Happy Birthday Adam!
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Happy Birthday Adam!
This past week we celebrated Adam's 7th birthday. It's sometimes hard to believe he's been around that long already. We sure enjoy having that young man in our family. His birthday was Wednesday, Feb 22nd (George Washington's Birthday as he reminds everyone). On Wednesday we had a small family celebration with cake and ice cream and gift unwrapping.
On Saturday, he invited 5 friends from school for a party. The theme of the party was "A to Z Mystery". For those of you not up on the latest in child chapter books, the A to Z Mysteries are a set of 26 books (one for each letter of the alphabet) featuring some child detectives solving various mysteries.
At the party, Adam received a letter from Dink Duncan (the star of the A to Z Mysteries) describing a recent crime that Adam and his friends had to help solve. Somehow, the famous Mo Ying statue had been stolen from a nearby museum and ended up hidden in our house! Luckily, the kids at the party got fortune cookies with messages that directed them to hidden clues and ultimately to the hidden Mo Ying statue which they valiently recovered. Little Bubba Joe (Ben) turned out to be the criminal. He had hidden the statue in the fireplace.
Okay, so that was the grand plan. In the end, the mystery solving degraded into just a bunch of wild maniacs running loose in the house tracking down every wild notion they could imagine. The kids ultimately did solve the mystery, but it took some significant directing those of us in the know. Also at the party, there was a piñata and lots of other fun games.
All-in-all, I think Adam had a fun birthday. He completed his collection of A to Z Mysteries (he now owns all 26 and has read nearly all of them) and got numerous games and other great gifts. The whole family had fun celebrating with him. On to Lizzy's birthday (next Saturday), then we'll have made it through our busy birthday season.
On Saturday, he invited 5 friends from school for a party. The theme of the party was "A to Z Mystery". For those of you not up on the latest in child chapter books, the A to Z Mysteries are a set of 26 books (one for each letter of the alphabet) featuring some child detectives solving various mysteries.
At the party, Adam received a letter from Dink Duncan (the star of the A to Z Mysteries) describing a recent crime that Adam and his friends had to help solve. Somehow, the famous Mo Ying statue had been stolen from a nearby museum and ended up hidden in our house! Luckily, the kids at the party got fortune cookies with messages that directed them to hidden clues and ultimately to the hidden Mo Ying statue which they valiently recovered. Little Bubba Joe (Ben) turned out to be the criminal. He had hidden the statue in the fireplace.
Okay, so that was the grand plan. In the end, the mystery solving degraded into just a bunch of wild maniacs running loose in the house tracking down every wild notion they could imagine. The kids ultimately did solve the mystery, but it took some significant directing those of us in the know. Also at the party, there was a piñata and lots of other fun games.
All-in-all, I think Adam had a fun birthday. He completed his collection of A to Z Mysteries (he now owns all 26 and has read nearly all of them) and got numerous games and other great gifts. The whole family had fun celebrating with him. On to Lizzy's birthday (next Saturday), then we'll have made it through our busy birthday season.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
The benefits of motherhood
Greg heard this very interesting story on NPR yesterday morning. It was about fetal cells and the benefits to mothers. They have found that when ever a baby is conceived (even if the baby doesn't make it all the way to birth, because of miscarriage or whatever), cells from that growing baby get in the mother's bloodstream. They used to think that mothers' bodies would immediately fight off and kill these foreign cells, but they are now finding that they live for decades in the mother, and rather than being harmful to the mother, they think they are very beneficial and help any diseased parts of the body grow new healthy cells. It was a great story. I thought you all might want to check it out, so here is the link (click the "Listen" button to hear the radio story):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5195551
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5195551
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Sick, sick, sick!!
I am writing this post not so everyone will feel sorry for me (and the kids), but just so you can know what has been going on in our life the last little while. I haven't been involved with the blog, or anything else for the last little while because since the 19th of last month (I remember the day because it is my mom's birthday). Lizzy came down with a fever and a tummy ache that day, and Ben followed the next day with a fever ( I think his was from teething--four molars all at once). After three or four very long days, by the end of the weekend things were looking up.
Monday and Tuesday Lizzy was a little out of sorts, but seemed to being doing better. Ben, however broke out in a rash all over his chest, back and face (maybe due to immunizations he had received two weeks previous). The next day, Wednesday was Anna's birthday. Lizzy threw up and it quickly became apparent she had the stomach flu still, again, whatever!! Poor Anna. We had to cancel her birthday party with friends and schedule for another day. Then the next day after school Adam came home complaining that his tummy ached. The next morning Adam woke up sick with the stomach flu, and crying because he was going to miss his pajama day at school, where they got to wear their pajamas and watch March of the Penguins as a reward that their class had been working on all year. Poor kid.
All this time Lizzy continues to be sick. I am beginning to wonder if she has some kind of serious, life-threatening illness by this point. Ben did get over his rash, though, and broke three of the four molars through, so was feeling a little better. Then Saturday, Anna comes down with a terrible cold. Coughing, watery eyes, sore throat, the whole bit. All the kids weren't feeling well and we kept them ALL home from church on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday provided us with bit of a respite, despite Anna still having mild cold symptoms. We were able to successfully have Anna's party Tuesday. Good thing because the next day Lizzy was feeling rotten again. This time she had caught Anna's lovely cold. Then this past Thursday Anna went to the doctor and had three shots in preparation for kindergarten, while Ben clung desparately to me, as he had now caught the cold bug. Lizzy and Ben still have their colds and they have been grouchy, grouchy, grouchy.
We did choose to bring them to church today though, but didn't send Liz to the nursery. They stayed with Greg while I taught my primary class, but about all they did was cry. One person commented to Greg as he was walking down the hall with both of them screaming, "At least they can cry in harmony!!". Yeah, thanks for noticing. Despite all of this, I am happy to report that I am still living, and have yet to be sick, knock on wood. We also did enjoy a very pleasant afternoon and evening together as a family. Even Ben did alright as long as I was holding him (I wouldn't suggest letting your 16 month old eat spaghetti on your lap unless you are prepared to change clothes afterward).
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, we put the kids in bed tonight, and Lizzy called me in because her arm was bothering her. When I checked it, it had hives all over it!! Moral of the story, when you have four kids 6 and under, chances are there is going to be someone sick a whole lot at your house, so just get used to it! It does get better as they get older, right?
Monday and Tuesday Lizzy was a little out of sorts, but seemed to being doing better. Ben, however broke out in a rash all over his chest, back and face (maybe due to immunizations he had received two weeks previous). The next day, Wednesday was Anna's birthday. Lizzy threw up and it quickly became apparent she had the stomach flu still, again, whatever!! Poor Anna. We had to cancel her birthday party with friends and schedule for another day. Then the next day after school Adam came home complaining that his tummy ached. The next morning Adam woke up sick with the stomach flu, and crying because he was going to miss his pajama day at school, where they got to wear their pajamas and watch March of the Penguins as a reward that their class had been working on all year. Poor kid.
