VLOG - She'd look like a Brasfield.

Completely un-edited, single take video blog, 2013 Sept 05.

Ankles, grands, printers, business, mowers and "blankie".

Saturday August 24, 2013

We got in bed late last night - around 2 a.m.  Jill fell on the stairs and hurt her ankle. She was in severe pain, so we went to the emergency room for some entertainment. You know, hurry up and wait, endless questions, x-rays, shots and a TV remote that barely changed channels. Poor thing sprained her ankle. I love her.

Drake spent the night with us so morning came with the typical Saturday scene of Levi waking Drake and demonstrating his inability to use his inside voice. No sleeping in.

Our school room printer was down, waiting for new print heads which I had ordered. I brought a spare printer from work but some how broke it in transport. Drake kept pushing buttons and spinning motors saying he was fixing the printer. I was tearing it down to see if the problem was simply mechanical last night when Jill fell.  It remained in pieces this morning. I reassembled it with no improvement. We headed off to work to get the print heads and return the broke printer.

The kids like going to my business, especially on the weekends when no one is working. They can make all the noise they want without interrupting anything. But more importantly, I open the drink machine and let them each get one. They also got a snack. Levi pointed out his drawing hanging on my office door. Tucker played with the TVBA (Tennessee Veterans Business Association) coin on my desk. It's a cool souvenir that I toss or spin when I'm on the phone.

When we got home I installed the print head which fixed the printer. Then I scanned the nearby computer for malware. That's when the lack of sleep set in. I went to my room and took a nap beside Jill who was resting her foot (and maybe her eye lids too). Mickey and Tilley took charge of the littles.

The lawn mower tire was flat again. I've been threatening for years to replace the tires on our John Deere and today was the day, for one of them. The hardware store sells lawn mower tires but they only had one in the size I needed. Good thing too. Tucker and Riley helped me get the old tire off the rim but we could not get the new one on. I took it to Discount Tire where they finished the job even though they were closed and didn't even charge me. Nice guys.

Riley lost the retaining clip that holds the wheel on the mower. We took the clip off the other wheel so we would know what to get and went back to the hardware store. They were closed already. We had to go to Home Depot. They had the replacement clip for only 61 cents. We had the new tire secured on the mower in no time.

Riley got right on the mower and got started. I was looking out the window to see how the new tire looked when I noticed the mower was scalping the lawn.  The mowing deck was set on 1 - the lowest setting.

At bedtime we couldn't find Drake's blankie. He was upset but settled down quickly enough.  The next morning, we found it in the laundry.

It was another good day in The Brasfield Nation.

God bless,
Dadofmykids

Wedding vows renewed after 25 years. L

2013 June 27

Jill and I renewed our wedding vows in honor of our 25th anniversary
which was this past December.

Our friend Allen Ellsworth performed the ceremony, keeping it brief at
our request. It was beautiful and well worth the trip. We wanted to
renew our vows on the beach of Gulf Shores, Al. because we love it,
having vacationed here most of the past fifteen years.

Speaking of friends, this has been the absolute beat week because if
our friends and family. Allen and his wife Shelly, along with their
triplet girls came down from Chicagoland. Jennifer and Kimberly,
lifelong friends of Jill, came with us. Milissa and her boys came
over from Mississippi. My mom, dad, sister and her family came down.
We laughed a lot, played a couple games of chess and put together a
five hundred piece puzzle.

Our kids had a great time with each other, much like their parents.

Doc's was the favorite restaurant.

If you've achieved 25 or 50 years of marriage, I recommend renewing your vows.

Lost a long way from home.

We always teased them that they got lost on purpose.

After Youth Convention in St. Louis, Thanksgiving 1986, Jill and her
friend Jennifer headed back to Knoxville Tn. I went home to Memphis.
After I got home, Jill called me saying they were lost.

As the story goes, there is another Knoxville besides the one in
Tennessee. Being two inexperienced interstate travelers, they followed
the wrong road sign, toward Knoxville Iowa or somewhere. The wrong
turn landed them in - hold your breath - Memphis.

