Last Wednesday night our sweet friend Natalie who teaches Alex's Bible class, had the kids make Mother's Day gifts. Not known for his patience, the moment class was over Alex runs up to Mandy begging her to open his gift. After a few minutes of trying to calm him down and get him to wait until the actual holiday, Mandy goes over to a side room and opens the gift which her little boy made with such excitement. What she pulls out of the bag is something similar to the Olympic rings in design except of course covered with cheerios.
"Wow Alex! This is pretty! Thank you!!"
"It's a bracelet Mommy!!"
With that, Mandy puts her wrist through the first loop and can't help but notice the 3 other cheerio filled rings dangling down her arm....
"I made it kinda big. I think it's a necklace."
Always the good sport, Mandy takes it off her wrist and begins to put the first loop over her head...and manages to get it about down to her ears before it refuses to go further. Sitting there in front of Alex (eyes wide and in full appreciation of his awesome Mother's Day gift), Mandy does the only thing she can do which is shake her head about flinging the dangling rings back & forth and says
"Hey look it's a headband! This is so great. And look if I get hungry I can just fling a loop in front of my face and get a cheerios snack!"
Seeing how pleased his Mommy is of his expert craftsmanship, Alex takes off to play leaving Mandy to enjoy her bracelet/necklace/headband/snack dispenser. Afterward while joining up with the rest of the church, somebody catches up to Mandy and says
"Did you like your Mother's Day gift Alex made?"
"Of course, but it's a little small. I can't quite figure out how to get it around my neck."
And that's when things fall into place....."Around your neck? You know it's a bird feeder right?"
Classic Alex! Forget listening or reading instructions, let's just put this stuff together and see what we come up with. To add to it Natalie told us later that right away he asked if he could eat some of the cheerios he was putting on. When she agreed, it was one cheerio on the loop and one handful in his mouth. Apparently Natalie lost count as to how many times she had to fill up his bowl so he would have enough to finish!!
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Monday, May 15, 2017
A Whopper of a lesson
Before Adam was born I read a bunch of books about how to be an awesome dad. I learned about how the baby will look slimey and covered with cheese moments after it's born. How to wrap them up in a tiny burrito so they feel snug and sleep easier. I read book after book about exercising with your baby, reading to your baby, singing with your baby...I was a baby book expert! Of course all that reading didn't help nearly as much as I'd hoped simply because babies don't follow the rules and always do things on their own time table. After page upon page of instruction, somewhere along the way I learned the secret to being a parent is just being there every day involved in every aspect of your child's life. This continues on through their single digit years and just based on how many questions my mother asks me at 41, never really stops. One important thing the books never covered though is that in the eyes of your child, you are always an example of how to act and react to a situation.
You stub your toe and let out a curse word, the kid sees it. You eat a handful of grapes at the grocery without paying for them, the kid sees it. You flip someone the bird during traffic or run a red light or fly off the handle because Burger King put ketchup on your Whopper even though you specifically told them five times you hate it and they never ever get it right! I mean just one time could you please listen to me and leave the tomato off!! Would it kill them to....you get the point, the kid sees it. There aren't any days off or vacation days when it comes to being a role model for your children. As exhausting as that sounds, it's just a part of the job that Mommy & Daddy have to learn to come to grips with. You might be able to hide your flaws from your boss or neighbor or the preacher at church, but you child is always there watching and listening and recording everything for a time when they may also be in a similar situation.
Recently there have a been some challenges that Mandy & I have faced that left us wondering afterward how closely the boys were paying attention. Looking back at my own childhood I'm positive there were circumstances and events my own mother would probably wish I couldn't recall. While the example we set during tough times is definitely something we should keep in mind, how we pick ourselves up, admit our mistakes, and move forward is also a valuable lesson to be shown to our children. They need to understand that just like them, we make mistakes (some larger some smaller) and that often it's the way we recover from them that provides the greatest lesson on how to be an adult.
You stub your toe and let out a curse word, the kid sees it. You eat a handful of grapes at the grocery without paying for them, the kid sees it. You flip someone the bird during traffic or run a red light or fly off the handle because Burger King put ketchup on your Whopper even though you specifically told them five times you hate it and they never ever get it right! I mean just one time could you please listen to me and leave the tomato off!! Would it kill them to....you get the point, the kid sees it. There aren't any days off or vacation days when it comes to being a role model for your children. As exhausting as that sounds, it's just a part of the job that Mommy & Daddy have to learn to come to grips with. You might be able to hide your flaws from your boss or neighbor or the preacher at church, but you child is always there watching and listening and recording everything for a time when they may also be in a similar situation.
