The Kelsey's

Hey, I had something else I wanted to blog about – but I’ll share that next week.  For today I’ll just drop this rhyme on y’all.

Oh, and since I’m sharin’ videos – this is a family favorite … appropriate for the day.  Peace Out ‘Yo.

I just wanted to show you a few pics that we’ve taken over the last little while. These first few are from Nathan’s birthday. A real rarity – I’m actually in this one!

Here he is checking out a gift.

He’s happy – but it’s not really his birthday yet…

Once the candles were blown – then it was really his birthday.

A couple of weeks later it was time to go do the “egg thing” for Easter. This year we added reading from John 23 & 24 to get the real story…

We also have video of Hannah’s birthday, Nathan’s birthday, and even some Easter footage … but the time to transfer all that stuff around is just too long. So these will have to tide you over until then.

Of course it ain’t over yet. But this weekend is as frenetic as our weekends are ‘wont to be.’ We have been off in all directions. Hannah attended a teen honors weekend away at the camp. She headed off on Friday before I got home from work, so we said our good-byes on Thursday night. We haven’t heard from her since (as far as I know).

Now even if she would’ve been leaving later on Friday, I wouldn’t have seen her. Why, because last Sunday I got a call from the pastor of a sister church. He said, “Hey, you remember that meeting back last November where we compared calendars and this coming weekend you scheduled for a Peacemaker series at the church?” “Oh, sure, I’ll be ready.” Then I got busy planning and preparing. And when Friday came around, I got off work I ran through Taco Bell and had dinner in the car as I dashed home. I got changed, gathered all my stuff and headed off with Joshua. Caleb was going to go, but there was a last minute change of heart. The kids have flashbacks of loooong days sitting around out of town while the folks taught peacemaking. Caleb wasn’t ready for anything go. But Joshua faithfully came along to take some video footage. The idea was to video the next day too, but that was just too much to ask.

So I spent all day yesterday speaking – well for 6-7 hours or so. My voice actually feels a little scratchy (I have never lost my voice…) and for some reason all the standing had all my feet really hurting. So when I got home I just crashed. Saturday night is usually my one late night of the week – but not last night. I think in my half-sleepiness I saw Nathan for a few minutes. And I’ve seen Caleb in passing and while he was passed out on the couch or in his bed. Scattered.

Today, I’ve committed to helping deliver fruit which will take me through noon. The rest of the day will be spent trying to pull it all together to get ready for another week of working / schooling / living.

I wonder how many weekends we have like this in a given year? How about you, do you ever feel like the pieces of your life are scattered all over the place?

Laura was laying down with Nathan who was being pouty. He declared, “I’m crying.”

“Well where are your tears?” Laura responded.

Nathan proceeded to lick his fingers and wipe them down his cheeks, “Now I’m sad.”

Where do they learn such drama?

Your kids know you better than you know yourself.

I was sitting at my computer yesterday. Nathan was sitting next to me using my laptop. He was browsing the NickJr web site. The site played their jingle, “Nick Jr. is just for me.”

I sang that back to him, I turned to him and said, “Nick Jr. is just for me.”
“No, Dad, Nick Jr. is just for me, you’ve got Fox,” he flatly replied.
Then he repeated for emphasis, “Nick Jr. is just for me.”

I could say that he’s developing a bit of a selfish streak, but that would be just skirting the issue.

He knows where to find Dad. He’s checking out the news on Fox. Or when he gets frustrated that I’m “getting into his business” too much stretch out his arm and point and say, “Daddy, you go to your computer.”

Ah, banished to a life in front of a monitor. Harrumph, some guys have all the luck.

Here is how we like to celebrate Independence Day. This is a little tradition brought about by necessity. Since we’ve had small children for over a decade, it seems that someone is always uncomfortable with the loud fireworks displays. But fireworks beyond what you can light in your yard have been a part of my 4th since the Music Man band and VP fair of the mid 80′s. So we’ve found a compromise. We normally head out around 9:20 or 9:30 for Steak-N-Shake. We order milkshakes and sit on a hill and watch 3-4 different displays: Hazelwood, Florissant, and Maryland Heights. All from a kid friendly distance. We get there just in time for the big finally. Forget the warm-ups, we just want to be dazzled. (Hannah discovered this year that we weren’t there from the beginning and was complaining that Mommy and Daddy had been tricking the kids!  The jig is up!)  That’s just about enough time to finish off the shake and get in the car and go home. Mission accomplished: total celebration in about 1 hour. You couldn’t do better if you produced it for reality TV!

