Weather

I am not a weatherman, I don't play one on TV and I have not the skills to predict it.  With the weather we enjoyed here yesterday and with how beautiful everything appeared here this morning I thought we were in for another beautiful day. 

When Natty left for school she announced that she was not taking a jacket.  Well Jack heard this and apparently decided that he would do the same.  After making that announcement later when he was going to school Andy determined the same.  Neither would listen to my suggestion that a light jacket would be wise.  I figured the weather was great and they really wouldn't need the coats so I didn't push it.  As I walked Andy to school we got out from the houses and in the open area of the school yard and the wind was blowing right through us.  Andy suggested that maybe he should have brought his jacket.  I agreed but figured they would be fine. 

When I left for work a bit later it had turned a little nastier as the wind had picked up, clouds had blown in and it was a bit chilly.  I started to feel guilty for not making them take their jackets and wondered if I should have taken them over.  I had thought about it but then recalled some parent trainings where the idea of always bailing your kids out was discouraged.  I decided to let it go and have them experience it all. 

Let me not mislead here.  The weather wasn't wonderful but we also did not have a full fledged storm pounding us.  The cold wind is really most of the problem and the kids felt it.  We had conferences with the boys teachers today and afterwards when we came home Jack said he wished he would have listened and taken his jacket.  Had I bailed him out he may not have reached that conclusion.  Maybe I did something right here.  That is rare for me. 

I subscribe to the idea that it is better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.  Perhaps now my children will adopt more of this idea.   I also subscribe to the idea that our daily scripture reading and prayers are things we do - not because we will necessarily be tempted but we do them so that in the event that we are tempted we can be strengthened by the Lord to overcome.  I don't want to find myself or have my kids find themselves in a place spiritually when we wished we would have been faithful in doing those things.   

Personally

I was pondering a few things today about the Savior.  I thought about trials that each of us face.  We all have hardships and struggles.  We all fall short of perfection and sin.  We all need the Savior.  He is mighty to save and it is only through Him that we can be saved.  No matter what our circumstance in life may be, where we have been or what we may be going through today, when we call upon the Savior, when we exercise that faith and trust in him, deliverance comes.  It may not come in the way we think it should but it comes exactly how it is supposed to come, and it is personal.  It is personal because he knows who we are and he loves us... each one.  I am grateful for that love, that personal relationship.  I love him and testify of his love me.  I know that he knows me personally and I am grateful for that relationship.  I testify the he loves you and that he knows you personally as well. 

A Big Boy Testimony

I shared my testimony in church today. Andy and Jack followed. I had to go back and help Andy. I don't think anyone could possibly have seen him, maybe just the crown of his head, maybe. Jack followed and I was hoping our FHE lessons on testimonies would be remembered. There was not a beautiful, flowing testimony of the divinity of the Savior and the restoration of the Gospel. No, Jack stood there for a moment, scratched his head in thought and then shared his testimony. There was a beauty about it for sure. This 7 year old boy stands before a chapel filled with people and speaks from his heart with absolutely no fear. He is completely comfortable. I don't recall every word he shared today but will do my best to share some of it.

I'm going to tell you more about trains. Trains were invented to haul freight. There is some freight that cannot travel by planes, that is why trains were invented. There is freight that can't be moved by planes or boats or cars or trucks. I don't know. I'm going to tell you about the trains that pull the freight, they called them the giants. One of the last of the giants was called the big boy. It could pull a five and a half mile train on level track. Then there was the war and the big boy was used to move the army and supplies. When a train starts up it makes noise that is: hah hah, hah hah. There was one type of train that was hard to maintain. Oh, I want to tell you about the roundhouse. The roundhouse is like a station with doors in the back where they put the engines. They are really neat. There is something wrong with Mater-national...

As soon as he switched gears to the Mater-national video game I jumped up and let Jack know that it was time to close. He began to step down and I asked if he wanted to say amen... he stepped back up.

Amen.

We just sat together and reviewed this.  He feels it is pretty accurate and made some edits to what I had written.  He really liked this one. I let him know that he did a great job, Andy also.  We talked about remembering the Savior in our testimonies and I said we need to figure out how to relate his trains to the gospel.  He was excited about that.  I also thought of a talk that could work for that.  We'll see how it goes. 

Right or Wrong

We made it back to the aquatic center today after a bit of a hiatus.  Colds and traveling have kept us away for a few weeks so we were happy to be able to go.  Yes, for those wondering, we were back on the water slide.  Only 357 stairs today - yes 7 trips down the slide.  At least that is all I can remember. 

It would seem that I didn't get the memo.  What memo? you ask;  well the memo that it was take your tattoo swimming day at the aquatic center.  Well over 50 percent of the men there had tattoos and most of those had multiple ink spills under their skin.  What is the deal with this?  I mean this is Cedar City.  One guy looked like he had C3PO's body tattooed on his hip - meaning a life size tattoo, his hip was tattooed to look like it was actually C3PO's hip.  Very strange.  I am not an expert on tattoos and did not go up and study this one, it's really not my gig.  I was just happy to get out of there without having Jack call out someone for having a tattoo.    

Had an interesting moment with Jack as we were in the locker room preparing to leave.  There was a gentleman with a baby getting ready to leave.  I am guessing 10 to 13 months.  Anyway, there was another gentleman also with a baby who was probably just a little younger.  Both of these gentlemen had tattoos by the way.  So the first guys little boy is doing great.  No fussing at all.  The other guys son was going nuts - crying and screaming non stop.  Jack actually handled the noise well.  He said something about the boy being upset but that was about it.  Andy started talking about one choosing the right and the other not.  Jack simply stated that a baby is not capable of choosing the right or the wrong.  I thought that was a pretty insightful tidbit of information.  I have no idea why he has that in his mind. It must have been a lesson on children and baptism.  I don't know.  Anyway, thought it was cool... and... I'm going to bed now. 

