Deep Thoughts, Shallow Brain Part 12

As I laid my head to rest, in a weary dream one night,
I was taken to a place, that seemed familiar to my sight.

I could not place where I was, though I know I’d seen pictures before,
just a great sense of déjà vu, as I began to walk and to explore.

I saw myself, in that hazing dream, walking all around,
looking all through the trees, and then looking to the ground.

Why couldn’t I think where I was? the place my dream had brought me,
I knew this place in my head, but could only place it, to a small degree.

I felt so alone and lost, not knowing where I was displaced,
or for what purpose my mind decided, I had to come here with such haste.

Then like lightening piercing the night, it suddenly became so clear,
I was brought to sacred ground, a place for the world to revere.

How could I not see it clearly before, the pure grown olive tree,
I was being shown a hallowed place, the Garden of Gethsemane.

I instantly knew why I’d come, to witness the act meek and mild,
as our Savior knelt before our Father, with the submissiveness of a child.

A lump in my throat, my heart skipping beats, tears forming right at the brim,
my eyes darted all this way and that, as I frantically began searching for Him.

Off in the distance, He came into my sight, just as He started to kneel,
As He began to pray, I could scarcely grasp, the pain that He would soon feel.

I watched as He talked to our Father above, asking to remove the cup,
purely seeking out our Father’s will, at the sacrifice He would lift up.

I painfully watched Him take on all I have done, and all that I’d ever endure,
My breath became ragged as I watched His pain, His sacrifice of love so pure.

As my eyes could no longer contain my tears, and they started to run down my face,
He began to sweat sweet drops of blood, a testament of his loving grace.

One so perfect taking it all, as to the Father, He would plead,
So that we may turn to Him, and from our sin be freed.

I felt so much sorrow and cried as He bled, and felt that horrible strain,
to give all His brothers that great gift, and be there through all of our pain.

The eternal sacrifice seemed so long, the blood now from every pore,
a gateway unlocked, a pathway now clear, the greatest gift forever more.

Just when I thought it would never end, His blood the ground did engrave,
He magnificently, yet wearily rose, from the sacrifice that He gave.

He saw me in the distance, and with amazing strength, stumbled to my side,
He looked in my eyes, He opened my heart, and showed a love that’s unwilling to hide.

His arms wrapped round me, I instantly sobbed, the moment I felt His touch,
my lack of understanding growing, how could He love me this much?

He held me forever, then with one last glance, quietly turned now away,
I could only ponder in my heart, the love He had shown us this day.

The garden soon faded, dawn was now breaking, I felt my body awake,
I immediately thought of His crucifixion, how much could my Brother take?

I felt overwhelmed and silently wept, at all He was willing to give,
as I think of His love as He lay down His life, so that we could all live.

Primary Program Sunday

Today the kids participated in their first ever Primary Program. They sang in Sacrament Meeting for the first time last Mother's Day, however, this was their first actual program with parts and everything. They sang the following songs: "I Am a Child of God," "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus," "I Love to See the Temple," "Called to Serve," "When Jesus Christ was Baptized," "If the Savior Stood Beside Me," "We Thank Thee, O God for a Prophet," and "Home." I am not quite so sure it was in that order. It ended up being amazing, even though it started out a little rough. T threw a fit right before they were to go up to the stand. I had to take him out and calm him down. He seemed to be calm and settled down enough, and so I had him walk reverently up to the stand to be with all the other kids. A did her part first. She said, "Jesus Christ is our Savior and He will come again." T then said his part, "We can be like Jesus." At the very end he started to cry and ran to his Primary teacher. I went up to the stand and picked him up and walked out with him. I am sure many people thought it was stage fright, however, it wasn't. Most people do not know, but T is hypoglycemic. We have suspected it for a long time and a doctor recently confirmed it. I took him out, got him some crackers for a few minutes and then he told me he wanted to go back up. Someone later told me that they couldn't believe I "was so cruel as to send my scared child back up to the stage," but that I made the right decision. They were somewhat surprised when I told them what was actually going on. Anyone who really knows the kids knows that neither one of them are shy, unless they are just being silly. He reverently walked back up there and sang his little heart out. They both sang so well and I was amazed at how well they knew the songs. I have practiced with them only a little, and then played the songs on my MP3 player whenever we were in the car. They both sang so loud that many times you could hear them over all the other kids. At the very end A was asked to give a solo, She just sang the phrase, "I Am A Child of God" followed by a pianist playing those same keys on the piano and then an organist following suit. They did great, especially considering it was their first time. They also did some of the funny stuff. A kept somewhat twirling around while holding her dress, they both could not resist waving to me on numerous occasions, and when I gave them both a smile and thumbs up, they gave it right back. They both did so well and I am so proud of them. They are such great kids.

