The Kelsey's

I would say that not much happened this week around the Kelsey’s. But things did happen. The kids got out their bikes and rode around a bit – a sure sign that summer’s coming. Hannah got to ride Laura’s bike. We need to look into bike upgrades.

Hannah’s been asked to play something for church in about 2 weeks. She hasn’t been on the piano in any serious way for months. This is going to be a challenge – we’ll see how it goes.

There’s been talk about travel and vacations… We will be headed to camp meeting without Laura and Nathan for a second year in a row. Laura had committed to a friend to help with her daughter’s wedding at the same time. I’ve been invited to take a trip to Billings MT at the end of June – this will be the furthest west I’ve ever traveled. Then there may be a trip to CO for a weekend in August and the Annual Peacemaker Conference is in Washington D.C. this September. For our family this is considered some serious jet-setting! Oh and this doesn’t include Laura’s new dream to follow Michael Buble’s concert tour as a crazed groupie. Check and see if she’ll be hanging out at a town near you soon.  Just kidding, OK, not really.

The time still needs to be firmed up, but we will be having a visit from one of the administrators of the academy (no, not that – the Oscars are over) from a boarding school we’ll be sending Hannah to.  In case you’re wondering, she didn’t do anything bad or illegal – she is actually excited about going off to school.

I guess one last tidbit – I’ve talked to the kids and we are planning to take up our summer walking again.  We’ll start this Tuesday.  I’ll report back on the number of side aches we manage and how many oz. of sweat we produce.

Hannah had her friend come over to spend the night tonight. It’s been a while since we’ve had an overnight guest. The boys have been more cooperative and less pestering. All kids grow up. I’ve spent the evening scouring my desk and office area for a missing check. I guess it’s worth any price to get some order out of the chaos.

I wonder if anyone has figure out a way to make weekends last longer? If you figure it out, I’d gladly subscribe to the service. There isn’t any big news happening at this point – or maybe I’m not looking close enough. Nathan has started expanding his vocabulary and you never know what’s going to come out of his mouth. No, nothing shocking – just so grown up. For instance “mom, mom, mom, mom” isn’t good enough any more. Now it’s “mom, I’m talking to you!” Laura and I realized today that Nathan has missed out on some of the story book reading that Hannah and Joshua got. So I got him to sit down and listen to a few stories before daddy zonked out and he said, “Dad, if you don’t mind, I’m going downstairs.” Talk about left hanging… what could I say other than, “OK, son, have fun.”

I’ll try to pay more attention this week and report back next time. Until then – leave a comment so we know that there’s still people paying attention.

Where have we been?  Well, frankly, we’ve been down.  My dad (our most loyal reader) called late at night a few weeks back and told Laura (I don’t wake up for phone calls – or much else) that when he visited our site, it showed up for about 5 seconds and then redirected to some Russian site that wasn’t suitable for family viewing.

I tried to fix it real quick and when I saw that I couldn’t.  I just took the site down.  Reinstalled our blogging software and fixed the database and now we are back in business – I think.  So if you see a criminal element around here, be sure to alert the neighborhood watch!

If you were scared off by visiting and being shocked that theKelsey’s were promoting such garbage – we hope you’ll come back!

Grandmother came to our house for Thanksgiving this year.  I took Friday off to be home as much as possible.  I was the only one in my department to do so – is the world just becoming less thankful these days?

As is traditional, Laura made more food than we could possibly eat.  The new twist this year was to augment our failing fridge … Laura will tell you that it is literally being held together by duct tape, but it’s actually a combination of duct tape and electrical tape … we used a box out in the sun room as an ad hoc fridge.  We just set extra dishes out there and let the 40 or so degree weather act as a chiller.

I did my best to supplement all my meals for days with the pies, dishes, and sides from the outdoor chiller and the fridge.  I think I’ve been binge eating for 5 days now.