All this time Lizzy continues to be sick. I am beginning to wonder if she has some kind of serious, life-threatening illness by this point. Ben did get over his rash, though, and broke three of the four molars through, so was feeling a little better. Then Saturday, Anna comes down with a terrible cold. Coughing, watery eyes, sore throat, the whole bit. All the kids weren't feeling well and we kept them ALL home from church on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday provided us with bit of a respite, despite Anna still having mild cold symptoms. We were able to successfully have Anna's party Tuesday. Good thing because the next day Lizzy was feeling rotten again. This time she had caught Anna's lovely cold. Then this past Thursday Anna went to the doctor and had three shots in preparation for kindergarten, while Ben clung desparately to me, as he had now caught the cold bug. Lizzy and Ben still have their colds and they have been grouchy, grouchy, grouchy.
We did choose to bring them to church today though, but didn't send Liz to the nursery. They stayed with Greg while I taught my primary class, but about all they did was cry. One person commented to Greg as he was walking down the hall with both of them screaming, "At least they can cry in harmony!!". Yeah, thanks for noticing. Despite all of this, I am happy to report that I am still living, and have yet to be sick, knock on wood. We also did enjoy a very pleasant afternoon and evening together as a family. Even Ben did alright as long as I was holding him (I wouldn't suggest letting your 16 month old eat spaghetti on your lap unless you are prepared to change clothes afterward).
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, we put the kids in bed tonight, and Lizzy called me in because her arm was bothering her. When I checked it, it had hives all over it!! Moral of the story, when you have four kids 6 and under, chances are there is going to be someone sick a whole lot at your house, so just get used to it! It does get better as they get older, right?
Monday, January 30, 2006
Anna turns 5
We celebrated Anna's fifth birthday on Wednesday of last week. Unfortunately, it fell right in the middle of the sickest week we've had around our house all year - no one was feeling real well. Nevertheless, we had a fun time watching her open presents and even enjoyed a little cake and ice cream. The party had to get moved to this week however, so she's gearing up to celebrate again. She is still as sweet as ever - always willing to give so that others around her will be happy. She's learning to read now and is super excited and super proud of herself to be doing that. We really enjoy having her in our family! Happy birthday Anna!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Personality Test
So, some of you know that I am very interested in personalities. How they differ, how people in the same family are the same and how they are different. My mother-in-law posted a link to a good, free online personality test. It is based on the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which can only be taken through a professional counselor, etc. This was a pretty good one though, even if it is not as thorough and complete as the MBTI. I thought it might be enjoyable for some of you to take it. Ok, ok, the real reason I want you to take it, is so you will tell me what type you are, and I can know a little more about you, and understand you better. Yes, some of you are very difficult to understand!! If you are curious, I tested as an INFJ. If you don't know what that is, just type INFJ into Google, and all sorts of profiles will come up. Anyway, here is a link that I thought would be fun :http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp Don't forget to report back!
Monday, January 16, 2006
Kidnapped?
We had a little run-in with the police today that we thought you all would like to know about. So far none of us are in jail, so we're optimistic it will all turn out alright in the end.
The incident started benignly enough - naptime. Anna, who normally doesn't nap, seemed extra tired so Tammy had her lie down for a few minutes. After a while Ben woke up screaming (he sometimes doesn't wake up too happy). He was crying loud enough that he woke Anna from her nap and soon after Lizzy was up. All three woke up in foul moods and were all screaming and crying. Tammy, Adam, and I each tackled one and tried to help them calm down (I think Adam was most successful - playing catch with Ben normally calms him down).
Eventually, everyone was calm enough (though still a little edgy) that we decided to venture out of the house. We had been home all day and it seemed like we needed to get out, so we headed to the library. Arriving at the library, everyone seemed to be in good enough moods, but things went sour pretty quickly. The library was sponsoring a game which had each of the kids draw a slip of paper from a fishbowl. If they pulled out a picture of a fish, the child won a free book. Of course, Adam was the winner and the girls missed out. They handled it okay for a little while, but then Anna discovered Adam's new book wasn't any ordinary book, it was a sticker book! That's when life, in her eyes, became very unfair and when our day became much more eventful.
It began with a little complaining, which soon turned to tears, and eventually grew to sobbing. When the sobbing turned to all-out crying, we started to get some looks from the other library patrons and workers (libraries aren't the friendliest places toward crying kids). I decided it was time that Anna and I left the library. So, I left Tammy with the other three kids and headed for the exit. Unfortunately that meant a trek all the way across the library. Anna did NOT enjoy being hauled out of the library and let everyone know it. By the time we got to the exit, she was screaming at the top of her lungs and kicking and fighting and doing everything she could to get away from me. My anger and embarrassment was mounting with every kick I took to the gut and every pitiful look I got from another patron and I think that frustration was very evident on my face.
We finally got out of the building and headed for the car - Anna still kicking and clawing and screaming "Let go of me!". On the sidewalk, we passed a friendly looking old woman. She said, "Oh my, someone doesn't want to leave the library!". I just grumbled something to her and went on, reaching the van and throwing Anna in. She continued to scream at the top of her lungs while I just sat in the front for a few minutes trying to calm down. I noticed the little old woman from before walking passed the van and looking kind of intently at the van, but didn't really give much thought to it.
Eventually, Tammy and the other kids made it out of the library, piled in the car, and we headed home. Upon arriving home, I headed up with Anna to have a "discussion" about what had happened at the library. After a few minutes of not making much headway and her continuing to scream, I left the bedroom and walked into the loft. I happened to glance out the window and noticed a police car parked at the end of our driveway - "That's odd", I thought.
Just about that time, the phone rings and Tammy answered. The conversation went something like this. "Mrs. Finch, this is Officer X from the Bettendorf Police Department. We received a call a few minutes ago about a possible kidnapping at the Bettendorf Public Library. The witness said the child was loaded into your van and carried away. Was your husband at the library a few minutes ago?" "Yes." "Did he have any of your children with him?" "Yes." "Okay, and did one of the children have a temper tantrum at the library?" "Yes." "Okay, we're sorry to bother you, we just wanted to be sure that it was your child your husband was struggling out of the library." After he hung up, the squad car in front promptly drove away.
We've had lots of incidents of screaming kids in public places - just one of the joys of parenting - but never have we had to have the police involved! Ironically, as we were walking through the library, with Anna kicking and screaming, I was thinking, "you know, I bet this looks like a kidnapping!".
