In today's news....

Some of the latest Lego cars that we have T and I have built
A's new diaper bag, minus the bear and accessories.

The other day the kids and I went to the store. I decided that they could have a toy because first, it had been a long time, and second they were so good to run errands all over the place the last couple of days. T seems to really have a passion for Legos. He loves to play with them and especially loves to build them. It is not very often that he takes them apart though, which is interesting (and really nice actually). We bought T the red car quite a while ago, and then this time bought the others. If you look there is a green vehicle, a police car, and a news helicopter which all came together. I thought that was really sad and funny. It was called the Lego Racers series, but let's be honest, it should be called World's Wildest Police Chases series. Hopefully in the future they will include a free DVD of World's Wildest Police Chases 3 hosted by Sheriff John Bunnell. We could watch it after the Care Bears Movie some evening. Anyway, as always it was a lot of fun to build them with T. A decided that she wanted this diaper bag. It came with a little bear, a bottle, and other baby stuff. The funny thing is, the bear is tiny and the diaper bag is about 52X bigger than the bear for which it is supposed to care for. It is sort of like feeling like you need a Suburban for your two small children. Sure, they are 3 feet tall, but all the stuff that they seem to need would easily fill the rest of the car. I would have pictured the bear, but it is currently sleeping with A. For any of you wondering, NO, Milky has not been replaced or demoted and I don't see that happening any time soon.

We mostly just hung around the house for the majority of the day. I got back from school around 11:30am and it was rainy all morning. Around 3pm it started to become sunny, so we went all over with their bikes. T fell down and scraped his knee up a little yesterday. It took him about 3 minutes to be comfortable with riding again. He kept telling me to make sure he doesn't crash. They are getting so fast, that I can no longer walk by them, but usually I have to run to keep up. It is amazing how quickly they grow and develop. Now they seem to race each other. It was not long ago that T was always in the lead, now T really has to work hard to lead, and often keep up with A. It is sort of fun to watch, it is like the Tortoise and the Hare. T can speed by pretty quickly. When he gets too far away I tell him to slow up and wait for A. She will just cruise on by before he has time to react and often gets a commanding lead. It is so funny to watch them interact and see the warm-hearted competitiveness that exists between them.

P.S. Whenever somebody figures out the weather around here, could you please explain it to me? While you are at it, I am sort of interested in the JFK assassination and the crop circles. Just a few of the mysteries weighing on my mind lately. Thanks.

Bathroom Faucet

At the very end of every bathroom faucet (or most any household faucet) you will find this little tiny ring just before the water comes out. This piece is called the aerator. Its function is to make the water spray straight down, be cosmetically appealing, and usually has somewhat of a strainer built into it to prevent things from getting stuck in the spout. This piece can be removed from the spout of most faucets to enable people to hook up kits for filling or draining water beds or for other things as well. So, it was removed from one of the sinks in one of the bathrooms in this house a few years ago when the last water bed was taken out. This aerator, as well as numerous socks has apparently been taken by aliens and has never been seen since. This has not really caused any problems other than the fact that the water sprays out farther into the sink instead of going directly down and that we don't appreciate alien theft. That is until last night..... One or both of the kids washed their hands in that sink around 5:30pm last night. No one had been in that bathroom for several hours after, until I went in at about 2:00am. I walked in and instantly heard a splash as well as a cool, wet feeling on the bottom of my socks. It took me a minute, but I finally figured out what had caused the whole bathroom floor to be flooded. It seems that the sink was BARELY left on. This had caused a tiny little stream to run back along the bottom of the faucet, to the counter. That part of the counter eventually could not handle anymore and it slowly drizzled all over the floor. I had to laugh to myself as I filled 8 full size bath towels and did quite a bit of mopping. Apparently the kids cannot handle all of my clothes being dry at the same time. Sure they will let me wear some dry clothes, but not all of my clothes really need to be dry in their mind. I wonder if a good old fashioned water fight might get this all out of their system. It's okay though, because I usually mop that floor on Fridays, so now I am a couple days ahead of the game. What thoughtful kids to free up more of my time on Friday.

Happy Birthday Mom!

