Jun 18 2009
It took us a while to get some audio together, but it’s here now. This episode features the debut of Laura – she’s on the last segment, so you’ll have to listen all the way through. This episode is a little longer than the others (17 minutes).
Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment. Remember, it takes a while to have comments approved – so if they don’t show up right away, don’t sweat it … they will.
Apr 20 2009
After the attention that the tea parties around the nation, the FairTax is starting to rise in the consciousness of many as well. In fact, last week the Missouri house actually brought the state version of the FairTax out to the floor of the House and passed it! It have support from Democrats and Republicans. This week it is being considered in the state Senate where it’s passage will be more difficult, but nobody thought it would ever get this far – so stay tuned…
For those of you who might not be able to see our local news, you may want to see the first 30 seconds of the Kelsey’s 15 minutes of fame – check it. (It actually starts automatically – and that can be VERY annoying 
)
[Edited: I changed this to just a link so it wouldn't play and annoy people...]
Why don’t you comment about this below. If you don’t want to get into the politics part, just talk about how great I looked on TV! 
Apr 10 2009
It seems like this is the way things have always been. Monday nights are always hectic. After work it’s the rush home (love that commute), just in time to participate in burrito night – that’s Monday night at our house.
But no sooner are the dishes cleared from the table than it’s time to grab my videos and such and head out the door to Financial Peace University. And then get home just as the kids are being tucked into bed. That’s Monday – or at least it has been in 2009.
Now that’s all over. Another class of FPU graduates have been released into the wild. They will now be responsible for conversations in the work place over whether there is such a good thing as good debt and bad debt. Hmm, if debt is slavery (according to Proverbs 22:7) then is there such a thing as good slavery and bad slavery? That kind of puts a different slant on things. They will also be there to encourage people that you don’t “always have to have a car payment” and you don’t “always have to owe somebody.” They will be an example that you can dig your way out of the mess you’ve gotten into.
It’s tough to reorient your time and not to just let it fall into that mess called “free time”. But we’ll see how that turns out.
Oh, you want to see the graduating class? Take a gander.
Here are a couple of shots of our last night
And our official graduation finishing photo…
And there you have it! It was a real blast!
Do you want to be a part of a Financial Peace University class? Comment on the blog here to get in touch.
P.S. Dave Ramsey’s having a Town Hall of Hope event for Free on April 23, 2009 at a church or location near you. Check it out at http://www.townhallforhope.com
(Free advertising for Dave…)
Mar 31 2009
Well, it’s finally arrived. The first inklings of a sign of the end of an era. Last night, with evidently no prodding on any family member’s part. Nathan decided to take a stab at pooping on the potty.
He came downstairs with no pants on, holding out his hands saying that he needed a new pull-up. It was getting dark in the room so I couldn’t see anything unusual, so I replied just a minute… (I was looking something up, how unusual).
Next I heard Caleb call down that he needed help cleaning up the poop. What?!? As I came upstairs he explained that Nathan had tried (an ‘A’ for effort at least) to use the toilet. He mostly got it all in there. Just a little on the lid, some on his leg, and little portions helping to keep his fingers stuck together.
We got the little guy some relief. He wasn’t sure whether to cry or cheer. We left the toilet in its somewhat soiled condition as mommie would be home in a few minutes and it would be good for her to see the evidence. Plus I had done the fingers, the leg, and the unwiped bottom – well, frankly, I was pooped. (wah-wah!)
My father-in-law called right as we were running down stairs as we heard the garage door opening. We took Laura up to the scene of the crime. She couldn’t believe it. We all cheered for such a great accomplishment. Nathan exclaimed one of his all time favorite sayings: “I so happy!”
When he gets a handle on the idea of proper body waste disposal, it will be the end of a decade plus of childhood incontinence. I’m not saying it won’t be a welcomed change, but it’s just another signpost in life saying the time marches on.
Aside:
On another note, we went and signed our taxes at the end of the night. My dad just started doing taxes for H & R Block; he asked us to help him out, so we did. He found way more money than our normal tax guy had. It was quite a good deal. Way to go dad! I don’t like getting refunds because it says that the government has been playing around all year with money that could’ve helped my family. But we’ll take it back happily.
Feb 24 2009
It took a while, but it’s finally happened. Caleb has both of his big teeth. When he was three or so (ok, it’s 4 am, I’m not capable of doing year math – that’s why it’s not exact), we were in Atlanta for our first Peacemaker conference and Caleb smashed his face on a stone step at the hotel. His lips and gums were swollen and black.
Eventually that left front tooth discolored, and thanks to his rambunctious brother, it came (was knocked) out. He went a long time with just the one front tooth. I was worried that he might have damaged the root of the permanent tooth.
But just a few weeks ago it showed up and started to come in. And then the other one started to make an appearance. In fact his remaining front tooth had become rather stubborn. Look.
It was hanging in there even as the bigger tooth came up behind and started pushing it out. In fact, as it pushed that baby tooth forward we started to see our families best ever “Larry the Cucumber” impression. It was even in 3-D.
It’s all over now, and I am so very thankful. Whether it’s Christmas or not. All I wanted was his two front teeth. I don’t foresee Caleb as a hockey star, but either way – I think I’m going to invest in a mouthguard for him that he can just take with him everywhere he goes.
Oh, keep your teeth in…
Feb 16 2009
The last week or two around the house have been interesting. One of my least favorite sounds is that of “munch, munch, munch” on the frame inside the walls or up in the attic. This sound is followed closely on my no-no list with the sound of little clawed feet scurrying about in those same spaces.
