Yesterday...

Yesterday was such a waste!
I'm such a sinful man. It's a wonder the Lord doesn't smite me (no humor intended for you pirates out there).
Why is it that I allow one thing that happens (or several) to affect my whole day like that. I really think satan got ahold of that and used it to make everything worse. How can I lead when I allow myself to get turned so far inward?

Kids need training. That's a fact of life.
It's impossible to train kids in a positive way when you send them away from you. That was proven yesterday. I didn't want any of them around me. Even the ones who were behaving...

Now I'm working my day shift week (misery in itself). I won't see the kids hardly at all this week. So I totally blew the weekend. Sunday anyway. I won't get too many more of those while they are young.

I really need to try to be more active in their lives and stop concentrating on MY life. More later as I continue to think and pray about this.

Upset

Well, I'm a little upset right now. Actually I'm pretty mad!

Several of the kids have been acting up this morning. So much so that I decided that it would not be a good idea for the wife and I to leave them unsupervised. So, we didn't get to go to brunch. I'm upset about that part, but I'm more upset that the kids are acting in a way that makes them untrustworthy. The older ones especially.

We really haven't asked the older girls to do a lot of babysitting over the years. Recently, I decided that I needed to take my wife out a little more often and have the girls watch the other kids. It's not usually a tough job since the youngest ones are usually napping. They are allowed to let the others watch a video, so there really isn't that much for them to do... just make sure no one gets hurt or sneaks outside. Unfortunately, one of my older girls has been having a little self control issue when it comes to hurting the younger ones. So how can we leave her in a position of authority?

Anyway, that combined with some of the unauthorized activities of a couple of my boys has led us to an afternoon stuck in the house without the benefit of couple time for me and the wife.

All we asked was for a couple hours out to lunch! Is that too much to ask?
So I'm down in the basement cooling off so I don't kill anyone.
Pray for me...

Busy weekend ahead

Tonight, my 3rd son is having his birthday party. It took us a couple of weeks to find a time that worked (his actual birthday was earlier in the month). There are 6 guests for the evening and (I think) 5 staying overnight. I just got done cooking the hotdogs and they are all playing Gamecube... Guess they can eat cold dogs.

I've got to get up early tomorrow to take #1 son to a wrestling tournament. He is still too light to wrestle officially, but he will be in 2 or 3 exhibition matches. This seems to be a sport that he likes alot. Although I haven't found one he doesn't like yet. It takes a tremendous amount of energy and stamina. Coach says he's good and can be trained to be great. We'll see.

Daughter #2 is going tomorrow with another family to help them decide if they should buy a particular horse. They want her to train it for them. This is really good, since she will get riding time and not have to pay for it. Definately an answer to prayer.

I need to leave soon to pick up daughter #3 from school. She was playing in an away basketball game. She seems to like it alright. Definately something that will require her to improve and stay in shape.

The younger ones are all underfoot and trying to play with all the guest boys. Hopefully they don't make too much of a nuisance of themselves before they're off to bed.

Later on in the day tomorrow, we will host our monthly family birthday party. Not everyone can come, but it will still be fun.

Somewhere in there, I should try to do an electrical job or two. We're coming up a little short in the financial end this month, but God is faithful and has always taken care of our needs. So I'm not gonna worry about it.

Sunday, I plan to take my wife out to brunch. Just the two of us for a couple hours of peace and couple time. I've been able to do that more lately than in the past and the rewards make the effort more than worth it.

Well, I've gotta get going. Daughter #3 just called and said they were back. I'll be late getting her from school. Nothing new there. I seem to be late more often lately. I think it's part of my more relaxed outlook this year. It's a good thing.

*unless there's a kid waiting*

Time flies!

Has it really been almost a week since my last post? Not too much has happened since the runaway episode. My son is having to really work at rebuilding trust with his teachers and with us. At school, he isn't allowed to go anywhere without an adult. Not sure how much longer they will require that. The boy really doesn't like it. He doesn't like school much anyway and now it's almost unbearable for him.

One of the things I had my son do was write Proverbs 12:22 The LORD detests lying lips,but he delights in men who are truthful. I made him write it 100 times. It really took him a long time to get it done over the course of a few days. He isn't much of a writer yet. He definately has it memorized now.:-)

He also hasn't been allowed to go anywhere alone around home. I'm not sure he's getting the lesson, though. He really has a hard time staying on task and I'm beginning to think he's a little ADD. I really don't want to put him on medicine, but we may need to check into it. I've heard there are alternatives out there. Have to check into them.

I'm working tonight. Most of the tedius stuff is done. I've got a few minutes to post here and check a few favorite sites. Then it's up and around the building again to check the equipment.

Tomorrow morning I'm going out to a men's breakfast. I need the fellowship and accountability. Then it's home to load up for another job. I've got a few hours of work at a local business adding lights and a couple of fans. Then I get to watch the little ones for a few hours. Then it's back to work here for another night. Not much sleep in there. A bit of deja vu from last year. Hope I don't get that busy again.

Just wanted to give a shout out to John and Ken (beeken). I'm praying for you both. Thanks for being my foxhole friends.

Emily... did you get to see Idol tonight? San Fran didn't have too much to offer. lol!
Well, time's up, until next time.
Keep praying for my boys. They need the coverage!

Runaway!

Well...
I got a call today from my wife at around 2:30pm. The school had called her to let her know that our 4th son had disappeared. They thought he might have run away from the school campus. Apparently he had gotten in trouble with his teacher for lying about completing some work and was getting a demerit. (He has really been struggling with paying attention and fooling around both at school and at home. I attribute most of this to his age and the competition between brothers at home.)

