by Grant
I think that it's a no-brainer to realize that different people have different priorities. Another brilliant statement is "people are different." Well, I mention these because I (as well as others) tend to get tunnel vision in our lives. We think that people share our thoughts and attitudes about things and we are incredulous when they don't. I've noticed that as more and more happens in my life, two things happen. First, I am more aware and empathetic of other people and their problems and Secondly I have less and less time to do anything about it. I struggle with priorities on a daily basis. I marvel at those people that "have their act together." Because I know how hard life is with children (primarily young ones) both Rebekah and myself have a hard time imposing on others to help with child care. Generally this is done when there are Dr. appointments, but we've canceled several just because it's too hard. The girls haven't been to the Dr. in quite awhile so we can't tell you how much they weigh. But Rebekah did figure out (don't ask how) that they're about 10 lbs. Life is progressing.
This post is a bit maudlin probably because I'm really tired. I've thought several times that I need to make one thing very clear. We are very grateful for our children, family and friends. Although life is very challenging we are happier than we've ever been. This kind of leads me back to the realization that children fill a void in life (for most people).
For memorial day, our two families (mine and Tim 'n Keren's) went to a couple different parks. The weather was nice and it was fun to see the kids focus their energy in such a healthy manner. I'm convinced that the children of today don't expend their energy in positive ways. I think we ought to bring recess into high school. Tired kids (up to a point) are better behaved kids. I think channeling the energy of children is critical. Turning on the TV is too easy.
Thank you and good night.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
For those about to rear (children), we salute you.
by Grant
I was thinking the other day about some of the things that make a good wife and mother. One is being tough. I once dated a girl that looked really good on paper (stop laughing). I had just come out of a relationship that was a frickin' roller coaster ride. She (roller-coaster ride) was something truly special... and not in all a good way. Looks and personality in spades. But lacking a bit in the emotional stability department (did I say a little, I meant huge amounts). Anyway, back to paper lady. Paper lady wasn't the most beautiful chick in the henhouse but she had emotional stability (or so I thought) and important things like a correct religious persuasion, a good family, and frugality. Important things when dating someone that might end up walking off with half your stuff someday. But one thing she was not--she was not tough. She had very little stamina. I am thankful that my wife is a tough cookie. The other day we went to Wal-Mart and she insisted on picking up the dog-food to show me she could do it. I had to laugh as she hefted the fifty lb. bag up like it was one of our babies. One tough hombre my dad would say. I think that being tough enables a mother to sacrifice so many things in life. She (and most mothers) sacrifice their figure, time, sleep, sanity (occasionally), their immaculate (once again some mothers) house, hobbies, and many other things too numerous to mention. I think that being a parent, but especially being a mother, can be epitomized by the word "sacrifice." You have to be tough to make the sacrifices. Sacrifice doesn't mean you do everything for your children, but rather you make decisions that are hard in order to rear your children properly. You spank them when your heart aches because you know that its necessary. You make them work because they need to learn the skill. You curb their whining, you make them eat their vegetables, you take away their car keys (or phone), you ground them or pull the distributor cap off their car. You do all these seemingly fruitless things because you're trying by the sweat of your brow to instill in your kids what is good and proper. And it's a mostly thankless job. But I appreciate my tough Mom for all her sacrifices. And I know that my wife appreciates her tough Mom as well.
about the title:It comes from For Those About To Die, We Salute You (a saying to Roman Gladiators before combat)
Baby/Life Update: The girls are a blast when they're not fussing. They track (follow things with their eyes) well and respond to sounds differently. They also have different personalities. They're sleeping better. Life is slowly getting more sane. Forrest is pretty good pretty much all the time. He has really matured and I am proud of him. He helped me get Serenity dressed this morning and acts nothing but loving towards his sisters. Titus is becoming quite the character. He's been such a wallflower for so long and in Forrest's shadow that I marvel when his little personality asserts itself. He's a little more athletic and more of a daredevil. Unfortunately, he's also getting more rebellious which is really frustrating Rebekah. But I think he'll be a great kid once we get through his desire to assert his will. There can be only one (winner--to quote Highlander) and that's gonna be me.
I was thinking the other day about some of the things that make a good wife and mother. One is being tough. I once dated a girl that looked really good on paper (stop laughing). I had just come out of a relationship that was a frickin' roller coaster ride. She (roller-coaster ride) was something truly special... and not in all a good way. Looks and personality in spades. But lacking a bit in the emotional stability department (did I say a little, I meant huge amounts). Anyway, back to paper lady. Paper lady wasn't the most beautiful chick in the henhouse but she had emotional stability (or so I thought) and important things like a correct religious persuasion, a good family, and frugality. Important things when dating someone that might end up walking off with half your stuff someday. But one thing she was not--she was not tough. She had very little stamina. I am thankful that my wife is a tough cookie. The other day we went to Wal-Mart and she insisted on picking up the dog-food to show me she could do it. I had to laugh as she hefted the fifty lb. bag up like it was one of our babies. One tough hombre my dad would say. I think that being tough enables a mother to sacrifice so many things in life. She (and most mothers) sacrifice their figure, time, sleep, sanity (occasionally), their immaculate (once again some mothers) house, hobbies, and many other things too numerous to mention. I think that being a parent, but especially being a mother, can be epitomized by the word "sacrifice." You have to be tough to make the sacrifices. Sacrifice doesn't mean you do everything for your children, but rather you make decisions that are hard in order to rear your children properly. You spank them when your heart aches because you know that its necessary. You make them work because they need to learn the skill. You curb their whining, you make them eat their vegetables, you take away their car keys (or phone), you ground them or pull the distributor cap off their car. You do all these seemingly fruitless things because you're trying by the sweat of your brow to instill in your kids what is good and proper. And it's a mostly thankless job. But I appreciate my tough Mom for all her sacrifices. And I know that my wife appreciates her tough Mom as well.