Anna did eventually calm down and very sweetly and sincerely apologized for the way she had been acting. It's very unlike her to have fits like that, but I think she was just having an all-around bad day.
The incident started benignly enough - naptime. Anna, who normally doesn't nap, seemed extra tired so Tammy had her lie down for a few minutes. After a while Ben woke up screaming (he sometimes doesn't wake up too happy). He was crying loud enough that he woke Anna from her nap and soon after Lizzy was up. All three woke up in foul moods and were all screaming and crying. Tammy, Adam, and I each tackled one and tried to help them calm down (I think Adam was most successful - playing catch with Ben normally calms him down).
Eventually, everyone was calm enough (though still a little edgy) that we decided to venture out of the house. We had been home all day and it seemed like we needed to get out, so we headed to the library. Arriving at the library, everyone seemed to be in good enough moods, but things went sour pretty quickly. The library was sponsoring a game which had each of the kids draw a slip of paper from a fishbowl. If they pulled out a picture of a fish, the child won a free book. Of course, Adam was the winner and the girls missed out. They handled it okay for a little while, but then Anna discovered Adam's new book wasn't any ordinary book, it was a sticker book! That's when life, in her eyes, became very unfair and when our day became much more eventful.
It began with a little complaining, which soon turned to tears, and eventually grew to sobbing. When the sobbing turned to all-out crying, we started to get some looks from the other library patrons and workers (libraries aren't the friendliest places toward crying kids). I decided it was time that Anna and I left the library. So, I left Tammy with the other three kids and headed for the exit. Unfortunately that meant a trek all the way across the library. Anna did NOT enjoy being hauled out of the library and let everyone know it. By the time we got to the exit, she was screaming at the top of her lungs and kicking and fighting and doing everything she could to get away from me. My anger and embarrassment was mounting with every kick I took to the gut and every pitiful look I got from another patron and I think that frustration was very evident on my face.
We finally got out of the building and headed for the car - Anna still kicking and clawing and screaming "Let go of me!". On the sidewalk, we passed a friendly looking old woman. She said, "Oh my, someone doesn't want to leave the library!". I just grumbled something to her and went on, reaching the van and throwing Anna in. She continued to scream at the top of her lungs while I just sat in the front for a few minutes trying to calm down. I noticed the little old woman from before walking passed the van and looking kind of intently at the van, but didn't really give much thought to it.
Eventually, Tammy and the other kids made it out of the library, piled in the car, and we headed home. Upon arriving home, I headed up with Anna to have a "discussion" about what had happened at the library. After a few minutes of not making much headway and her continuing to scream, I left the bedroom and walked into the loft. I happened to glance out the window and noticed a police car parked at the end of our driveway - "That's odd", I thought.
Just about that time, the phone rings and Tammy answered. The conversation went something like this. "Mrs. Finch, this is Officer X from the Bettendorf Police Department. We received a call a few minutes ago about a possible kidnapping at the Bettendorf Public Library. The witness said the child was loaded into your van and carried away. Was your husband at the library a few minutes ago?" "Yes." "Did he have any of your children with him?" "Yes." "Okay, and did one of the children have a temper tantrum at the library?" "Yes." "Okay, we're sorry to bother you, we just wanted to be sure that it was your child your husband was struggling out of the library." After he hung up, the squad car in front promptly drove away.
We've had lots of incidents of screaming kids in public places - just one of the joys of parenting - but never have we had to have the police involved! Ironically, as we were walking through the library, with Anna kicking and screaming, I was thinking, "you know, I bet this looks like a kidnapping!".
Anna did eventually calm down and very sweetly and sincerely apologized for the way she had been acting. It's very unlike her to have fits like that, but I think she was just having an all-around bad day.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Ben update
Well I just took Ben to the doctor for his 15 month checkup and shots, so I thought it would be a good time to give an update on what he is doing. He is just over 24 lbs. now and about 30 inches long. That is between 50 and 75 percentiles for weight and 50 for height. Of course he still has a huge head, in the 90 something percentile. He has six teeth, but is working on his 4 back molars right now. Poor little guy, one tooth has bruised and swollen up his gums so much that they are all purple and have been for quite some time. He doesn't like me to touch it, but other than that he doesn't complain too much. He is sleeping really good now, usually about 11 hours a night, and he takes one nap each day. I weaned him about a month or two ago, and he is doing fine with that. It has been nice for me too! He is saying a lot of words now. His two favorites are probably apple (meaning ball currently) and Papa. He also says five (like give me five, but it sounds more like die), good night, bye-bye, Lizzy, more, stinky, and up. There are others, but I can't think of them right now.
Probably the most exciting thing, though, is that Ben is finally walking!! I guess he was a little embarassed about what I said in the Christmas newsletter (I know the picture was terrible by the way, but at least it was a picture), so he started getting around a couple of days after Christmas. It has been such a gradual process for him. He has been taking steps for a couple of months, then he started to go between things that were close together, then things that were a little bit farther apart, and now I would say that he is finally walking. He still can't stand by himself though. He crawls to hold on to something to pull himself up to standing so he can walk again. He still is just a pleasant little guy. Very cheerful, but also very strong willed. He knows what he wants and what he doesn't. It is sure is fun to have him growing up a little bit. I really enjoy this stage of a child's development.
Probably the most exciting thing, though, is that Ben is finally walking!! I guess he was a little embarassed about what I said in the Christmas newsletter (I know the picture was terrible by the way, but at least it was a picture), so he started getting around a couple of days after Christmas. It has been such a gradual process for him. He has been taking steps for a couple of months, then he started to go between things that were close together, then things that were a little bit farther apart, and now I would say that he is finally walking. He still can't stand by himself though. He crawls to hold on to something to pull himself up to standing so he can walk again. He still is just a pleasant little guy. Very cheerful, but also very strong willed. He knows what he wants and what he doesn't. It is sure is fun to have him growing up a little bit. I really enjoy this stage of a child's development.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Wisconsin Dells
Since our family never really had a chance to take a family vacation last year and since we were tired of the cold dark snowy winter weather, we decided to take a trip to the Wisconsin Dells for a few days between Christmas and New Year's Day. Wisconsin Dells is known as the "waterpark capital of the world" (I never would have guessed Wisconsin would be the home of the waterpark capital of the world - I would have thought that would be Las Vegas or somewhere hot!). It's a little town in the middle of Wisconsin completely built around tourism and boasts the largest waterpark in the world along with the two largest indoor waterparks in the world not to mention the other 20 or so waterparks in town.