Miniature Golfing

Tonight we decided to paint the town! We went to Chili's for dinner and then we went miniature golfing. It was so fun. We ALL had a great time!

This is only his left hand casual putt. Watch out Tiger Woods!
I don't think that A actually hit the ball in there, but I did turn around for a minute, so who knows? I promise that when I do her hair in pigtails, all of the hair that is shown hanging is not like that at the beginning of the day.
As we were leaving, the kids were "wishing on dandelions." It is an unusual practice, I still think I struggle with the whole concept, as much as I've tried.

Holy Crap! I've Been Tagged!

I thought since I am a guy, that I was immune to being "tagged." I guess not! That's the last time I am going to read anyone else's blog. :) Whatever, I will play along.

A is for age: 29

B is for burger of choice: Train Burger

C is for the name of the person/company that you wrote your last check to: Tithing

D is for your dog's name: The only dog in our house is named Kent

E is for essential item you use every day: Toilet Paper

F is for favorite TV show: You mean people above the age of 18 get to watch that thing?

G is for favorite game: UMMMM......Hopscotch

H is for the name of your high school: I don't get that specific on the blog.

I is for instruments you play: Kazoo

J is for favorite juice: Jamba Juice

K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: Who is volunteering to have my size 15 foot kick theirs?

L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Chili's

N is for number of piercings: Wouldn't you like to know? Just kidding, that is how rumors get started!

O is for overnight hospital stays: I spent plenty of overnights when the kids were first born, but I have never stayed overnight for myself. Knock on wood.

P is for people you were with today: I don't get specific unless someone has a more common name. However, you can bet I was with T & A.

Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Never had any. I don't feel like stabbing my brain with a fork. But other than that, I drive around for work.

R is for biggest regret: I don't focus on my past and look for regrets. They sort of don't exist in my world. I learn from mistakes and move on. I like to focus on the good things that I can do, or that can happen in my future.

S is for last store you shopped at: Shopko (funny, I almost never go there, just really convenient today.)

T is for time you woke up today and the time you went to bed last night: Woke up at 7AM, went to bed at 3:30AM.

U is for what you consider unique about yourself: I like long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and romance novels?

V is for vegetable you love: Tomatoes I guess

X is for x-rays you've had: Dental, Chest, Neck, Back, Shoulder, Collar Bone, Arm, Foot.

Y is for yummy food you ate today: Fajita Quesadillas

Z is for your favorite zoo animal: Python, but only if it has a dead rabbit in its enclosure.

I choose to tag........NO ONE!

Park, Primary Practice, Playing

Earlier today we went to the park. We stayed there for an hour or two and the kids had a fun time on the slides. A little while later we went to the church so the kids could practice the Primary Program that they are doing this Sunday. They were really cute and excited to say their parts into the big microphone. All the people decided that A is going to do a solo portion of "I Am A Child of God." They both sang their little hearts out with T even furrowing his eye brows pretty hard sometimes to sing loudly. After, we came home and played for a little bit before dinner. We ate dinner and then went on our seemingly steady routine as of late. We rode bikes and made sure to stop by and play with our neighbor's friendly dog Millie. It was a fun day.

This is Millie, our fun little dog (that we play with).

T loves to play tug o' war with Millie. They are pretty evenly matched most of the time. It is hilarious to watch. Millie will run at T at a million miles/hour when he is dangling the rope. It always whips T around in a circle. He just laughs and eggs Millie on the whole time. A loves to just throw the ball to Millie and have her run after it.

This is a picture from yesterday at the zoo. The kids loved sitting on this elephant's trunk. They liked waiting for its fake sneeze where it would spray water out its trunk.

Here is A on the bronze hippo. Reminds you a little bit of the golden calf from the bible doesn't it? No worries, no one was worshipping it.

• The kids both love knock, knock jokes. Especially ones that do not make any sense. Tonight T made up one. He asked A "knock, knock.......chicken............chicken pot pie, are you going to eat me?" They both always burst out laughing at their little jokes.
• This morning as we were getting dressed A said she knew what the weather was going to be. I asked, "you do?" She said, "yes, it is going to be rainy..........OR it is going to be sunny." I am thinking that is almost as good as the forecasts that I watch on TV.
• A was teasing me today. I said to her, "What you talkin' bout Willis?" She repeated back, "What you talkin' bout wit-less?" It is amazing that in such a short lifespan they have already been able to burn me time and time again without even knowing they are doing it. Who told her I have no wit anyway?