about the title:It comes from For Those About To Die, We Salute You (a saying to Roman Gladiators before combat)
Baby/Life Update: The girls are a blast when they're not fussing. They track (follow things with their eyes) well and respond to sounds differently. They also have different personalities. They're sleeping better. Life is slowly getting more sane. Forrest is pretty good pretty much all the time. He has really matured and I am proud of him. He helped me get Serenity dressed this morning and acts nothing but loving towards his sisters. Titus is becoming quite the character. He's been such a wallflower for so long and in Forrest's shadow that I marvel when his little personality asserts itself. He's a little more athletic and more of a daredevil. Unfortunately, he's also getting more rebellious which is really frustrating Rebekah. But I think he'll be a great kid once we get through his desire to assert his will. There can be only one (winner--to quote Highlander) and that's gonna be me.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Ugh Ugh
by Grant
Caveman speak for "Hit me over head with big rock and put out of misery." My back is hurting really bad even though I've been trying to keep stretching the muscles (that's prounounced musKels, not muss-els). Today at work I was having a really hard time with the pain and extreme fatigue. I finally decided it was allergies or illness that was making me miserable and pled sick @ noon. I came home and slept for most of the afternoon, but as any mom knows you can never get enough rest when you're sick. But, on a lighter note I found some music stations on our Satellite which we didn't use to have. I found a channel called rawhide which is the kind of music my Dad always preferred. Less whine and twang than typical "country". I'm not sure if falls under my Dad's definition of "Western" (before it became Country Western) but it seems pretty similar. Titus is having a good time listening. He was dancing (hopping) around for a while, but now he's chilling out on the couch with his feet up in the air doing some kind of couch-dancing. Talk about lazy :)
Caveman speak for "Hit me over head with big rock and put out of misery." My back is hurting really bad even though I've been trying to keep stretching the muscles (that's prounounced musKels, not muss-els). Today at work I was having a really hard time with the pain and extreme fatigue. I finally decided it was allergies or illness that was making me miserable and pled sick @ noon. I came home and slept for most of the afternoon, but as any mom knows you can never get enough rest when you're sick. But, on a lighter note I found some music stations on our Satellite which we didn't use to have. I found a channel called rawhide which is the kind of music my Dad always preferred. Less whine and twang than typical "country". I'm not sure if falls under my Dad's definition of "Western" (before it became Country Western) but it seems pretty similar. Titus is having a good time listening. He was dancing (hopping) around for a while, but now he's chilling out on the couch with his feet up in the air doing some kind of couch-dancing. Talk about lazy :)
Aah bummer, I think it's just a free preview. Guess I still need a record player.
Oh, the girls are sleeping pretty good at night, but Rebekah isn't. Not sure why.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Pics for the fam
by Grant
Great-Grandma Jones, et. al.
Grandma Ballard
Deuce (Mommy left out to protect the photographer)
Not jealous, just regressing to baby states
Forrest proudly holding Liberty
Baby/Life Update:
Haven't heard anything more about my Dad. I guess no news is good news.
I was wracking my pea-sized brain the other day trying to figure out something for Rebekah and I happened into Rite-Aid. Hadn't been in there since it had been built about a year ago. Wandered around with my co-workers killing time and happened upon some dark chocolate. My wife loves chocolate, but I'm always concerned about buying foodstuffs for women that are concerned about their weight. My Mom, who looks great I think, never wants chocolate, cause then she'll eat it. (This confuses me, as I thought that's what you were supposed to do, but I don't question it). I say, women should be allowed to eat chocolate on special occasions like Mother's Day, Birthdays, Christmas, Columbus day, sunrise, sunset, children nap times, etc. etc. etc. Well, I pondered over what dark chocolate to get as they actually had a decent selection (I think Wal-Mart has two types). I had selected a couple bars and then thought, why don't I just get one of each. So I got Cadbury royal Dark, Hershey Cacao 60%, Giardelli 70% Cacao, Heart of Africa Dark Chocolate, Sinfully Dark, black-hole dark, and absence of light Dark. Ok, those last few I made up cause I couldn't remember the names, but the most highly concentrated one contained 85% Cacao. That's pretty pure baby. You just lick a square of chocolate and you're high for a day. Don't actually take a bite or you'll overdose and give your husband a passionate kiss.
Great-Grandma Jones, et. al.
Grandma Ballard
Deuce (Mommy left out to protect the photographer)
Not jealous, just regressing to baby states
Forrest proudly holding Liberty
Baby/Life Update:
Haven't heard anything more about my Dad. I guess no news is good news.
I was wracking my pea-sized brain the other day trying to figure out something for Rebekah and I happened into Rite-Aid. Hadn't been in there since it had been built about a year ago. Wandered around with my co-workers killing time and happened upon some dark chocolate. My wife loves chocolate, but I'm always concerned about buying foodstuffs for women that are concerned about their weight. My Mom, who looks great I think, never wants chocolate, cause then she'll eat it. (This confuses me, as I thought that's what you were supposed to do, but I don't question it). I say, women should be allowed to eat chocolate on special occasions like Mother's Day, Birthdays, Christmas, Columbus day, sunrise, sunset, children nap times, etc. etc. etc. Well, I pondered over what dark chocolate to get as they actually had a decent selection (I think Wal-Mart has two types). I had selected a couple bars and then thought, why don't I just get one of each. So I got Cadbury royal Dark, Hershey Cacao 60%, Giardelli 70% Cacao, Heart of Africa Dark Chocolate, Sinfully Dark, black-hole dark, and absence of light Dark. Ok, those last few I made up cause I couldn't remember the names, but the most highly concentrated one contained 85% Cacao. That's pretty pure baby. You just lick a square of chocolate and you're high for a day. Don't actually take a bite or you'll overdose and give your husband a passionate kiss.
Friday, May 11, 2007
My Dad
by Grant
My Dad is still struggling. He had to go to the emergency room last night because he was feeling so poorly, but they didn't find anything specific. Frustrating because they can't pinpoint the problem until he has something major (like a heart attack). I will know more later.