This year was a little different. We were invited to visit with some friends who happened to live about a mile from a Steak-N-Shake… how convenient! So we parked at the destination and headed out on foot.

Here’s a view from the back of the pack.

Notice that Dad wore a long sleeve shirt? Some folks just don’t know how to check the weather…
Hmm – looks like Mommy and Hannah were lallygagging.

As we were passing by the school, we noticed that they had buses running as shuttles down to the fireworks display. Being homeschooled, our kids have never been on “the big yellow bus” that I’ve personally logged the equivalent of more than a few months on. Gotta capture this for posterity.

Hannah just looks like one of the kids from Jr. high (or middle school these days).

Unfortunately the bus couldn’t go down the street we needed so we drove past our destination and had to walk back. When we got out, there were about 20 people waiting to get on. But Dad had to take pictures anyway, what a dork.

Hannah said, “No press!” and Nathan couldn’t quite make that big step at the bottom.

Caleb is always ready to contemplate the significance of the moment though.

We got to our friends’ house and spent some time visiting and eating some of the food that was piled up around the place.  There was plenty for all.  I had a big heap of cherries that were yummy. When it was dark and fireworks were getting ready, we walked back and ordered our shakes. By the time we laid out our blanket, some rain started to sprinkle down. “It’s only a sprinkle, Dad.” Hannah informed me. I said, “When it’s coming down pretty good, I’ll remind you that you said ‘just a sprinkle’.” By the time the fireworks started a decent rain was coming down. Hannah volunteered to slip down to the van and get the cool golf umbrella that Laura got me for my birthday a year or two ago. The hill was so wet that she could barely walk back up with flip flops in the mud.

Laura and Nathan had retreated to the van. Joshua was melting as his legs were getting soaked – but with Daddy’s big umbrella we could mostly stay under it.

I tried to get an arms length shot while laying along the side of the blanket. Who needs fireworks pictures when you can see fireworks observers!

Hey, I just found a post from last year’s 4th of July! The more things change, the more they stay the same. I guess we’re pretty boring after all.

Tonight Laura took Caleb and Nathan with her and went to talk about getting ready for VBS at the end of July. I was tasked with taking Hannah to the Library to do some crazy shirt painting exercise. It was going to take an hour, so I just stayed and read a portion of a Thomas Sowell book.

Joshua didn’t want to go with mom, and he thought he be bored with me. So he got to stay home – alone. Our neighbors down the street knew the situation, so they were available if needed.

This is how kids grow up you see. Nothing eventful happened. And with that the month of June fades away.

Just wanted to share this tale before too much time has gone by.  While we were at Campmeeting at the beginning of the month, the three older kids were staying with me in a small dorm room.  We had two keys between us.  We shared them as needed.

It was Caleb’s turn to hold the key between some meetings.  He had it in his shirt pocket and was jumping around through the grass when it bounced out.  He couldn’t find it and he came and told me as much.  We retraced his steps, but found nothing.  I even found out that the science teacher who lived across the street had a metal detector.  We went and borrowed it and went searching for “treasure hidden in a field.”  As people passed they would ask what we were looking for.  One friend, Winston, asked if we had prayed to find it yet.  I said we hadn’t and that I would wait until all my children could be there to pray.  So when we were all there, we did have a little prayer to find the lost key.

Then we went back to searching and found nothing until it was dinner time.  For the last few days of meetings we just got used to the routine with one key.  On the last day, when we were cleaning up our room – no you didn’t guess it, it wasn’t that easy.  I lost the other key!!!

The kids just told me to pay the fines and move on.  I was just too embarrassed to do that.  I had them leave the room so I could tear it from one side to the other.  I found it in one of my pants pockets.  So I put the room back together and then headed over to the registration area to turn in my one key.