His school punishment was to miss recess (he was to complete the assignment he lied about and also write a scripture concerning lying). Somewhere in that time period, he walked off campus. After a few minutes and some checking by the teachers and principal, they called all hands to look for him on the grounds. I'm not sure if any of the teachers got in their cars or not, but I suspect they were headed that way. They even had a couple of aides go on the roof to try to spot him.

I received a call from the State Police about 10 minutes after my wife called. He had picked my son up on a road about 2 miles from the school. There was a woman from one of the local businesses that had seen him and called the police. She had spoken to him and told him to stay put, but he kept walking after she went to get her phone. The Trooper picked him up within 100 yards of an extremely busy 4 lane highway that he intended to cross on his way. He called me as he was taking my son back to the school. Praise the Lord for His protection and timing!

I got to the school just in time to speak to the officer before he left. It happened to be a K9 unit, so my son got to see the trained German Shepherd as well. I thanked him profusely and he directed me to the principals office where he had taken my son.

When I got to the office, there were three of his teachers and the principal with him in the office. School was over and all the kids had left. My son was calmly seated and had been talking to them. He teared up when he saw me. I nearly cried, myself. We went over what happened and covered some of what could have happened to him had he not been found. When he left the school, he was headed for home. He was following the route that the bus takes when they come home each day. That is a 12 mile trip! I don't know why he was coming home, since he knew he would be in trouble there too. I guess he wanted to be the first one to tell us about his demerit (before his teacher called). He did mention that he was afraid he would be sent to the principal's office and get into more trouble. Not much else came out of the conversations. What else CAN you say!? We prayed together and thanked the Lord.

What's next?!?! This isn't the first time he's run away. He ran from home a couple of years ago. We found him safely that time as well by the grace of God. I don't know how he hasn't gotten the message that it is better to deal with what bothers him with those who love him. What causes boys to run?

Please pray for this little guy. The Lord has His hand on him, I know. Not sure what He is preparing him for, but his Great Grandmother once felt that the Lord was telling her that he would be an evangelist. It's looking like he will be a wandering one if that prophecy comes true. lol!

I know that his leash is going to be extremely short for a long while. He also will need to rebuild trust with us and his teachers. I've got a list of scriptures I will have him write so that he can commit them to memory. I'd appreciate further suggestions from my readers if you think of something.

John closed his blog

This makes me a little sad. I know he has his reasons and maybe he'll start a new one sometime. I just know that I'll miss reading him when he writes. Thanks for the time you were here, John. I'm praying for you.

Should I write a book?

The thought occurred to me the other day that I should write a book about what's going on in my life - family, kids, my growth and experiences. Not sure if anyone would buy it, though. Maybe I'll just try it in a Word document for now and percolate on it. I can't say for sure, but I don't think this idea came from my brain. Is it possible that the Lord wants others to read about what He has done in my family?

So... maybe I will start organizing my thoughts and see what happens.

Back at work.

I really enjoyed unplugging this past week. Those 7 days off passed a little too quickly, though. I really think I would do just fine if I was retired. There's plenty to keep busy doing.
Anyway, I'm just posting to let y'all know that I'll be working 14 - 12 hour shifts in the next 21 days. Pray for my strength and sanity!
Thanks in advance.

I keep forgetting to change my music when I'm at home. I don't hear it on my computer since Modzilla is blocking the code. I do hear it at work, though and figured y'all might be getting tired of hearing the same thing all the time. So... I changed it to Third Day. Hope you like it as much as I do.

New Year Flying By

Already through one week of 2006! I really hope the rest of the year slows down a bit. This pace is just too fast for me.
I got to go out cruising in the Solstice today. I took my oldest son and we covered about 30 miles. Drove a bit in tandem with another Solstice owned by a friend of mine. That really turned some heads! Then off to Pat's Pizza for a pre-dinner snack. Good times.
I just watched the end of the Tampa Bay/Washington game. I'm disappointed in the Bucs performance. I really wanted to see Cadillac Williams go further in his rookie season. He is rookie of the year, though, so I guess that will do. WAR EAGLE!!
Not much else going on right now. I'm in the middle of my 7 day break and loving it. I really think I'll do well in retirement...
I'm gonna tackle a few items on the honey do list tomorrow. Then a couple of electrical jobs early in the week. Plus (weather permitting) another Solstice cruise.
Hope y'all are having a great weekend.

Looking Ahead

I think I've found what I will be trading up to. I'm hoping they build this Solstice for 2007, but currently it looks like this may be a later model.


Either that or I will be dropping an LS2 motor into the thing for 400 horsepower...

Happy New Year!

We stayed up for the ball drop in NYC. I don't think I could ever go there in person, though. 1,000,000 people in one area is just too many for me to handle. After the clock struck midnight, three of my boys, one daughter my wife and I went outside to make some noise and ring in the new year. It was very quiet out there until we got noisy. Some neighbors joined us after a couple of minutes, so we won't be the only ones to blame. I couldn't find my fireworks, so at least they were spared that noise... next year I'll look early so I have them ready.

We also toasted the new year with sparkling red grape juice for the kids and a glass of champagne for the wife and I.







































Everyone crashed into bed shortly after that. I was still awake, so I went down here and got online. John stopped in for a virtual visit (thanks for the company, John). I caught up a couple of emails and that was about it.

New Year's resolutions:

love my Lord better
love my wife and kids more
be more generous in sharing what I have
enjoy friendships fully
lose weight (and not find it again)
get rid of the excess in my life (both personal habits and actual junk)

That should keep me busy until 2007!