My Dad is still struggling. He had to go to the emergency room last night because he was feeling so poorly, but they didn't find anything specific. Frustrating because they can't pinpoint the problem until he has something major (like a heart attack). I will know more later.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Simpsons word of this day
by Grant
Protagonist. You've all heard of antagonist, but how often do you use its polar opposite? I actually use it fairly frequently when I wish to appear smarter than the average polar bear. Protagonist roughly translates to hero, but that's not exact. The main character in a movie that's the "good" guy is the protagonist. The bad guy is the antagonist. Man, my fingers don't want to type those words. I was telling a friend about a movie which features a woman in a very aggressive role and I pondered whether women were protagonists (wondering if the word was gender neutral or if there was a specific female version. Like heroine is the female version of hero -- although nobody uses it anymore). My friend, who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty, was of the opinion that women could never be protagonists, but rather that they were always and forever the antagonist. Thankfully, nobody of the female persuasion was within strangling range.
BTW, did you know that vendetta is an Italian word?
Baby/Life Update:
I'm alone with the boys trying to tap out this blog before they beat me about the head and shoulders in their insistence to go outside. The girls had a "check-up" with a Child Development person. I guess that they're right on track and probably a little bit ahead in some cases. That's good news. It's very common for preemies to always be behind, but although the girls are small they're doing well. We've had some interesting instances of favoritism amongst the sub teen girls in our social circle. Basically, one baby is preferred over the other. I find this incredibly odd since, well, THEY'RE IDENTICAL TWINS! I won't go into any more details other than to mention that I have banned baby holding by non-adults during social events containing multiple families. This is the last thing I need.
Protagonist. You've all heard of antagonist, but how often do you use its polar opposite? I actually use it fairly frequently when I wish to appear smarter than the average polar bear. Protagonist roughly translates to hero, but that's not exact. The main character in a movie that's the "good" guy is the protagonist. The bad guy is the antagonist. Man, my fingers don't want to type those words. I was telling a friend about a movie which features a woman in a very aggressive role and I pondered whether women were protagonists (wondering if the word was gender neutral or if there was a specific female version. Like heroine is the female version of hero -- although nobody uses it anymore). My friend, who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty, was of the opinion that women could never be protagonists, but rather that they were always and forever the antagonist. Thankfully, nobody of the female persuasion was within strangling range.
BTW, did you know that vendetta is an Italian word?
Baby/Life Update:
I'm alone with the boys trying to tap out this blog before they beat me about the head and shoulders in their insistence to go outside. The girls had a "check-up" with a Child Development person. I guess that they're right on track and probably a little bit ahead in some cases. That's good news. It's very common for preemies to always be behind, but although the girls are small they're doing well. We've had some interesting instances of favoritism amongst the sub teen girls in our social circle. Basically, one baby is preferred over the other. I find this incredibly odd since, well, THEY'RE IDENTICAL TWINS! I won't go into any more details other than to mention that I have banned baby holding by non-adults during social events containing multiple families. This is the last thing I need.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Tiny (Titus) Dancer
He does good until he sees the camera. And no, he's not imitating me.
Tiny Dancer comes from an Elton John song. I got it from the animated movie "Open Season" which although somewhat anti-hunting is a delightful romp. Let's face it, any movie I can watch 100 times and not vomit is pretty good. I finally got to vomit stage on Disney's "Cars" after about 150 times. Maybe 125. I think I only got to 30 on Ice Age 2.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Too Funny
by Grant
Ok, maybe not, but I think it's good. I'm sitting here w/ my laptop doing some work and reading some news articles. I pulled up an article on Paris Hilton and her jailbound fun. Titus is sitting on my lap (biting my coffee cup w/ his teeth for fun) and he saw a picture of Paris Hilton and he said "cock-a-doodle-doo"
I guess she looks like a chicken or a rooster or something.
Ok, maybe not, but I think it's good. I'm sitting here w/ my laptop doing some work and reading some news articles. I pulled up an article on Paris Hilton and her jailbound fun. Titus is sitting on my lap (biting my coffee cup w/ his teeth for fun) and he saw a picture of Paris Hilton and he said "cock-a-doodle-doo"
I guess she looks like a chicken or a rooster or something.
Follow-up on Record Player
by Grant
Thanks to my brother, my Aunt, and the Sanfords for responding. I found a really nice one that's very nostalgic that does what I want for $150 (regular $250). This would be nice because it is new and I could buy needles (very difficult for older ones). However, I'm not sure if I can justify that or not. One of my fondest memories growing up was listening to the record player, which is odd because it wasn't that frequent. Dad always played Christmas records so that's a big part of the season for me. Or at least it was. This last Christmas probably went down as one of the worst ever because Rebekah was in the hospital. But the record that I remember the most was "How the West was Won." Methinks this is because there was a cool painting on the album cover of a train falling off a railroad trestle. You could see logs breaking loose from train cars and people scrambling to save themselves, in vain I might add.
Baby/Life Update:
Keren and Tim watched the girls one night so Rebekah got probably her first full nights sleep in a couple months. I guess it went pretty well and they enjoyed it. The boys have colds so they're a bit crabbier than normal. Rebekah and the boys went with me to get more rocks. That was arduous. But the migrant worker drove by and stopped to look at an irrigation ditch and the boys said "Dad, there's Leo!" Pretty funny that they remembered his name. Even funnier that a south of the border dude is named Leo.
Right now we're moderating fights over a new toy tractor. Why do we bother?
Thanks to my brother, my Aunt, and the Sanfords for responding. I found a really nice one that's very nostalgic that does what I want for $150 (regular $250). This would be nice because it is new and I could buy needles (very difficult for older ones). However, I'm not sure if I can justify that or not. One of my fondest memories growing up was listening to the record player, which is odd because it wasn't that frequent. Dad always played Christmas records so that's a big part of the season for me. Or at least it was. This last Christmas probably went down as one of the worst ever because Rebekah was in the hospital. But the record that I remember the most was "How the West was Won." Methinks this is because there was a cool painting on the album cover of a train falling off a railroad trestle. You could see logs breaking loose from train cars and people scrambling to save themselves, in vain I might add.