This is a picture of my awesome parents

Today was the birthday of a special lady in my life,
no I am not re-married, therefore, I do not have a wife.
Those who may not know her, I just call her Mom,
I’m thankful for all she does; I think she is the bomb.
She went through a lot; I’m sure, to get to number seven,
raising us seems the REAL hard job, I’m sure she’ll go to heaven.
I cannot even express, the many hours, all I’ve seen her do,
I don’t think it’s necessary, to state all we’ve put her through.
I do not know how it is, that we gave her so much grief,
but then we knew we could always come, and find her for relief.
If we ever need anything, Mom/Grandma is always there,
giving us attention, and showing us great care.
First to say she’s sorry, whether she’s done right or wrong,
Knowing we have a special place, where we always belong.
Time seems to fly by for all of us, it’s birthday 64,
she can’t be around forever, but, we pray there’s many more.
So she is not getting younger, she may be getting old,
Above all else one thing remains, her heart is made of gold.
As I look back on all her great advice, there is one you can’t compare.
Every accident I’ve ever been in, I’ve had on clean underwear!

So Much to Say

Our lives are not too exciting, but here are some of the little things we have done. Friday two of the kids' cousins were over to play in the morning. They were all pretending that ALL the stuffed animals they could find were super heroes. So, I thought every Super-Hero Stuffed Animal needs a cape right? Side note: Apparently the super hero costume designer in the movie The Incredibles does not think so. So, I got the construction paper, scissors, hole punch, and yarn. We made sure all stuffed animals were wearing capes by lunch time. It was actually a lot of fun, and once again the kids were kind enough to not point out how bad I stink at anything even remotely artistic.

Today it seemed like all we did was run errands. We went around and got Grandma's birthday present (a large vine-like flower in a large planter to put on their front porch). We got Grandma birthday cake and ice cream, and then ran a whole bunch of other errands. We even used BOTH our car and our truck today! Ahhhhhhh! the feeling of spending almost $4 a gallon, what a precious thing that is. Tonight T & A's Mom came to get them to take them to dinner before she goes on vacation for a week or so. So, it has and will continue to be great for me because I will have the kids from June 5th-June 17th. I will still go to school, leaving the kids with my Mom for about three hours, but I have taken off work on any of the days that they are with me. It will be so much fun. That is about all that is going on. I know, we have the most interesting lives of anyone in the world. That is why everyone (thick sarcasm attached) reads this blog. Good thing my primary usage is to use my blog as a journal.

• I warned T that if he didn't stop yelling way too loud that he was going to go to timeout, he instantly yelled and I instantly hauled him to timeout. His disbelief was quite apparent as he must have told the walls in his room, "I can't believe he actually did that!" and "why would he really do something like that?"
• T was talking like a baby to be funny, it was really getting on A's nerves. She said, "Dad could you please make T stop talking like a baby, he is ruining my life!"
• As we were going to get Grandma's birthday present, I told the kids that we needed to get Grandma's plant. T said, "we have to get her a plant too? Why can't we just go get her present?" I explained that the plant was her present. He laughingly said, "that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, you can't give someone a plant for their birthday!" he then added later, "you can't even wrap a stupid plant!"
• T seems to call everything "baby" lately. I think I referred to something a couple of times that way and he has held on to it for a while. Here are a few examples: He tells me he has to "get this baby put away," when referring to his bike. He asks me "are you going to start this baby and mow the lawn?" when referring to the lawn mower. I told the kids that we had to hurry to church and that we were running late. As I turned on the one "busy" street that we go on to go to church I accelerated pretty fast (those of you who know me, know that I don't really need an excuse to drive fast, but I digress). T said, "good thing this baby can go so fast with your big foot on the gas or we would never be on time to church."

Kung-Fu Panda-The stickiest movie I have ever seen!

