My First Ever Road Rage Experience

Surprisingly enough I just had my first road rage incident yesterday. In thirteen years of driving, especially with the amount of time I am on the road, I am shocked it didn't happen sooner. So, yesterday I am driving around in one of the polygamist vans while mine was getting its oil changed. It was early evening and the traffic was thick. I finally made it through to the next place I needed to go (a patient's home). All of the sudden, some guy in an Accord comes screeching up and motions for me to roll down my window. I do, and he instantly starts screaming, yelling, and swearing at me. I found the man slightly amusing, but I instantly tried to figure out if I had inadvertently cut this guy off or something so I could apologize and be done with it. He seems to be getting more and more out of control by the second. Finally as he is swearing he is saying all kinds of amazing stuff. I finally stopped him. With a straight face, and in a very calm voice I said, "excuse me sir, but I don't even think where you said I had my head is even physically possible for me." I know I am terrible, but I can't help it, I was laughing so hard inside. Whenever someone is totally out of control, I think it is hilarious. My statement seemed to turn the man into one of those cartoon characters that turn all red in the face and can actually blow steam from their ears. After I continued to listen to his rant, sitting in my van the whole time, he then gets out of his car and threatens to kick my "rear end." Mind you that I have only said one thing to him in his 5 minute rant, and just been listening calmly the rest of the time. I calmly told him that while I have no interest in fighting him, I would protect myself. He starts to approach my door, so I got out of my van so as to not be trapped. As soon as I got out, he took one look at me, started heading back to his car and says that, "he will let it go this time." He then drove off. While I am no tough guy and would probably get my head kicked in if I were in any fight, being this big causes me to not have to fight (which is good because I am not a fighter). I guess that makes up for me banging my head into stuff more often than some people. If my size showed my true wimpy-ness, I would only be 4'3" and 79 lbs. Though I may not win any boxing matches, I think I would be a serious contender for most bizarre experiences. So, you are probably wondering what I did to set this man off. That is the best part of all. He was upset because..........I let too many people merge in front of me in the heavy traffic. He was behind me and this annoyed him immensely. I think I set up some medical equipment for this man's Mother. You can read all about that here: http://atalocationnearyou.blogspot.com/2008/08/interesting-and-informative-2.html

Sledding and Bed Time Stories

Walking to the big hill for a fun day of sledding
All set to go on the first run down

Snow angels after sledding

Here is another snow angel

and yet another

The kids and I finally headed over to the park to go sledding today. It seems like the weather, timing, sickness, or all the above has prevented us from going very much this year. We had a great time though, and were there for a couple of hours. The kids even made a bunch of snow angels before we left the park. After walking up the big (slippery) hill a couple of times I told the kids to just find my huge footprints from times before and step in them. That way, they would not slip. Just after I told them that, I had another ADD moment. While I am in NO WAY comparing myself to the Savior, I believe that is exactly what he tells us. "Follow my footprints and walk in them, they are the only safe way. If you should step out of them, you may slip, stumble or fall."

Tonight we saw the new movie "Bed Time Stories." I thought it was pretty good, and the kids really liked it as well. As I was watching with the kids, I was thinking. It is good, but also sad that my kids are growing up so fast. It was not that long ago that they would not even watch a non-animated movie. I was also pleasantly surprised that any Adam Sandler movie could be that clean.

• During the movie, A honestly asked, "Why is his head shaped like an oval?" about Adam Sandler. I thought it was hilarious because I think they even make fun of his head shape in "50 First Dates" or something.
• As we were eating lunch today, the kids were talking about how some people choose to act bad. T then said, "Satan is the king of the bad people, but Heavenly Father and Jesus are the kings of all the good people and things. I want to be a king like Heavenly Father and Jesus, not Satan."
• In a sincere way, A asked if, "Jesus glows with light like the temples do at night." I thought it was so sweet and I told her, "yes, he does for sure."

Broken Belts/Screaming Wee/Wiis!

Today I started to snow blow the foot of snow outside at 7:30am. I was snow blowing and then at about 10AM I started to head back to do our driveway. All of the sudden the belt broke on the snowblower! The kids and I loaded up and spent from 10AM until 1:30PM chasing a new belt. We went to Home Depot first. In a couple of trips we bought two different belts that did not work. They really did not have the best selection. Finally, we decided to go to Lowe's. THEY HAD THE BELT!.........,but they were completely out of stock. We then went to 3 lawn mower/snow blower sales and service shops. All of them decided to be closed today. I finally decided I would follow my passion for cars. I went to a couple of automotive parts places. I compared the belts that they had in stock for cars. Finally, at NAPA auto parts I found one that worked perfectly. So, if you have a Yard Machines A31u150E-129 snowblower, you will be happy to know that it uses the same belt as the alternator belt for a 1986 Toyota Corolla. :) I finally finished all the snow blowing around 3:30PM today. I showered and then decided to do some cleaning in the house. As I was vacuuming, I kid you not the belt broke...... We went right to Sears (where the vacuum was purchased) and.........found it right away.

The kids played in the snow a lot today while I was snow-blowing. I would pull them around on their sleds, causing them to scream WEE! When they were tired or cold they would go with Grandma and Grandpa and scream "Wii!" Some of my siblings all pitched in to buy Grandma and Grandpa a Wii for Christmas. The rule is that no one can play it without Grandma and Grandpa getting involved. The kids loved bowling and baseball with Grandma, Grandpa, and their cousins the last couple of days. Grandpa is dangerous at bowling. He has yet to bowl less than a 150. Grandpa has also been so great to us the last couple of days. For Christmas Eve dinner he made some HUGE king crab legs and we feasted like kings. On Christmas morning he made pancakes and eggs. On Christmas Day, Grandma and Grandpa made a huge feast. Then, the day after Christmas, he made french toast for breakfast. He is quite the chef. T keeps telling him that he should be a chef "when he grows up."

Merry Christmas!

The kids came home from their Mom's house last night at around 10PM. They went right to bed fairly easily (as soon as we laid out cookies and milk for Santa) in hopes that Santa would come. Santa came in the middle of the night of course. I ended up being really surprised because when I was a kid I am sure I would be awake by 4AM on Christmas morning. I kept anticipating, and waiting for them to come bouncing out there. They both slept clear until almost 9AM! Way past the normal 7-8AM wake up time! They are still little and above all else, I am sure they were totally exhausted from the last couple of days. It was so much fun to have them here first thing in the morning this year, and to be able to relax and spend all of Christmas Day with them (last year they spent all morning with their Mom and then came here in the afternoon). Santa certainly spoiled them. Santa usually brings one big present to each of the kids, fills their stockings, and then brings a few odds and ends. I always give them a couple of presents as well. Santa gave T a huge remote control Hummer H3. He loved it and was so excited the moment he saw it. He drove it quite a bit today. Santa gave A this really cool art table that connects to a TV or a computer. She also was so excited and instantly recognized it as an art table. It takes pictures of people or pictures of whatever you lay on its table. You can then add funny accessories, distort the picture, add borders, add graphics, make greeting cards, or draw stuff on them. It also gives you the option of playing games or just drawing and having what you draw appear as well. You then can save and e-mail things for people. It is right up A's alley, and she loved it.