Baby/Life Update:
Keren and Tim watched the girls one night so Rebekah got probably her first full nights sleep in a couple months. I guess it went pretty well and they enjoyed it. The boys have colds so they're a bit crabbier than normal. Rebekah and the boys went with me to get more rocks. That was arduous. But the migrant worker drove by and stopped to look at an irrigation ditch and the boys said "Dad, there's Leo!" Pretty funny that they remembered his name. Even funnier that a south of the border dude is named Leo.
Right now we're moderating fights over a new toy tractor. Why do we bother?
Monday, April 30, 2007
Record Player
by Grant
Ok, I'm desperate. I've been searching for a record player that can hold multiple records at a time, play one and then when it's done it drops the next one down. I have a whole bunch of records and Titus is a dancer. That white boy has some rhythm. Where he got it, I'm not sure but he's got some moves.
Anyway, if anybody has one, even an old big cabinet one, please let me know. The only requirements are that I need it to have the needle, handle multiple records, and work (or semi-work).
p.s.
Don't tell me to look on e-bay. A bunch of shysters. Charging more for the shipping than for the record player, what a joke.
Ok, I'm desperate. I've been searching for a record player that can hold multiple records at a time, play one and then when it's done it drops the next one down. I have a whole bunch of records and Titus is a dancer. That white boy has some rhythm. Where he got it, I'm not sure but he's got some moves.
Anyway, if anybody has one, even an old big cabinet one, please let me know. The only requirements are that I need it to have the needle, handle multiple records, and work (or semi-work).
p.s.
Don't tell me to look on e-bay. A bunch of shysters. Charging more for the shipping than for the record player, what a joke.
technorati tags:record, player, turntable, phonograph
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Weekend Away
by Grant
Well, we just got back from an extended weekend at my Dad's. My Grandma is slowly going downhill health-wise and wanted to see the baby girls.
I had to work later than I had intended on thursday and my wife (in whom I am well pleased) packed everything up by herself and was ready to go when I got home. What a woman! The trip home went pretty well, although we've done so little traveling that ours boys were having a little trouble adjusting. I don't mind stopping and letting them stretch their legs, but the girls sleep well as long as the vehicle is moving so we just kept on truckin'. Overall things went surprisingly well. Mom was a good help with the babies and the boys were pretty good. They just kept wanting to go outside, which is great in all, but their father is a lazy lounging lump (hmmm. I wonder if that website has been taken?). Anyway, I spose it was good timing because we haven't been home in seven months and Dad had a new computer that'd been awaiting someone to set it up so I was nominated. Other than the requisite family squabbles it was a good weekend. Traveling with the kids and hauling all the stuff that we need is really hard on Rebekah so it's usually very stressful.
Forrest & Titus playing with a cargo bag
Apparently the cars make
too much noise for Forrest
Pondering Life, Pondering Love, Pondering Chocolate
Regal and Royal
Serenity Hamming it up and Liberty bemused (LIberty's on the right)
One happy Serenity
Arrangment by Grantio
Once again, Liberty just watches
Well, we just got back from an extended weekend at my Dad's. My Grandma is slowly going downhill health-wise and wanted to see the baby girls.
I had to work later than I had intended on thursday and my wife (in whom I am well pleased) packed everything up by herself and was ready to go when I got home. What a woman! The trip home went pretty well, although we've done so little traveling that ours boys were having a little trouble adjusting. I don't mind stopping and letting them stretch their legs, but the girls sleep well as long as the vehicle is moving so we just kept on truckin'. Overall things went surprisingly well. Mom was a good help with the babies and the boys were pretty good. They just kept wanting to go outside, which is great in all, but their father is a lazy lounging lump (hmmm. I wonder if that website has been taken?). Anyway, I spose it was good timing because we haven't been home in seven months and Dad had a new computer that'd been awaiting someone to set it up so I was nominated. Other than the requisite family squabbles it was a good weekend. Traveling with the kids and hauling all the stuff that we need is really hard on Rebekah so it's usually very stressful.
Forrest & Titus playing with a cargo bag
Apparently the cars make
too much noise for Forrest
Pondering Life, Pondering Love, Pondering Chocolate
Regal and Royal
Serenity Hamming it up and Liberty bemused (LIberty's on the right)
One happy Serenity
Arrangment by Grantio
Once again, Liberty just watches
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Videos
Saturday, April 21, 2007
For those impatient ones out there...
by Grant
...Please know that I have been working tonight on getting the recent pictures offloaded from our camera, touched up, and uploaded onto our photobucket site. I also have taken two videos, recompressed them and rotated and uploaded those. Now, I'm a little tired of doing all that boring stuff so I'll do a baby/life update.
Baby/Life Update
Today Rebekah attempted to do a yard sale with Keren and Kathie. In an attempt to be supportive, I will not make any comments on the success of said endeavor :)
I was very pleasantly surprised that I was able to sleep in with Forrest (he had a rough night so was in bed with me upstairs) while Rebekah took our early bird with her over to Kerens. After some much needed alone time (oh dang, I forgot to watch a movie in surround sound. I can't do that with kids in the house), I left in search of rocks. Man, I really don't want to bore myself writing this. Suffice it to say, that we were in need of rocks (roundish riverish rockish, woops, rocks). I took the long way home yesterday, which coincidentally runs by a river, and lo and behold I found voluminous piles of nice round river rocks (say that 300,000 times fast). Well, my normal personality is to ignore something like this because there's no sign that says, "Free rocks." So, do I just take the rocks on the edge of the field where they have been piled on the assumption that they are in the farmer's way? Or, do I try to get permission from somebody (who? it's not like every field has the owner's name). I ponder a couple things and then I decide to go to the nearest farm house. After greasing the skids with some jokes and leveraging my charm (stop laughing!) I feel confident that although they don't own the field, they have given me the green light to take the rocks.
