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Showing posts from December, 2007

happy christmas!

have a truly blessed christmas! i pray for each of you that you would feel the rush of excitement at the birth of Life, once again. i pray that your breath would be taken away by the mystery of incarnation. i pray that you will be with people who love you - people who remind you of the Life that was given. i pray that you will remember again that the Life that was given is the Life that lives on right now, the Life that conquers death, and the Life that is offered to you right now. i wish you Life abundant. and peace, greg.

the artist takes a new step

"the action of and" mixed media collage on cardboard panel gregory a milinovich it has been somewhat of a long journey, but i have finally gotten comfortable with the idea of thinking of myself as an artist. for so long that seemed so pretentious, and while i don't want to lose that sense of humility, i have also learned to accept that it is ok to think of myself as an artist. that was hard enough. and now i have taken a new step. we read an article in our local paper recently about a local art gallery that is online only and features artists from our area. under shannon's encouragement, i called the people who run the gallery, not really thinking that it would go anywhere. they asked to see some of my work, which i sent to them. nothing really happened for awhile, but a couple of weeks ago i heard back from them that they were interested in including my work in their gallery. while this may not seem like a very big deal to many of you, it is an important step

ho ho ho

last night our advent sock (see yesterday's post) told us it was time to go see santa, and so we did. we drove to the mall and waited in a line (only about 15 minutes or so) and had a visit with that right jolly old elf. the boys did great! jack was really excited about it until we got quite close at which point he grew very nervous. but when it was our turn i sat him right down on santa's lap and he was great. he showed santa his toy tiger and how it roars. he told santa what he wanted for christmas. cade just chilled on the big fella's lap, looking at his mommy. it was not the traumatic experience i was afraid it might be. instead, it was really fun and i love the picture we came home with. those boys make my heart melt! ho ho ho, greg.

a milinovich family christmas

welcome to our home. as you approach the front door, this is what you'll see, once you enter, you'll be greeted by these little decorative touches... now you'll be entering the living room, a room we don't spend all that much time in, despite the name, but still a room we enjoy being in all the same. here you see a little decoration including an antique european mandolin, an old suitcase and on of my collages. in the bay window looking out into the front yard shannon has her willow tree angel nativity scene proudly displayed. this is a beautiful nativity. moving out of the living room and into the dining room, you will continue to find decorative touches everywhere. this is the work of my wife. she is so good at decorating and really enjoys it, so there are neat touches all over the house. now that you've entered our 1950's themed kitchen, you'll find these little blasts from the past. the mr and mrs. claus salt and pepper shakers were something i always ha

batman begins

this weekend i re-watched the movie batman begins and was inspired by it. again. while most of the batman movies seem to be about designing the most outlandish villains who use the most over-the-top gadgets which are only rivaled by batman's ridiculous toys, this movie stands out with a very different and refreshing approach. if you allow yourself into the story, you will almost forget that batman isn't real. director christopher nolan has created a gotham city, a set of villains, a batman and a story that feels very real. other than the last twenty minutes or so of the film which seem to devolove into more traditional comic-book-movie fare, this is an excellent movie that rises above its genre because of the strength of the story and the believability of the character, his gadgets, and his battle. but even more than the pure entertainment value of the story, there are some really great questions that this film raises. what is the difference between justice and revenge?

movement

i've been thinking about movement quite a bit the last few days. it seems movement has been a bit of a theme in our house recently, and not just in the bathroom. i will talk about all this movement in three different...well, movements , if you will. 1. the floors in our home are getting cleaner all the time. no, we have not purchased a new high powered cleaning device (by the way: have you noticed how every new cleaning product that is marketed to us is disposable? where is all our garbage piling up? and how long until we are living in our waste?), but we have something better: a seven-and-a-half-month-old child. have you lost something in our home? some spare change, perhaps, or your keys? check in caedmon's mouth. misplaced your umbrella? or your snow boots? check cade's undercarriage (by that i mean his belly). you might find just what you're looking for, along with a few pieces of dogfood, several of jack's toys, and usually a kitchen appliance or t

sharing christmas

if you have a blog, and if you celebrate christmas, then i invite you to participate in a little 'sharing christmas' activity that megan is running over at a day with the demos . its a way for us to show one another around our homes a little during the season, talk about favorite traditions or whatever else you'd like to share. head over to megan's blog here to see more about it, and then post your sharings on this thursday. also, if you are interested in christmas cookies (and if you are not, please refer to my holiday eating tips below), then you might want to check out the little contest that crafty p is running over at her blog she's a crafty pumpkin . yum! greg.

