Caleb's Solo

Here is Caleb's solo video, it took forever to download, not sure why, but it is a long video of 5 1/2 minutes. Only watch the first 2.25 minutes that is his solo.

I'm definately computer challenged because I tried to edit it shorter all day and I spent over 4 hours trying to get this thing even on here. Caleb came home and found it in seconds. However the processing to get it to post took over an hour. Does every video take this long? If so, this may be the last one you see ever, sorry.

lots of stuff

We had a very busy last week. Here are some of the highlights.

Scott had his ears checked again and still has fluid hanging out in them so he got a tube put in one ear that had the most fluid, and the Dr. said that he will probably need another tube in the other ear. Dr. Hansen which is Jason's boss did the surgery right in his office. He told Scott to sit very still and promised him ice cream. Scott did great and as a result got ice cream. Scott told me that it was the largest chocolate ice cream he's ever had in his life. So glad he can hear again out of one ear at least. I'm grateful that we know Dr. Hansen personally because this kind of service was wonderful. Normally you'd have to wait several weeks just to be seen in the Otolarengology department and then another several weeks to get the surgery scheduled. He saved us tons of time and money, and I'm so happy that he cares about our family to do this for us.

I had a tooth worked on. Basically a tooth with three different fillings in the tooth had to be replaced because not only was it was super old but more decay was happening around the fillings. I had it replaced and she said that if it goes bad then next time I'll need a crown. Fun for me. It is super sensitive right now.

Jason got to go on a couple long bike rides last week, one by himself and one 10 miler with Daniel. Daniel needed to finish up his biking merit badge so this was the last thing to do for that.

Caleb had a choir concert that was absolutely fabulous. He had a solo which I recorded on our mini video camera, but not sure how to get it off the camera onto the computer then into a post. I'm struggling with that technology. You will have to hear this boy sing. I was super surprised by how awesome he sounded and basically had to be held down at the end of the song because I wanted to shout "That's my boy!" but refrained from that embarrassment. He was so awesome. Oh my! Wow! I still can't believe it.

Alyssa is starting to read large books and really enjoying them. She is reading two books at once, both Harry Potter and Twilight. After each chapter of Twilight she comes to me and says, "Mom you just have to read this book, it's sooooooooo good." Guess I'll have to.

Brenden is working on a huge China packet for his Social Studies class. Almost finished the entire thing this long weekend. I'm proud of him for sticking with it, it looks long, boring and a pain to do. Can you tell I wasn't ever into school work?

Jared is starting to really enjoy fishing. He bought a fishing pole with his allowance and ever since has gone almost daily to our many ponds and creeks around here to catch fish. Yesterday he spend a good portion of the day digging in our garden area for worms. Both Jared and Daniel were full of mud when they finished. Most of it they kept outside.

That's it for last week. I will try and figure out the video thing and get that posted.

Today's visitor

I was doubtful he would visit, but finally at around 1p.m. today we got a call that he was on his way over.


Who?


The Sears Man.


I was so glad to see him. Even happier with him when he actually fixed the dryer.

I have completed 6 loads of laundry since then and have about 6-10 more. Fun!!!

Being a dad

As I have been reading through my sibling's blogs lately, I have been reliving my days as a parent with young children. Part of me misses those days but a large part of me does not. They were hard. Excrusiatingly hard sometimes. Michelle and I chose to have a large family (by today's standards) and are very grateful for the 6 children we have but it has been very challenging at times.
Perhaps the hardest time for me as a father was the month of August, 1997. Michelle was pregnant with Brenden (our fourth child in as many years) and on forced bed rest in the hospital. I was a single parent trying to work, keep the apartment clean, the boys fed, church assignments fulfilled, etc... I was extremely tired and stressed out. One night, I was taking the boys to go see Michelle at the hospital and our car died on I-15. Here I was, on the freeway with no transportation and three boys ages 4, 2, and 1 looking up at me wondering what was going on. Michelle had been in the hospital for three weeks and I was as wrung out as I had ever been. I remember the feeling of anger and hopelessness that came over me. It was as close as I have ever gotten to shaking my fist at heaven. I would like to say a miracle happened and the car started and we got back on our way but that is not what happened. The Lord rarely works that way. Instead, he works through the goodness of other people. A man stopped and helped me push the car to the nearest off ramp where I was able to put the car in neutral and coast about a 3/4 a mile to find a place to park the car. I then got the boys out and we walked the rest of the way to the hospital. The boys were overjoyed to see Michelle, I was just happy to sit down. My point in all of this is that life is hard and always will be. We will be tried and tested. Our job is to cheerfully endure each trial (although I was not cheerfully enduring that one) that we may prove ourselves to God. Each trial eventually ends and how we feel about ourselves afterwards is largely dependant on how we weathered the storm. Back to my siblings. As I read their blogs, I am reminded of various trials as a parent I have experienced. Sometimes I laugh at their exasperation (that would be the mean, I-told-you-so part of my personality that I try to keep under wraps) but most times I fully empathize. Now, with teenagers, I am faced with a whole new set of trials that often times make me wish I was back with three little boys in a broken down car on the freeway. At least then they believed that I could do no wrong. Now they know better. Some day they will understand how much I love them and that being a dad is my favorite thing in the world.