So, anybody ever pick up rocks? They're kind of heavy. I mean, not each rock by itself, but put a few of them together and they weigh a bit. Well, Rebekah went on a girls night out (with the twin girls) and I took the boys and went on a high priority rock retrieval junket. After a few minutes a pickup pulled up to our little gang of merry men. Thankfully, no firearms were in sight. The driver was a migrant worker (most likely as his English was poor) but he was friendly and told me to take as many as I wanted. After my wife got home she was excited about the rocks. What a woman. I give her jewelry and thoughtful gifts and nary a smile and I brings some rocks home and she's ecstatic.
Where's all this leading? Don't know and don't much care. All I know is that I've probably moved a ton of rocks by myself. I'm tired and a little sore.
Oh, you want to know something about the girls. Well, I'm holding a squirmy Liberty and she's pulling the hair on my chest. Rebekah is trying to burp Serenity. The boys, I think, I are asleep upstairs and it's only 9:40 PM. How amazing is that?
hard to type with one hand on the keyboard and the other hand patting a baby.
...Please know that I have been working tonight on getting the recent pictures offloaded from our camera, touched up, and uploaded onto our photobucket site. I also have taken two videos, recompressed them and rotated and uploaded those. Now, I'm a little tired of doing all that boring stuff so I'll do a baby/life update.
Baby/Life Update
Today Rebekah attempted to do a yard sale with Keren and Kathie. In an attempt to be supportive, I will not make any comments on the success of said endeavor :)
I was very pleasantly surprised that I was able to sleep in with Forrest (he had a rough night so was in bed with me upstairs) while Rebekah took our early bird with her over to Kerens. After some much needed alone time (oh dang, I forgot to watch a movie in surround sound. I can't do that with kids in the house), I left in search of rocks. Man, I really don't want to bore myself writing this. Suffice it to say, that we were in need of rocks (roundish riverish rockish, woops, rocks). I took the long way home yesterday, which coincidentally runs by a river, and lo and behold I found voluminous piles of nice round river rocks (say that 300,000 times fast). Well, my normal personality is to ignore something like this because there's no sign that says, "Free rocks." So, do I just take the rocks on the edge of the field where they have been piled on the assumption that they are in the farmer's way? Or, do I try to get permission from somebody (who? it's not like every field has the owner's name). I ponder a couple things and then I decide to go to the nearest farm house. After greasing the skids with some jokes and leveraging my charm (stop laughing!) I feel confident that although they don't own the field, they have given me the green light to take the rocks.
So, anybody ever pick up rocks? They're kind of heavy. I mean, not each rock by itself, but put a few of them together and they weigh a bit. Well, Rebekah went on a girls night out (with the twin girls) and I took the boys and went on a high priority rock retrieval junket. After a few minutes a pickup pulled up to our little gang of merry men. Thankfully, no firearms were in sight. The driver was a migrant worker (most likely as his English was poor) but he was friendly and told me to take as many as I wanted. After my wife got home she was excited about the rocks. What a woman. I give her jewelry and thoughtful gifts and nary a smile and I brings some rocks home and she's ecstatic.
Where's all this leading? Don't know and don't much care. All I know is that I've probably moved a ton of rocks by myself. I'm tired and a little sore.
Oh, you want to know something about the girls. Well, I'm holding a squirmy Liberty and she's pulling the hair on my chest. Rebekah is trying to burp Serenity. The boys, I think, I are asleep upstairs and it's only 9:40 PM. How amazing is that?
hard to type with one hand on the keyboard and the other hand patting a baby.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
(evil) Simpsons vocabulary word and short update
by Grant
Otto (the Bus driver that looks like a guitarist for the equally evil Gun's 'n Roses) is getting married. Reverend Lovejoy wants paid for his services, and asks politely for his honorarium. That word is easy. The next one learned me good. Emolument. (If you're slow, that's a synonym for honarium. If you're slower, that's a synonym for tip).
Baby/Life update:
Girls are doing pretty good. I have never seen such projected spit-up though. Liberty actually sprayed copious (that's a good word) quantities out her nose. Oooh ooh ooh. Another word that was on the Simpsons tonight was "Usurper." Featured very prominently. Today's Simpsons was brought to you by the word, Usurper. Ooh, and I figured out how to spell "soiree" yesterday. I spent probably 20 minutes one day trying to get the spelling right and finally gave up (the Internet Gods failed me). BTW, those who have actually watched the simpsons enough to know that occasionally there is an inappropriate word should know that we have TV Guardian which faithfully mutes our TV to protect sensitive ears from learning naughty words until aforementioned ears attend their first day of pre-school. But I digress. This afternoon/evening I've been holding wee girls and Rebekah has been playing with the boys. A nice change for both of us. Hopefully Rebekah wore the buggers out so they'll sleep.
BTW, my Dad is doing better and wanted to let anybody know that is reading this that he appreciates your prayers and is very grateful to God. He is not back to 100% and is not sure if he will get totally better but is still thankful. It's amazing how certain events such as a near-death (or close enough) experience can shape your perspective up.
Otto (the Bus driver that looks like a guitarist for the equally evil Gun's 'n Roses) is getting married. Reverend Lovejoy wants paid for his services, and asks politely for his honorarium. That word is easy. The next one learned me good. Emolument. (If you're slow, that's a synonym for honarium. If you're slower, that's a synonym for tip).
Baby/Life update:
Girls are doing pretty good. I have never seen such projected spit-up though. Liberty actually sprayed copious (that's a good word) quantities out her nose. Oooh ooh ooh. Another word that was on the Simpsons tonight was "Usurper." Featured very prominently. Today's Simpsons was brought to you by the word, Usurper. Ooh, and I figured out how to spell "soiree" yesterday. I spent probably 20 minutes one day trying to get the spelling right and finally gave up (the Internet Gods failed me). BTW, those who have actually watched the simpsons enough to know that occasionally there is an inappropriate word should know that we have TV Guardian which faithfully mutes our TV to protect sensitive ears from learning naughty words until aforementioned ears attend their first day of pre-school. But I digress. This afternoon/evening I've been holding wee girls and Rebekah has been playing with the boys. A nice change for both of us. Hopefully Rebekah wore the buggers out so they'll sleep.