When I got there and I told them what room I had, they turned to me and said.  “Oh, one of the featured musical guests at campmeeting found your key on the way to dinner last night and just turned in your key.”  He was still standing nearby so I thanked him and told him that my son would feel much better knowing that he hadn’t caused his dad to be charged for the key.

When we all got in the van to go home, I told Caleb and the others what had happened.

His eyes got real wide and he said, “So God DID answer our prayer!”  Now that’s a faith builder!

If you’ve been keeping up with us – last summer I mowed our lawn with a push rotary mower.  It was quite a work out, but Laura wasn’t real pleased with the results.  So this summer (May 8th in fact… how do I know that?  Read on) Laura went and got a Craftsman lawn mower from our local Sears Appliance & Hardware store on N. Lindbergh.

The third time I used it was yesterday.  That would be June 10th – 32 days after our purchase.  When I came across this:

Is that not clear enough?  How about this…

Well, after that little contact with my mower, the shaft got bent and it was all over.  We figured we’d have to buy another lawn mower (and leave the two broken ones in the back of the shed).  I was talking to my mom on Skype and she said that I should call Sears and try to buy the warranty post mortum.  I figured, “what could it hurt?”

So I called and talked to Ashley.  She told me that you can, in fact, buy the warranty up to 30 days after your purchase.  That’s how we discovered that it had been 32 days.  She also told me that the main shaft wasn’t under the warranty or any extended warranty.  She paused for a moment and asked if she could call me back in 10 minutes while she called her manager.  When she called back, she said that they would do an even swap for a new mower.  When Laura got home from her work out, we scooted over there and made the trade.

I finished the lawn this evening.  Sears Hardware is now my favorite hardware store.  That’ll be where I stop by when looking for all things hardware.  See how being treated well can change your actions and outlooks?

So be nice to somebody and see what a difference it can make.

It’s been gray and dreary all day.  There have been sprinkles off and on.  Of course a day like today is just perfect for Hannah to pack up and take off with her Pathfinder club for a weekend of camping at Spring Camporee.  Well, she won’t be alone.  There will probably be a couple hundred kids trying to put up tents to ward off the dampness for the weekend.

I would much prefer that over the 2nd degree burns she had across her eye brows and cheeks last year just from forgetting to bring sunscreen (and being so fair skinned that she’s almost translucent – some genes we’ve provided her, huh?).

So this weekend it’s just mama and the boys.

Just over a week ago Laura returned from her journey to Maine.  She surprised her folks and got to spend some time talking with her brother.  Not to mention the opportunity to drive through New York City on her way up.  I mean, does it get any better than that?  If we can get organized around here, maybe we’ll do some interviews about our experiences and pull them together into a podcast episode for you.

Caleb had a cyst removed from his palm last weekend and it’s healing really well so far.  We also recently discovered that he’s going to need glasses.  Caleb has all the interesting things happen to him.  He leads a life of adventure.

Joshua still clings to his guitar and I have the phone numbers of some teachers.  We just have to get to calling around and get him going with some lessons.

Nathan is talking more and more.  When I come home from work, he’s the one who greets me.  He wants to have something to say so bad that usually it’s just some jumbled thoughts or maybe a question.  When he gets real tongue tied he falls back to the old faithful, “I nub you dad.”  You can’t go wrong with “I love you.”

And for me, things are crazy at work trying to figure out how thing work around there and getting acclimated.  My accountant called and said they noticed that my income for the 1st quarter of 2009 has been “erratic.”  Uh, that’s because I didn’t have any invoices in December and all but the last week of January.  That’ll make your business a little unstable.  So hopefully my current assignment will stay steady through 2009, regardless of how shaky it feels.

I’m also trying to work on some software on the side – a class assignment planner for homeschoolers that they could access over the Internet.  It’s coming along, but not as fast as I’d like.  Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?  Let me know, it’ll spur me on to get it done.  We really want to develop an online homeschooling community, called Barnabas Way (check out our blog at http://barnabasway.com/blog ).  I’m looking for two homeschooling families that would like to be beta testers and help jump start our community.  Again – speak up if you or someone you know is interested.

That just about covers life with the Kelsey’s at the end of April of 2009.  Thanks for stopping in to see what’s up.