Mook

     I think it's in the story about P.J. Funnybunny who at one point wants to be a moose but decides he can't make good moose calls which in the book is "mook."  For Christmas I got a pair of slippers with moose heads on them so I've been chasing the little ones around with them while going "mook" and the kids have been having a blast.

     In the mean time, I am all done working nights and am looking forward to straight days (5:30 - 14:00) starting in January.  One of the nice parts about getting done so early in the day is it will still be light out when I get home which will be nice if we ever get some snow to blow.

     In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. - Luke 2:1-20 (ESV)

      Merry Christmas Everyone

New Job

     I got word today that starting in January I'll have a different job.  Instead of being a production senior for the department I'm in, I'll be a quality senior for the department. Before I transfered over to the department I'm currently in to be a production senior, I was a quality senior for about 6 years or so I don't remember exactly anymore.

     With the change I've already started tapping the depths of my mind (what there is of it) pulling up my quality training so I'll be ready come Januray.

Nothing Crazy

     Nothing crazy has been happening as of late.  Over the last few days I've been enjoying my last 5 day weekend before the big change in the schedule at work - and trying to get ahead on some of my blogging posts for while we are celebrating Christmas.  Of course Christmas time means lots of goodies being baked and my wife and kids have been busy making things.

     Christmas shopping is more or less done and I'm just waiting for the last item to arrive in the mail and than we have a few misc. things to pick up. that and waiting for some snow.

Almost

     I don't think it's really a crazy thing to put a Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving and that's what we did this evening.We even started to put packages under it. 

     Tomorrow is / was suppose to be my last scheduled Saturday of work that I would have to work since we will not be working Saturdays next year, however, due to inventory next weekend and since I'm some where between management and production I'm required to work.  Depending on how the day goes it could be a long day as we go until we are done, even if it means working 12+ hours.  Of course it will be all overtime which will be nice.

Christmas Shopping

     Have you started to do your Christmas shopping yet?  When you take the 9 in our family, the 9 we drew names for on my side of the family, the 9 we drew names for on my wife's side of the family and than add to that something special for both  sets of parents we end up with a lot of presents to get.  So, with that many gifts to get I figures it was time to start shopping and I'm about a third done - sort of.  Stuff has been ordered but we are still waiting for it to arrive.  Give me another two weeks and I'll have the tree up and we've already started to listen to Christmas music - in fact I'm listening to it now.

Updated

     Today I went all out and upgraded my computer - I changed out the motherboard, processor, and memory.  In the process I found lots and lots of dust.  Once everything was back together I reformatted the hard drive and loaded not Windows but Linux - Ububtu to be exact.  I'm now running with a dual core processor and 8 gigs of ram.  I have my email and web browser all up and running - with out losing an email or a bookmark.  I still have another day of work to do on it as I finish loading up programs, etc.

Quick Trip

     We're back!!!! - After making a quick trip to Brainerd over the weekend to take care of some computer problems for my folks and drop off cookie dough and help put some watercraft away for the winter and take a ride looking for deer who knew deer season was closing in and decided to hide and we did some shopping including two stops for McRibs which are back - yum, yum!

Upgrading

     As a thank you for my soccer coaching this year - I received a fair amount of cash.  In deciding what to do with such a wonderful gift, I've decided to do some upgrading on my computer as it has been giving me some problems as of late.  I've decided to upgrade my motherboard, CPU,  and memory and add a card reader.  When I complete my upgrade, parts that I'm upgrading will be used to upgrade other computers as well.

     While this may not sound like a crazy thing to do - I'm going to make Ubuntu (a Linux operating system) my main operating system putting windows into a virtual box to run a few things that I still need it for - mainly my Bible programs.

Change is in the Air

     Change is in the air - and I'm not talking about the weather.  Today at work I learned that our work schedule is going to be changing at the beginning of next year.  While we don't have all the specifics yet - we will be doing away with our current 4 week rotation of 3 weeks of nights and 1 week of days and we will also be doing away with 10 hour works days.  What we will end up with is M-F 8 hours a day with straight day and straight night shifts - no more rotations.

A little sore

     What do you call it when things are back to normal but there not back to normal because normal is crazy?

     Yesterday brought our soccer season to a close and in so doing I spent nearly 2 1/2 hours on the soccer field playing against all the kids.  First the parents played against the junior team and won 3-2 and than with a little help from alumni players the parents took on the older kids and beat them 3-2 also.  As a result of the running I am very sore and will more than likely be the rest of the week.

     Our soccer season ended with two losses in the tournament but it wasn't because the kids played poorly.  In both games the played hard and kept the goalies on the other teams very busy while keeping ours bored.

     Maybe I can sit around and blog now.......

Victory

This past week the Junior soccer team I coach posted their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory.  The one head butted the ball into our own goal in the previous game decided to score 2 goals for us this time.  In the Senior game, the seniors also scored 3 goals but unfortunately they scored them in the wrong net and lost 0-4.  It was exhilarating to have the kids win and tiring by the time we got home.  The weather was perfect for the game as well.

