I Say It Best When I Say Nothing At All.....

I'm not lazy, but I don't like to move a whole lot. I mean, if I'm doing something, I'll do it. I'm as active as the next guy, but if I'm sitting, I don't like to get up...even if I'm facing the wrong way. If I'm talking to someone whose chair isn't quite facing me, I'll talk to the side of their head. If I sit down and realize the TV is angled wrong, I won't get up to adjust. I'll watch it like that. I'll sit there and wait until someone walks by and I'll ask them to move the TV. Sometimes I may notice I'm sitting on something uncomfortable. I don't care. It could be a book or something...it doesn't bother me; certainly not enough to move. I'm a big fan of sitting: I'll watch a show I'm not enjoying for 30 or 40 minutes because I don't feel like looking for the remote control. Forget about getting up to actually, physically change the channel on the TV itself....that stopped years ago. Onc...

Nathan graduated pre-school today. This is just another indicator that I am getting older. Three of my children have now reached this milestone in life. We have three more to achieve such greatness. Perhaps this means I am at "hump day" and I am now moving into the twilight of my life. Shortly after Cora and I are finished changing children's diapers, our children will be changing diapers on us. I can't wait! A royal treatment of wet wipes and baby powder means I have nearly arrived at my final destination. This graduation ceremony today was quite a hoot. All of the children were dressed in caps and gowns. They entered the gymnasium walking down the center aisle to Pomp and Circumstance. The "papa"razzi and "mama"razzi were present and were snapping hundreds of photos. As the children were called to receive their diplomas, parents would applaud. There is never a mystery of which parents are there for the first time or who may have only...

Well, I suppose it is about time I actually post something to my blog. It looks like December was the last time I did so. So, what should I write about? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the dilemma I was faced with last Sunday at church. Coralee was playing the organ, so once again, I was with all of the kids trying to keep them reverent. Matthew was particularly active. I reached down to pick him up and realized the padding, that is supposed to be protecting his clothing from any poopers, was no longer there. I felt down around his legs and found he was either wearing an adult sized shin guard, or that was his diaper. "What do I do now? I can't get up and take Matthew to the bathroom, because if I leave, Rachel will decide to run up to the front of the chapel and perform the Cha Cha Cha for the entire congregation. If I take Rachel with me, then Bryse and Nate will start slugging it out. If I take them all, I'll look like the Little Engine That Could...

Matthew is teething again, and it has been a painful experience for all of us. So far, he has three teeth in, and he is working on his fourth. I can see that tooth just floating on the surface, but for some reason, it won't break through the gum. It is like a shark that nibbles on the toes of his prey without the typical warning there is danger by breaking the surface with his dorsal fin. Do you remember the opening scene in the movie Jaws where Chrissie goes out swimming and is suddenly attacked from below? First there is a slight tug, and Chrissie shows a look of confusion, "what is that?" Suddenly, fear sets in and she realizes she is being eaten alive. Her shrills and shrieks and panic are similar sounds we hear from Matthew. There is nothing we can do to make him happy. He crawls around with this look of, "please pick me up!" Once we pick him up, he wants to be put down, and then he screams even louder because that is not what he wanted. With new t...

On Sunday, it was the children's primary program. This is that exciting time each year where all of the children from the ages of 11 down to 3 perform for their parents, friends and relatives. They sing songs and they each have a small speaking part. This is a time for parents to beam and show a moment of pride for their children's abilities as stage performers. These are times when parents wish filming with a camcorder would be acceptable, because chances are, one might end up with the winning video for ABC's AFV (America's Funniest Videos). As a parent of three children who are within this age range, I took turns smiling, winking and encouraging each of my boys as they sang. Because they are boys, they are competitive by nature. I had to make sure that I gave equal attention to each of them, or it may create ill feelings. "Dad, every time I looked at you, you were looking at Jeff. I knew that you liked Jeff more than me!" On occasion, I turned my head...

Having family prayer with young children is an experience. After we read scriptures at night as a family, we kneel down together and then I select somebody to say the prayer. This should be a reverent, spiritually building experience, but I must admit the comedy of the situation sometimes boils its way to the surface and the result is a family of gigglers hoping the Lord isn't going to come down those stairs and catch us in the middle of something we shouldn't be doing. It is a challenge for me to select a good rotation in who will be the orator each night. The difficulty is mixing it up enough so that one person is not the orator for the blessing of all the meals, family, companionship and personal prayers. I have to look at this like I am a coach of a baseball team. It is important that my pitchers get at least a day or two of rest before I put them back in the pitching (praying) rotation. There is somebody, however, sitting at the end of the bench that rarely gets used....

Lately, I have really started to wonder what is wrong with me. There was a time when I could stay up for hours, then rebound and be at it again early the next morning and feel refreshed. I could sit down on the couch and read a book or watch a television show during the day and not fall asleep. In fact, if there was a good movie coming out, and there was a midnight showing available, I would call my brothers and cousins and hook up with them for dinner and the movie, then consider going with them to an early morning breakfast. Times have changed! Now, when I am no longer actively engaged in something, I sit down on a comfortable sofa, and I will be unconscious in a matter of seconds. Reading books and watching movies can no longer hold my interest. As you have read from previous posts, a book is the best sleeping pill for me. Once I crack open a book, 40 seconds later, the book is covered in drool. I have recognized that the result of my tiredness comes from my cat and my childre...