Since our kids were not ready for the really big and crazy waterslides (and we didn't think our pocketbook was really ready for the pricetag on the really big and crazy waterslides), we decided to go to one of the smaller, children-oriented waterparks. Adam would have liked some bigger slides, but he was content with the 5 water basketball courts. There was one area meant for toddlers - Ben liked to spend a lot of time there. Another area was where the rest of the kids spent the majority of their time (pirate ship with water cannons, basketball, and slides). Our hotel was attached to the park so we could go from the room to the park anytime we wanted without having to go out in the cold winter weather.
A lot of our pictures turned out blurry, so some of the best shots didn't work out, but following are a couple of movies and a few still shots of our time at the park.
Here's Lizzy playing in the toddler pool. Every few minutes the pelican opens his mouth and vomits a tub of water down on the kids. She and Anna had a great time with this. After getting spit on, they would run over to the water fountain and take a "shower".
Share Video at DropShots.com
Here's Anna and Adam playing in the bigger pool. Anna is enjoying her favorite slide and Adam is of course playing basketball.
Here's Anna and Lizzy getting spit on by the Pelican.
This is a blurry shot of Ben getting drenched. He enjoyed the water most of the time, but was usually the first to be ready to go back to the hotel room.
Another shot of Adam playing basketball. In the background is some of the other fun things to do (like the pirate ship).
I should mention that when our family had taken on us President Hinckley's challenge to read the Book of Mormon, this trip was the reward we had set for ourselves if we all finished. Adam, of course, led the way and finished about a week early. We're very proud of him for accomplishing that! The girls also spent a lot of time listening to stories from the Book of Mormon reader. Tammy and I followed and finished up just in time.
Since our kids were not ready for the really big and crazy waterslides (and we didn't think our pocketbook was really ready for the pricetag on the really big and crazy waterslides), we decided to go to one of the smaller, children-oriented waterparks. Adam would have liked some bigger slides, but he was content with the 5 water basketball courts. There was one area meant for toddlers - Ben liked to spend a lot of time there. Another area was where the rest of the kids spent the majority of their time (pirate ship with water cannons, basketball, and slides). Our hotel was attached to the park so we could go from the room to the park anytime we wanted without having to go out in the cold winter weather.
A lot of our pictures turned out blurry, so some of the best shots didn't work out, but following are a couple of movies and a few still shots of our time at the park.
Here's Lizzy playing in the toddler pool. Every few minutes the pelican opens his mouth and vomits a tub of water down on the kids. She and Anna had a great time with this. After getting spit on, they would run over to the water fountain and take a "shower".
Share Video at DropShots.com
Here's Anna and Adam playing in the bigger pool. Anna is enjoying her favorite slide and Adam is of course playing basketball.
Here's Anna and Lizzy getting spit on by the Pelican.
This is a blurry shot of Ben getting drenched. He enjoyed the water most of the time, but was usually the first to be ready to go back to the hotel room.
Another shot of Adam playing basketball. In the background is some of the other fun things to do (like the pirate ship).
I should mention that when our family had taken on us President Hinckley's challenge to read the Book of Mormon, this trip was the reward we had set for ourselves if we all finished. Adam, of course, led the way and finished about a week early. We're very proud of him for accomplishing that! The girls also spent a lot of time listening to stories from the Book of Mormon reader. Tammy and I followed and finished up just in time.
Friday, January 06, 2006
A book
Well, once again it has been a while since we posted. We just like to keep you all hoping and anticipating a new entry. I hope it is worth the wait.
I just finished reading a book that I enjoyed and thought I would share a little bit about it. It was a book Greg gave me for Christmas. The title is "Cure for the Common Life" by Max Lucado. Many of you probably know him because of his children's book " You are Special". We love that one too. He is a Christian minister who has written many books. This particular book is non-fiction and is about finding what you are good at. It seems geared to those in the working world, but I was able to find some personal value in it for myself, although I am not in that world. He basically says that we are all given gifts, or talents if you like. These talents were given to us from God and will help us give something special to the world while we are on this earth. When we use them we are glorifying God, and we should acknowledge that He has given them to us. There were a couple of things that I liked about this book. One, it is full of excitement and makes you believe (or remember) that you are special and important as an individual. You are important to the Lord, and you can bless the lives of others in ways that no one else can.
I also liked the fact that he very openly addressed the issue that even the little things are important. To be useful to God and to be important to Him doesn't neccesarily mean that you are a great political leader or the CEO of a company or whatever else people see as "important". There is need for those who are great plumbers, artists, mothers, friends, computer scientists, ministers, and whatever else. There is a place for all of us! We are needed! We are all special. It had a great sense of that in the book, and and at the same time, a sense that you shouldn't let that go to your head. Give the credit to the Lord. He gave you those gifts. Let Him use you.
There was also a simple but helpful section in the back that helps you think about and find your own strengths. He says we should look at past experiences including childhood for some direction. I haven't spent a lot of time in this section, but I think it will be helpful, and it sounds like it is really a condensed version that is used by professional consultants. It is just nice that Max Lucado is trying to help you actually apply, in a very real way, the things he has written and believes.
For those of you Mormons out there, the religious language is a bit different from our own and the scripture references are from different versions of the Bible, rather than the King James version, but I didn't think that mattered much at all. It is also very simply written and easy to read. You almost feel like he is standing there talking to you, or at least you are listening to him teach a group. I would recommend it, especially if you are feeling dissatisfied with work or just wondering what you have to offer to anybody.
I just finished reading a book that I enjoyed and thought I would share a little bit about it. It was a book Greg gave me for Christmas. The title is "Cure for the Common Life" by Max Lucado. Many of you probably know him because of his children's book " You are Special". We love that one too. He is a Christian minister who has written many books. This particular book is non-fiction and is about finding what you are good at. It seems geared to those in the working world, but I was able to find some personal value in it for myself, although I am not in that world. He basically says that we are all given gifts, or talents if you like. These talents were given to us from God and will help us give something special to the world while we are on this earth. When we use them we are glorifying God, and we should acknowledge that He has given them to us. There were a couple of things that I liked about this book. One, it is full of excitement and makes you believe (or remember) that you are special and important as an individual. You are important to the Lord, and you can bless the lives of others in ways that no one else can.
I also liked the fact that he very openly addressed the issue that even the little things are important. To be useful to God and to be important to Him doesn't neccesarily mean that you are a great political leader or the CEO of a company or whatever else people see as "important". There is need for those who are great plumbers, artists, mothers, friends, computer scientists, ministers, and whatever else. There is a place for all of us! We are needed! We are all special. It had a great sense of that in the book, and and at the same time, a sense that you shouldn't let that go to your head. Give the credit to the Lord. He gave you those gifts. Let Him use you.