Recently there have a been some challenges that Mandy & I have faced that left us wondering afterward how closely the boys were paying attention. Looking back at my own childhood I'm positive there were circumstances and events my own mother would probably wish I couldn't recall. While the example we set during tough times is definitely something we should keep in mind, how we pick ourselves up, admit our mistakes, and move forward is also a valuable lesson to be shown to our children. They need to understand that just like them, we make mistakes (some larger some smaller) and that often it's the way we recover from them that provides the greatest lesson on how to be an adult.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Fidget Spinner Mania!!
Said many times and never more true than with the Fidget Spinner; it's often the simplest ideas that make the sense (and cents). Take 3 nickel sized sets of ball bearings, pop them into a plastic triangle shaped mold, and make them only available online and what you end up with is a million dollar frenzy that is spinning out of control all over the country. People are quite literally setting up tents, selling them off the truck, and watching the lines get longer and longer as desperate parents try to help their children avoid being the only tyke without one.
Local news is reporting about them, the Today show is spending countless segments covering the craze, and schools have already started banning the fidget spinner because of the distractions they cause. Which is kinda sad once you understand that their original purpose was to help those with anxiety, ADHD, ADD, autism, or those that just can't seem to block out the urge to constantly swing a leg, tap a foot, or hum a song. I've been a nail biter for 41 yrs and thanks to my fidget spinner I'm able to leave my hands alone,avoid nodding off at inappropriate times, and really zone in on what I'm doing while flipping the stew out one of my two spinners.
I get these things are toys to most, but I can't help but think about how useful one would have been to me when I was struggling to pay attention in class and about all those that are struggling today and can't find a solution. Fad yes. Distraction certainly, but like Mandy said to somebody this past week "They are toys for my boys and a necessity for my husband!!"
Monday, May 8, 2017
The Sporting Life
Baseball season is about to come and go. Some seasons are better than others. For every no winner there's an undefeated or allstar year right behind it and vice versa. I think Adam enjoys the never ending cycle of baseball, soccer, and basketball, but lately something feels different. It's entirely possible he's bored with it; after having taken only one year of basketball off since he first started playing around age 6, it's easy to assume he may just want a break. It could be he's just feeling restless and looking for something new. He keeps mentioning flag football.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Out running the wolves
Growing up the angry man would always be watching some type of nature documentary. He wouldn't force us to join him, but we are talking about a time before Facebook, Netflix, Snapchat, YouTube. If we were lucky to have a television in our bedrooms it typically only picked up a handful of stations. Basically that main television was it and if that's what the controller of the remote wanted to watch, then that's what we watched. Of course life in 2017 is a completely different story, with families barely being in the same room 90% of the time and if they are everyone's watching their own handheld screen. The boys claim they don't like watching the nature shows that I insist on playing every few weeks but whenever one comes on, like their Dad they are glued to the beauty of Mother Nature.
It was a couple of weeks ago that we were watching Planet Earth II on the BBC network. During this 8-part series, each week you were taken to a different part of the world and given a close up view on how those that inhabit a particular region such as oceans, the Arctic, the rain-forests etc.. survive in spite of the consequences they have been born in to. One week they may be showing you how Gecko's living in the Arabian dessert have to constantly lift alternating feet off the sand to keep them cool. You might flip over to find how Hyenas have learned that if they wait until nightfall, they can roam freely through the city streets of Harar, Ethiopia. One episode in particular stood out to me; the Grasslands.
The Grasslands are basically these areas all over the world that feature thousands of miles of rolling hills, large flat plains, all covered with grass and containing close to 500 different species of animals and birds. Long story short the narrator of this episode was telling the story of these baby antelopes. Tiny, frail, innocent, baby antelopes that you just wish you could have as a pet. The documentary showed these newborn antelopes having to learn how to walk within hours of waking up in this very strange and often scary new world. After showing a few scenes of the baby antelope standing on its' tiny wobbly little legs the narrator then makes the comment that within a matter of one or two days the antelope will not only be expected to walk beside their mothers, but will have to literally run for their lives. Antelope herds are always moving about and those that are left behind stand a good chance they will become food for the packs of coyotes that are always lurking just along the horizon looking for a meal.