Jack Pine Retreat 2011

     The Jack Pine Retreat for 2011 has now come and gone.  The theme this year was "Input, Output" and the massages were broke down to cover:

• Why does it matter
• Keeping out the Trash
• Think on these things
• Making the change

      Early in the week we had temps down to 25 but for the retreat it warmed up.  The first night was around 42 and the second night was about 54 With the highs Saturday and Sunday close to the mid 60's.  As for rain - it held off till Sunday morning about the time we were bringing things to a close. I'm not sure how many attended but it was somewhere between 50 and 60 with several new people.  Due to high fire danger we did not have the big bonfire and met around some small campfires in the area where the Williams' family camps for the first three gatherings and under the shelter for the final meeting.

     As for out family - getting there was an adventure. Friday afternoon as many people were arriving we were getting ready not only for the retreat but for a couple of soccer games and the arrival of the cookie dough my daughter sold for the swim team.  Well, after the games, we hit the Dairy Queen for a bunch of $5.00 specials that included a 1/4 burger, fries, pop and a mini blizzard.  From the DQ we headed home to finish loading up and head out to the camp ground only to find that the keys for the topper in which we had put all our sleeping bags had disappeared and we had to go digging through the house for more blankets.  It made for a cool night of sleeping but we survived.

     What was really crazy was Saturday night.  My 9 year old daughter join 4 other girls about the same age and slept not in a tent but in a make shift fort out in the woods, while the teenage boys went to bed early.

     Sunday when all was done we loaded up our car, big van and trailer with kids and stuff in the rain and headed home - now the oldest two are off to youth group and the house is trashed, hopefully it will be back to normal (crazy) soon as we have another week of soccer and swimming ahead of us. Oh, yeah, it felt good to get a showere once we got unpacked.

Crazy week - weekend

     This past week has been crazy around our house and this weekend is planning to continue the tradition. during the past week we had...

• Monday - Soccer practice, music lessons,  swimming practice
• Tuesday - Soccer game, swimming practice - keys locked in a car with a sleeping almost 2 year old.
• Wednesday - Swimming practice, Awana meeting
• Thursday - Soccer practice, swim meet
• Friday (today) - getting ready for camping at the Jack Pine retreat, soccer game, swim team cookie dough arrives. Jack Pine Retreat (our family host's it)
• Saturday - Jack Pine Retreat
• Sunday - Jack Pine Retreat and clean up.

      Of course this doesn't include school or many other things I'm sure I missed out on while I was at work.

     During the past week, those of us in Northern Mn have experienced over a 60 degree temperature change from the upper 80's to the mid 20's on the Fahrenheit scale if you go by Celsius it was still a big change from about 30 above to 5 below.

Another Game

On Tuesday the Warroad Panthers played their second soccer game of the season.  Jv team lost 0-3 and the Sr team lost 0 - I can't count that high.  It was about 40 degrees cooler than our first game with a strong wind. Our next game will be Friday and it should be a little warmer - we're going to try and split the difference on the temps.  In the mean time we're trying to put the finishing touches on getting ready for the Jack Pine Retreat, plus getting ready for AWANA club to start plus swimming plus.........

Not Enough

     As if yesterday's exploits were not enough I spent the day chaperoning kids from 8 to 13 in age for 7 hours and finished the sunburn on top of my head.

Soccer

     Here's something crazy - playing soccer in Northern Minnesota in September when the temp is near 90 in the shade and there is none.  Today was are first official soccer game of the season and I think we did all right.  We scored first and held that 1 goal lead till close to the end of the game when TRF (the team we played against) tied it up and that was how the game ended 1-1.  The senior team didn't fair as well as they lost 0-2

     Standing on the side line coaching the kids went pretty well other than a little sun burn on the top of the head.  I must say my defense shocked me.  They were playing the way I've been trying to get them to play for years and it made a difference.

     Our next game will be next Friday - same time, same place, different team and it should be about 25 degrees cooler.  If anybody is coming up early for Jack Pine they are welcome to come watch the kids play at 3:00 and 4:30 Just give us a heads up if you need directions to the field

Full Swing

     Summer is about over and it's been busy (or should I say crazy) at our house.  Soccer season is in full swing and our first game is coming up on the 9th.  In the mean time swimming has gotten under way for my daughter and she has already had her first meet.

     Soon it will be time for our annual Jack Pine Retreat which we are busy preparing for and than - who knows what crazy things we'll be doing.

     On top of this - an opportunity opened up at work for a straight day position that I've applied for am hoping to get.  Time will tell if I get it or not.

Here We Go

     Things are about to go crazy at our house - or maybe they already are.  This week the oldest started swim practice as she decided she wanted to be on the high school swim, team this year. Furthermore Soccer season starts this week for the next 3 oldest kids plus myself as I'm again coaching the junior team.  Early estimates show 22 kids for the team and I'm sure there are more.Swimming will go M-F and soccer M,T.,T F

Bluegrass

     This past weekend, Aug. 5-7 was the Lake Itasca family Music Festival at the Pioneer farms just North of Itasca State Park.

     We started our trip to the festival Friday morning, leaving the house before 7 stopping for some shopping at Walmart along the way to do some shopping and get some last minute groceries.  From there we headed off to Grandma's house to drop off the dog and than to the camping area to set up camp.

     We arrived around noon, quickly set up camp and than tried to stay cool.the rest of the afternoon.  During that time we some of us wondered the grounds, and played at the "park" area which included three slides some swings, a sandbox and a merry-go-round which was the big hit.