Planes, Preschool, and the Zoo

Today started with us waking up somewhat early to take my Mom to the airport to catch a flight. I then drove quickly down to get the kids to preschool on time. I was not going to drive back and forth, so I went running while the kids went to their preschool class. They learned all about apples today (I am sure A was in heaven), and watched the movie Johnny Appleseed. After preschool, we came home and had lunch. We then went to the zoo. We bought a pass earlier this Summer and have not used it nearly enough (only once). The kids loved the zoo. It is actually sort of nice having that pass because I found we can just drop in and then leave whenever. The last time we went the Tiger was out of its area because they were cleaning his area or something, but this time it was there. The kids were so excited. We stayed there until dinner time. The kids said their favorite animals to see were the snakes and the tiger. We also were lucky enough to get a close up view of a leopard eating some sort of animal. We saw a tortoise the size of a love seat (A keeps wanting a turtle, maybe that would be the one for us) and we always love seeing the giraffes. Here are some of the pictures below.We came around the corner and without notice see this lying in the python's cage. I was really nervous what the kids would think and how it might affect them. T thought it was "cool." A said, "oh what a cute fluffy bunny." I don't know if A knew that the bunny was not going to ever get up and hop again. Regardless of what she thought, I am starting to think that their comments would make us look like the Adam's Family if someone were listening.

This sign was nicely displayed in succession AFTER you already see what is pictured above. Nice placement zoo keepers!

Here is a picture of the leopard eating his meal. I am thinking Thursdays might be big meal days at the zoo. What, do they starve the animals on Saturday when more people are around?

T chose to ride the tiger on the carousel today.

A chose to ride the cute little panda bear on her carousel ride today.

• While we were at the zoo today there were many places that said we had to leave the wagon outside. One of them was the place that housed the great white crocodile. I told the kids that we had to park the wagon. T responded, "Dad, just sneak it in there, no one will know!" I am thinking that a big red wagon would be harder to sneak in a building with narrow walkways, then say someone sneaking a candy bar into a movie theater in their pocket.
• In the BEE Movie there is a part where the human thinks she is dreaming. So, she stabs her hand with a fork to wake up. The Bee says, "Umm......That was a little weird." Ever since we watched the BEE Movie with the Jones, the kids have been saying that phrase to everything. I have even joined in sometimes when there really is something weird. The kids think it is way funnier when I say it, but they pretty much laugh whenever anyone says that phrase.
• While we were driving home from preschool the kids asked me if Johnny Appleseed lives at Disneyland. I told them I didn't think so. They then asked who does live there. I told them as many Disney characters as I could think of. One of which was Aladdin. T said, "what? they even let a street rat live there?!!!" He then burst out laughing, which of course made A and I laugh as well.
• We pretty much got to choose our place on the train at the zoo today. The kids chose the very first row of seats right next to the engine. All I could smell was exhaust. I have never felt like I was closer to being asphyxiated in my entire life. I kept trying to get the kids to move, but they wouldn't. I really could swear there was something wrong with that engine. Once the ride was going we would get bursts of fresh air. After the ride I asked them if they had fun. T said, "yeah Dad, that was so awesome, we got to sit right by the engine, and I even got to smell the coal the whole time!" All I could think of, is what a special treat that was for all of us! Incidentally, I guarantee that train does not run on coal.

Wednesday

I have not been able to title many posts "Wednesday", because I do not normally have the kids on Wednesday, so I was excited that today I can. Today we went to the Circus festivities at the Children's Museum. The kids had a great time. They had all kinds of balloons, juggling, popcorn, magic tricks, face painting, etc. They were so cute. They even had their first taste of cotton candy. I know you are all probably thinking how deprived they must be, that they had to wait until age 4 to have cotton candy. Oh well, I guess it wasn't one of my biggest goals when I set out to be a parent. A lot of my theories about parenthood went out the window when I actually became a parent anyway. It wasn't until they were eating it that I realized that they had never had it before. I even had to ask them if they had eaten it before, they both said no.

Tonight we went on a bike ride and then again went over to play fetch with our neighbor's dog Millie. The kids absolutely love her. It is pretty sweet too, because this neighbor loves it when people come and play with her dog. She told us we can come anytime we want, to just let ourselves in the gate. So, it is like having all the benefits of owning a dog, without any of the drawbacks of owning a dog. It was a fun day. I love having the kids this much, it is so fun to be with them.

This was how my cute kids shared their cotton candy today.

We have these little foam things that stick to shower and tub walls when they are wet. T really wanted me to take a picture of his artwork after his shower this morning.