lite brite flower gardens

i had the joy this weekend of busting out the ol' lite brite to show jack how it works. we did a pattern called flower garden (not the one in the picture) without plugging it in first. he tried helping, but the pegs are harder to fit snugly into place than i remember. it was too strenuous for his little fingers. so i finished it and then turned out the lights and plugged it in. then he really thought it was cool! but, by far, the best part for him was removing the pegs. he put in a solid performance, removing an entire flower's worth of pegs (and saying, "i did it, daddy!" after each one). it was a fun jaunt down memory lane. anyone else a fan of the lite brite? any other favorite children's toys? i don't want to speak of the steelers lackluster perfomance yesterday (too much negative energy that i can't deal with right now) so instead i would like to mention that i am really happy for the dolphins that they finally won a game. can you imagine p

holiday eating tips

i don't remember where this came from, but i found it my holiday file. i don't totally agree with this life-philosophy. i just mostly do. my comments are in red. holiday eating tips 1. avoid carrot sticks. anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the christmas spirit. in fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. go next door, where they're serving rum balls. (mmm....i love rum balls.) 2. drink as much eggnog as you can. and quickly. like fine single-malt scotch, its rare. in fact, its even rarer than single-malt scotch. you can't find it any other time of the year but now. so drink up! who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? it's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. its a treat. enjoy it. have one for me. have two. its later than you think. its christmas! (i've never had eggnog. it just sounds gross to me. if you rearrange the letters you can spell goggen, which sounds like dragon-urine o

miracles on 34th streets and other places

on the first friday of each month at our church we gather to watch a movie as part of a program called reel life: discussions on film and faith . its been a fun gathering so far, and i hope it continues to grow and develop. this last friday we watched a classic christmas movie, miracle on 34th street , although i was surprised how many people had never actually sat down and seen the whole thing. --- what an awesome movie. ok, the speed of dialogue has evolved since 1947. and the quality of acting. and the sound editing. and alot of other things, to be sure, but the story is so good that the movie doesn't really suffer at all, and, to be honest, its all part of its charm. that's as good a word as any for it: charm. its a charming movie. it ends happily ever after and all that. --- but, for me, this movie has always been a bit more than charming. there's just something about the title that connects this kris kringle story to another miracle that occurred on some unnamed stree

heaven and nature sing

what's your favorite Christmas carol? and why?

dear santa

this is jack's letter to santa. it is in my handwriting because i wrote it for him. but most of the words are his. i just asked him questions, and this is what he wanted to say. in case you can't read it, here is the text: tuesday, december 4, 2007 dear santa, merry christmas! i'm excited for you to come to my house. i've been a good boy this year - i'm almost three now! you are nice. you have a nice big beard. i love you santa. this year for christmas i would like a green dragon. i would also like to have a red dragon puppet. my little brother, caedmon charles, is a little baby. he's too little for dragons, but he would like some toys, too. i know you must get tired and hungry on christmas eve, so i will leave you some food - some noodles and milk and cookies - chocolate cookies. say hi to rudolph reindeer for me. please bring red and green presents for mommy and daddy, too. and max my dog. the end. love, jackson andrew milinovich

a tribute to hines

i know its wednesday, and the game was played sunday night, so i'm a little tardy here, but can i just say that it was really sweet to beat the bengals? we beat them both times this season, which is awesome, and we did it pretty dominantly, especially with our defense. we gained a game in the division, and we built some momentum and confidence going in to new england this weekend. but more than all of that, for me as a fan, was the fact that hines ward moved into first place all time as a steeler for touchdown receptions, passing john stallworth. hines ward has been my favorite football player for a long time now. of all the football players i've watched, and i've watched a bunch of them, he is by far my favorite. its the way he smiles the whole time he plays. its the way he seems to put it all out there. its the way he looks so small compared to other guys. its the way he takes enormous hits, holds on to the ball, and pops up with a grin on his face. its the way

the perils of hanging christmas lights

continuing the theme of christmas lights, today's post deals with the unseen dangers of making your home twinkle for the holidays. 1. electricution. all i'm saying is that anytime electricity is involved, particularly in the great outdoors where moisture and wetness prevail, you can end up blowing more than a fuse. shocking. 2. abrasion. one must use extreme caution when hanging lights on bushes, particularly holly bushes. while this is wildly festive, it is also a severe threat to the epidermis. i've got a 3 inch long scrape up my arm to prove it. 3. contusion. if hanging lights on the roof or other area of such great height, gravity is always a potential foe. beware of becoming entangled in incredibly complex knots of cable and lights, losing not only your wits but also your footing, and tumbling toboggan over boot. you may end up as only a christmas-light outline in the snow. 4. minimalization of core temperature. it is dang cold out there. 5. frustration.