     Around 4:30 or so the sky started to turn black and about 5:00 as the music was to get under way - the storm passed us by.  The wind picked up and the temps dropped about 10 degrees but the rain went else where - nearly 2 inches worth. The rest of the evening was spent trying to listen to music.  I say trying because two little kids kept us very busy - they didn't want to sit and listen.  At one point I took of with kids for a walk and found the miniature trains running and we were able to get rides - several of them.  Kids also took rides the next two days as well.

     Once the music was done for the evening I headed to bed - everyone else in the family had already headed back to the tents, - only to find that our air mattresses had loss most of their air. Sleep was not very comfortable that night. - nor the next night as they lost their air again.

     Saturday morning was filled with workshops, cooler temps and light rain showers. Thankfully the rain was light and didn't hamper the events much. In the afternoon the music started up again and went on till10:00 PM or so.  For supper we took up the $25 limit per family special on roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. Aaron and one of his friends took a bike trip into the park and did some kayaking in the evening as well.

     Sunday morning started with a hymn sing, a group, a message by one of the groups and than two more groups to end the festival.  We had most all packed by the time things started and Shelly and several kids visited the beach at Itasca for awhile after the hymn sing.  When all was done we ate lunch, finished packing and headed back to grandma's to get the dog and than fill up with gas and head home in time for the oldest two to leave for youth group.

     Now for a shower and bed and we'll leave the unloading for Monday when the bugs aren't so bad.

     Next years festival is Aug 3-5 - Don't miss it

Her Birthday

     Yesterday was my wife's birthday and to celebrate it I could say I didn't do a thing - sort of.  One of her girl friends invited her to go with to Grand Forks to shop and go to a Mongolian restaurant.  She went and I stayed behind since I didn't work and ran the kids around to their various activities.

     Tracy took charge of making meals and some cup cakes that we put candles on latter in the day and Jason took charge of making some cookies so we didn't go hungry

     She was ver tired when she got home but enjoyed the day.

Cooled Down

     Things have cooled down finally Today it's supposed to rain almost all day with a high in the upper 60's - I think I can handle that.

     I'd say nothing more crazy has happened this week like kidney stone attacks or slicing my wrist open for about 10 stitches but I decided to go blueberry picking in the heat on Friday and Saturday.  One has to be crazy to put on long sleeves when it's in the 80's but it's that or a ton of bug spray.  Any way, it was very slim picking on the berries both days.  We'll have to try a few more spots while I'm still on my five days off. 

     I'm also working at cleaning up my desk - I couldn't find it the other day.

A New Way To Keep Cool

     At home today one thermometer read 99 while the other 101. It was and still is hot here in Northern Minnesota just like everywhere else - but we're not built for heat we're built for cold - like 20 below zero.

     At work the only AC  is in the offices and meeting rooms so there isn't very many places to go to keep cool - so how about a trip to the clinic for stitches after all they have AC.  Well, that's what happened but not intentionally..  I was working on repairs when the putty knife I was using slipped and sliced my wrist open - It took about 10 stitches and my fingers are still numb.  On top of it all, because it happened during work they require a drug test which meant getting poked again for more blood - they got me the first time this time.

     Maybe I'll just stay in bed the rest of the week :)

Changed Plans

     My plans for this weekend were to go blueberry picking not to the emergency room in pain.

     It was sometime around 11:00 PM Friday evening when the pain hit in the lower right of my abdomen or there about. Taking Tylenol didn't help and the pain got worse so got dressed and my wife took me yo the ER 35 miles away through the fog.

      One there and checked in. the tests began.  It took three tries to get a needle in to draw blood it didn't take me three tries to hit the cup for the urine sample.  They gave me a shpt in the butt of pain medication which pnly helped a little.  Shortly after that they did a scan and said we would have to wait an hour for the results.  While we waited they decided to put an I V in. and that took them another 3 or 4 pokes.  Once it was in they gave me some morphine for the pain - that stuff worked.

      It didn't seem to be too much longer after that when the results from the scan came back - I had a kidney stone which appeared to be close to coming out and an-infection. I was put on meds for the infection and I was given something stronger for the pain if needed for for the pain and told to drink lots of water to finish forcing the stone out and was told they would like the stone when it comes out so I have to filter for it.

     In the mean time I've been trying to catch up on sleep and being driven crazy by David.

HOT!

     Anyone who would stand outside in 90+ heat has got to be crazy.

     This year for the 4th of July weekend we headed to town as a family 3 days in a row.

     On July 2nd a hot day - we loaded our trailer with bikes and headed to town to do some biking on the bike trail. Afterwards we ended up at the outdoor pool and I even put on my swimming trunks and got wet.\

     On the 3rd - again hot - we loaded up and went to town to take in some of the 4th of July festivities.  I hit the chili cook off to sample 7 different kinds of chili, the kids played at the park for a while, we went and watched a lumberjack show and than we chased paper plates, or at least the kids did.  Each year Warroad sponsers a paper plate drop from an airplane down by the lake.  The plates have different "prizes" on them and this year we got a  50% of any size tornado (like a blizzard for DQ) and a $5.00 off newspaper subscription for the local paper.  The kids also caught a couple other plates but gave them away.