• This morning, T asked how tall he was. I told him that he was 41". He said, "Whoa that is so tall, I must be growing so fast!" He then went on to say, "Look my legs are even longer than my arms now!" I told him that was so neat and that it comes from eating healthy foods and getting lots of sleep at night. In my head I was thinking, "I sure hope your legs are longer than your arms. You would look pretty silly with these stubby little legs as your knuckles on your hands scrape the ground as you walk."
• We were driving in the car and T told me, "that I was their big, fat Daddy." A then told T, "Daddy is not fat." T responded, "yes he is!" This polite arguing went on for a while, until A sternly said, "T, daddy is NOT fat! He just has hairy arms and legs!"
• I told T that he couldn't watch anymore TV after their hour of TV time was up today. He then found Grandma and kept pleading with her. Phrases such as, "Come on Grandma, it is okay!" over and over. He even told her, "we don't even have to tell my dad!" All I could think when my Mom told me that was, Oh no! It has already begun.

Sunday/Monday

The last couple of days, the kids and I have not done a ton of stuff. Sunday morning I picked them up from their Grandma, then we hurried to church. We made it for their individual class time in Primary and for Sacrament Meeting. They were given these little paper feet that they colored. They said, "I can be an example by walking the way Jesus does." Both of A's feet had pink toe nails, it was really cute. T decided to just color the feet a ton of different colors, but leave the toenails blank. I am glad they understand that difference. Their cousins then came over and so we had another huge Sunday dinner in the backyard. They love it when their cousins come over and really enjoy playing with them. All of the younger ones made kites out of construction paper. They were more like sails than kites though.

Today we have spent a lot of time riding bikes through the neighborhood. We have been cleaning and all the normal fun stuff as well. We played with our neighbors dog Millie tonight and the kids loved throwing the ball to her. They decided that she was pretty fast, so they decided to race her. Let's just say that unlike the bike race that I previously posted, neither of them won this time. It was really cute to see them though. It was a fun day. We look forward to doing some fun things this week since I have them and do not have work, only school.

• Tonight before dinner I was loading the dishwasher. A was really cute and wanted to help me clean everything. She stood on her stool and moved the scrubber all over this big pot. It was really fun to talk with her while she did it. She only ended up helping me for about 10 minutes. Dinner was then ready and we ate. Just before we said the prayer, A said, "I am so glad I finally get some time to relax after all the chores I have been doing." It was so funny.
• Tonight the kids took turns going to the bathroom before bed. T went first. A then immediately went in there and said, UGGGH!, T, why can you never put the seat down after you go potty!" T then said, "you never lift up the seat for me A." I know you are not supposed to choose sides as a parent. After so many years, I actually always put the seat down, but I have to admit I was siding with T on this one a little.

Deep Thoughts, Shallow Brain, Part 11

The kids are spending a little bit of time with their Mom this weekend. I am really fortunate because starting tomorrow, I get to spend 9 days straight with them. Normally I would be writing about all the stuff that they said or that we have been doing. That is not so easy when they are not with me. So, I guess my brain decided to fill the void by producing a bunch of (not very good) poems. Here is my latest one.

Tonight I went back home, to visit with my Father,
His time He freely gives me, it never seems I’m a bother.

I feel of His love, the moment I walk into His place,
knowing of His great joy, without even beholding His face.

I sit there and wonder, why I do not visit more,
and feel the great feelings, that I’ve always felt before.

He just seems glad to see me, as we talk in our own way,
I love to listen to Him, and He loves to hear what I say.

Even with all my brothers, and sisters all around,
He has time for all of us, His love, it does abound.

What an unmatchable feeling, He always seems aware,
I can talk to Him about anything, and feel His great care.

Never has there been a visit, where I do not feel such peace,
When the world seems so difficult, it’s where I go for release.

As He listens to me, His support, He always lends,
Although He is my Father, He's the best of all my friends.

The short visit is soon over, the time has now come to go,
I am grateful for my Father, and the love that He doth show.

As I leave, I hear Him, “Thanks for visiting me this day,”
“PLEASE come around often, PLEASE do not stay away."

Deep Thoughts, Shallow Brain, Part 10

What causes someone to give a warm smile?
a simple little gesture that can last for a mile

What changes a heart to do something nice?
loving actions your unable, to buy at any price

What makes people show someone they care?
comfort that helps you, know that they’re there

What drives a loved one, to take time to be near?
to wrap their arms around you, to show you they’re here.

What helps someone put the selfish away?
to respond to someone else’s needs for a day

What would move someone to give of their time?
to help you ascend mountains you couldn’t climb

What must someone think, when they sacrifice so great?
To stop, and to lift from you, a remarkable weight

What causes them to act? some may inquire,
to respond to another with love and desire.

To stop for a minute to see all as their brother,
to apply the sweet phrase “love one another.”

A sweet gentle prompting, from up above,
from one who gave the ultimate, sacrifice of love.

So let us look, for opportunities right in our way,
let us all seek out those, we can serve today.