Nathan has made a big change in that he now can face Grandma Gee Gee and not roll his eyes or try to get away.  She’s now an accepted part of his world.

With our thankfulness complete, it’s now time for Christmas plans – decorations and “stuffs.”

Another rarity was that we took advantage of an in-home Grandma babysitter to head out and watch “The Little House on The Prairie” play at the Fox.  I was drowsy in the dim lights before the curtain went up – but I didn’t snooze a wink.  That was Laura’s criteria for my success, so woo hoo!

We’ll have some end of the year thoughts in the next few weeks!

It was a long time coming…

There were threats, counter threats, and promises made.  But it came down to this…

There would be a water gun showdown.  Dr. Eddie not only took all comers, but he also mixed it up personally.  It was a cloudy and rainy afternoon on July 12th when all sides gathered together.  After a “last meal,” everyone headed outside and commenced to fightin’.  Usually things were pretty spread out.  There was one instance where the wrestling got knotted up when Joshua challenged Eddie.

As you can see – there was only one slide at the beginning.  Here is some video from my phone – the quality is not too bad, but it’s not going to be shown at any film festivals this fall… (Umm, note – your sound is not broken – there was nothing to hear until the very end where Nathan comes inside. Although a few shouts and shrieks can be heard through the glass.)

If you watched the video to the end, you know that Nathan came in freezing (did you see how my camera made his little penguin walk just that much funnier? The camera got weirded out there at the end.). But I dried him off and we watched from inside for a while. I took more video, but I am only posting the best of the best so as not to bore y’all.

These shenanigans went on for quite some time. I was tired of standing and went off to sit down. During that time, Nathan could no longer stand it and headed back out in his dry clothes. He had been quietly watching, so I didn’t hear him slip out. In the mean time the fight had been reduced to trying out a “bigger, better” slip-N-slide.

And here is some final video of sliding folks. You can also see Nathan rolling his “bowling ball” all along the way. He does get a little peeved when “Kay Kay” jams up the traffic.

Thus ends our tale of Hydrogen Hydroxide induced destruction, for now.

There were many more fun and exciting happenings this summer, including VBS, the kids going to Tim Hawkins, and stuff like that. I’ll get to them soon (maybe post one more tonight when I get home from work 🙂 ).

I know you’re starving for more scoop on the happenings around here – blame it on the chronicler. (Oh, and happy birthday, Mom! Hope to catch you some time today!)

Say it ain’t so!

After dad being adamant about not wanting the mess or the expense (for upkeep and additional home repairs…) of having a pet, mommy caved when she say the dwarf hamster owned by her work out buddy. So about a week ago (I guess I should be more accurate since we have a 14 day return policy that is running out fast!!), Laura took the kids to PetSmart and purchased a vermin with a cage to put it in.

I would show you a picture, but I don’t think anyone has thought to take one yet, and at this time of the morning “Helio” is still buried in the shavings at the bottom of the cage. I do have a picture of a rodent that looks very similar – only this one was in a trap… remember?
(I have pictures of that one, but as we said before – they probably aren’t for public viewing)

As you have probably guessed, I’m not enthusiastic about this turn of events.  My view of pets is that they are a great oportunity to teach children the life object lesson of what death means.  Pets die, and we get to tell our children about that reality.  And that’s a valuable lesson to learn, especially as they become teen-agers and think they are imortal. ( Bible quote )

Caleb comes down first thing in the morning and checks on Helio.  Joshua likes to let him run up and down his arms.  He and Laura enjoy sticking it under my nose while I’m working at the computer – there must be some enjoyment out of that.  I get none.

Wouldn’t have just been easier to just adopt the squirrels already in our attic?   Everybody else is happy with the decision, so there it stands.  Even Hannah has purchased some garden gloves so she can hold Helio and not be concerned about rodent defecation touching her delicate skin.  You can never be too careful.

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.

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…]

http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=immersiveplayer&maven_referralObject=1098466368

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! 😀

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…)

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.