     On the 4th itself we arrived in town about noon and stopped to fill up a 64 oz jug with pop at the local Holiday Station and than headed to the point down by the lake to participate in the activities.  Starting at noon was the nickel registration and ice cream cones for 12 and under sponsored by Marvin Windows.  That was followed at 1:00 by races for the kids and adults sponsored by a local church with the winners getting a dollar, 2nd getting $.75, 3rd getting $.50 and everyone else a quarter.  4 of our kids raced in three different events, running, sack race, and 3-legged race.  In the 3-legged race they had a father/daughter race and I decided I would go with Tracy (the oldest) and we took 1st place in our heat.  I surprised myself.  My wife had told the kids earlier they had to race to earn money to by cotton candy.

     After the races it was time for the kids to go on the big blow up mazes/climbing things/jumpy things.  4 of the kids got arm bands so they could go on them over and over and over again.  It was suppose to go till 8 but a storm brought it to a close 2 hours early.  While the kids were doing this I took the youngest and went and claimed our spot for the parade with hopes of getting him to sleep - It worked.  An hour and a half later the parade got under way and the kids loaded up with candy.  Even David the 19 month old figured out what to do and was having a blast - he'd get a piece - bring it to mom to unwrap - shove it in his mouth and go get more.

     After the parade we went and filled out jug up again with pop, went and bought sparklers and than headed back to the point.  On the way we drove by the bank and the sign in front of it said the temp was 90.  Earlier it had read 91 at hear at home our thermometer said it reached 94. Twenty to thirty degrees cooler would have been much better.  We did have one year we needed coats on the fourth.  Anyways, back at the point we bummed around until fireworks time, dodged a storm with quite a bit of lightening. and listened to the local band.

     Finally, at about 10:30 the fireworks got underway. - they had to wait that long for it to get dark - I put the 2 little girls on top of the van and we watched away.  Once the final barrage went off, I got the kids down and we did sparklers while we were waiting for the traffic to thin out. Once we got done with those we headed home and headed to bed - It was probably 11:30 when we got home and midnight before I got to sleep only to awake by 4:00 to get ready to go to work.

     Yes, I 'd do it all again and more than likely will next year. I just hope it's cooler so I don't end up sunburned again.  By the way - did I say it was hot over the weekend?

GF Trip

     I must be crazy - I got out of bed this morning at 2:45 so we could make a trip to Grand Forks.  We had to be at the hospital at 6:15 to get checked in for David's dental restoration.  Once we arrived everything seemed to go like clock work and it wasn't long before they took David back to put him under and fix his teeth.  Nurse said he did well when they took him away from us and put him under.  It took about an hour and a half to do the work which included removing one tooth,caps, crowns, x-rays, cleaning or something like that.

     After they brought him back too it took about 45 minutes before he was ready to leave. A trip to Menards - where my wife had fun filling the shopping cart - gas and McDonalds and we were on our way home.  Both David and my wife slept coming home - I couldn't - so I laughed at my wife - she fell asleep with her finger on the radio trying to find a station to listen too.

     It must be nap time now.

Work Schedule

     Sometimes work schedules can be quite crazy.  After working the last 4 days mine is heading in that direction and it will soon catch up to me as I went crazy along time ago....  Any ways I now have 3 days off than work 1 than 1 off than work 2 than 4 off than work 1 than 2 off than work 2 than 1 off than work 4.

     Other than a trip to the pool to sit in the hot tub and than take everyone too DQ, nothing much has been happening at least from my stand point.  Of course the kids are keeping busy with school and music.  Yeah we're crazy as the kids are doing school through the summer.  If I remember right the older 4 are all doing Spanish and Geography, while the oldest is doing physics and the next oldest is doing biology.  and of course music involves violin, guitar and piano. and lets not forget swimming class.  I think they may be busier than I am at work some days.

     Speaking of work it has been deiced that I'll start training a person to do the job of running our router so I'm not stuck on it all day everyday so I can do the job I'm suppose to do.  Believe it or not, I've been there at Marvin windows for 19 years now.

     Now to find something to do on this beautiful day - the sun is to shine and temps could hit mid 70's and it's not suppose to rain.

More Word Fun

I want to amaze you with a maze of maize said Mr. Mays.

Found guilty of murder they would hang her with a hanger in a hangar

A parrot wore a parachute to pare a pair of pears

Each Sneetch on the beach would teach a leech on a peach to reach

Could the checker check her with a checker

In earnest did an ern try to earn an urn

Crazy?

     Well, I turned a year older since last I posted.  My B-day was last Friday a day I took off from work to stay home and work.  Yeah, I'm crazy.  Last Sunday we picked up a metal shed kit on the way home from Bemidji to store lawn mowers and bikes in. Well, on Friday I braved the mosquitoes and with the help of several of the kids we started putting up the shed.  By late afternoon we had the walls up and the roof on but the mosquitoes got to be too much so we quit for thew night. Some where in there I opened presents (candy) and replied to over 20 birthday wishes.

     Saturday morning with the help of kids again we finished fastening the roof and put the doors together and put them in place. and than worked at cleaning up.  I wanted to go to the state park that day but timing didn't work out as company was to arrive in the afternoon. 

     My Parent's arrived from Brainerd and after some visiting and going through sevral boxes and bags of stuff they brought up, it was time for the Birthday cake - which was blueberry cheese cake smothered in candles. After we let that set for a while it was off to town as my folks took us out to eat but we had a problem.  Our big van's battery was about dead as someone had left an interior light on for a couple days.  After trying to jump it unsuccessfully we all piled into our smaller van and headed to town.  After the meal we hit the pool and DQ and than came home and settled down for bed or should I say I settled down - the kids were wound up on sugar.

