3/13/17 A Smile and a Frown

This morning Heidi took Sarah to see the doctor about her sore throat. While they were gone I worked with the other kids on "4 for Fun". Rebecca has finished 95% of the 6th grade mission. As of today she has at least started all the skills that sixth graders are expected to know. She could be completely done by the end of the week. The other kids also worked on math, reading, music and chores. David was a big helper coaching Joseph on the Preschool mission. At first Joseph wasn't sure he wanted to do it. Then when he saw David would do it with him he got excited about it. I think Joseph liked the idea of being included with the big kids. Rebecca also taught Joseph some notes on the piano. It makes me smile to see the kids helping each other.

Heidi sent me this picture of Sarah at the Doctor's office. They confirmed Strep and prescribed antibiotics. Sarah is already starting to feel better.
This evening for FHE we decided to bake cookies and take them to our home and visiting teaching families. We've had a hard time getting our regular visits in and we're trying to repent. It was a good FHE. Some families were not home but we had good visits with several people.

3/12/17 Hug Pile

As the kids were getting ready this morning I heard one of them say something about a dog pile. Next thing you know there is a pile of children in the living room. One of them said it was more like a "hug pile" than a dog pile. Let's go with that. From the bottom we have Rebecca then TJ, Joseph and Peter loving it on top. This moment gave me a little "joy in my posterity". Funny kids.

As I was tidying up a bit I found this original poem composed by David and Rebecca. I believe that they did it just for fun and gave it to me. Another "awe shucks" kind of moment.

3/11/17 Air and Water

This morning Heidi dropped me off at the Stake Center to do our test run for stake conference. We have a couple of new team members, Jeff, Ryan and Archie. They have varying levels of video know how but all seem to be hard workers. They also ask smart questions. This bodes well that they will learn what they need to know. As is typical we found a few things out of order but we were able to get past them. One of the TVs has a bad input and my old Apple router has issues with its fan. Over all the test was a big success. We got both feeds up and going to both buildings. The feed using the church web stream is still not trustworthy so we may have to find another alternative. It's a bummer because it almost works.

After the test we waited for David to get home from the Camporee then headed to the air field. We, apparently, we're off on what day the free air show was.

The good news is that we still went into the museum and checked out the planes. David, Rebecca, Sarah, TJ and Joseph came with me. Peter fell asleep on the way so Heidi stayed with him in the van.

There are some great WWII planes to see.

Here David, TJ and Sarah are under the bomb bay doors.

TJ, Joseph and David liked the belly gunner turret. TJ said it reminded him of Star Wars. I told him that the Star Wars turret was probably based on this plane.

After the Air Museum the kids voted for the pool. Here is Sarah jumping in. This is the first time the kids have been to the pool this year.

Here is TJ taking a turn.

TJ and Joseph warming back up. The water was too cold for grown ups but the kids had fun.

3/10/17 Family History Fun

Today Gram and Papa came by to work together with Heidi and Me. Gram brought this fun picture of my grandmother in the newspaper.

Here is a close up shot of it. She is a pretty lady. Mom notes that Oleander is poisonous. Happily we know from history that my Grandmother made it though apparently unharmed. It is fun to learn more specifics about our ancestors.

3/9/17 A Softer Side of Joseph

Recently I snapped a couple of pictures that reflect a kinder, gentler Joseph. In the evening I turned around to see Joseph giving Peter a hug. These two clearly love each other a lot.

Joseph has a friend at preschool. Her name is Amy. She and her Mom walk to meet us instead of walking directly to preschool. Today Amy came over to play for a little while. These two are good buddies. Joseph looks forward to preschool in large part because he gets to play with Amy their. Fun times.

3/8/17 TJ T-Shirt

Today TJ wanted to be the first in he family to wear his new Cubs shirt. David, of course, has a uniform he wears to school. I'm still hoping to snap a pic of the older kids in their new shirts. It has been a little too hectic and we have not been organized enough. I'm glad to see that TJ took action on his own. He is a fun kid.

3/7/17 Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Today was a fairly busy day. It started with a trip to the Temple for me. I did initiatory, in part because it takes less time. It is nice to be able to make time to be in that spiritual place.
After my Temple visit it was time for our home inspection. Gary Cornia and Charlie Cluff did the inspecting for us. They were much happier about this place than the last house they inspected for us. It is still an aging house and has a few things that need fixing. Still, there did not appear to be any major deal breakers.

After the inspection Heidi chauffeured us over to the Cubs spring training ball park. Gram, Papa, Becca B and I got to watch them play an odd Italian national team. I say odd because most of the team appeared to be from the United States. I sat by Gram in the accessible seats. We read the scoreboard but didn't ever quite make sense of it.

Here is Gram in her stylish pink cow girl hat. More than one stranger complimented her on it.

Here is a selfie. More proof that I haven't yet developed the skill of natural looking smiles in photographs.

At the park Papa treated us to foot long Chicago Dogs. I thought Costco hotdogs were big but these were massive.
It was a back and forth game. The Italians got off to an early lead. Then the grew it. Just when it seemed the Cubbies were out they started their own run. A couple of home runs and they retook the lead. Alas it was not meant to be. The Italians had some home run hitters of their own. They scored two more runs late in the game and that was it. Game over. It was still fun to watch. I'm glad Gram and Papa took me. They also got some shirts for the kids. What a fun treat.