I gave A the Let's Go Fishing game. The kids loved playing it, but fished by color more than anything else. Heaven forbid A get a blue fish and T get a pink one!

I gave T Operation. They had quite the time trying to keep it from buzzing and lighting up when they were performing surgery today.


Here the kids are opening presents. T gave A a Littlest Pet Shop Ostrich. A gave T a Lego jet. Besides the games, I also gave the kids "Kung Fu Panda," and Horton Hears a Who." Grandma and Grandpa gave the kids puzzles as well as some cash to spend. From their cousins they received a Scene It? Disney DVD trivia game. In our ward, our home teachers gave the kids "The Legend of Frosty the Snowman" DVD. There were also a few couples with grown children that brought by little treats and things just for the kids.

Santa had just stopped by! Even though this picture shows the Hummer taking up half of the love seat, it still does not depict how big this thing is. It is at least half as big as either of the kids.

VIDEO: I made this ramp for T to drive his new toy up and down. He was having a blast. Here are a series of driving school mishaps that were hilarious. It is a good thing that Santa got a protection policy for this thing in case it quits working for whatever reason. Most of the time T drove it pretty well though.

Overall, it was a great day. Christmas with kids is so much better than it is with just adults. I love seeing the excitement and light in their eyes. We truly are so blessed and fortunate to have all that we do. The presents are so fun and exciting, but at the end of the day, the blessings from our Savior are so much greater. I loved that the kids continued to refer to the Savior throughout the day. I was so proud of them. They were so concerned with giving to others and remembering the Savior's birth. It truly is the reason for the season. I hope that each of you also had a very Merry Christmas, and that you felt the loving warmth of the spirit of his birth this year.

Van Down!

Crash, Bang, Whiz! (No I haven't been watching 1970s Batman re-runs)
Yesterday, in the late afternoon I went to the Logan area for work. The roads were totally snow covered everywhere I went. Going to and from Logan, I was flying through Sardine Canyon at a lofty 18 MPH........both ways! I ended up making it home at about 2AM this morning. I went back to work bright and early. Today was nothing like yesterday (insert slight sarcasm). I was helping to load up some vans. By 8:40AM, word spread that one of our guys had just lost control in the bad weather, and crashed his van into a ditch. He was headed to Delta, and lost control on I-15 by Payson. By 9:05AM we had a second guy, who was headed to Richfield, slide off and roll his van within 60 feet of where the first one had just been towed out. Both of the guys are completely fine, which really is an amazing blessing considering how many oxygen tanks they were loaded down with (they are under so much pressure that they can literally become like torpedoes if a tank should burst open at all). As I was finishing to help load a van, they came to me and told me that they needed me to take care of some patients in Utah County. They told me that I needed to be to one patient's home by 11AM in Payson, another by 12:30PM in Spanish Fork, and another by 1PM in Mapleton. There were some other patients that needed to be seen as well, buy there was no urgency for their medicine to be administered. I know what you are thinking. "Didn't I just read about two of his co-workers crashing where they are asking him to go?" The answer is YES! There were three of us there, and they walked right up to me. Why do I suddenly feel like I am not loved at work? I think it would have been better if they would have said, "Kent, we just lost two vans down in Payson, and our guys could have been seriously injured. We not only need you to go there, but we need you to hurry down there. We can't afford to jeopardize any regular person in this weather, so we are sending you, congratulations." :) What is even better is that they needed me to haul a ton of stuff to our Provo location, so I had to drive one of our rear drive polygamist vans rather then my front drive caravan. I actually joked around about this whole scenario with all the guys at work (including the supervisor who sent me there). It is too bad that I disappointed everyone by having a very uneventful trip, AND making all of my deadlines. What can I say? I am blessed. I did however pass at least 8 vehicles between Salt Lake and Spanish Fork that had slid off of I-15 on my way down there.


A Career in Advertising?
Today while I was driving I saw a marked business truck. What was so unusual was that it was for a burial vault company. The best part was their slogan: "We are there in your time of need." I was laughing my head off, thinking that perhaps burial vault companies just should not have slogans. Then, I got thinking. Maybe I could just create a better slogan for them. So, here are some of the ones I came up with:

1. Burial vault company....."There is no way your ancestors will roll over in their grave when you buy one of our quality burial vaults for them."
2. Burial vault company....."By purchasing one of our quality vaults, you and your family will be able to rest peacefully at night.........and forever!"
3. Burial vault company....."Our vaults are a few heads and shoulders BELOW the rest.....like...6 feet below."
4. Burial vault company....."Choosing a vault for your loved ones can be a huge undertaking, let us be there in your time of need."
5. Burial vault company......"Your loved one will rest so peacefully in one of our vaults that even if they weren't dead, everyone would think they were."
6. Burial vault company......"Be willing to show you love them dead or alive. Give your loved one the very best this Christmas, give them a burial vault from The Burial Vault Company."
7. Burial vault company......"Our vaults are to die for!"
8. Burial vault company......"When you care enough to send the very best."
9. Burial vault company......"Don't you put your other valuables in some sort of vault?"

Please be sure to tell me what you think. I am thinking I might just have to change my major.

If I Was There

This poem was inspired by my sweet kids and their love for our Savior Jesus Christ (read the previous post to understand further).

If I was there when Pilot asked, “Whom shall I crucify?”
“Set my Lord and Savior free!” I would loudly cry.

If I saw someone mocking, and laughing in Thy face,
I would block Thee from their view, with a rapid pace.

If I was there for Thy whipping, to see Thy flesh torn apart,
I would do anything to stop them, before it could ever start.

If I was there when they nailed to Thee, a cross for Thee to bear,
I would grab away the hammer, before a nail could make one tear.

I would easily lay down my life, to lift the cross from Thee,
surely there is no question, Thou has done so much more for me.

But, I was not there, it can’t be changed, Thou bore it still the same,
I love Thee Lord, I thank thee, and forever celebrate Thy name.