     Sunday morning we had church service an hour early followed by getting the van started (jumper cables were bad) and a Turkey dinner with all the goodies. Shelly than left with the older two girls for a Bible Bee picnic and my folks headed home. Now it's time to sort through all the old computer stuff they brought in the boxes and figure out what all they brought - (It came from my Grandpa who passed away earlier this year.)

Frost

     This has got to be crazy.  This morning as I headed to work I had to SCRAPE my windshield.  YES! it was covered with frost. Makes me wonder if I live in the same state as those who were experiencing 100+ temps the other day.

Less than 24 hours

     This past weekend we took a trip to Bemidji to hear a missionary from the Ukraine. Afterwards we did some shopping at Menards where we found a 20 inch bicycle for 20 dollars after rebate.  We decided to get it for Melissa.  Less than 24 hours later it is ready for the trash heap but not because of poor quaility.

     My wife was preparing to take the kids to town to the so they could ride bikes on the bike trail and in so doing she asked the 12 year old to load his bike and Melissa's in the back of the van and the 15 year old to turn the van around so the trailer could be hooked up.  Well, one bike got loaded and the other was left leaning against the back of the van.  Than, with out looking to make sure things were out of the way, the van was backed up, right over the top of the new bike.

     I'm not sure I'll be able to fix it and if I am able it may cost more than what we payed for the bike. To top it off, we put training wheels back on Melissa's old bike and handed it down to the next child in line so now she doesn't have a bike.

A little windy

     It's been a little windy around here as of late.  On my way home today the wind was blowing the car around on the road and the local radio station said the forecast was for winds blowing 16 to 22 mph but the were supposedly blowing from 22 to 28 mph.  That didn't seem right so I looked at the computer when I got home and the winds were was actually blowing around 35 with gusts up to 49.  I don't think I'll fly a kite today - not sure I want to go to OZ for a visit.

     When the wind blows trees often start to come down and there has been at least three down close to home.  The first one noticed was just off the edge of the yard than the kids found another blown into the power lines not far from the house and this afternoon they found a third tree across the road to the south of us.

Rainy Weather

     My 5 day weekend is drawing to a close and it's been a wet one.  After blogging last - 2 days ago - I put together our new grill.  The guy at Walmart  said it would only take a half hour to do - it took over two.  I thought I would have had more help from little hands but they had too much fun playing with the big box the grill came in.

      Monday the rain continued but I put the grill to use for lunch between showers.  We grilled hamburgers and brats and added baked beans, potato salad, chips and dip and a few other things.  Perfect. Other than cleaning out our van from the trip to Bemidji we than did very little the rest of the day.

     Tuesday (today) it's back to school for the kids as they will be doing some school most of the summer. A couple kids went to the pool for swimming while I stayed home with a crabby boy and the other 4 kids and tried to clean my desk which I finally found.  After lunch a trip to the DMV to license the new trailer we bought.was in store and since we were there a trip through the grocery store filled up the trunk.  A little bit of blog work and a little nap complemented the day.

     I suppose that the weather will clear up now and be sunny as I head back to work tomorrow.

Celebrating?

     Well, This crazy dad just returned from a weekend trip to Bemidji.

     On Friday it was child # 5's birthday, Yep, on Friday Melissa turned 7 years old and while she received a bunch of Zoobles, she really wanted to go to Bemidji to Grandma's and to "Putt n Go," so much so that Thursday night she cries herself to sleep because nobody had packed to go.  Well, Friday afternoon we all packed up and went to Bemidji so she could have her birthday wish but we had to wait to go to Putt n Go because of rain.  On Saturday after a lunch of pizza burgers we loaded 6 of the kids in the car and headed out to shop and go to Putt n Go while Aaron stayed behind and helped Grandpa fix an antifreeze leak on grandpa's car.

     Once we got to Putt n Go the kids had a blast but they couldn't go down the slide as it was not warm enough for them to open it up. First they hit the bumper boats and David cried when the ride ended and he had to get out,  Next they did the go carts and that's where I got dragged in to drive.  Once they were done three kids headed over to the mini golf and before they could finish, down came the rain.

     From there, we went to Menards to check on and pick up a couple things like a teeball set and a 48 inch beach ball and a few more items.  Walmart was next where we got a new bike for Jason and a new grill which the kids are anxiously waiting to put together.

     Sunday we went to church in Bemidji and was able to witness a baptism which is always a special event.  The gal that was baptized was my wife's brother's wife's sister's Mother-in-law. After a lunch of Tacos we packed up and went shopping one more time and bought a trailer.  Half way home we were tempted to use it to haul a crabby child.

     Upon are arrival home we were attacked by swarms of vicious mosquitoes.  As a result we left the van unloaded until tomorrow when hopefully the mosquitoes will have died down a little.

     All in all it was a wonderful weekend and it's still not over.  Hope your weekend is just as fun filled.

Loooooooooooooooooooong Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

     I think I just survived the first week back to 40 hours a week of nights with little to do, so little that we actually shut down the sash area Thursday night - for some reason or another we talked a lot about music and old shows.  After that I wanted to sleep in on Friday but guess what - all kids were up by 7:30, kids that would sleep all morning if you let them. oh well what's sleep any ways.