There was also a simple but helpful section in the back that helps you think about and find your own strengths. He says we should look at past experiences including childhood for some direction. I haven't spent a lot of time in this section, but I think it will be helpful, and it sounds like it is really a condensed version that is used by professional consultants. It is just nice that Max Lucado is trying to help you actually apply, in a very real way, the things he has written and believes.
For those of you Mormons out there, the religious language is a bit different from our own and the scripture references are from different versions of the Bible, rather than the King James version, but I didn't think that mattered much at all. It is also very simply written and easy to read. You almost feel like he is standing there talking to you, or at least you are listening to him teach a group. I would recommend it, especially if you are feeling dissatisfied with work or just wondering what you have to offer to anybody.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Christmas
We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We've elected to stay home and spend some quiet time together as a family. Quiet is a relative term I suppose - lets just say we let the kids run around like mad and didn't worry too much about it. A few firsts this year:
1) Adam no longer believes in Santa Clause. He's been wondering about it for a couple of years and asking some very probing questions. We refused to offer any more than encouragement to solve the puzzle for himself. It finally came down to the fact that the he doesn't believe the tooth fairy is real, so that means that Santa cannot be real!
2) The girls were totally excited about Santa Clause this year for the first time. They made cookies and left out milk and talked about it all day. Adam was a good sport and played right along with them.
3) Ben was old enough to enjoy toys this year and had a ball with his gifts.
4) We ended up with a full size basketball hoop and a larger-than-life Anna doll in our great room (pictures below).
5) Collectively, we ended up with some 20 new books to read. Books are always welcome in our home! Among them was a very touching photo biography of my (deceased) father created by my mother. Thanks Mom! I was glad to have opened that one a couple of days before Christmas - otherwise I would have spent the whole day in tears.
We enjoyed time together on Christmas Eve with a nice big feast followed by an evening program. We continued a Finch family tradition by all opening a gift of brand new pajamas to wear for the night. In the spirit of an Ebbert family tradition, we dressed up and acted out the Christmas story. Then we sang some songs, watched some movies, and finally got the kids to bed.
After about 4 hours of assembling the basketball hoop and other toys, Tammy and I actually made it to bed before Santa showed up.
The morning was fun - with the usual chaos and fun of unwrapping. Following is a short movie of some of the unwrapping fun...
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After the morning, we got all dressed up and headed to church. We combined with a couple of other congregations in the area and had a shorter than normal late morning church. It was a nice service and enjoyable for me to actually be able to sit with my family at church (until Ben started crying that is)!
The rest of the day has been spent relaxing and enjoying watching the kids having fun. All-in-all it was a great Christmas! Thanks to the many of you that gave gifts and letters and cards to our family this year. We hope you all have had a very Merry Christmas!
1) Adam no longer believes in Santa Clause. He's been wondering about it for a couple of years and asking some very probing questions. We refused to offer any more than encouragement to solve the puzzle for himself. It finally came down to the fact that the he doesn't believe the tooth fairy is real, so that means that Santa cannot be real!
2) The girls were totally excited about Santa Clause this year for the first time. They made cookies and left out milk and talked about it all day. Adam was a good sport and played right along with them.
3) Ben was old enough to enjoy toys this year and had a ball with his gifts.
4) We ended up with a full size basketball hoop and a larger-than-life Anna doll in our great room (pictures below).
5) Collectively, we ended up with some 20 new books to read. Books are always welcome in our home! Among them was a very touching photo biography of my (deceased) father created by my mother. Thanks Mom! I was glad to have opened that one a couple of days before Christmas - otherwise I would have spent the whole day in tears.
We enjoyed time together on Christmas Eve with a nice big feast followed by an evening program. We continued a Finch family tradition by all opening a gift of brand new pajamas to wear for the night. In the spirit of an Ebbert family tradition, we dressed up and acted out the Christmas story. Then we sang some songs, watched some movies, and finally got the kids to bed.
After about 4 hours of assembling the basketball hoop and other toys, Tammy and I actually made it to bed before Santa showed up.
The morning was fun - with the usual chaos and fun of unwrapping. Following is a short movie of some of the unwrapping fun...
Upload Video at DropShots.com
After the morning, we got all dressed up and headed to church. We combined with a couple of other congregations in the area and had a shorter than normal late morning church. It was a nice service and enjoyable for me to actually be able to sit with my family at church (until Ben started crying that is)!
The rest of the day has been spent relaxing and enjoying watching the kids having fun. All-in-all it was a great Christmas! Thanks to the many of you that gave gifts and letters and cards to our family this year. We hope you all have had a very Merry Christmas!
The two princesses
Here's Anna all dressed up in her new ballerina outfit carrying around Lizzy's new pet cat (thanks Uncle Jeff and family!). Lizzy insisted on wearing the red Santa socks with her dress (only fitting for the day, I guess).
Merry? Christmas
The whole Christmas thing was a little overwhelming to Lizzy, but she warmed up to the idea after a while and had a great day.
Stocking Unstuffer
Ben's favorite part of the morning was pulling things from his stocking. He also enjoyed the toys pretty well. He had managed to get many of his unwrapped before Christmas, but enjoyed rediscoving them this morning.
Hello Christmas!!
Here the kids are arriving first thing Christmas morning. I think their expressions in this picture reflect their true feelings of the morning. Adam - excited. Anna - overwhelmed. Lizzy - petrified (I don't really know why, she just seemed genuinely scared for the first 30 minutes or so this morning).
Annalina the Ballerina
"And Anna was hung from the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there!"Anna has been really wanting this ballerina outfit (although she really doesn't much like ballet - she certainly likes the clothing!). And, with many thanks to Hairy Grandpa and Grandma, she got it. We wanted to make sure it caught her eye first thing when she woke up in the morning, so we made a little "mannaquin". She was thrilled to find it.
Christmas Eve
As part of our Christmas Eve celebration, the kids acted out the story of the nativity. The kids came up with their own costumes. Starring:
Little Benjamin as the wooly sheep.
Blue the dog as the three wise men.
Captain Big Mac as the innkeeper.
And Little Red Riding Hood as Mary with the babe.
Little Benjamin as the wooly sheep.
Blue the dog as the three wise men.
Captain Big Mac as the innkeeper.
And Little Red Riding Hood as Mary with the babe.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Adam and basketball
Adam has enjoyed playing his first season of basketball this winter. He was a member of the "Snakes" basketball team for 1st and 2nd graders. It's been a great experience for him - he's really developed a lot of new skills playing on this team. He had a great time even though the team didn't do so well through most of the season - they lost their first 5 games - usually pretty badly. But during the last game of the season (yesterday), the whole team stepped up and pulled out a victory (38-30). Adam was the star of the game (in my opinion) - he scored 14 points, grabbed about 10 rebounds and had a couple of steals. He really was hustling around the court - and chasing after rebounds. At one point he even dove around another kid to save a rebound from going out of bounds - he ended up with skinned knees from that one, but was proud of his battle wounds.