Ghostly white with eyes that can see far off into the distance and fangs designed to chew through bone, the coyote is built for one thing and one thing only, kill and eat. When they see a baby antelope that has fallen behind, the coyotes immediately break into action. It was in this documentary that they showed (I'm assuming by a drone operated camera) the chase scene as this baby antelope which had barely been alive more than 36 hours takes off towards the rest of the herd as fast as it can. The narrator then tells you that young antelopes can only run about 30 mph which is considerably slow compared to the top speed of the coyote which is 45 mph. As the scene moves forward you see it all about to play out. The antelope running across the plain, the coyote gaining ground getting closer and closer. It doesn't take too long before the gap between them shortens and the coyote can just about make a dive for the antelopes legs....and then something begins to happen. The distance between them starts getting larger. The coyote begins to slow down a bit. And you think "What happened? What did the antelope do to survive what was certainly about to be a quick end?" That's when you hear the voice of the narrator say "Thankfully the coyote can only run so fast for so long, while the antelope can maintain it's speed for much longer and much further" The antelope didn't have to run faster...it simply had to run just fast enough and long enough to escape the coyote. Tired of the chase, looking for easier pray; the coyote gives up and turns its attention somewhere else.
As Christians we spend a lot of time talking about the path to Heaven. We teach about the miracles Jesus preformed and the ultimate sacrifice of his life on the cross. It's easy to find on any given Sunday a sermon on the importance of repentance or the value of a life lived through Christ....but what we may not hear as much...what we may not take the time to focus on as often...is that just like the antelope, we have coyotes of our own that we must out run. We have our own race to win and it's not about how fast we get to the finish line or how many times we've dodged the Devil's attempts to trap us before. While our long term goal should be getting to Heaven, our short term goal should be not slowing down and becoming easy prey.
Now not everyone knows where they are running to. As Christians we have the gift of knowing what lays ahead at the end of this path. Like the baby antelope we know that just up ahead there's a home waiting with a glorious Father standing arms spread wide. Not everyone has that luxury. We all know people (and there may be some in here tonight), that have seen that devil closing in on them and they are running as fast they can...but they are caught in a trap and don't realize it. That wolf over their shoulder has them scared and because of that, they keep making the wrong choices and taking the wrong turns and pretty soon they headed towards a lake of fire with very few choices left.
I mentioned a moment ago that we have the luxury of knowing that a life lived following Jesus and Father God will lead us to a place of eternal peace. We don't have to run faster than that wolf, that Devil, we just gotta run longer....but knowing what's at the end of a path, doesn't mean you're going to make it there. It takes time, endurance; you can't stop praying for a month or stop reading your Bible because it doesn't entertain you like the internet. Yes you can have a bad day. It's natural to have moments of doubt and to struggle with everything that life throws at you but don't spend too much time catching your breath and don't be surprised if you don't look back and see that Devil just about to take a bite. If you are struggling, keep running. There are people that want to help you win this race. Whether it be this moment or midnight; don't wait, don't hesitate...don't let the coyotes get any closer than they already are.
It was a couple of weeks ago that we were watching Planet Earth II on the BBC network. During this 8-part series, each week you were taken to a different part of the world and given a close up view on how those that inhabit a particular region such as oceans, the Arctic, the rain-forests etc.. survive in spite of the consequences they have been born in to. One week they may be showing you how Gecko's living in the Arabian dessert have to constantly lift alternating feet off the sand to keep them cool. You might flip over to find how Hyenas have learned that if they wait until nightfall, they can roam freely through the city streets of Harar, Ethiopia. One episode in particular stood out to me; the Grasslands.
The Grasslands are basically these areas all over the world that feature thousands of miles of rolling hills, large flat plains, all covered with grass and containing close to 500 different species of animals and birds. Long story short the narrator of this episode was telling the story of these baby antelopes. Tiny, frail, innocent, baby antelopes that you just wish you could have as a pet. The documentary showed these newborn antelopes having to learn how to walk within hours of waking up in this very strange and often scary new world. After showing a few scenes of the baby antelope standing on its' tiny wobbly little legs the narrator then makes the comment that within a matter of one or two days the antelope will not only be expected to walk beside their mothers, but will have to literally run for their lives. Antelope herds are always moving about and those that are left behind stand a good chance they will become food for the packs of coyotes that are always lurking just along the horizon looking for a meal.