     Since the kids left home wouldn't sleep.... (3 of the girls are at track and field day at Kitchi Pines and my wife is shopping - she took the big van, I may be broke by the time she gets home.) I took the kids to town and dropped 2 off at a sleep over and took the littlest 2 to the Dairy Queen for a blizzard and than to the park.

     Now that I'm home I'll need to try and stay cool as it is 82 out and 79 in. and wait till every one comes home.  Tomorrow will be graduation for the home school group up here followed by open houses and it's suppose to rain - not snow- I think I'm missing winter all ready as I've been typing this I've had to keep slapping at mosquitoes..

The Phonetic Alphabet

     Sometime back I got this in one of my e-mails. I found it and thought I'd share it If you need to spell something out use this code

A - as in Are                           B - as in Bee                             C - as in Cite

D - as in Double-U                 E - as in Eye                             F - as in Five

G - as in Genre                       H - as in Hoe                             I - as in I

J - as in Junta                         K - as in Knot                            L - as in Lye

M - as in Me                            N - as in Nine                            O - as in Owe

P - as in Pseudonym              Q - as in Queue                        R - as in Rap

S - as in Sea                            T - as in Tsunami                      U - as in Understand?

V - as in Vie                             W - as in Why                            X - as in Xylophone

Y - as in You                             Z - as in Zero

Today

     Today brings to an end 32 hour weeks / 8 hour days at work - starting next week we are back to 10 hour days / 40 hour weeks and of course it just so happens that I'll be working the night shift next week from 4:00 PM to 2:30 AM. To work those hours one must be crazy.

     Today also marked the beginning of fishing season in Minnesota and no I didn't go, In fact I haven't gone for many years but I can remember getting up and going out fishing at Midnight as soon as it opened - yeah, I was crazy.

     Had some fun with Melissa and Laura earlier this evening with North, South, East, and West. With Laura on my shoulders Her and Melissa kept trying to get me to go some where by hollering out a direction but they couldn't remember East and were having all kinds of trouble (fun) trying to get me where they wanted me.

     This past week I got to hear the whipper wills which have returned to the area.  Some nights it seems like they call all night long.  Night sounds when you live out in the state forest can become loud.

More Word Fun

Oh, to have a tutu or two too.

If I could only see a "C" on a sea.

The beau with a bow took a bow from the bough

Word Fun

The bare bear could barely bare to bare another bare bear.

Mr. T spilled tea on his T shirt while preparing to tee off on the ninth tee against a T-rex.

Is was plain to see he was using a plain plane in a plane over a plain plane.

Name Change

     Well, I did it - I changed my blog name again thanks to my little girls who think I'm the craziest dad.

Normal

     Survived another sleep over last night.  I think the kids had fun, the boys that spent the night brought their air soft guns and the kids did a bunch of shooting around the yard.  The only problem I had with their fun was the smudges all over my safety glasses they borrowed.

     On Wednesday we celebrated my oldest daughter's birthday - she's now 17 But that didn't take place until; after my wife made a trip to a dentist in Grand Forks for David.  It appears as if his teeth are as bad as his older siblings (Melissa and Laura)  He'll need to spend a day have crowns, caps, etc done to a bunch of his teeth.

     On Thursday evening my wife took the younger kids to a fund raising carnival and than to the pool only to realize that when we had made a trade off earlier in the day she had forgotten to transfer her swim suit and check book.

     Now it's Saturday evening and everything is back to normal, normal, normal, normal.....

Lazy Weekend

     This past weekend was a 5 day weekend for me and I really didn't do much of anything news worthy.

     On Friday the older boys went to a sleep over, On Saturday the rest of us went to a memorial service, On Sunday we went to my daughter's violin recital, than to McDonalds and than took kids to youth group than let then went to DQ to waste time as it was to cold for the kids to play at the park than picked up kids from youth group and headed home. Monday my wife did some sitting for an older person that had fallen while I took kids to swimming, volleyball and the park.

     Today I finished reading the last of the books I got for Christmas. It was on Christian Apologetics and I was disappointed with it.  The more I read the book the more it seemed like it had Catholic over tones to it.  When I researched the authors on the internet I learned I was right - they're both professors at a Catholic University.  I think they should have read the Bible before they wrote the book.

A box and A present

     The other day the little girls were playing with a bigger box that we had got with the purchase of a new medicine cabinet for one of the bathrooms.  The girls kept having fun getting inside the box and pretending they were a present for me. With a little bit of help they had someone make a tag that said to "Michael Trott"  I took out my name tag and said my tag says I'm "Mike Trott" so this present must belong to someone else.  They than had the tag re-made to say "Mike Trott" so I pulled out my drivers license and claimed it said I was "Michael Trott," so this present must be for someone else. This time they wrote the tag to say to the "Best Dad in the world" so I looked at it and hollered "Grandpa! I have a present for you." Not to give up they wrote the tag to the "Craziest Dad in the world."  I had to open the present than...Now I'm thinking about renaming this blog "The Craziest Dad."

Weekend In Review

Easter this year was spent in Bemidji for our family.  We left Friday after eating Steak and potatoes only to realize we had forgot to bring the sewing machines along so we could drop them off in Bemidji to get fixed.  When we arrived the younger girls had lots of fun with their cousins, actually they had fun with them all weekend long and we unpacked and relaxed.