So in this season, we celebrate, Thy ever spectacular birth,
our Heavenly Brother sent to us, because he saw in us such worth.

Christmas Church Clothes

The kids got some new pre-Christmas church clothes. They love them. As you can see, A looks beautiful in her new dress and T looks handsome in his new sweater and pants. Our ward choir had a great program in Sacrament Meeting today. The kids even went up and sang "Silent Night." They did a great job! The kids are going to be with their Mom until late on Christmas Eve, so we did some things and talked about the real meaning of Christmas today. One of the things we did was watch the church movie, "Joy to the World." It basically gives the story from Luke 2 in the bible, but adds music and movie footage. The kids relaxed and watched it with me really well. For our family and the age of the kids, I think this was a far better option than reading it from the Bible. The kids got very interested and even asked a lot of questions during the movie. They seem to really know the real meaning of Christmas and why it is so important. If only we can keep that spirit with us through the rest of this season and beyond.

• A asked me to help her color a picture today in church. It was a princess. I ended up coloring 95% of the picture (A only colored the shoes). She then said, "here Daddy, you can have this pretty picture I colored just for you."
• I asked T to be really reverent just before a prayer today. He whined that, "all this meeting is, is a long song, a prayer, a long song, a prayer....it is so DUMB sometimes!"
• Just before we started the movie today, I told the kids to come in by the TV. I couldn't see T coming, so I asked him to come again. In a cute way he said, "I am coming, what do you think, I am doing the mamba?" Where on earth does he hear this stuff?
• In a tiny part of the movie, there are some mean guys who reject the prophets. A said, "those guys are not very nice are they Daddo?" I said, "no they aren't are they?" T then said, "yeah, they must play on Satan's team."
• T was really sweet during one point in the movie today. The movie very briefly showed the Savior on the cross. T all of the sudden, with a little bit shaky voice, said, "Daddy if I was there, I would have helped Jesus off of the cross and stopped those bad men from hurting Him." All I could say as I hugged them both was, "me too buddy, me too." I am so often amazed by the amazing depth of my Christlike children. This is exactly what they are talking about when they say to "be like a little child."

Just Call Me Betty Crocker

I guess someone should teach the polar bears how to read huh? Sadly, I think that is exactly what I would look like if I went down.

I have dealt with quite a bit of ice today. Our front porch has become the apprentice to the local ice skating rink. I used this huge snow rake thing we have to bring a ton of snow crashing down off the roof. Then, I took a hammer to break up and clear the ice from the rain gutters to stop the slow trickle of water onto the porch. After all that effort, it only marginally worked, and the ice just seems to be a thinner sheet now. This morning the roads were still fairly bad around here. Grandpa and Grandma invited us to breakfast this morning. They go to the same place every Saturday morning. Every so often they invite us to come along. It is not the most amazing place, but they have a great Denver Omelet and the kids love the french toast. After breakfast we slipped and slid to all of the errands that we thought we were done with. I made sure to pull the emergency brake every time we were in an empty area of a snow covered parking lot. The kids love to make the back of the car slide. They are always laughing and loving it, and asking how I do that.

After our errands, (yeah, I think AND HOPE that we are finally done) the kids and I came home and made 132 (yes, that was 132!) cookies. We wrapped them up in the little holiday plastic bags and tied them with a bow. None of my bows or anything look very good, but everyone cuts me slack because I am just a single Dad. People are always cutting me a break on lots of stuff because I don't have a wife around to correct me. I think everyone just thinks, oh look, isn't it sweet that he tries so hard.....poor idiot.........he'll figure it out one day. After we got everything all together we took the cookies around to some friends, primary teachers, home teaching families, etc. The kids and I had a great time. I am sure the cookies were not the best, and probably all of the people we took them to could have made their own cookies that taste better. The phrase "it is the thought that counts" has never been truer than someone accepting cookies that I have made! At least I was helped, and they were delivered by, the cutest kids ever (yeah, I am pretty partial). Before we knew it, the day was over. I cannot believe how fast a day can go when you are having fun.

• A wanted to know all of the people we were taking the cookies to. Out of nowhere, she asked if I was going to take some to my High School teachers. Let me think about that.........NOPE, wasn't really planning on that at all. I just told A that I think we only have enough for the people on our list.
• A was getting somewhat upset about little things today. To distract her and have fun with her, my sister said, "maybe we should focus on a little bit of conflict resolution, you know what I am saying?" A sternly told her, "I would focus on conflict resolution if I even knew what that was!" That caused everyone including A to laugh.
• When I made the car slide the second time today, T asked me if I used the rescue brake. It took me a minute to figure out what on earth he was talking about, but I eventually understood and now I think that is a cool name for it.

Shopping and Snowblower Exhaust

Parking at Target was a little rough today, but we found a spot. Thank goodness I spent all that time straightening the Dealership lot as a teenager! This dog said he'd keep an eye on the car until we came back out.

Daily life is about all that has happened lately. I thought I would have all of this free time lately in the mornings with finals being over. Needs at my work altered that quite a bit (not that I am complaining). This is probably our busiest time of year. Doctors release as many patients as they can from the hospitals so they can be with family. Needless to say, many people then need medical equipment in their homes. After the holidays are over, we end up picking up quite a bit of medical equipment from the same patients. So, instead of waking up and going to the gym in the mornings on the days the kids are not with me, I have been going to work. Tuesday I worked 14 hours, Wednesday 16 hours, and Thursday 12 1/2 hours. All those days when you looked out your window and thought, "only a fool would be driving around in this weather," I want you to know that I was your fool for at least 300 miles a day! Needless to say, this has caused my gym sessions to remain at the 11PM-1AM hours. At the end of my workout, I even invited another guy shooting some hoops in the gym to play some games of one on one. As we were playing, I was laughing that there was actually another person who might be interested in playing basketball at 1AM.

Today the kids and I did a little bit of Christmas shopping. It is so cool to see them so badly want to give to others. They are so concerned with what we should get the people on our list. The kids and I have done a few things so that they can see how much more important it is to give, then to have all that we want. After we were done slipping and sliding through the roads, we made it home just in time for me to snowblow. I am not complaining about snow blowing, because it is so much better than breaking my back with a shovel. I do have to say, that I hate having to shower 50 times a day because of the gas stench. It seems to permeate everything! I am really excited that we are going to have a very white Christmas. I can't wait to take the kids out to build a snowman and go sledding now that they finally seem to be over their cold. They have loved just wearing their boots the last couple of days. I can't wait to put them in their snow pants and have them walk around like that little kid on the "Christmas Story." They only need a little help getting back up after they make snow angels.