BTW, my Dad is doing better and wanted to let anybody know that is reading this that he appreciates your prayers and is very grateful to God. He is not back to 100% and is not sure if he will get totally better but is still thankful. It's amazing how certain events such as a near-death (or close enough) experience can shape your perspective up.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Closed Captions
by Grant
A dirty little secret of lazy parents (I put myself and pretty much all normal parents in that camp) is the use of closed captions. This way you can watch TV while your kids are being noisy, which is always, without deafening yourself with Law & Order "Duh-Dums." Actually, my wife and I started watching TV this way pre-kid. I don't remember why we started, but I do know that it was really easy with her TV. She had a 20" TV which actually had a dedicated CC button. You didn't have to wade through menus to turn it on and off at will. A couple button pushes and it was on or off. Watching TV with closed captions, hereafter referred to as CC, has it's pluses and minuses. First, we'll cover some minuses. One (and the biggest), it tends to annoy people. Get over it, I always say. Second, depending on what you're trying to watch, the CCs may be slow, inaccurate, or downright garbage. Since I'm of the younger generation (although my body tends to disagree) I don't get my news from TV but from the Internet so that doesn't annoy me. I also am not a big sports fan so it doesn't annoy me there. Live events like awards shows I shun as well. Basically, live events are where closed captions don't work unless you truly are deaf. Even then I think it's insulting to those who are aurally challenged. But I digress. Getting back to the minuses... there's one other one. Sometimes CCs will give away the punchline to a joke. It'll pop up the answer before the comedian has finished setting things up.
Now on to the positives:
1. You learn a lot. I enjoy the Simpsons (yes, I know you think it's evil even though you've never watched more than 5 minutes of it 10 years ago). And one thing the Simpsons has in it is a lot of hidden humor. The songs that they'll play during some event won't just sound appropriate, they frequently will be written for something exactly like that situation.
2. It exercises your mind more. You are actively using your brain, unlike most TV watching experiences. You cannot help but read the text. So, I think that by using CCs it slows down brain rot.
3. It helps you to spell. 'nuff said
4. You catch other hidden humor that is very subtle. Example: on the Simpsons they did a French version and they had Moe the bartender. (See, told you Simpsons was evil). Well, Moe, since he was French, was actually spelled Meaux. There is no way that you would have known that unless you had CCs on.
5. I like it. You will be in my favor if you turn to the dark side.
Baby/Life update:
The girls are doing well. Still fussy (please God, when will this end???), but otherwise healthy. Whenever I hold them they're fussy. Rebekah says it's cause they sense I'm stressed. Well, maybe I'm stressed cause they keep fussing? huh? They ever think of that? Rebekah had a rough night last night so I'm going to work from home part of today to let her catch up on sleep.
I've been struggling with allergies that are knocking me out. At the same time, my back muscles started hurting a lot worse. Thankfully, I got some rest over the weekend, but am still trying to adapt.
The boys are good but taking advantage of any distractions we have. You have to stay on the constantly. I guess that's why they call it "training"
Still no jealousy. Sometimes Forrest misses his Mom she thinks, and he'll go sit by/on her when she's holding a baby. But I am much more involved with the boys now--for better or for worse.
There's a line from an evil heathen song that runs through my head frequently these days. "You'll be lucky if you get out of life alive."
A dirty little secret of lazy parents (I put myself and pretty much all normal parents in that camp) is the use of closed captions. This way you can watch TV while your kids are being noisy, which is always, without deafening yourself with Law & Order "Duh-Dums." Actually, my wife and I started watching TV this way pre-kid. I don't remember why we started, but I do know that it was really easy with her TV. She had a 20" TV which actually had a dedicated CC button. You didn't have to wade through menus to turn it on and off at will. A couple button pushes and it was on or off. Watching TV with closed captions, hereafter referred to as CC, has it's pluses and minuses. First, we'll cover some minuses. One (and the biggest), it tends to annoy people. Get over it, I always say. Second, depending on what you're trying to watch, the CCs may be slow, inaccurate, or downright garbage. Since I'm of the younger generation (although my body tends to disagree) I don't get my news from TV but from the Internet so that doesn't annoy me. I also am not a big sports fan so it doesn't annoy me there. Live events like awards shows I shun as well. Basically, live events are where closed captions don't work unless you truly are deaf. Even then I think it's insulting to those who are aurally challenged. But I digress. Getting back to the minuses... there's one other one. Sometimes CCs will give away the punchline to a joke. It'll pop up the answer before the comedian has finished setting things up.
Now on to the positives:
1. You learn a lot. I enjoy the Simpsons (yes, I know you think it's evil even though you've never watched more than 5 minutes of it 10 years ago). And one thing the Simpsons has in it is a lot of hidden humor. The songs that they'll play during some event won't just sound appropriate, they frequently will be written for something exactly like that situation.
2. It exercises your mind more. You are actively using your brain, unlike most TV watching experiences. You cannot help but read the text. So, I think that by using CCs it slows down brain rot.
3. It helps you to spell. 'nuff said
4. You catch other hidden humor that is very subtle. Example: on the Simpsons they did a French version and they had Moe the bartender. (See, told you Simpsons was evil). Well, Moe, since he was French, was actually spelled Meaux. There is no way that you would have known that unless you had CCs on.
5. I like it. You will be in my favor if you turn to the dark side.
Baby/Life update:
The girls are doing well. Still fussy (please God, when will this end???), but otherwise healthy. Whenever I hold them they're fussy. Rebekah says it's cause they sense I'm stressed. Well, maybe I'm stressed cause they keep fussing? huh? They ever think of that? Rebekah had a rough night last night so I'm going to work from home part of today to let her catch up on sleep.
I've been struggling with allergies that are knocking me out. At the same time, my back muscles started hurting a lot worse. Thankfully, I got some rest over the weekend, but am still trying to adapt.
The boys are good but taking advantage of any distractions we have. You have to stay on the constantly. I guess that's why they call it "training"
Still no jealousy. Sometimes Forrest misses his Mom she thinks, and he'll go sit by/on her when she's holding a baby. But I am much more involved with the boys now--for better or for worse.