Saturday we took the kids and went to the tanker base for the DNR (Our friend works there as a dispatcher) and got to climb inside the plane including the cockpit.  From there we headed out to look at trailers - but we didn't buy one and we checked out the new Menards where the youngest three got balloons. From there it was time to pick up a few groceries and than back to grandma's for some more play time.  Somewhere in there I also helped grandpa with the picnic table he was building.

Sunday morning we were going to go back to Walmart but never made it.  Went to church and than back to the house where we had a big turkey dinner for 22.  After that the kids did an Easter egg hunt and we passed out stockings (they were left over from Christmas.) We than finished packing up and headed for the gas station.  It only cost $105 to fill the tank. A stop at McDonalds so the kids could play it was off to home.

Once home we unpacked and had another Easter egg hunt and soon it was bed time.

Today has brought warmth and the kids have decided it is shorts weather.  Even David is running around outside with nothing on but a diaper. - scratch that, he just took it off...

Going on a Trip

       This past week has been a little uneventful again. I worked the night shift and on Wednesday I took off half the night to go to our Awana's award night where three of our kids brought home awards for Bible memorization.

     We did get more snow this past week but it has melted away and ever so slowly the yard is drying out.

     Last year for Easter our family took a trip to Brainerd with a quick stop at Bemidji.  So, this year we are going to Bemidji with maybe a quick stop in Brainerd. I'm hoping for the possibility to check out the new Menard's in Bemidji while we are there and we may be looking for a trailer big enough to haul both of our riding mowers on as the kids have a summer mowing job.

Quiet Week?

     Not much in the way of excitement around the house this week.  We've had warm days - close to 70 - and we've had snow.  The roads have been improving. the kids had a fire in the fireplace so they could roast marshmallows, Wife made a trip to the mill to get flour, oatmeal, and rice, sent two boys to a sleepover, had our last official night of Awana with awards next week, we still have snow in the yard, got to eat a Cadbury egg, set the tent up in the living room, let two little girls go play at the "rainbow park" for an hour in the cold wind, took a nap - yeah, just a quiet week.

What Stinks

No Wonder the bathroom stinks :)

Nice Link, Etc..

      I love Christian Apologetics and recently I came across this link to several series of talks on apologetics here.  Since than I've been doing lot's of down loading.

      Yesterday the girls participated in a local home-school tournament and brought home several ribbons. After they got home we than put up the trampoline which the kids have been enjoying.

      My wife also brought home about 20 dozen eggs that were given to her.

     This past week I made my 100th post on my blog Everyday Thankfulness. And saw three robins in the front yard which looks more like a lake and the frogs have begun to sing.

Spring Is Here

     Today the water level under the house got to the point where we needed to start a pump to move it out.  If we let it get too high it ruins our well pump as we have learned in the past. So, when the well pump starts sounding funny as my wife told me it was we know the water is high and I start the pump and the kids have more water to play with.

      We can also tell spring is here because the lovely gravel roads are becoming a mess.  Up until the snow we got last Sunday they had been doing pretty good but as of today they're not.  The last 1/2 mile is the worst.

     Another sign that spring has arrived is on our thermometer. Today it read 60 degrees.

     If everything continues with the warmer temps and melt down of the snow, this Saturday I'm going to help the kids put the trampoline up.

Happenings

     It's been a couple of weeks since I updated this blog but not to worry, nothing exciting has happened.

     I've been busy working on my New Years goals and have spent some time cleaning.  I did end up going for about two weeks with out shaving as my Razor got left behind in Bemidji but it's back now thanks to my wife who decided to go to Bemidji and do some shopping and visit her Mom.

     The boys have been having sleep overs - one here the other at their friends house.

     We missed out on a big snow storm and than got cold again but than again we've had plenty of colds going around the house.

     Been working at figuring out issues with vehicles and hopefully have the problems figured out and should soon have them fixed.

Made it Home

     Leaving on Friday afternoon and returning Sunday afternoon, Our family has been enjoying friends and family at the Benidji Winter Retreat. But I did wonder if we were going to make it.

     As we headed south on 72 the transmission on our big van started acting up.  Thankfully when I turned off the overdrive it seemed to help some and we made it down.  Before we left to come home we added something to the transmission that should help and while it hasn't cured thr problem totally, it seems to have helped so far.

     While in Bemidji, we did get a little bit of shopping done and found the newest Veggie Tales movie along with a few supplies.

    I would like to again say thank you to the church in Bemidji for a great weekend, to my in-laws for putting us up for two nights and For Jason Corder for some great messages.

Weekend In Review

     Well, we made it home minus one child who decided to stay at Grandma's for the week.

     We made it to Brainerd Friday at 1:00 - the exact time we said we would be getting there -  and shortly thereafter David decided to start throwing up which he proceeded to do more of on Saturday and Sunday. By Sunday afternoon Shelly ran out of clean clothes to wear thanks to David throwing up all over them. Any way by Sunday evening he was back to normal and Emily decided to take her turn. Unlike David, she didn't make a mess.

     Saturday at my Grandpa's memorial service, there were about 120 people there including 18 color guard which proceeded to give a 21 gun salute and play taps as my grandpa had spent 3 years in the coast guard during WWII.  During the time at the church where the service was held, I got to meat up with a lot of family that I hadn't seen in awhile.

     Sunday we stuck around and went to church in Brainerd and enjoyed a fellowship dinner after listing to Dale Blanshan bring the message.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing.