• A was pretending to be a dentist today, including pretending to brush the teeth of her dolls and toys, while playing. She wanted T to play too, but he was too busy doing something else. A said, "T, I thought you would be impressed that I am a pretend dentist, but you aren't even impressed." A little while later, she said, "I am cold, but I am just a pretend dentist, real dentists do not even get cold." I was unaware of that fact.......but you learn something new every day.
• Out of nowhere today, A said, "Mommy has a Clorox wand in her bathroom, but there is not one in mine. I really hope she uses it on my toilet while I am with you Daddy."
• Right after prayers, as I was about to tuck the kids into bed, T told me he didn't want to go to bed. I said to him that some people do not have beds. I further told him that one way in which we can show how thankful we are for our beds is by going right to sleep at bed time. Both of them, then asked, "do people really not have beds for real?" I said, "yeah, remember how we talked that some people don't have all the blessings that we have?" They said, "yeah." I said, "well some people don't have beds too." In the most sincere, sweet voice ever, T said, "well, we have lots of rooms and beds at our house, maybe we could invite someone who doesn't have a bed to sleep in one of ours." I don't cry a lot (okay, that is a lie, I boob all the time), but I shed a few tears at what amazing, thoughtful kids I have been entrusted with by a loving Heavenly Father.

Give Me More, More, More

Okay, no one is really saying that about my blog! Everyone out there is saying, give us WAY less, less....OR........none! Once again, it is how I keep a journal for myself and the kids. No one has to read it (as if anyone is at this point). I haven't updated this thing in a while (for me lately one day is HUGE). I figure I will finally let you all know what has been going on in my life (sarcasm intended). Sunday we ended up staying home from church. While the kids were not contagious, I think they felt pretty miserable. I think taking them to Primary would have their teachers feeling pretty miserable after dealing with them. So, we stayed home and kicked it old school. Sunday night, we actually watched the "Santa Clause 2." The kids just watched "The Santa Clause" last weekend, so it was great when #2 came on the TV. The kids especially thought Chet (a mildly stupid reindeer) was hilarious (probably because it reminded them of their Dad). Grandpa wanted to do some fun stuff with the kids Sunday night as well, so we did. They planted/potted their own amaryllis with Grandpa, which has become a holiday tradition in the last couple of years. Later, Grandpa and Grandma told us all about a Rotary dinner that they went to last Thursday. Apparently the club asked one of the Jewish members of the Rotary to talk about Hanukkah. He did, and he gave every person a toy thing called a dreidel (don't worry I didn't know about any of this stuff either). We played the dreidel games and we all had a great time doing that as well.

Today we didn't do much. I played a ton of games with the kids to keep them entertained. When I could tell they were going totally stir crazy, we ran some errands before I took them down to their Mom this evening. I met up with a couple of guys from work at the gym. We were going to play a couple of games of 21 (no not the blackjack kind). The gym already had a bunch of guys playing full court games. They invited us, so we accepted. The games were pretty fierce, the language even more so. We had a lot of fun though before we all headed out to workout. I sort of observed something interesting tonight while playing. It seems to me that those who were able (or more likely, willing to push themselves) to run up and down the court, won at least half the game. What I mean by that, is this. Those who were in a position to make a difference could, while those who lagged behind, usually were not able to contribute. It sort of got me thinking of how that applies to life. If we are willing to push ourselves to be where we need to be, "plays" sometimes just happen. We are in a better position to help others and work as a team. We are also there to accomplish what we need to do. Sorry, just another ADD moment.

• Often I will call the kids "dude" and "dudette" for fun. I was teasingly asking T if he was a dudette. He said, "I am not some girly dudette, I am just a plain dude." I said, "oh then A must be the dudette." A of course heard me and in the sweetest voice ever, said, "how about if I am just a dude too, I don't really like the word dudeZette." Yes, she pronounced it dudezette.
• While we were watching "The Santa Clause 2," an Applebee's commercial came on. A said, "I don't even know why everyone likes Applebees so much, they don't even have Happy Meals like McDonald's." What is even funnier is that the kids both seem to love Applebee's and have requested to go there many times over the years. They even call it the Apple Place.
• At lunch time the kids were singing the Sleeping Beauty song, that says ".....I know you, I walked with once upon a dream...." They started disagreeing about a single word in the song. A thought it was one thing, T thought it was another. I was called upon to settle the dispute. When I said that I think T might be right, A responded with, "what do you guys know anyway, you are boys, you don't know stuff about princesses! Besides, Sleeping Beauty is my favorite movie, so I know everything about her!" How can you argue with that?
• On the way down to take the kids to their Mom, we were listening to and singing (lucky for you all my performances are private.....poor kids!) Christmas songs. The kids knew quite a few of them, and would sing along. "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" came on. T asked if this was still Christmas music. I responded, "yeah, they are singing about the place where Jesus was born. Jesus was born in Bethlehem." A responded with, "ugh! we know that Daddy, everyone knows that, quit talking to us like we are children!" I laughed as I apologized, and asked, "well, how would you like me to talk to you then?" She said, "just talk to us like we are kids." I am still working on figuring out how to accomplish both requests at the same time, but at least I am trying.

I Missed You

Early this morning, at 4AM, I found myself awake.
My body waking so early, this must be some mistake.

In sounds so faint, I could hear, some movements so discreet,
All the sudden I could clearly hear, the pitter-patter of little feet.

Then someone climbed up into my bed, and kissed and hugged me tight.
She sweetly said, “I love you Daddy, I missed you in my dreams all night.”

My heart burst with love for her, a Daddy’s love so deep.
My princess cuddled up next to me and quickly fell asleep.

In the craziness of this world, things can often become so wild.
All that really matters, is my love and role, as the parent of each child.

Concert

Today the kids and I didn't do much. They wanted to go outside in the snow so badly today, but I wanted them to get over their cold a little bit more first. The antibiotics already seem to be working, so we will probably go sledding on Monday. Since they are no longer contagious, they can at least go to church tomorrow. I just wanted to keep them out of the cold for today. We watched a few movies, and the kids mostly just played around the house. I snow blowed and shoveled a little bit, but that was about it.

My Concert Review: Amazing
A friend invited me to The Christmas Concert on Temple Square. It was absolutely amazing. I have been wanting to go for a few years, but have never had tickets. All of the singing, bells, story telling, and orchestra was great. Brain Stokes Mitchell was incredible. I didn't realize, but he was the lead singing voice in "The Prince of Egypt" movie. Edward Hermann told the story leading up to Henry Longfellow writing the song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." I love that story and the example it is to all of us. I could hear it again and again. If you have never heard it I invite you to google it. You will never think the same way about that song ever again. Here is my review of the concert: It was amazing!