There's a line from an evil heathen song that runs through my head frequently these days. "You'll be lucky if you get out of life alive."
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
I'm this close...
by Grant
...to putting a microphone by these girls and recording a couple hours of them fussing. Then, I think anyone that claims to really love kids should listen to it. Tell me that you don't have indigestion and feel like voting democrat (I'm not sure what that has to do with it, but I guess it would indicate some amount of distress). Aargh! I've been working on Rebekah's computer so she was putting the boys to bed which is about a two hour ordeal. The girls are in the swings and they'll cry for about 10 minutes, take 3 off. 15 on. 5 off. And so on, and so on. Rebekah has decided, I think rightly so, that if they stop crying when they get picked up that they are fine and can cry. We have to worry a little bit about them crying so hard it that they spit-up and we don't want them to burn up too many calories. But with two babies and two other kids, dedicated time is hard to give unless absolutely needed.
We are still sleep deprived, but I think that Rebekah is getting a handle on the girls (as much as is possible). We're trying to edge back into normal life. But it's a big adjustment. <sigh> there the girls go again. I think I'm gonna go take some pills and drink a bunch of nyquil.
...to putting a microphone by these girls and recording a couple hours of them fussing. Then, I think anyone that claims to really love kids should listen to it. Tell me that you don't have indigestion and feel like voting democrat (I'm not sure what that has to do with it, but I guess it would indicate some amount of distress). Aargh! I've been working on Rebekah's computer so she was putting the boys to bed which is about a two hour ordeal. The girls are in the swings and they'll cry for about 10 minutes, take 3 off. 15 on. 5 off. And so on, and so on. Rebekah has decided, I think rightly so, that if they stop crying when they get picked up that they are fine and can cry. We have to worry a little bit about them crying so hard it that they spit-up and we don't want them to burn up too many calories. But with two babies and two other kids, dedicated time is hard to give unless absolutely needed.
We are still sleep deprived, but I think that Rebekah is getting a handle on the girls (as much as is possible). We're trying to edge back into normal life. But it's a big adjustment. <sigh> there the girls go again. I think I'm gonna go take some pills and drink a bunch of nyquil.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Evolutionary Wow
by Grant
I am sitting here working on getting pictures ready for the blog and trying to let Rebekah sleep. So, I'm watching the history channel as it is or, as I like to call it, TV that doesn't rot your brain, and they're talking about the "Mysteries of the Smithsonian"
Sooo, they're talking about the Tri-ceratops. Ya know that dinosaur? It was my favorite when I was a kid. I liked to root for the underdog. There the dino is, just minding his own business, eating some ruffage (or is it roughage?) and along comes the mean bully--Tyrannosaurus Rex. Talk about a jerk. Not only does he have bad breath and thinks he's some super stud (just cause he's so tall and stuff). But to add insult to injury, he wants to eat the poor little Triceratops. Man, the indignity of it all. But it's hard to eat somebody that has three big spikes that can stab up into your soft underbelly, trust me I know (stupid porcupine).
Well, come to find out, they (el Scientistas) faked a healthy percentage of the skeleton @ the Smithsonian. They didn't have the entire rear end of the dinosaur (The T-Rex probably made off with that part). Since that didn't have that part, they grabbed pieces from another, unrelated skeleton that was unfortunately in the area when the ugly confronation took place. I'm guess the two dinos were having a little rendezvous. Anyway, the "experts" merged that other skeleton with the pieces that they had and the end result is what we see in toys, etc. today. So, 100 years later (almost) they decided to "fix" it. So they used some computer software to figure out what the dinosaur really looked like (called extrapolating and while science is used, there is no guarantee of accuracy. It is a scientific "guess"). Once they had a design (like building a frickin' house) they made "bones." Do you notice I'm using "" a lot here? That's because there's no fact and no truth to this stuff. How can you trust a community that just makes stuff fit to look good? I thought that's what women's fashion was for?
And they wonder why we don't swallow stuff like global warming without question.
I am sitting here working on getting pictures ready for the blog and trying to let Rebekah sleep. So, I'm watching the history channel as it is or, as I like to call it, TV that doesn't rot your brain, and they're talking about the "Mysteries of the Smithsonian"
Sooo, they're talking about the Tri-ceratops. Ya know that dinosaur? It was my favorite when I was a kid. I liked to root for the underdog. There the dino is, just minding his own business, eating some ruffage (or is it roughage?) and along comes the mean bully--Tyrannosaurus Rex. Talk about a jerk. Not only does he have bad breath and thinks he's some super stud (just cause he's so tall and stuff). But to add insult to injury, he wants to eat the poor little Triceratops. Man, the indignity of it all. But it's hard to eat somebody that has three big spikes that can stab up into your soft underbelly, trust me I know (stupid porcupine).
Well, come to find out, they (el Scientistas) faked a healthy percentage of the skeleton @ the Smithsonian. They didn't have the entire rear end of the dinosaur (The T-Rex probably made off with that part). Since that didn't have that part, they grabbed pieces from another, unrelated skeleton that was unfortunately in the area when the ugly confronation took place. I'm guess the two dinos were having a little rendezvous. Anyway, the "experts" merged that other skeleton with the pieces that they had and the end result is what we see in toys, etc. today. So, 100 years later (almost) they decided to "fix" it. So they used some computer software to figure out what the dinosaur really looked like (called extrapolating and while science is used, there is no guarantee of accuracy. It is a scientific "guess"). Once they had a design (like building a frickin' house) they made "bones." Do you notice I'm using "" a lot here? That's because there's no fact and no truth to this stuff. How can you trust a community that just makes stuff fit to look good? I thought that's what women's fashion was for?
And they wonder why we don't swallow stuff like global warming without question.
Stuff for Grandmas
At a park in Boise. Trying to fly a kite
Forrest with my head-lamp.
Thankfully, with LEDs, it takes a long time to run down
Forrest, looking slightly insane
Titus during one of the days I had to work from home.