We have been hearing these things recently. A couple of weeks ago we had actual combat taking place. I am sure it was on the roof as it went across the whole house, even our bedroom which has a vaulted ceiling – so there is no attic space above us. We heard the battle right over head. Some foe was vanquished – we heard their pitiful cries for mercy. None was given. We got to hear some poor creature meet it’s untimely end right above our heads that morning.
It wasn’t long after that when we started seeing a little gray flash out of the corner of our collective eyes. I thought I saw something in the basement, but decided it was just a shadow of a little car hanging from the light string…
Then Laura said she thought she saw something while Facebooking one night. Then a few nights later the kids saw it – the mouse! It scurried behind the couch. There was much screaming and running about.
We decided something draconian must be done. So at the beginning of the month I did a bunch of Googly research and bought some Victory traps, some glue paper, and some smelly concoction from a web site (that hasn’t arrived yet in the mail). We set the traps and waited – nothing.
Late last week Laura saw it again. Only this time the creature was so bold to stop and give her a stare back before scrambling away. We decided that these traps were not actually self baiting as they claimed. So late Saturday night, I added a dab of peanut butter to one trap.
About 30 minutes later… <!”SNAP”!> and it was over. I looked and saw a wiggly tale and a shaky arm. Looking a little close I could see that a spine had been broken. It was about as quick, painless, and efficient as such things could possibly be.
I woke Laura up to inform her, secretly hoping she would get up and help with the aftermath. But I guess grossness only pertains the the kids’ issues. She just said, “That’s great dear” and rolled over.
So I went down and wrapped my hand in a plastic bag and grabbed the corner of the trap. I was afraid that it’s friends would come out to defend their compatriot against me. But Reepacheep was evidently occupied elsewhere. I picked up the corner of the trap with the limp body dangling off the other side. I managed to take it out and put it on the garage floor.
I then got a freezer bag and placed the trap and all inside. I also stuffed in the grocery bag that I used as a glove. So all the biohazard material was contained. I left it in the garage to show the family that the deed was indeed done. I also replaced the trap with a new one with peanut butter – nothing has happened since. Did we actually have just a solo act?
When everyone got up the kids were facinated. Hannah couldn’t bear to look, but she was willing to have Joshua take a picture for her on her camera so she could gross out her friends. We do have pictures, but I haven’t posted them because we do want this to be a family friendly web site.
What do you think? Should pictures of vaquished vermin be placed on The Kelsey’s family blog? Or is that just T.M.I. (too much information). Share your feedback with us by commenting on this post.
Dec 26 2008
Here is another, our second, episode of The Kelsey’s Podcast. This episode introduces little Nathan. I actually used some interesting software to try to even out the sound levels. It worked pretty good. Let us know what you think:
Stay tuned to our blog – we are going to pull something together for the New Year. We’ll see if we can pull it off.
Dec 03 2008
I’m not sure how this will work, but we have set out to try something new. We’ve put together a podcast. It is our intention to try to do this twice a month. That’s agressive we know, but you have to start somewhere.
Without any more introduction here it is:
If you have any thoughts about our efforts, leave a comment. And we want to have lots of questions to talk about, so send them in the comments too. If we can find ones that will spark discussions, we’ll try to work them in! No guarantees…
Nov 23 2008
We had a great trip to Kansas. Thanks to Jill’s portable DVD player the kids were relatively fight free (we have to get us one of those). Usually we stay in a hotel room when we go and do a Biblical peacemaking weekend. But this time we were going outside of our conference so it was more like a visit with friends where we just happened to be sharing instead of the other way around. So we broke our rule and stayed with the Johnston’s. They have a great place with lots of land, a trail to walk, and a dog named Zoe – which was a little bit of a challenge for our family’s canine neuroses.
Joshua got a picture of us all – this was just as we were leaving.
The kids had fun – here are the boys.
And the girls had fun too, due in part to the boys being out of their hair. (Caleb is the master of the frames that come with the camera…)
Joshua got to ride bikes around. The boys smashed up lego cars. Anything built to be broken is a genius toy idea! The girls got to talk and hang out together.
Now Nathan did get sick on Sabbath morning. This caused Laura to have to stay home for Sabbath School and church, but he made a quick recovery after a nap and keeping down some crackers. So they joined us up at the church in the afternoon. In the evening there was a talent share as a church social. Yes, we have video, but for the sake of people we don’t even know – we won’t make them famous. It was fun.
Nov 14 2008
We are headed off today for another weekend of teaching Biblical peacemaking principles. This time we are traveling outside of our usual territory of Iowa and Missouri. We’re going to Kansas. It will be about 6.5 hours to get there. But the kids have become veteran travelers. With all the electronic crutches available today, it’s not that hard really. I remember when having a Mattel electronic Football game with red LED’s that lit up as you mashed the buttons with three rows to choose from as you blipped your way across the little screen made for hours of mind numbed entertainment. That’s nothing compared to today!
Anyway, we will be seeing our old friends, Tim and Linda Johnston, who used to attend church with us before they moved away. They saw us at camp meeting last summer and Tim’s brother Tom attended the peacemaking sessions we had there. Tim was convinced that his church could benefit from learning these things and was diligent in making sure that we got scheduled to come out there. His persistence paid off and we are on our way.
It’s rainy this morning and I understand that the weather is pretty snowy out on the great plains – so this could be an interesting trip. We’ll update you when we get back.