     This morning than, we packed up and said goodbyes and headed north.  In Bemidji we traded Emily for the dog, had some lunch with the other grandparents and than headed home.

     Now to put things away and relax

Weekend is Coming

     This evening we will be getting things ready for a weekend trip to Brainerd and On Saturday we will be attending my Grand Father's memorial service. My wife has been asked to put together some picture boards for display and I've been asked to read some scripture passages.

     When my Mom called to ask me to read, she said my Dad would also be reading and wanted me to call her back when I had something picked out.  While picking them out - I chose John 14:1-6 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, one of the kids asked how we (my Dad and I) were going to keep from picking the same ones. When I called my Mom back and told her what I picked I heard my Dad in the back ground asking what I had picked for him to read.  We got our answer.  Later I called back with some ideas for him and he was going to check them out.

      When we get some spare time I'm also hoping to get in a little shopping / pricing and I'm sure lots of visiting.

A Mixed Day

     On Sunday we celebrated Laura's 4th birthday with cake, ice cream and princess type presents including Disney's Princess and the Frog and the My Little Ponies - Princess Promenade which of course had to be watched.

     Later in the day the older kids had youth group which included making pizza's - what a thing for teenagers - we made our own while they were gone.

     That was the bright side.

      Early in the morning my Mom called crying - they were calling family together because they didn't expect her dad (my grandpa and last living grand parent) to make it through the day.  In the evening we got the call that he had passed on. Later in the week we will be heading back home for the service which is tentatively being planed for Saturday.

      We could use prayers for safety in traveling for Family and Friends and especially for my Mom, her sister and her brother.

Mr Freeze

     Looking at another night in the deep freeze tonight. Last night we hit 25 below and as of 10:00 tonight it is 18 below and still going down.

     With it that cold we don't do a lot of activity outdoors so I've been sitting around writing some blog stuff, listening to lectures on philosophical apologetics by Phil Fernades and some talks by Ravi Zaharias and entertaining little girls with My Little Pony shows.

     The older kids started their CAT testing today, my wife thought I might have been sick or desperate as I did some vacuuming - she's actually the sick one right now with a very soar throat which she thinks may be strep but won't know till Monday.

Mr Fix it?

     Today I found my self repairing the mailbox again - It just fell off - no snowplow was needed.  Hopefully it'll stay on now and not try to escape again.

      Today I also reformatted and reinstalled Windows XP and programs on the family computer as it had totally quit working correctly.

      If I can get some small nail latter I've got to bookshelves to fix before they totally collapse.

Snow Blower

     Since it is such a warm day again - and the snow is melting away - I decided to finally fix my snow blower.  For some time now the chute has been broken and when it is used you get a constant spray of snow back at you.  Well, with a couple of self tapping metal screws and a lid from a tin can I think I have it fixed. Now for some more of that white stuff :)

Last Night

     Last night Shelly and kids returned home safely around 9:30 from the cities. Along the way home they missed a dead Raccoon in the road. A couple hours later, friends of our hit the thing and ended up flipping their van sending themselves to the hospital.  Thankfully, all will be okay, but for one of the boys, at least, there will be no physical activity for two months - he had 10 staples in the back of his head and a concussion.

Trip time

This morning My wife left with the oldest 2 girls and David leaving me with the oldest 2 boys and the youngest 2 girls.  She is taking Tracy to Sno Feast down at Kimball, Mn and than going visiting in the cities. In the mean time.......

Windshield

     This week we got the windshield fixed on the Alero.  It's only been broke since early spring 2009 when a stray softball hit the edge of it while practicing for a track and field event. We took the car to town and dropped it off on Tuesday evening so it would be done by the time we got to town Wednesday evening. It was but it wasn't dry yet and the guy who fixed wanted to keep it in his shop overnight to let the glue set and said he'd drop it off at work the next day when he picked up another car to work on. So, my wonderful wife got up this morning and brought me to work and when I got off work the car was in the parking lot ready to go.  Now it's ready for Tracy to use when it's time for her to take her road test to get her DL.

Playing Around

     Now that my other two blogs are well under way I thought I would play around with this one a little bit.  Sooner or later I'll figure out how I want it to look but in the mean time it will more than likely go through several changes. In the end I'll just be posting about things that occur with my Northern Bunch of kids, wife, and self. Over time I'll be removing all my Puppet stories and Sermon thoughts from this blog and re-posting them all on the Pupperville Ponderings blog.

Hard Drive

     I finished upgrading my hard drive capacity on my computer today. I've had a 259 gb drive which was starting to get filled up so I added a 1 terabyte drive and than successfully rearranged everything on the drives. I needed to upgrade as I keep finding lots of wonderful resources to download.

Taxes

This week we started working 8 hour shifts and since it is my week of nights I'm getting off work at 10:30 PM instead if 2:20AM.  Well, instead of using that extra time to go to sleep, last night we sat and worked on our federal income tax. Maybe tonight I'll go to bed early.

New Goals

It's a new year - has been for 11 days now, anyways along with the new year comes new goals and for me that involves my blogging.  I have started two new blogs this year called Everyday Thankfulness and Pupperville Ponderings (the links are on the side). The first blog is to encourage thankfulness on an everyday basis. As for the second one, I'm going to be taking my Puppet Stories from this blog, adding some things to them to ponder about and than re posting them.  Over time this blog it delf will go through changes but as of now I'm not exactly sure what.