The reason he scored so many points I think was not so much skill as brains - he figured out the system. You see, in first grade basketball, it is illegal to steal the ball while your opponent is dribbling - you can only steal passes. You also can't block shots. So every time Adam would get the ball, he would dribble kind of nonchalantly up to the basket, pick up the ball, focus and shoot it. It would go in most times. He figured out he could just keep dribbling forward and the opponent couldn't really stop him. Here are some pictures (and even a video) of Adam playing ball. These were taken two weeks ago...
Here's Adam on defense. He was real good at defense - he would stick with his guy no matter where he went - even if he ran past half court while the ball was under the basket. We'll have to work on keeping an eye both on his man and on the ball, but pretty good for starters!
Here he is defending again. Notice the seven footer on the left of the picture. This was the real reason Adam's team lost their first 5 games. Every one of the teams had a 2nd grader who had hit an early growth spurt. This particular team had 7 foot twins that got almost every rebound.
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Okay, so this video doesn't show Adam at his best, but it's still kind of fun. He's taking the ball down the court, dribbles it off the opponents foot. His coach kicks it back to him. He loses it again, but then grabs it and hands it to a teammate. Then he skips (literally) around and gets in perfect rebounding position - grabs the rebound and promptly throws up an airball - then runs back for defense.
The reason he scored so many points I think was not so much skill as brains - he figured out the system. You see, in first grade basketball, it is illegal to steal the ball while your opponent is dribbling - you can only steal passes. You also can't block shots. So every time Adam would get the ball, he would dribble kind of nonchalantly up to the basket, pick up the ball, focus and shoot it. It would go in most times. He figured out he could just keep dribbling forward and the opponent couldn't really stop him. Here are some pictures (and even a video) of Adam playing ball. These were taken two weeks ago...
Here's Adam on defense. He was real good at defense - he would stick with his guy no matter where he went - even if he ran past half court while the ball was under the basket. We'll have to work on keeping an eye both on his man and on the ball, but pretty good for starters!
Here he is defending again. Notice the seven footer on the left of the picture. This was the real reason Adam's team lost their first 5 games. Every one of the teams had a 2nd grader who had hit an early growth spurt. This particular team had 7 foot twins that got almost every rebound.
Upload Video at DropShots.com
Okay, so this video doesn't show Adam at his best, but it's still kind of fun. He's taking the ball down the court, dribbles it off the opponents foot. His coach kicks it back to him. He loses it again, but then grabs it and hands it to a teammate. Then he skips (literally) around and gets in perfect rebounding position - grabs the rebound and promptly throws up an airball - then runs back for defense.
Anna and her class (and one other class)
Can you find Anna? Here she is with some of her classmates performing.
Anna's preschool program
Anna just completed her first half of preschool this past friday. They had a fun program presentation for all the parents that day. Anna goes to preschool at the children's museum in town. It is an arts-based program so they do these incredible art projects. (That is one of the main reasons we chose this preschool for Anna). They have a kiln there in the building so they have made a few ceramic items, including a self portrait in clay. In addition to the art projects, they have dance once a week. This half of the year was ballet and starting in January it will be tap. Anyways, for their program they sang some cute little songs, but they also did some dances for us. They have been watching small segments of the nutcracker ballet in class once a week and they did a simple dance from the nutcracker suite. They danced to the Russian dance. It was a lot of fun. She has really enjoyed preschool, which has been quite a relief to us, since she initially was very resistive. She didn't love ballet though. She is looking forward to the change to tap. She was very nervous about performing in front of so many people. She was even in tears the night before, not wanting to go the next day. We talked her through it and put her teacher on alert to keep a special eye out for her, and she did it! We were so proud of her. We are hoping this preschool experience will make for a smoother transition to kindergarten next year.
Oh, I do have to mention as a little aside that the room mothers went a little crazy with the food for this little event. They had these two long tables filled with food. There were all sorts of ethnic foods made by some of the moms. We had food from the Phillipines (Lumpia), India (Samosa), Finland, fajitas wherever you want to say they are from, and a few others that I can't even remember. That doesn't include the regular cookies, punch, fruit kabobs, veggie tray. It was out of control!! But it was very yummy! They also had crafts for the kids to make and take home. It was crazy! What did I do to contribute you ask? I brought the veggie tray. That's about it. I also brought more kids than anyone else to enjoy the fun!!
We are so proud of Anna. We love her uniqueness. We love her desire to create beautiful things. We hope you enjoy some of the pictures of her at her program. We wish you could have seen her in person, but this will have to do.
Oh, I do have to mention as a little aside that the room mothers went a little crazy with the food for this little event. They had these two long tables filled with food. There were all sorts of ethnic foods made by some of the moms. We had food from the Phillipines (Lumpia), India (Samosa), Finland, fajitas wherever you want to say they are from, and a few others that I can't even remember. That doesn't include the regular cookies, punch, fruit kabobs, veggie tray. It was out of control!! But it was very yummy! They also had crafts for the kids to make and take home. It was crazy! What did I do to contribute you ask? I brought the veggie tray. That's about it. I also brought more kids than anyone else to enjoy the fun!!
We are so proud of Anna. We love her uniqueness. We love her desire to create beautiful things. We hope you enjoy some of the pictures of her at her program. We wish you could have seen her in person, but this will have to do.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Rotten Timing
We have a story of rotten timing. When we bought our new house, we bought some new appliances to go with it. Thinking we would really like it, we decided to buy one of those ceramic glass cooktop (flattop) ranges. We've liked it pretty well - it's easy to clean. Well, yesterday after we finished cooking dinner we noticed a small crack in the glass cooktop. A few minutes later the small crack had spread all the way across the top in several directions making all the burners virtually unusable.
On any normal week this would have not been a big deal. The glass top has a warranty so we can get that replaced and we could normally handle a few days without a stove. But, we're hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 16 people tomorrow! It couldn't have happened at a worse time! We can still do the turkey - we just haven't quite figured out how to do mashed potatoes and gravy in the microwave. Maybe we can rig up something in the fireplace? We'll figure something out!
On any normal week this would have not been a big deal. The glass top has a warranty so we can get that replaced and we could normally handle a few days without a stove. But, we're hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 16 people tomorrow! It couldn't have happened at a worse time! We can still do the turkey - we just haven't quite figured out how to do mashed potatoes and gravy in the microwave. Maybe we can rig up something in the fireplace? We'll figure something out!