Today our friends, the Anderson's, (all of our friends seem to have common last names, so I don't see a point in hiding them anymore) invited us to go to the movie Kung Fu Panda with them. We met them at the Gateway theater this afternoon. We all arrived at about the same time and got the tickets. I decided we could splurge and pay the $468 fee for a jumbo popcorn (but hey, it comes with a free refill!!) and then another $920 for two large drinks. One for me and one for the kids to share. So, after we spent the kid's college fund on popcorn and drinks we went into the movie. I was carrying trays (which the kids could eat some of the popcorn out of, with napkins of course), one of the drinks, and the jumbo popcorn. A was carrying the kid's lemonade. We made it all the way to our seats to find that none of the arm rests (which house the cup holders) were down. I had just sat down to arrange everything, not wanting to put anything on the floor for fear the kids would accidentally kick it over. Suddenly A said that her drink was making her hands too cold. I told her to wait just two seconds while I finished the process of lowering one of the armrests. Apparently two seconds would have given her frost bite in her mind, so she LAID their drink, lid pointing down, on my seat, right next to my right leg. She then turned her back to me and began talking to her friends. I hurriedly try to pick the drink up, trying to stop the sudden cooling feeling now piercing my shorts and seat. I also am making a concerted effort not to drop anything else. Both of my kids were busy talking to their friends oblivious of the perilous circumstances I was in. My friends tried to help, but could not make it past all the kids. When all of the sudden the lid pops off of MY drink and I spill about half of it. Some pours on me, some on the seat, and some on the floor (in my defense the cup I was given had a deformed brim and so the lid did not stay on very well anyway). In my scramble the lemonade crashes to the floor spilling its entire contents, and I notice I have also poured a small amount of popcorn from the tub to the floor to top it all off. I am still scrambling, laughing hysterically at what a mess I have made, amazed that in a few short seconds I have suddenly turned our row of seats into Hiroshima. A turns around to see what is going on and yells, "DADDY, WHY DID YOU THROW OUR DRINK ALL OVER THE FLOOR?!!" Her comment only caused me to laugh even harder (which made responding to her and cleaning up that much more difficult). After she said that I thought, "gee, I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to lay that drink down on my seat, looking back that really seems like a silly thing to do." So, I finally got everything arranged and cleaned up the best I could without a fire hose. I now realize that putting things on the floor and chancing that they would get kicked over might not be that bad (at least then I would not be laughing at my wet pants and seat). As the movie began, I went back to the snack bar to buy another drink for the kids, looking like my right leg and rear end had met some terrible ordeal in the bathroom moments before. I purchased another drink and headed back into the movie. The best part of the story? As we were initially moving to our seats, (before the bomb went off) my feet were somewhat sticking to the floor as I was walking. I thought to myself, how do people get these floors so sticky? Well, I don't care what any teacher says, there IS such thing as a stupid question, or at least questions that should not be answered. Anyway, what a hilarious story, I could not stop laughing the entire time, except for the part where I had to spend another $460 on a new drink, but other than that it was hilarious. I don't think I have had a funnier experience at the movies. We were all laughing long after the movie ended. Kung-Fu Panda was really a good show and pretty funny (although I might have been in silly, slapstick mode before the movie even started, thus making everything funnier). I thought it was entertaining for the kids and for the adults. The best way I could describe it would be to call it a cross between Mulan and Beverly Hills Ninja with Chris Farley. The kids and I really liked it a lot. After the movie we went back to the Anderson's house and played into the evening. We had a BBQ and had really good hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them. We are trying to squeeze in as much time as we can with them before they move to Ohio in August. They probably feel like I am the Verizon phone guy, but instead of asking "can you hear me now?" I ask, "can you hang out now?" Well, maybe they aren't the ONLY ones who feel that way. As always we had a great time and hopefully we can get together a few more times before they move. At the very least we have given them a story that should ensure they can never forget us.

Who you are does make a difference!

IMPORTANT! Once again please scroll down to the bottom of this page and pause the music before viewing this video. This is one of the most inspiring videos I have ever seen. I have searched it out and want to share it with all of you. By the way, I am not selling the system that they advertise at the very end. I just really love the video. I think we can all make a difference and we do not have to buy an amazing system to do it. We already have one, it is called our heart.

Deep Thoughts, Shallow Brain 4.5

TODAY

This day is over, what things have I done,

have I done big or have I done small?
Was it a bad day or did I have fun,

did I hunch over, or did I stand tall?

Would I be proud, at the end of this day,

am I happy about what I have given?
Or would I think, I have more to say,

or could I have been much more driven?

Each day I can block the path of another,

I can make the choice, to be a fighter;
why not instead treat all as my brother,

to strive to make their life brighter?

So I sit, now deep into thought,

thinking of how I have lived;
I recall battles that I have fought,

I only hope that I have gived.