Ghostly white with eyes that can see far off into the distance and fangs designed to chew through bone, the coyote is built for one thing and one thing only, kill and eat. When they see a baby antelope that has fallen behind, the coyotes immediately break into action. It was in this documentary that they showed (I'm assuming by a drone operated camera) the chase scene as this baby antelope which had barely been alive more than 36 hours takes off towards the rest of the herd as fast as it can. The narrator then tells you that young antelopes can only run about 30 mph which is considerably slow compared to the top speed of the coyote which is 45 mph. As the scene moves forward you see it all about to play out. The antelope running across the plain, the coyote gaining ground getting closer and closer. It doesn't take too long before the gap between them shortens and the coyote can just about make a dive for the antelopes legs....and then something begins to happen. The distance between them starts getting larger. The coyote begins to slow down a bit. And you think "What happened? What did the antelope do to survive what was certainly about to be a quick end?" That's when you hear the voice of the narrator say "Thankfully the coyote can only run so fast for so long, while the antelope can maintain it's speed for much longer and much further" The antelope didn't have to run faster...it simply had to run just fast enough and long enough to escape the coyote. Tired of the chase, looking for easier pray; the coyote gives up and turns its attention somewhere else.
As Christians we spend a lot of time talking about the path to Heaven. We teach about the miracles Jesus preformed and the ultimate sacrifice of his life on the cross. It's easy to find on any given Sunday a sermon on the importance of repentance or the value of a life lived through Christ....but what we may not hear as much...what we may not take the time to focus on as often...is that just like the antelope, we have coyotes of our own that we must out run. We have our own race to win and it's not about how fast we get to the finish line or how many times we've dodged the Devil's attempts to trap us before. While our long term goal should be getting to Heaven, our short term goal should be not slowing down and becoming easy prey.
Now not everyone knows where they are running to. As Christians we have the gift of knowing what lays ahead at the end of this path. Like the baby antelope we know that just up ahead there's a home waiting with a glorious Father standing arms spread wide. Not everyone has that luxury. We all know people (and there may be some in here tonight), that have seen that devil closing in on them and they are running as fast they can...but they are caught in a trap and don't realize it. That wolf over their shoulder has them scared and because of that, they keep making the wrong choices and taking the wrong turns and pretty soon they headed towards a lake of fire with very few choices left.
I mentioned a moment ago that we have the luxury of knowing that a life lived following Jesus and Father God will lead us to a place of eternal peace. We don't have to run faster than that wolf, that Devil, we just gotta run longer....but knowing what's at the end of a path, doesn't mean you're going to make it there. It takes time, endurance; you can't stop praying for a month or stop reading your Bible because it doesn't entertain you like the internet. Yes you can have a bad day. It's natural to have moments of doubt and to struggle with everything that life throws at you but don't spend too much time catching your breath and don't be surprised if you don't look back and see that Devil just about to take a bite. If you are struggling, keep running. There are people that want to help you win this race. Whether it be this moment or midnight; don't wait, don't hesitate...don't let the coyotes get any closer than they already are.
Monday, April 3, 2017
I can see clearly now
If there is one thing Mandy & I are good at in terms of parenting, it's being able to accurately gauge when something is wrong with one or both of the kids. Nose bleeds, an asthma attack, a virus....we typically catch things in advance and are able to get a jump start on getting everyone back healthy. Don't get me wrong; we aren't germ-a-phobes (well not over-reactive ones anyway), we both just have a sense as to whether something more serious may be going on or not. To back this up, we've been told countless times that had we waited a couple more days or not brought them to the doctor at all, things would have been much much worse. Which leads me to the story of Alex getting glasses last week....
Alex had mentioned to Mandy a couple times lately that he had to go to the board to do math problems and couldn't see things real far away. You never know though; Adam said he couldn't see the board from his desk too, only to find out after his eye exam that there was a girl with big hair sitting in front of him and he couldn't see around her. Then a week ago last Saturday while watching a basketball game on TV, I caught Alex squinting real hard and saying he couldn't read what the score of the game was. It was then that we decided he better have his eyes checked. Considering that everyone on both sides of the family needs glasses, it just made sense that Lex might be having issues also and we still think it's just a matter of time before Adam needs them as well.
Because of the chance of severe weather, we all piled into the optometrist's office knowing there was a good possibility Alex would be getting glasses. The only question was just how thick would they be and would he be okay with it. So the nurse points to the eye chart which reads EFQRZ on the top line and other letters in smaller print on the lines below. She then asks Alex:
"Can you read the top line for me?"
