It’s a license to spoil, lavish, play catch, sing, dream, invest, melt, shoot baskets, hit/kick tennis (even soccer) balls, and introduce a whole new audience to zu-zus, Buckaroo Banzai, and Lance Berkman.

It’s an excuse to buy Astros pajamas, Indians’ t-tshirts, Browns’ mittens, Richard Scarry books, and Sneaky Snake Cds. It’s a reason to travel around the world, and a cause to rejoice, relive, and resound in laughter and silliness. All said: it makes us feel young, frivolous, and clever again.

And so my 10 Commandments for Expectant Parents to think about before He/She arrives—all original, never before published before now:

1. You can never spend too much time in their room, just watching them sigh and breathe and sleep.
2. You will never ever regret leaving something else “early” to make it to their games, spelling bees, concerts, etc. on time.
3. Nobody is cuter or smarter than your son or daughter. Nobody.
4. Reading them stories aloud and pointing out words and pictures in a book is amazing fun.
5. Making up your own stories and having them use their imagination to see this world you are co-creating is even more incredible delight.
6. God loves them more than you do, but He expects His love to come through you 1st so they know He’s real.
7. It is not hard to love them; it is hard to let them go.
8. Travel with them, and show them the places where you grew up and the places that remind you of something really good that happened so they learn how to recognize those places too in their own lives.
9. Keep the volume down; keep the lectures short; pray more with and for them; praise them for what they do well and even for what they do not so well; and only use your hands to cuddle, caress, or comfort
10. Hug and kiss your husband or wife in front of them a lot, and let them know that other than them, the most important person for their sakes is their mom or dad, who is always your best friend, and sometimes your only one.

No Beans.

Mary’s first ever baby shower is tonight in Defiance. Then tomorrow perhaps a trip to Cincy’s IKEA, Sonic, and Jungle Jim’s awaits.

We have been enjoying the daily tennis matches and the nightly Casey updates in Storm’s eight dog family growth, while we are just now enjoying the new WII FIT program that allows you to measure weight loss, and overall fitness and balance, on the WII itself! Mike finished his last day at Continuing Ed and we rewarded him with a Chipotle lunch.

The Indians languish, the Astros stay even. But it’s great to be able to watch or listen to any game via DirectTV, XM Radio, and MLB.COM! Summer is here, June is on the rise, and it’s time to reach for the sun.