Monday, November 21, 2005
Lizzy was a pretty grouchy leopard (oops, I mean "I'm a CAT!") when we headed out for trick or treating, so we didn't get much of a good picture. After the first door, she perked up a lot though and had a ball.
At each door, we stayed back on the sidewalk and let the kids approach the door themselves. At one particular door, the friendly neighbor said, "Hello, kids! You can take whatever candy you would like from the bucket." Lizzy immediately grabbed the bucket from the poor man and dumped the entire contents into her basket (and some onto the ground). I guess the man got some of his candy back from Lizzy, but, according to Adam, similar things happened at several houses. When she got home her basket was overflowing while the other kids were only about half full!
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Adam
Well Adam has probably had the most excitement in his life the past couple of weeks, so I thought I would let you know what he is doing. He is finally adjusting to his new school and new teacher. He is enjoying things much more now. He is playing with friends from his class at recess now instead of the old stand-bys from church, which I think is a good sign. He has a new love at school. It is tetherball. They didn't have tetherball at his school last year, so this is something new and exciting. He really has enjoyed that, even though, at his own admission, he is not very good at it.
Adam has also started playing basketball through a league here in town. He is loving that, and I have been surprised how enjoyable it is to watch him play. He gets a little excited about things and tends to jump and bounce around the court instead of running. He scored his first basket in the last game they played, but his strength is definitely dribbling (and I don't mean on his chin). His team is altogether pretty terrible, but they don't seem to mind. They are just happy to be out there playing ball.
In a different area of his life, Adam is undergoing some changes. He lost two teeth a couple of weeks ago. It is his bottom two teeth. They came out just two days apart from each other. He pulled them both out himself, mostly because he would not let Greg or I near him. What was he doing while he pulled them out; he was jumping up and down. He is a bit excitable I guess. He has been pestering me to know if the tooth fairy is real (I think he mostly wanted to know if he was REALLY going to get any money). I think he kind of knew already, so I told him, but we still gave him some money (although not the $10 that he claims his friend got for each tooth!). He also has strict instructions not to let the girls on to this little secret.
Adam probably has the most exciting life of anyone in our family. He continues to love the piano and excels at just about anything he does, with the exception of tetherball I guess. He is still working on finishing the Book of Mormon by the end of this year and constantly amazes us at his retention and comprehension. He has been the inspiration for his primary teacher and other adults in the ward to keep going. "If Adam can do it, so can I." He is an amazing kid.
Adam has also started playing basketball through a league here in town. He is loving that, and I have been surprised how enjoyable it is to watch him play. He gets a little excited about things and tends to jump and bounce around the court instead of running. He scored his first basket in the last game they played, but his strength is definitely dribbling (and I don't mean on his chin). His team is altogether pretty terrible, but they don't seem to mind. They are just happy to be out there playing ball.
In a different area of his life, Adam is undergoing some changes. He lost two teeth a couple of weeks ago. It is his bottom two teeth. They came out just two days apart from each other. He pulled them both out himself, mostly because he would not let Greg or I near him. What was he doing while he pulled them out; he was jumping up and down. He is a bit excitable I guess. He has been pestering me to know if the tooth fairy is real (I think he mostly wanted to know if he was REALLY going to get any money). I think he kind of knew already, so I told him, but we still gave him some money (although not the $10 that he claims his friend got for each tooth!). He also has strict instructions not to let the girls on to this little secret.
Adam probably has the most exciting life of anyone in our family. He continues to love the piano and excels at just about anything he does, with the exception of tetherball I guess. He is still working on finishing the Book of Mormon by the end of this year and constantly amazes us at his retention and comprehension. He has been the inspiration for his primary teacher and other adults in the ward to keep going. "If Adam can do it, so can I." He is an amazing kid.
Back in Business
Well, hello there blogsphere! As many of you know our computer has been down for quite a while. After two motherboards and some house calls from the computer doctor, we ended up buying a new computer anyway! Computers are pretty cheap these days, so if you suspect you have a motherboard problem just buy a new computer!! We ended up spending as much trying to fix our computer as we bought our new one for! ARGH!! The good side of all this is you lucky folks out there get to hear what is going on in our lives again, and I get to be more involved in some of yours. I definitely like computers for that reason. We are officially back in business, so there will probably be a string of posts the next little while. Are you ready??
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Another day at the office
I think I've found a new calling in life. I want to be an excavator operator! A couple of weeks ago my management at work invited my work team to the John Deere proving grounds to test drive some construction equipment. Working in an office job on computers all the time, it's easy to lose sight of what the company is all about. So every now and then they like to take us out to play with some equipment so that we can feel "connected" to the product. This is the first time I've taken advantage of one of these opportunities. Following are a few pictures of my experience.
Of all the equipment I drove, this excavator was by far my favorite. This is one of the smaller excavators that Deere makes (they wouldn't trust us with anything bigger!) but it was still very powerful. I think it's a good stress reliever, so I'm asking for one for Christmas. When the going gets tough, I'll just say, "Honey, I'm going in the back yard to dig for a while."
All the motion is controlled by two joysticks. The joystick on the left swings the cab and arm left and right and moves the main arm up and down. The joystick on the right operates the bucket and the lower part of the arm. To dig, you basically just move the two joysticks around in circles and the thing will dig in one spot and dump in another.
This is I think what is called an "articulated front end loader" (okay, so maybe I better stick to computers until I learn the proper names for these things). This was the favorite of many out there that day, but for me it didn't measure up to the excavator.
Driving the front end loader was also very easy. You basically have a steering wheel, an accelerator, and a brake (like most vehicles). To operate the bucket, there was just one joystick (forward to raise it up, backward to lower it, left to scoop, right to dump). Since you're constantly going forward and backward, there's a small switch on the joystick - switch it one way and you go forward, switch it the other way and you go backward.
This bulldozer was kind of fun. Going over this little mountain was a bit of a kick. Bulldozers typically move forward (or backward) at a constant speed. You can tell in the picture if I go just a little bit further forward, my front is going to be heavier than my back and the whole thing is going to fall forward. Well, my first time over the hill that's exactly what happened and I almost crashed through the windshield. The trick, I learned, is to push the decelerator pedal when you get to the top, then you kind of ease over the hill gradually. I'll stick to the excavator.
Here I am on a little backhoe. This was the first machine I tried out. It was fun enough, but didn't pack near the punch of the excavator. It could dig holes well enough though.
Here's the biggest vehicle that we got to drive that day. By dump truck standards, it's medium sized but I still think it's the biggest vehicle I've ever driven. You'll notice it is articulated like the front end loader (meaning it bends in the middle). That's how it steers. When you turn the wheel, hydraulic cylinders bend the front end around the corner and the backend follows. It feels quite a bit different than steering a normal small vehicle (I almost hit a fence at one point).