"no" very quietly very shy.
The nurse holds up something over his eyes and covers one side up "What about now?"
"no" barely saying a word.
The nurse flips a switch on the thing over his eyes and says it again "How about now? What does the top line say?""
"I can't read it..."
At this point Mandy and I are thinking 1) Alex is blind and 2) what kind of terrible parents are we that our son can't see two feet in front of his face and us not know it?!?!" From the look on her face, the nurse is thinking the same thing as well. Then suddenly it hits me!
"Alex those aren't words. We just want you to say the letters."
"OHHHHH! I thought they spelled something!!! EFQRZ"
Funny, but also a huge relief as Mandy & I really panicked for a second there. Alex did end up with glasses, but nothing like the giant Coke bottle things he almost got had we not figured out at the last second he thought we were trying to get him to read German.
Immediately after putting them on, his face lit up and he started laughing at all the stuff he could see now. That night before bed, he even made us tear up a bit by giving his mother a kiss on the cheek and saying thank you for letting him see again. The kid sure knows how to pull at our heart strings.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Tramps like us
The boys got a trampoline from Pops for their birthday and have been jumping for two days straight. I've never spent much time on one and honestly, I just don't get the appeal of bouncing up and down and up and down. Bouncing over here and bouncing over there. "Look Dad! I'm bouncing!" This goes on for hours and hours. Adam started calling it tramp time. "Hey Dad, tonight before bed can I get a little tramp time?" Which is a really creepy thing to hear your 11 yr old say. I guess things could be worse; at least all of this tramp talk is getting them off their tablets.
"WHAT?!?! I can't go to bed yet, I've not been on my tablet?!?!?!?"
I hear this at least twice a week. What a first world problem to have; how dare you send me to bed without letting me stare at some idiot who posted a video online of himself playing video games. When I was kid the only time we watched other people play video games was when there were three kids around and only two controllers. The kid whose house you were at was sure to get one so one of us other two were just out of luck. That's how you knew who he liked best; the one he gave the other controller to was his best friend. It's like what happens every week on the Bachelor, except instead of a rose you got an Atari controller and a chance to play Pac-man while the other kid just had to sit like a dope and act like he wasn't crying inside. "It's alright...I uh I got to play last time...you go ahead man, I'm kinda bored with it anyway. I'll just watch. Help you strategize from the sideline."
The second they had to go to bathroom though you were all over it. You'd be trying to make folks drink. "Man it's hot in here. You thirsty? Need a snack? I got some pretzels at home, I could go get them if you want some." Sitting behind them making that noise that sounds like dripping water when you hold your mouth right and thump your throat. The other kid's just holding it in, breaking out in a cold sweat, doubled over saying "I don't have to pee! This is how I sit!"
Adam was sitting there the other day and started shouting out "He's live! Dave is live! Where's he at? He's live! I can't find him. He's in the meow world! I can't find him!" Alex came running from the other room "Find him!! Find Dave!" The neighbors probably think Dave is our cat and we lost him last Sunday.
"WHAT?!?! I can't go to bed yet, I've not been on my tablet?!?!?!?"
I hear this at least twice a week. What a first world problem to have; how dare you send me to bed without letting me stare at some idiot who posted a video online of himself playing video games. When I was kid the only time we watched other people play video games was when there were three kids around and only two controllers. The kid whose house you were at was sure to get one so one of us other two were just out of luck. That's how you knew who he liked best; the one he gave the other controller to was his best friend. It's like what happens every week on the Bachelor, except instead of a rose you got an Atari controller and a chance to play Pac-man while the other kid just had to sit like a dope and act like he wasn't crying inside. "It's alright...I uh I got to play last time...you go ahead man, I'm kinda bored with it anyway. I'll just watch. Help you strategize from the sideline."
The second they had to go to bathroom though you were all over it. You'd be trying to make folks drink. "Man it's hot in here. You thirsty? Need a snack? I got some pretzels at home, I could go get them if you want some." Sitting behind them making that noise that sounds like dripping water when you hold your mouth right and thump your throat. The other kid's just holding it in, breaking out in a cold sweat, doubled over saying "I don't have to pee! This is how I sit!"
Adam was sitting there the other day and started shouting out "He's live! Dave is live! Where's he at? He's live! I can't find him. He's in the meow world! I can't find him!" Alex came running from the other room "Find him!! Find Dave!" The neighbors probably think Dave is our cat and we lost him last Sunday.
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