Father's Day and Moving, or "The Highs and Lows of Parenting"

All the kids that are still at home finally finished the move up to Metlakatla. So I had them all together today for Father's Day. I wish the other three could be here too (along with Cara), but I'll take what I can get. We even had a relatively quiet morning, as Trevor and Xander and I enjoyed a quiet morning.

This was a nice break from the turmoil that had been happening since Rachel, Kenny and Xander came in on Thursday. Moving is always a chaotic event, and I know I'm usually traumatized. When I moved to Holyoke in 4th Grade (1970), I ended up in the hospital with an ulcer. So I know how poorly children can handle massive change like this. Having said that, Trevor, Amylynn, Kenny and Xander set a record even for them. In the first 48 hours here, Xander broke my beard trimmer and wrote in permanent marker all over Rikki's computer, Kenny broke the mini-blinds in his bedroom (snapped the main bar attached to the window right in two), Amylynn broke Rikki's sandals after she had been told multiple times to not wear or play with the sandals, and then tried to use scotch tape to fix it, then put scotch tape of the shopping list, all without ever telling us that she actually did it. Trevor lucked out - he knocked my model sailing ship made of whale baleen off the top of the entertainment center, but it didn't break. Ahh, children - Love them, Not-So-Love them, can't live with them, can't live without them. Happy Father's day, and Thank You God for my children.

Politics

An excellent letter which conveys my sentiments exactly (click on the title to go to the letter).

Xander Strikes Again, Part 2

We went to the Temple today and had Amylynn and Kenneth sealed to us. That was a very good, spiritual event for us.

After the sealing, we went to IHOP for brunch. Kenneth went to the rest room and Xander followed him. Kenney came out, and Xander came out later chewing something, then spitting it out. Cara smelled it and realized that it didn't smell like gum, but some cleaning product. Cara's mom said that I had better check it out, so I asked him where he got it and followed him into the men's room. When I got in, Xander said, "There, Dad" and pointed to ... wait for it... the deodorant block in the men's urinal! I came out just smiling and shaking my head and told the family. Of course, all the women (Cara, Rachel, Cara's mom Betty, my mom Joan and sister Kathy) all did varying gagging noices. When we told Daniel and Michael, they both burst out laughing. It's a guy thing.