On Sunday we gathered with some friends at an Oscars party. One of the requirements in attending this party was to bring a food item that was themed to a nominee.

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Amy & I did some brainstorming and worked on a cake that looked like the house from Disney/Pixar's Up. We called it the 'Up'cake (as in, "cupcake"), and it took home the prize for most creative entry. Continue Reading…

The first Monday in March is always a school holiday here in Illinois, thanks to Revolutionary War hero, Casimir Pulaski. He was a Polish cavalry officer known for his contributions in training U.S. soldiers.

Kazimierz Pulaski, a.k.a. Casimir Pulaski (Source: Wikipedia)

Given that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Poland's capital city of Warsaw, we celebrate his birthday via Casimir Pulaski Day! Starting in 1977, it's been a city/county government holiday, which includes the public schools (and most private) getting the day off. I have always particularly been fond of Mr. Pulaski because his little day of honor always fell around my birthday of March 2, meaning quite often I got a "no school birthday" growing up. (Incidentally, both Indiana and Wisconsin also honor Pulaski, but not to the extent of Illinois. Though in the case of the Hoosier state, they actually designated part of I-65 from the Kankakee River to I-90 as the "Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway").

So, hoist your bottles of Fanta Pomaranczowa and Fanta Lemonic high and drink a toast to Casimir Pulaski!

At church, we've been studying the book of 1 John. To tie into that, our weekly Sunday night small group has also jumped into studying 1-3 John.

The Kids' Praise Album (1980)

So last night as we were discussing the introduction to the commentary we're studying, I jokingly asked, "so, how many of you started to sing '1 John 4:7-8' when you came across that passage?" I was shocked to find that only a couple people recognized the reference to this vintage kid's song. (Am I getting that old?)

Psalty & Steve (Fall 1997)

I mean, sure, the album which made it rather famous (The Kids' Praise Album) has a copyright date of 1980, but c'mon! I guess I was just too submerged in the Christian music subculture with good ole Psalty the Singing Songbook!

Give it a listen, and try not to laugh at the fake calypso style of the song:

Audio: I John 4:7-8

For those not in the know, Psalty the Singing Songbook was a character used on a series of Christian children's music albums (first record, then cassette, and eventually CD) throughout the 1980s. The album noted above kicked off the "Kids' Praise" series, which lasted at least 10 albums with numerous spinoffs.

While pretty much irrelevant today, the music featured on those albums was very influential to me as a kid growing up. As many know, I used a lot of this music to lead worship for little kids while working up at camp during my high school/early college years… where I eventually met Amy… and led to my current job at Kidology… and you know the rest of the story.

3 cheers for cheesy music!