The guy that was riding with me said it would go up to 35 miles per hour, but I got it up to 40 and I think it would go faster if you pushed it. At one point, he said to gun it (that's when I got it to 40). We were cruising down a dirt road and at the end there was a gated fence. He said "Don't let up, don't let up, don't let up". About 30 feet short of the fence he says, "Okay take your foot off the accelerator." I did (as soon as he said the word "Okay" - I was getting a little nervous)! The truck just stopped. It didn't throw you forward like slamming on brakes, but the thing went from 40-0 in about 20 feet - no brakes required! He said it's something built into the transmission that stops the vehicle any time you take your foot off the accelerator (no cruise control in this beast!). I don't suppose friction brakes would last long trying to stop 40 tons of momentum.
All-in-all, it was a very fun day. I was very impressed by all the equipment. The most impressive thing was how simple it was to drive everything. They just gave a two minute orientation to the first driver of each machine, then they expected you to pass on the information to the next driver. It was that easy. They've made driving those complex machines easier than driving a car. Most everything was run by joysticks, and the cabs were all very comfortable. Honestly, I think I would be more comfortable moving tons of dirt around all day than I typically am in my desk chair.
So, if you ever have a chance to dig a basement or a swimming pool for someone, I highly recommend it (only if it's with a Deere of course)!
Of all the equipment I drove, this excavator was by far my favorite. This is one of the smaller excavators that Deere makes (they wouldn't trust us with anything bigger!) but it was still very powerful. I think it's a good stress reliever, so I'm asking for one for Christmas. When the going gets tough, I'll just say, "Honey, I'm going in the back yard to dig for a while."
All the motion is controlled by two joysticks. The joystick on the left swings the cab and arm left and right and moves the main arm up and down. The joystick on the right operates the bucket and the lower part of the arm. To dig, you basically just move the two joysticks around in circles and the thing will dig in one spot and dump in another.
This is I think what is called an "articulated front end loader" (okay, so maybe I better stick to computers until I learn the proper names for these things). This was the favorite of many out there that day, but for me it didn't measure up to the excavator.Driving the front end loader was also very easy. You basically have a steering wheel, an accelerator, and a brake (like most vehicles). To operate the bucket, there was just one joystick (forward to raise it up, backward to lower it, left to scoop, right to dump). Since you're constantly going forward and backward, there's a small switch on the joystick - switch it one way and you go forward, switch it the other way and you go backward.
This bulldozer was kind of fun. Going over this little mountain was a bit of a kick. Bulldozers typically move forward (or backward) at a constant speed. You can tell in the picture if I go just a little bit further forward, my front is going to be heavier than my back and the whole thing is going to fall forward. Well, my first time over the hill that's exactly what happened and I almost crashed through the windshield. The trick, I learned, is to push the decelerator pedal when you get to the top, then you kind of ease over the hill gradually. I'll stick to the excavator.
Here I am on a little backhoe. This was the first machine I tried out. It was fun enough, but didn't pack near the punch of the excavator. It could dig holes well enough though.
Here's the biggest vehicle that we got to drive that day. By dump truck standards, it's medium sized but I still think it's the biggest vehicle I've ever driven. You'll notice it is articulated like the front end loader (meaning it bends in the middle). That's how it steers. When you turn the wheel, hydraulic cylinders bend the front end around the corner and the backend follows. It feels quite a bit different than steering a normal small vehicle (I almost hit a fence at one point).
The guy that was riding with me said it would go up to 35 miles per hour, but I got it up to 40 and I think it would go faster if you pushed it. At one point, he said to gun it (that's when I got it to 40). We were cruising down a dirt road and at the end there was a gated fence. He said "Don't let up, don't let up, don't let up". About 30 feet short of the fence he says, "Okay take your foot off the accelerator." I did (as soon as he said the word "Okay" - I was getting a little nervous)! The truck just stopped. It didn't throw you forward like slamming on brakes, but the thing went from 40-0 in about 20 feet - no brakes required! He said it's something built into the transmission that stops the vehicle any time you take your foot off the accelerator (no cruise control in this beast!). I don't suppose friction brakes would last long trying to stop 40 tons of momentum.All-in-all, it was a very fun day. I was very impressed by all the equipment. The most impressive thing was how simple it was to drive everything. They just gave a two minute orientation to the first driver of each machine, then they expected you to pass on the information to the next driver. It was that easy. They've made driving those complex machines easier than driving a car. Most everything was run by joysticks, and the cabs were all very comfortable. Honestly, I think I would be more comfortable moving tons of dirt around all day than I typically am in my desk chair.
So, if you ever have a chance to dig a basement or a swimming pool for someone, I highly recommend it (only if it's with a Deere of course)!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Anna update
Anna got her cast off this week and her arm seems to be healing nicely. She was rather concerned about the saw chopping away at her cast, but that turned out to not be frightening for her at all. It helped that she had a good doctor that she felt comfortable enough with that she even talked to him.
She has been very protective of her arm since the cast came off though. She was worried enough about it that the kind doctor gave her a removable splint to wear to help her feel secure. The problem is, she won't remove the splint for anything. Getting her to take it off to bathe has been quite an ordeal - it really frightens her to have her arm exposed. Today, after much coaxing, I was able to give her a bath and convince her to leave the splint off for one hour after the bath. She just sat on the chair and held her arm for the whole hour; afraid to play or run or really even move. She did finally relax some and got up and moved around a little without the splint. Tonight, she agreed to take off the splint while she sleeps. So, little by little, I think she'll become more comfortable using her arm.
She has been very protective of her arm since the cast came off though. She was worried enough about it that the kind doctor gave her a removable splint to wear to help her feel secure. The problem is, she won't remove the splint for anything. Getting her to take it off to bathe has been quite an ordeal - it really frightens her to have her arm exposed. Today, after much coaxing, I was able to give her a bath and convince her to leave the splint off for one hour after the bath. She just sat on the chair and held her arm for the whole hour; afraid to play or run or really even move. She did finally relax some and got up and moved around a little without the splint. Tonight, she agreed to take off the splint while she sleeps. So, little by little, I think she'll become more comfortable using her arm.
Blog Silence
Hopefully you've noticed that we've been rather silent bloggers lately. Our computer is ill and doesn't seem to be recovering, so we haven't been online a whole lot lately. We're not exactly sure what's wrong, it has been just freezing up every now and then, but the freeze-ups were becoming more frequent and happening more quickly. Now we can rarely, if ever, get through a full bootup before the freeze happens. A little internet research suggests that it's a hardware problem. So, we're kind of out of a home computer for the time being.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
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