Better get used to hanging laundry

So the Sears man finally shows up today to "fix" the dryer. Who am I kidding? He didn't fix anything. Here we are back to last January 2008. Remember when I called to have them come out and fix the dryer then? They didn't have the part, so they ordered it, then I had to wait for them to come back and put the part in. A grand total of 3 weeks of waiting for my dryer to be fixed.

Here we are again, Week 1. Repair man shows up and decides that he can't fix it. Some belt is broken and of course he doesn't have the right belt so he has to order it. It might be here by Saturday (he says) and after the part is here, we have to call back and re-schedule him to come back on the first available business day after that. So it might be next Thursday if we are lucky.

In our home with 8 people wearing clothes, 2 people working out on a regular basis and 6 children playing outside getting all dirty and such, we go through at least a load a day. I seriously can't keep up with this when I have to hang it in the basement and it takes so long to dry. Thank heavens Jason is such a help.

What upsets me the most about all this is that this dryer is less than 3 years old. It's a Kenmore Super Capacity front loading dryer. I was talked into buying it because our Maytag, Whirlpool, and Amana appliances have been less than faithful. Several people recommended a Kenmore Dryer so we thought we would give it a try. Well there you have it, it's a piece of crap too. DON'T BUY KENMORE UNLESS YOU WANT A LEMON, this is our 3rd repair in less than 3 years.

Also on the list of Don't Buy (even if it's a good deal):
Maytag front loading washing machine
Maytag or Whirlpool Dishwasher
Amana Microwave
Whirlpool side by side refridgerators
Maytag Ovens

I'm running out of sanity.

Begrudgingly green

Normally, we do what we can to save energy but this is going a little too far. Our dryer went on a bender Saturday and refuses to work. What a pain.

We really did get a dog!!

On Tuesday May 5th I did a Pampered Chef party and my host told me she was moving and had to get rid of her dog.

I wanted a dog really bad but knew I had to talk Jason into it. After almost 24 hours Jason decided that having a dog again would be okay. So I called Deb and picked her up. Deb was thrilled to find a good home and I'm happy to have a dog.

She is a Yo-Chon. That means a Bichon mixed with a Yorkie. She is 3 years old, spaid, not due for shots till next year, she is housebroken and super well mannered. Right now she is asleep next to me typing. I think she's adorable. Jason thinks she looks like an overgrown rat.


The children are thrilled to have a dog again, and last night Sadie slept in Alyssa's bed.

Memories of Grandpa's house

On the way to the buriel of my Grandpa, his request was that we all drive by his home, through the gulf and covered bridge. When the funeral director stopped in front of his home, someone got out and took two roses from the top of Grandpa's casket and placed them on the mailbox. I took a few pictures of his home.

Here is the creek on the side of the house. This is where I collected frogs.

The covered bridge

Grandpa's resting place right next to Grandma.

Scott's Birthday

Scott turned 7 last Sunday on April 25th, and it's taken me a whole week to blog about it. Sorry about that. He had a great birthday and was happy. He reminded me for a whole month that it was coming up and how many days were left until that day.

For our traditional family dinner we let Scott pick where we would all eat. We went to Old Country Buffet. He was happy and our adopted Grandma Phyllis went with us. We had a grand ole time stuffing our faces until we felt we had our money's worth and our stomach hurt, then we went home, two days later on his actual birthday day he had cake and presents. Here are a few pictures from that fun day!

Here is Scott with all his loot. He received all he asked for and as you can tell was thrilled. He received some books, candy from his brothers, Lincoln logs for building mini houses, clothes so he can look handsome (Scott's words), a transformer and his most asked for gift in the blue box, LEGOS!!!!! Lots of fun for Scott. I can't believe my baby is 7.