He's being very good :)
More stoner pics
Friday, April 6, 2007
Here I sit.
by Grant
With two little girls (one very fragrant) on my chest. Quite cute, really. A wee bit difficult to work on my laptop, but I manage. The past couple of nights I've stayed up late with Rebekah to help her. The morning comes far too soon on days like that. I'm convinced that Coffee is a "God-sanctioned" drink. I can't imagine trying to get through the day without it. I also take Ginseng which helps relieve some of the more extreme fatigue. Oh, and Meth. Yeah, that really helps. Can't believe I forgot that. (Of course, I don't take meth. I've never even smoked Mary Jane as the hippies call it). I have to work on Sunday morning, and so I got this afternoon off. I managed to get a nap in and it was weird because I could actually feel the sleep overwhelming me. It took about a minute. Usually, when I notice sleep, I am too alert to actually "fall" asleep. Not this time. I slept until Titus came and woke me up. I made him get in bed and he played with my headphones that were laying there for awhile. Then Rebekah came in and traded me for Liberty. Not sure what extra sleep I got during that whole process but at least I was able to stall for a bit.
Oh, as far as working on Easter. I'm supposed to work on more sundays to help another guy out that works every Sunday (if I don't). The nice thing is that we can typically do it from home and it's generally punch a few buttons and check the output on some stuff. So, it doesn't have to be high stress or anything but it's hard to juggle kids and do that stuff too. But since he has been doing it exclusively for four months I figured it was time to give him a break.
Hopefully within a month or so the girls will sleep better. Maybe we can even get them to sleep at night! :)
With two little girls (one very fragrant) on my chest. Quite cute, really. A wee bit difficult to work on my laptop, but I manage. The past couple of nights I've stayed up late with Rebekah to help her. The morning comes far too soon on days like that. I'm convinced that Coffee is a "God-sanctioned" drink. I can't imagine trying to get through the day without it. I also take Ginseng which helps relieve some of the more extreme fatigue. Oh, and Meth. Yeah, that really helps. Can't believe I forgot that. (Of course, I don't take meth. I've never even smoked Mary Jane as the hippies call it). I have to work on Sunday morning, and so I got this afternoon off. I managed to get a nap in and it was weird because I could actually feel the sleep overwhelming me. It took about a minute. Usually, when I notice sleep, I am too alert to actually "fall" asleep. Not this time. I slept until Titus came and woke me up. I made him get in bed and he played with my headphones that were laying there for awhile. Then Rebekah came in and traded me for Liberty. Not sure what extra sleep I got during that whole process but at least I was able to stall for a bit.
Oh, as far as working on Easter. I'm supposed to work on more sundays to help another guy out that works every Sunday (if I don't). The nice thing is that we can typically do it from home and it's generally punch a few buttons and check the output on some stuff. So, it doesn't have to be high stress or anything but it's hard to juggle kids and do that stuff too. But since he has been doing it exclusively for four months I figured it was time to give him a break.
Hopefully within a month or so the girls will sleep better. Maybe we can even get them to sleep at night! :)
Monday, April 2, 2007
Splat
by Grant
That's the sound that Titus almost made on Saturday. The boys and I were outside and they were playing in the truck in the carport. I was working in the basement trying to get a phone line wired up for Rebekah. The boys were doing really good, but I guess they got bored. Alarm bells started going off in my head when Forrest came and asked me where Titus was. At the same time Rebekah (who was in the house) started coming outside with the same quest: Find Titus. Rebekah rounded the corner and screamed at him. I took off running at full speed rounding the corner (a little behind and on the outside--of the corner that is) and almost killed myself as the dog did a "deer in the headlights" response and just stood there. Little Titus was at the extreme end of the driveway by the mailbox. On a US Highway no less. Thankfully, when he heard us yelling, he turned around and started trotting back. One small thing to be grateful for, that he is fairly obedient now. Another small blessing is that there was light traffic. But obviously, this was far too close to a tragically horrible end. I don't think Titus understood, but I spent the next few minutes reinforcing it to Forrest how death is final. I blame myself for not supervising him closely enough. We went outside again tonight, but I took a timer with me so I wouldn't forget to check on them. Rebekah was also keeping a sharp eye open. After awhile though, we just gave up and sent him inside. He was very upset. It's really hard to take the boys outside because of the danger, but they love it. I'm not sure how to manage doing the work that I need to do and keep a lookout on the boys at the same time. Somehow we'll manage though.
Baby update:
The girls are just as fussy as ever. I was hoping for a nanny or an au pair for the baby shower on Saturday but no such luck. Just diapers and some clothes. Oh, and cake. But my dad wasn't around to eat any.
That's the sound that Titus almost made on Saturday. The boys and I were outside and they were playing in the truck in the carport. I was working in the basement trying to get a phone line wired up for Rebekah. The boys were doing really good, but I guess they got bored. Alarm bells started going off in my head when Forrest came and asked me where Titus was. At the same time Rebekah (who was in the house) started coming outside with the same quest: Find Titus. Rebekah rounded the corner and screamed at him. I took off running at full speed rounding the corner (a little behind and on the outside--of the corner that is) and almost killed myself as the dog did a "deer in the headlights" response and just stood there. Little Titus was at the extreme end of the driveway by the mailbox. On a US Highway no less. Thankfully, when he heard us yelling, he turned around and started trotting back. One small thing to be grateful for, that he is fairly obedient now. Another small blessing is that there was light traffic. But obviously, this was far too close to a tragically horrible end. I don't think Titus understood, but I spent the next few minutes reinforcing it to Forrest how death is final. I blame myself for not supervising him closely enough. We went outside again tonight, but I took a timer with me so I wouldn't forget to check on them. Rebekah was also keeping a sharp eye open. After awhile though, we just gave up and sent him inside. He was very upset. It's really hard to take the boys outside because of the danger, but they love it. I'm not sure how to manage doing the work that I need to do and keep a lookout on the boys at the same time. Somehow we'll manage though.
Baby update:
The girls are just as fussy as ever. I was hoping for a nanny or an au pair for the baby shower on Saturday but no such luck. Just diapers and some clothes. Oh, and cake. But my dad wasn't around to eat any.
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