My Review of some of the people at the concert: Maybe not quite as amazing
First, just an observation. I was waiting for my friend and everyone was rushing into the Conference Center as fast as they could, to get their seats. This was a good 20 minutes before the concert was to start. I don't think I have ever seen so many LDS people hurrying to be on time to a church event in all my life. You would think it was 20 minutes after, not 20 minutes before. I think they should have a sign on all the churches that says "If you are not in your seat 10 minutes before the meeting, someone else will take your seat, and you will be consumed by fire." That ought to motivate people huh? Who am I to talk. No matter the time, preparation, etc., the kids and I seem to always be 3-7 minutes late...

So we were sitting in the balcony. There were two points in which the speakers above us must have quit working or something. For almost every song they worked perfectly, but for just two songs they seemed quiet. You could still hear Mitchell singing, and the words clearly, it just was not really loud. A couple of the people in front of us started getting all ticked off and annoyed. It was so funny to watch them. They were going all crazy and everything, when really if they would have just listened you could hear everything just fine (I did). I guess some people are not satisfied unless it is really loud. Maybe they should install a sub woofer underneath every seat, that would make them happy wouldn't it? Oh, wait I guess those might go down with the speakers, darn! The second time it happened was even better. Not only did the people in front of us carry on like Satan himself was belching right through them, but then when the speakers started working half way through the song, it caused them to go off even more. All of the sudden we were surrounded by all of these people carrying on. I was trying to listen to the performance and suddenly I was in this little bees nest of activity. Here is what I don't get. People want the speakers to work so that they can hear the music (okay I understand so far). When said speakers suddenly start working people apparently want to talk to drown them out. What is this a competition of who can be the loudest? The most ironic part that really had me laughing was that Mitchell was singing about being grateful and seeing our blessings, and not asking for more. Here these people are sitting in a performance that is amazingly hard to get tickets to every year, and they are grumbling about the speakers while the performer is singing a song about gratitude. Hilarious! I was actually laughing at the people around us (even though I tried not to). It sadly would not surprise me if someone was saying, "gosh, we pay our good hard earned money in tithing and we come here and the speakers don't even work right!" By the way Einstein, God was the one who blessed you with the money to pay your tithing (and everything else you have) in the first place.........just in case you didn't know. Despite all of this, the concert was great, it really didn't phase me, only caused me to laugh and to reflect. The spirit was so strong, and it was so great to welcome the celebration of our Savior's birth into our hearts once more.

Doctor Visit

I had to get up to do something while we were watching our show tonight. I came back and found the kids all cuddled up to each other like this. They are so cute together. Normally I am in the middle of the two of them and they sort of lay their heads on me and rest against my arms. When I come back to sit down it is like the Red Sea has parted and they make room for me. Good thing I am so squishy, or I don't think I would be allowed back in.

Not much has happened today. The kids got sick with a cold or something and so I took them down to the doctor this afternoon. Forty minutes later, we left with prescriptions for some antibiotics. We then went to the local Target pharmacy to pick up the medicine and we were back home. We got home just in time to make dinner. After dinner, "Frosty the Snowman" and "Frosty Returns" were on the TV tonight, so we watched them together before bed.

• The kids were sort of fighting while we were driving in the car. I started singing the "We are a Happy Family" Primary song. Just as I finished saying ".....and we are a happy family! A immediately sang, "especially if T will please, never hit me!" to the same tune as the song.
• A was talking all about the moon tonight and how she couldn't see it when we were driving. T said, "A how come you talk about the moon all the time? Are you hungry for some cheese or something?"
• T hates to wear a jacket or coat. It is quite the fight at times to get him to wear it. I sternly told him to get his jacket on. He said, "T does not want to get his jacket on, he wants to just get his game on." Where on earth does he learn these things? It is like he is one of the boyz in the hood or something. I told him he could "get his game on" as soon as he gets his jacket on!
• A was telling me the things she can see really well with magnifying glasses, telescopes, and binoculars. I asked her if she had all of those things at her Mom's house or something. She said, "I have them everywhere I go." I said, "what do you mean?" She said, "I will show you." She then put her hands into an O shape. She held both of them up to her eyes. She said, "see these are my binoculars." She then took one of her hands down so that only one of her eyes was looking through a hand. She said, "this is my magnifying glass." Finally she stacked her hands so that one eye was looking through the O shape of both of her hands. She said, "and this is my telescope." That may not seem that funny, until you find out that she was dead serious!
• T was kneeling on the exam table at the doctors office. The doctor asked him if he could swing his legs down so that he was in a sitting position, so the doctor could take a look at him. T said, "oh yeah, I am really good at swinging my legs!"

My Kids Might be Cocky....

When the kids are told they are smart, they know it’s true.
Someone says they’re good looking, they see it through and through.

If they are told “good job!” they might say “you bet!”
People ask of their abilities, with confident replies they are met.

When you ask if they can do something, they’re never shy.
In most cases their confidence seems, in never-ending supply.

While I want to see confidence, some of this causes me slight alarm.
I worry as they get older, too much of this attitude may lose its charm.

There is one area in which I love their confident reply;
an area in which I never want, a bit of confidence to die.

I tell them “I LOVE YOU,” and no matter what’s happened that day,
“I know, and I love you too Dad,” is the phrase my kids sweetly say.

Time and time again, this phrase melts my heart;
confidence in this area, I must forever work to impart.

Free at Last!

Today I took my finals. This morning I woke up really early and went to the gym to just shoot the basketball before finals. I usually cram like crazy for finals, then the last hour or two right before, I find something fun to do to ease my mind. No matter how poorly I did on my finals, there is no way I could have missed as many questions as I did shots this morning. See, there is a bright side to EVERYTHING! My first final started at 7AM this morning and I was expected to be in finals straight through until about 11:30AM. I ended up completing all of them by 9:40AM. That means that I did really well, or I did really terrible. No matter what, at least I am finally free! Well, at least for a week or two until the next semester starts. I am so excited to have all of this free time though. No more staying up super late to do homework. I can actually workout at the gym some mornings instead of from 11PM-1AM at night! Wait, that technically is the morning, but I digress. My schedule will be awesome and somewhat normal. Then the next semester will start and my body will have to adjust back.......but hey, until then I think it is sweet!