Andy to the rescue.

They spent the night at my house, under the close supervision of my parents.

My mom snapped this photo of us.

Sharing ipad with kids leads to sharing text messages too.

Asher sometimes comments on text messages between Jill and me.  As you might imagine, we significantly cut back on messages of a personal nature like, "Baby, I can't wait to (fill in the blank)".

Let me explain how this came to be.  When Jilly bought me this iPad. I set it up with enthusiasm.  I wanted to take advantage of all the cool features.  So I entered my Apple ID in the settings, plus my cell phone number.  At some point, I noticed that all text messages in my iphone were also on my iPad.  Since the iPad is good entertainement for kids of all ages, I let Asher and Levi play with it a lot.    So, if Jilly sent me a steamy love note, Asher might read it.  (PS. We don't think that actually happened.)

It took a couple tries and some help from google to figure out how to disconnect the texting on my iphone from my iPad.  Here's what we found (Jilly helped.):

• Go to Settings, Messages, and SIGN OUT of your apple ID account.  I completely removed all emails and everything from Messages.  That pretty much fixed the whole text message problem.
• Then, I strengthened the parental controls under Settings, General, Restrictions.  Turn Restrictions on.  Then disallow everything but Safari.  Now look down at Allow Content, reduce the settings for your family.
• Remember to go to Location Services and set to Don't allow changes. But don't turn off Find My iPhone.  That's very important in case someone misplaces your iPad.
• Check all the other settings under Privacy while you're in there.

Now, it's time for steamy texting with my lovely wife.

God bless,

Dadofmykids

What if we could save more children?

With all the pro-gun and anti-gun talk lately, I am reminded of how many different ideas there are here in the USA.  Smart people on both sides have strongly held opinions backed up by facts and reasoning.  Could it be that where you stand on the issues has more to do with where you started than with facts or reasoning?  I don't know about that, but I acknowledge that my opinions have certainly been influenced by living in the South, growing up in conservative churches, and by reading and studying the Bible.

It seemed that everybody was shocked by the mass shooting at Sandy Hook, and I suppose that is reasonable and expected.  Now Potus and his staff have embarked on a crusade for the safety of our children.  Potus even had children with him at the press conference where he announced his 23 step plan.  Who in the world doesn't care about children?

If we really care about children, there are some things we should consider:

• Tennessee alone has hundreds of children in foster care waiting - wishing and praying - for permanent families.
• Over 3,000 babies are aborted every day in the USA.

What are we doing for these children?  Somehow, we have become de-sensitized to these facts - to these kids.  There is only so much that we can do, right?  Sure, but what if God calls you to do something?  What if that something only saves one child?  What if that something can help save thousands or even millions of children?  Is that too big a goal?  Not if God is truly in it. 

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”   Matthew 19:26 


If you are in a difficult situation because you are unexpectedly pregnant, you have options.  I am sure it seems overwhelming right now.  That's normal and reasonable.  You will be okay.  You can talk to my wife and me, or someone else you trust.  You will be happy you carried the baby to a full term healthy delivery.  You can keep the baby or arrange an adoption. 


Are you childless?  Wonder if you would qualify for adoption?  Not sure you could afford an adoption?  Not sure you could love someone else's child as much as you love your own?  Ask someone.  If you would be open to considering adoption if the hurdles weren't to high for you to get over, then contact your local Department of Children's Services.  I know it's nerve racking, but a phone call or email is just that.  You are allowed to ask questions before obligating yourself to something you are not ready for.

Adoption - Aug. 18, 1999

What if more women chose to carry their babies rather than abort them?

What if more people learned about adoption?

What if God is calling you? 

Pray for our nation.  Pray for our children.  Pray for personal direction.  Then listen for an answer.

If Jill and I can do anything for you, please contact us.  We love you all.

God bless,
Dadofmykids