Some days I think I have done quite well,

others I may not be sure;
It is only I who can tell,

a path and life, only I can secure.

But alas, the day is soon gone,

another starts to ensue;
I now must look, to the bright new dawn,

and decide what I’m going to do.


So from my thoughts, a decision has come,

the past day already gone by;
I will now focus, on not being numb,

I can spread my wings and fly.

I have decided to live my new time,

to live new moments, better than the last;
No matter what, mountains I need climb,

even if struggles seem vast.

I can ease the pain, of so many,

simply, by crossing along their way;

and it won't even cost me a penny,

only pure love on display.

But how, you may ask,

do you follow this path, holding to it, all the while?
The mystery may be easy to unmask,

it may be as simple as a smile.

Deep Thoughts, Shallow Brain Part 4

I may only be able to do about 6 more "deep thoughts, shallow brain" segments. I am quickly approaching the highest number I am able to count to. Today two separate people asked me two questions that I feel I am asked quite a bit in one way or another. First, "How can you just laugh and smile no matter what seems to happen?" The second one "how come you rip on yourself so much?" I will answer them to the best of my ability one at a time.



In answer to the first one, I think I have seen both sides of that road and decided that I wanted to take the happy road. Most people who really know me know that I am not ALWAYS smiling and laughing, however, I enjoy that side of life the most. There are certainly times and places for many emotions. The biggest thing to me is defining what kind of life I want to live and the quality of life I live. This obviously will impact everyone I come in contact with. This is especially important for me in raising my kids. Life in general is fun. Everything in life is not fun, but overall you can make most situations in life fun and/or humorous. I TRY to be grateful more than I complain or want more. I cannot say that I always do those things, but I try to focus on them. There are definite steps that I take in finding happiness as I have outlined previously in this blog. When I was probably in fourth of fifth grade I did not have a lot of friends. I did not have a lot of self-esteem and I really probably was not doing anything great for anyone else. Surprise! I didn't feel all that great either. I decided from watching people while I was "a loaner" that the people who laughed usually enjoyed life. The people who were depressed, complaining, etc. did not. Later in life I still do not have many friends, but my perspective changed and I am so grateful for those that I have. I slowly decided throughout those Jr. High years (side note: did anyone just love Jr. High? because if you did I am just thinking a trip to the psychologist is in order) that I was going to make the most of life. I have tried since not to be defined by experiences that happened to me. To instead define who I am by how I react to situations and what I can learn from what happens in my life. I am certainly not preaching and others have things way more figured out than I do. I am only saying that I CHOOSE (yes, I don't care what anyone says, it is a choice) to be happy. Basically I guess if I was a Disney character I would be Goofy. Not the smartest of the bunch, somewhat tall and dopey, not necessarily the most handsome, but I like to smile. I don't think I have that whole Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde thing that he does in some of those episodes though. I will work on the little things in my life that I need to do differently, but overall I want to enjoy life, and so I have set out on that course. I just slip off the trail every once in a while and have to pull myself back up.



The second question is somewhat answered in the answer to the first question. I love to have fun WITH people. I like to give people a hard time. I love to laugh and I love to make others laugh too. I love to laugh at myself. I am not perfect and I think that often times when I am not trying to be funny I am the most humorous of all. As I said I want people to laugh WITH me. I would never want to hurt anyone's feelings, or make them feel sad. I try to always stay away from the mean teasing that is out there. It would really make me feel badly if I found out I hurt someone's feelings. I don't ever want to be that person. Therefore, one of the ways I laugh with people is by laughing at myself. I know my frailties and it is fun to not only recognize and change them, but laugh about them. I know it seems completely crazy and probably does not make sense to anyone, but it is quite therapeutic for me and is all in fun. It is also a way of recognizing that I don't need to be perfect, only work towards perfection. I probably end up beating myself up less than I would normally in many situations because I just laugh. It helps me to forgive others more quickly and overlook mistakes. Really in the end, I think I am an okay guy (even if I only think that 2.7 minutes a week).