• I was talking to the kids on the phone yesterday. They were being really silly. I said, "you guys are hilarious." A then said, "if we are so funny how come I can't hear you laughing Daddy?" How am I supposed to respond to that? I was really tempted to say the mature thing. You know, "What was that?... bad connection.....crshshshshsh," but I didn't.

Texting/Gym Experiences

Do you know what I love? Someone swerving into my lane just as I am about to pass them. I instantly think to myself, "holy cow, that person must be drunk!" As I decide to test the waters to pass them again, I realize what is really going on. What a relief, they weren't driving drunk........they were just staring straight down at their phone to text someone while going 70 MPH on the freeway. I am so glad there was nothing for me to get all excited about. All I can say is, are you kidding me?!! I think I would prefer the drunk person. At least they are making an EFFORT to look at what is going on in front of them. My favorite thing though is this. I normally drive a mini-van. Every so often my van is not available and so I drive one of our, what I call, "polygamist vans." It is not a true polygamist van because it does not have the 15 or whatever seats, but it is the same size. I love driving the polygamist vans because they are huge, and you sit up higher then even most of the lifted pickups. So, I am in the process of passing a car and they start to swerve because they are texting. All of the sudden in their peripheral vision they see this huge enormous white blob (no, not me, the van). I am not worried about getting hit because I am in one of the biggest vehicles on the road. They practically drop their phone (as well they should!) as they try to correct their blunder. It makes me laugh so hard, and it happens all the time. It is like when people in High School do a drive by mooning and it scares the people to death (I wouldn't know, I have just heard). I have to admit, I have texted while driving before. First of all, I didn't suck at driving and texting half as bad as some people. Second, I quit doing it when I realized how completely stupid it is. I drive enough for work, and have seen enough stuff happen to know just how much can happen in the one second you take your eyes off the road. I have been EXTREMELY blessed that I have never been in an accident in the over 400,000 miles (not an exaggeration, maybe even understated) I have driven in the last 5 years (knock on wood). I will admit my biases and tell you that that I am not a huge fan of texting. I think it is a great way to send a quick message. Anything that takes more than 3 minutes of my time to text would be shorter in a phone conversation or e-mail. All of that is beside the point when it comes to driving and texting. So, if you text while driving, I love you like a brother, but for your safety and everyone around you, put the stinking phone down!

Have I told you how much I love the gym lately? I love the feeling of working out both physically and mentally for sure, but I also love the experiences I have there. The experiences I get more than make up for the membership fees, they are priceless! Last night I went with a friend from work to the gym. We ended up playing 5 games of one-on-one basketball. We can just say that I had a losing record and leave it at that. Anyway, after he went home I went on with my normal workout routine. I was running on a treadmill, when a guy........how can I put this......even more big boned than me, started walking on the treadmill next to me. We started talking, and he started giving me all kinds of workout advice (and I didn't even have to ask for it!). This actually happens A LOT. Just so everyone knows, I will never be some amazingly fit hulk of a man, and even if I was, I would never give workout advice to anyone. This guy was probably 5'9" and I guarantee he weighs more than I do. So, he goes on giving me all of these tips, and I am just humoring him. All the while I am thinking, "I am running on the treadmill, and he is walking, yet he is giving me tips on how I need to workout, hmmmm. By the way, I HATE running. I just make myself do it because I think it stinks to be a fat man. Eventually he says I should buy this great shake mix that gives you all of this energy for working out. I ask him how much they charge for it. He tells me, and it is two and a half times more than a monthly gym pass, AND it is only for two weeks worth of mix. It must be a sickness with me, because once again I found myself in a position where I just couldn't stop. So I keep a straight face as I politely respond that "I might check out the shake mix, but I sort of have my own secret to get energy for working out." He asks, "well what do you do?" So, I tell him that "just before I come to the gym I usually eat two or three Twinkies. This gives me a huge sugar rush and gives me all the energy I need for my two hour workout." He responds, "oh that is great and all, but maybe you really should check out the shake mix." Facial expressions are sometimes worth a million words. He was soon done with his treadmill routine and we said our goodbyes. I bet he went home to his wife and told her all about the 6'4" Twinkie eating freak running next to him at the gym that night. That only makes me laugh harder.

Oh Christmas Tree

Today we finally set up one of our Christmas trees. Last year we set up three of them. This year, one sounds like a good, solid number to me. We had too late of a start and have too much going on to set up the other two in the basement this year. I know I am being cursed and called a scrooge by some of you. All I can say is, sticks and stones....... We had so much fun setting it up and the kids had to be involved with everything. As with any kids, everything has to be equal. A got to be lifted up to put the star on the top of the tree. T got to plug in the star so that it would light up. A got to place the train cars on the track. T got to be the first one to turn on the train. I love these two so much. They make everything so much fun, especially holidays. We were especially excited to see the snow today. We are hoping for a tiny bit more so that we can maybe go sledding or build a snowman next weekend. It would be fine if it did not snow at all in the meantime.

Here they are with their ornaments to go on the tree
They loved hanging the ornaments, but I had to work hard to spread out the clusters that they would sometimes create. They thought it was really cool for all of the ornaments to be really close together.
Who cares about the stinking tree! Check out this train you can play with!

This was an actual position I came upon with the two of them watching the train. They would alternate, and sometimes she would sort of be lying on him. They wanted to watch the train a ton today. They would intermittently go in there to check it out. We did have quite a few, what I call, "Amtrak incidents." The kids would bump the train or the track at just the right moment and it would derail. Luckily, our derailments are fixed in a matter of minutes.

This picture is my favorite. I love my little twins so much. I really love to see them both so content and happy as they do stuff together.

• Whenever I say a prayer on the food we are about to eat, I usually ask something along these lines: "please bless the food to be nourishing, strengthening, and do us the good we are in need of." T has started to say this every time he says a prayer at meal time as well. He says it slightly differently though. He says: "please bless the food to be nursing, strengting, and discurtanetave." I love it every time he says it, AND it has helped me to be absolutely sure I am pronouncing each word very clearly.

Early Sunday Morning

Today we started things bright and early. T accidentally (at least I sure hope so) wet his bed last night. He woke up at about 3:45AM or so (did I mention I went to bed at about 1:45 last night?). Well, we washed him off and then I took him into my bed to go back to sleep. Guess what, didn't happen. He never went back to sleep. I think we actually functioned pretty well today considering the lack of sleep (not unusual for me). He was asked to give the prayer in Primary today. He has started giving such great, sincere prayers that I decided to not even help him. Everyone said that he did so well. They told me that he even said how thankful we all are that we get to have breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.