A Tale of Two Hats

Natalie was off on a school activity today to read Dr. Seuss books to elementary school students.  She was excited about it and borrowed a Cat in the Hat hat from Jay to do it.  When her bus rolled by the front of the house I walked into the office and found the had sitting on the desk.  Roughly 10 minutes later my phone rang and I knew who it was.  Natty asked me to drop off the hat.  Unfortunately there was no way for me to get it to the school before they were scheduled to leave and take care of the boys and getting them to school on time.  I told her I was sorry but I wouldn't be able to make it.  I think she took it well enough.  We talked about it tonight and she had a great time.  I don't think the hat mattered all that much. 

Jack, Andy and I were on our way to school this morning and all was going well until Jack, who was about 40 yards from the doors to the school and 50 yards in front of Andy and I realized he didn't have a hat on his head.  He started to freak out a bit.  It was a little chilly.  The sun was shining but it hadn't warmed up yet.   I thought the boys would be fine but Jack kind of let me have it.  Of course I couldn't make out what he was saying until I found him standing just inside the door.  He was talking to Mrs. Murray, tears in his eyes and quite upset about his hat.  I got an earful about how I never remember to give him his hat.  Amazing, this is the first day I have sent him without it.  We talked about that but he was really in a state. 

I think one of the things that is most challenging about Jack is knowing how he is going to react to something.  My concern was not so much the hat, I knew things would warm up and he would be fine.  My concern was for his state and the disruption he would potentially become to his class.  We had a little conversation, he was pretty caught up on the hat and so I assured him that I would go get it and bring it back to him.  Complete calm.  When I came back with the hat Jack was actually with a TA reading Chicken Little.  He was doing very well and was excited to see me walk in.  I showed him the hat and it was like, eh, the hat.  We made it through the moment and for that I am grateful. 

Two children, two hats, two positive outcomes.  Grateful for Natty handling it the way she did.  With Jack, well, I didn't know exactly what to do and just listened.  The answer was simple and I am grateful for that little bit of inspiration.  So the challenge - dad can't always come to the rescue as Natalie got to experience.  How do we fix that for Jack?  Well, that inspiration came also.  We will discuss expected and unexpected behavior in those situations but also we will make a plan to avoid not having the hat in the future.  Expected behavior - Jack is in charge of his hat and he should put it in his backpack when he takes it off after school.  Then it will always be there even when dad forgets to put it on his head.    

Learn From Them

Natalie went to her first activity with the Young Women yesterday evening.  She loved it and is excited about being there.  I am very happy for her.  I posted a question on FaceBook on the topic and asked if it was okay for me to get a little emotional over these things.  I got a few replies and naturally that included a bit of mockery by Dave and Amy.  I love them.  I never said why I got emotional and thought I would just share the moment here. 

I walked Natty to the door because she was nervous.  Sister Thorley, the YW President was there waiting for her and was fantastic.  I ran back out to the truck and was heading out of the parking lot.  Sister Thorley and Natalie were walking down the sidewalk towards SUU and I watched them for a bit.  Sister Thorley put her arm around Natty and just loved her and that was it, that was my moment.  I am not afraid on Natty growing up, she has had to grow up a lot over the last few years.  No, my moment was one of gratitude for my Heavenly Father and for the blessings of the Gospel in our lives.  I have hurt for Natalie because there is only so much that I am able to provide as the single father in the home.  I lack so many things and to see her with this righteous leader and role model just filled me with hope and gratitude. 

I try, I try hard to be the kind of person I need to be for my children.  I don't always succeed in fact I fail quite a lot.  Personally I am unable to compensate for Natty's mom not being in the home.  That is hard for me and there are times when I simply hurt for my children.  We are fortunate to have Grandma and a couple of Aunts here in town that help so much I am grateful for that.  I am grateful for the leaders of the young women in our ward and am so happy that Natty will be able to learn from them.   

 .

Basketball Slut

There I was enjoying a conversation with a friend when suddenly I got called out for being a basketball slut.  Who me?  The fact that I regularly went on dates, scratch that, the fact that I have taken a few dates to basketball games is the qualifier.  Can I help it?  Probably, though it is such a convenience for a guy that is a little nervous and not so sure he really wants to be out on the date anyway.  The basketball game with the back and forth helps you avoid eye contact and then the home crowd getting into it and the loud speaker - yep, conversation killers.  Oh, I am a basketball slut.  Mmmm, pathetic.  Take out someone to the game knowing that it is the perfect way to avoid the uncomfortables of dating as if eye contact and conversation are the uncomfortables.  But then there is the other side that perhaps we're missing out on here.  Sitting side by side is good for a little hand holding with the right person.  The back and the forth of the game wouldn't matter because you're really not there for the game you just want to be close to someone.  The game is still going on and that can be nice in the background.  Though the crowd noise and the loud speaker exist it allows you to draw closer for conversation.  Is there any possibility one could take a date to the basketball game and not be guilty of basketbal slutology?  I don't know.  I think it is a means to an end or a doorway to something more.  It's a safe way to get a feel for someone.  Not a lot of risk there.  It can still be an excellent venue for a date but for the special lady that allready has your trust, well she can step right in to an upper echelon date like courtside at competitive bad mitten, croquette or even lawn darts.  Not just any woman is worthy of that kind of a date.  This dating advice brought to you by a man that knows very little of the world of dating and the keys to a womans heart.  I did learn that socks can trump flowers, especially carnations and if you ever have a chance meeting with a sports figure, you know like a basketball player while on one of those safe dates, don't ever ask them about their sport.  Well, maybe if I listen well enough I may just become a love doctor yet.  It's a definite step up from Basketball Slut.