Milky

This is Milky

So, anyone who has been around A very much has likely heard her talk about her stuffed animal Milky. This is by far her most favorite toy in the whole world and has been for over a year. She has to sleep with it each night. This obviously creates some interesting circumstances if it is left at either her Mom's house or mine when A is no longer there. It has definitely caused me a few hour long round trip drives with the kids. It has also caused me to shift around my work schedule to do some work at a place where I can get Milky back to A. Milky is indeed a Littlest Pet Shop animal, however she (OH, yes, it is a she, just ask A) is not very little and has an enormous head. I am not allowed to lay on Milky when I lay by A to rub her back and tuck her in at night, but Milky can lay on top of me. I mean I know I am fluffy, but I still don't think I am quite as soft as a stuffed animal. I'm just saying. Just over a year ago I bought Milky at Target and our lives have never been the same since. Her known Aliases are The Milkster and Milko. A loves Milky and because of that Milky is one of the family, so I thought I should introduce you to her. This is the closest the kids will ever get to having a real cat in our home because I do not like them and I am allergic. So, I am really, really glad she likes it so much.

• The kids came to school with me last Tuesday. I told them before we left that they had to be so good and be quieter than they are in church (not really a hard thing many weeks). They were so good and just sat and colored and looked around. I could not believe how sweet they were. There was one point where T tried to whisper something to me. I could not hear him and just whispered, "Okay, just color your picture and be quiet please." A then said way too loud, "HE SAID HE NEEDS A TISSUE!" I then got one out of my bag and handed it to him. Most people would have been really embarrassed at this point, I just laughed with the rest of the class. Other than this one incident they really were amazingly good though and I was so proud of them.
• My brother and sister-in-law's house is just a couple of blocks away, therefore we are in the same ward. She also happens to serve in the Primary Presidency. She stepped out for a few minutes during sharing time and when she came back in A said very loudly, "Aunt T looks so pretty today!" I guess everyone laughed pretty hard which caused Aunt T's face to turn as bright pink as her shirt. She is not the kind that really likes a whole lot of attention anyway.
• The last couple of nights I have had a hard time with T wanting to sleep. He keeps telling me that he does not want to sleep and that he does not even feel tired (often through yawns). I told him that he needs to sleep to grow big and strong. He said that he needs to just eat and exercise. I told him that sleep was just as important as those things. So, when he woke up this morning he pulled up the bottom of his pajama legs and said, "Wow, look how much my legs grew last night!" Being the ever encouraging parent I said, "yeah just think how much they will grow when you go RIGHT to sleep tonight."

Deep Thoughts, Shallow Brain 3.5

PROPER PERSPECTIVE

When the path that we walk seems to be quite rough
When our challenges seem to be too tough

Things just don’t seem to be going our way,
we’re so overloaded we don’t know what to say.

We feel that we have done more than our share,
or look at our life, and say "it’s not fair!"

We think our challenges are too much to do,
feeling burdened, inadequate, alone or just blue.

We think of Him, and know that He’s there,
our Savior to guide us, through any despair.

When we are weak, and barely able to stand,
He comes along gently, and guides us by the hand.

We soon realize He’s here all the while,
Guiding our footsteps from mile to mile.

He has been lifting us throughout all time,
How could we not see this gift so sublime?

We were so worried about our world’s affairs,
our sight became blinded, to Him answering prayers.

He has been helping, making us stronger,
we will not find a friend, who has stayed with us longer.

So true, kind, and patient, He will ever be,
helping us clear our path of debris.

We simply reflect on his wonderful grace,
His arms wrap around us, with warm embrace.

Prevailing winds come, He gives great peace of mind,
His constant great purpose for all of mankind.


He has lightened from us, an unbearable weight,
As He did long ago with sacrifice so great.

We weep as we hug Him, and express of our love,
For our great, perfect brother, who lives up above.

Because of His love and His promises sure,
We’ve passed on through challenges, we could not endure.

We then move along, our burdens seem light,
We have flown through the gray clouds, and our future seems bright.

So do we go along now, with a thought not on Him,
Waiting instead, ‘til our cup hits the brim?

Or do we see Him, with every thought,
Thinking of our battles, which He has fought.

It is different for each person, or time I suppose,
Some hold Him close, others wait for life’s blows.

But one thing without question, is always for sure,
He will be there to guide us, with His love so pure.

So let us ALWAYS, stay close to His side,
He’s life, light, and way, let Him be our guide.

He stands there beside us, with one peaceful plea,

"I am thy Savior, please come unto me."