• After the Sacrament is passed in Sacrament meeting the kids always get fruit snacks. T was being so crazy up until that point. He was just laughing and being crazy and kept asking for them. After the Sacrament was passed he got the snacks and they were Hot Wheels fruit snacks. He loudly zoomed them all over the place before they would make it into his mouth.
• The past Primary President (who was just recently released) told the kids that they can sit with her sometimes if she is sitting by us in Sacrament Meeting. About 1/3 of the way into it today, A noticed that she was sitting by us. She said, "okay, Daddy I am bored now, I need to sit with her now." I let her and she loved it.
• In between the water and the bread being passed in Sacrament meeting T was being crazy. I was trying to calm him down when he said he needed to go to the bathroom. I said, okay we will go after the Sacrament. In the dead quiet, he loudly stated, "T is going to pee, T is going to pee, T is going to pee," until I rushed him to the bathroom.

Snow King, Birthday, and Bowling

This morning we had our annual ward Christmas party. It was different in many ways, but it was a great party. We ended up having a morning Christmas program at 10AM with breakfast being served rather than a dinner program. Instead of Santa coming to our ward party, we have an animated person who enjoys dressing up as Santa's twin brother the "Snow King" from the South Pole. He does not have elves, but has trolls. He also plays a ukulele. He did at least hand out candy canes to all the kids. The food was great and it was a fun party.Here is a blurry picture of the Snow King and his two trolls
I took T's picture at the party and at the last minute he held up the peace sign

Here is A loving the party as well


Even more smiles from A



After the party, we had to rush down to take A to her friend's birthday party. They went to an indoor skating rink. They could use roller skates or scooters. I guess A tried the roller skates and liked them, but she especially loved riding her scooter all through the rink. The party was three hours long and she seemed to have a great time.



Since T was not part of the party, he and I found some fun stuff to do while A was at the party. We went bowling at one of the Fat Cats bowling alleys. We had a great time, and every time either one of us would bowl, T was so excited. He even told me I was such a rock star after one of the times. He was the real rock star! After we went bowling, we played a couple of rounds of air hockey, and then we raced the arcade race cars. He actually drove them pretty well, especially considering his leg could not be anymore extended when pushing on the gas pedal. We then washed the car and went to lunch before we headed back to pick up A.

Here is T enjoying his turkey sandwich from Hogi Yogi

I know it is turned funny, but look at the final scores. T's score is the top one. He wasted me! He not only got two spares in the normal frames, but on the tenth frame he got a spare, followed by a strike. His score was 106. I got a strike on the first part of the 10th, but could not manage the spare. I got beat by 16 points. As I said, what a rock star!

Here is the bowling champ

• T and I were talking and he was saying that I don't get to do something because I'm a dolt. I had to correct him and let him know that I am not really a dolt, but an adult.

• A was playing, making lots of things as she always loves to do. Tonight when I asked her what she was making, she told me she was just finishing up her "star resume." I asked her what a star resume was. She said, "it is a resume about stars, silly." I guess the working world is getting pretty competitive if my 4 year old is already working on her resume.

• I sort of tripped today just as I was releasing the ball while bowling. T said, "wow Dad, that was awesome, I have never seen anyone try that before!"

Noodles and Santa Clause

The kids were with their Mom most of today in celebration of her birthday. I picked them up late this afternoon. We ran a couple of errands, and then went to one of our favorite places to eat dinner, Noodles & Co. The kids of course love the Macaroni and Cheese. I especially like the Penne Rosa, and I think their cookies are not bad either. After dinner, we came home and watched "The Santa Clause." I love watching movies with my kids. I just recline back the chair and they suddenly come and sit on each side of me. It is one of the few times the kids are not too busy, and still want to cuddle up to their Dad. The kids loved the movie a ton, and you could tell that it got them in the Christmas mood. They were so cute and sweet after it was over, and went right to bed. Seeing them get so excited for Santa Clause and Christmas just makes me excited too. There is nothing like Christmas with little kids.

• T was being pretty crazy when we were in the car tonight. He kept pestering A, and saying some weird things. Every time I would try to talk to him about correcting his behavior, he would say, "Okay, okay, can we just talk about this tomorrow?" My reply: "we don't ever have to talk about this, if we remember to choose the right." He then said, "well then how about you just talk to me about choosing the right then?" Funny, I thought that was EXACTLY what I was trying to do.
• A was telling me all about this dream she had recently. I was asking her about it, and she said, "Dad I had the dream in the morning. People are not even supposed to dream in the morning, only at night, but I did."

Cars

In keeping with what I think the kids would like to see/read about one day, I am including another post of pictures. Since my interest in cars is a big part of who I am, this one is all the cars I've owned, and a little bit about each of them.1996 GMC Sierra

This was the first vehicle I ever purchased. It is still my most favorite of all the cars I have owned. I have a ton of memories of four-wheeling in it and cruising around in it (back when gas was only $.99/gallon). This truck had a Vortec 350 V8 and an automatic transmission. It had so much power that if I floored it from a stop light on dry pavement, it would smoke the tires all the way through the intersection and beyond. One day I hope to have another GMC Sierra (maybe a little newer one though), but it will have to have four doors. I traded this truck in on the 2001 GMC Jimmy below.


1987 Chevrolet S-10
This truck was a stripped-down clunker, but it was awesome. It never gave me any problems, and would take every bit of abuse I threw at it. It had a 2.5 4-cylinder engine and a four speed stick shift. It not only had no A/C, but had no vents! It had defrost or heater only. I beat the crap out of this thing and it just took it. I drove it to 190,000 miles or so before the head gasket blew, when I purposely did not stop, the engine soon followed. Some guys bought it and thought they could figure out a way to drive it away. They did get it started, but all of my neighbors came out because it sounded like someone was shooting a machine gun all over the neighborhood. They only ended up making it 5 feet before they gave up. When I took the trash cans out the next morning before work, I found metal shards, as well as the complete head of a piston, that had shot out of the engine block, lying on the ground. I was laughing my head off when they were trying to drive it away, and it was only more hilarious to see that the next morning.
2001 GMC Jimmy
I leased this Jimmy for a couple of years. It was a lot of fun and went up in the mountains and everything quite well. I could not find a picture of it, but it looked absolutely identical to the one above (two door, color, wheels, and everything). It was a fun vehicle and I had a lot of great times with it, but did not own it for long. The lease ended and I did not buy it because I already had two paid off cars (the truck above, and the Buick below), so I didn't feel like financing a third.

1992 Buick Regal GS
I have so much history with this car, I could not even begin to write about it. This was my Dad's car which he bought brand new. They have always been so unselfish, so I took it many times on the weekends during high school. I once even crashed it into a house! Too much to explain now, but I promise I did not cause the accident. It was such a nice touring car and really a fun car to drive. It was pretty quick in its day too. I ended up buying it from them when it was 10 years old and had 100,000 miles on it. An unnoticed water pump leak caused the head gasket to blow on this vehicle as well (yep, I missed it!). It ended up going to 230,000 miles before it died. This was the place I was able to hobble it to before Kidney Kars came to tow it away. By the way, this car was built before they had governors to limit top speed. This thing actually did 140 MPH on more than one occasion..........or, so I have heard anyway.

2000 Oldsmobile Alero
This car was the replacement when the S-10 died, but I still had the Buick. It has been a great car and pretty trouble free. Other than the Sierra, this has to be the fastest car I have owned (NO, powerful cars do not interest me at all!.......and I NEVER speed). This was the car the kids first came home in and it has taken us here, there, and everywhere in between. It has been pretty trouble free and has also been such a fun car to drive.

1972 Ford F-100

I bought this when the Buick died. As anyone could probably tell, I am a big General Motors kind of guy. This truck was just too good of a deal to pass up, and I knew I would not find a Chevy in the same condition for the same amount of money. When I bought it, the truck only had 72,000 ORIGINAL miles. Now, more than three years later, I have worked it all the way up to 90,000 miles. It still has all original parts throughout. It is such a cool, fun old truck to drive around. The kids and I take it out every few weeks or so, or when someone needs to haul something. Other than that, it just remains parked. You do have to warm it up for about 10 minutes before you go anywhere though. This is not a jump in and drive away kind of vehicle.

So, what vehicle would I own if I could choose any vehicle right now? It is a three way toss-up. I promise that none of them have price tags in the $300,000 range or anything. I have always wanted to have a Corvette (preferably the new ZR-1). I am obviously a GM fan, but this car is the essence of best bang for your buck in the true sports car world. I would also love to have a four door, short bed GMC Sierra 2500 HD with the Duramax Diesel and the Allison Transmission. Finally, I would also really like a GMC Yukon or a Chevy Tahoe. If I was forced to pick one of the three today, I would probably pick the Yukon/Tahoe because of the kids and the versatility it would provide.

Some Ugly Pictures

I have a couple of people that persistently tell me that I need to put pictures of myself on the blog with the ones I post of the kids. What are they crazy? Like I am going to scare off the few readers I have left. Are you serious? When that argument does not work, I tell them that just a month or two ago I included some great yearbook photos. Okay, in reality, some of my problem (conveniently) is that I am the one standing behind the camera with no one to take a picture of the three of us. DARN!, and I so wanted my camera to break! Well, okay, to quiet the (let's be honest....crazy!) people who will not let it go, I have included some pictures of myself. I hope this makes them happy for a couple of seconds before everyone starts running for the bathroom or at least the nearest bucket....

Okay, the real reason I finally relented is for my kids. I have noticed that some of these photos have started to deteriorate over time. Before they went too far, I decided to scan them all in. Since this is like a journal for my kids I try to think of stuff I would want from my parents. Pictures would definitely be a high priority on my list, especially if the printed ones are slowly deteriorating. So here they are.

This picture was taken shortly after my first bar fight...you should see the other guy

I wish I could say that this picture started the downfall of my looks, but it was literally just a bump in the road. I crashed on my Mountain Bike going 40 MPH at a scout camp. I broke my collar bone, crushed three discs in my back, and ground my face and much of the rest of my skin into hamburger.

Have you heard of the movie "Sleepless in Seattle?" Well, this would be the picture of dateless in High School.

A picture of me with my Mission President and his Wife

This picture is posted for two reasons. One, to confirm I am not a liar, and two to confirm what I wrote about the previous high school picture. For those of you who don't know, here is the story. The last dance of my high school career was a girl's choice dance. Surprise! I didn't get asked. I decided I was not going to sit home, so what did I do? I enlisted my three year old niece to go with me. It was seriously so much fun, and I think I got more attention that night, than ever before.

Come What May and Love It

"Come what may and love it." This was a sentence repeated often in, and the topic of, the last General Conference address given by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. What an amazing man of God he is. I know we are not supposed to have favorite apostles, but if I did, Elder Wirthlin would be one of them. His messages were always so simple and easy to understand. All of his talks that I can remember, just focused on being a good person. I am not a master of the scriptures or deep doctrine. I only know what I believe in my heart and mind and try really hard to live it. Elder Wirthlin never seemed to make anything too complicated. I always felt him speaking directly to my heart. His were always direct, simple messages of hope, of striving to do better, of happiness, and of loving others. In his most recent talk, he spoke about laughing through trials and despair. What a great message for all of us. The message that he delivered previous to this one talked about Christlike service and love for our brothers on this earth. Whenever Elder Wirthlin would speak, I did not have questions about what he said. Everything that came out of his mouth gave a clear, profound message. Every talk that he gave just told me that I needed to work harder to be a good person in one way or another. He truly lived the words "come what may and love it." He will be missed by many, but I am sure as he is reunited with his creator and his sweet wife, he is saying the words, "come what may, I'll love it."

Nativity Sets

Over the last two days or so the kids (with some help) have made their own nativity sets. They are made from the same foam type stuff that they made their Halloween figurines from. The nativity came in a kit as well. You have to use a hot glue gun to put this one together though. We had a lot of fun making them. The kids love to create stuff (especially A) and so it is always a lot of fun when they can make something and then see their creation finished.

Tonight after I dropped the kids off to their Mom's house I went to the gym. It has become my Monday night routine and is about the only night that it seems I leave the gym before 1AM lately. I sort of got hit on by a 60 or so year old lady tonight. Why is it that only 60 year old and above ladies think I am nice and good looking? She was pretty nice and actually in pretty good shape. It was a little weird that she literally danced to the music in her head phones between every exercise machine. That may not have been the only way in which I thought she was weird, but I will keep the rest to myself. Did I mention I also got a hair cut today from crazy hair cut girl? I don't want to talk about it.

• After the kids got their nativity sets finished, they wanted to play with them. They were playing for a few seconds when they decided to play a little different game. It was called baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and.............BATMAN! A even asked Batman (T) if he could babysit so that Mary and Joseph could go do something. I wonder how the evening would go with the Dark Knight babysitting the Prince of Peace. HMMMM! What is even more funny than that? The kids rarely even have a babysitter. They are almost always with me or their Mom, so it makes you wonder how she even thought that up.