Christmas

The James family had a very Merry Christmas. The kids ended up with a Wii, and it has been lots of fun for all of us. Game Stop had a buy 2 and get 1 free sale. So I took the kids and braved the snow to see what we could find. (This is the picnic table in our back yard.) They happened to have this new game called "Wii Music" and so we took it home. I thought it would be a fun group game. Boy has it ever. We had some visitors over today and I could not stop from laughing at them. I finally went outside to shovel.

I was not laughing at them, but with them. Sadie, Kate and Halee looked like they were having fun. I know that Chris, Kate and Kolbie were enjoying it. I like ti when my kids have their friends over . It is fun to get to know them. I am not sure that the Hardings know what to think of our family, but we are glad to have them in the ward. Besides, I can make fun of Chris Harding for being such a terrible college football game picker. (I think he is currently 1-5 in my bowl game pool). I told him Sarah could pick better.

I think this will be a good investment. It is now after 11 and the kids are still together playing.

I hope this season finds everyone safe and you can enjoy the time with your family. Merry Christmas and Happy New year.

I want to be COOL!

Dear diary,

I have come to realize something...... I am not cool anymore. I have passed the ripe time of wanting to be in the center of everything. Do you remember when knowing or even dating a cheerleader was awesome! I had the opportunity to go out with one of the cool girls for a while. She may have liked me who knows. I know she asked me to a girls choice dance so I must have been more than the weirdo, unless she did it on a dare?? I think that my red truck was even a way for me to garner some of that attention. Sitting in the flame ridden truck and wondering if every girl on the block wanted a ride was the "thing" to do. I have seen this in my primary class. They are of the age where being the center of attention is the way. I think that this is why we have such a hard time with them the last few months. Most of them are 12 and starting in junior high. They want to be Tom Brady, Jeff Dunham (comedian), and President Obama all rolled into one. Heck I think I know adults like that. I still have that inner desire. You know the kind, they haven't attended Sunday school in years, talk about all the things they are going to buy, and what kind of car they did (or are going to) drive. Today I asked the boys if they were ready for Christmas? They launched into the talk of knowing what they were getting, because they sneaked a peak. One would start talking the minute the other stopped. No one bothered to listen to each other, just 7 different conversations going on all at once. I could have said "there goes a naked Brooke Burke" and they would not have heard a word I said. Oh to be "THE" guy again right. Clicks can be funny if you are able to step back and see the entire picture. I ran into a couple the other day about my age and she was wearing her high school dance team jacket. Not sure if she was living in the past or if the closet was bare that day, but what was she thinking?? I think that some times those clicks get to an unhealthy point. Can you imagine our government that way........ Oh wait a minute I think it might be already, if you are friends with the president or have enough money you can get that popular position right??? What a sick world we live in. At least I can try to be a good person no matter what my neighbor thinks of me. (By the way, quit shoveling your snow on my driveway!!! or I will cut you out of the "in" crowd.)

On a more important note we got some good snowfall this Friday, but let it snow!

16 years!! Yesterday

Jill and have been married for a long time !!! I cannot believe it has been that long. Seems like yesterday. I know that I have not aged, lost any hair, or gained any weight. It is everyone else that is getting older. I have been debating what to write about. There are lots of fun times and some very difficult ones. If anyone ever says being married is easy they LIE. It is lots of work, but the rewards are plentiful. So what are the rewards of my marriage?

#1 Jill is a fabulous woman that I love. She has taught me the importance of respect, and love for someone close to you. I do not show my feelings very well and I know that I do not tell her very often, but I Love her immensely. When I was first married I would wish that Jill was not so opinionated, but now I understand that it is important to hear what others have to think. I like to listen to her ideas on politics and sports. They usually differ from mine, but that is just fine.

#2 My kids teach me everyday, patience and loving understanding. Without 16 years ago my kids would not be here and I would be lost without them. I love to spend time with them and enjoy the things they are doing. My favorite times come when I get to have 1 on 1 time. When Jill works or has plans and I can take Kate to the store or cart them to their friends that is what I love. They are growing up now, but they will always be mine.

#3 Now to embarrass Jill.......... You just fill in the blank. Ha Ha!!! Just kidding.

OK here is to another 16 years!!!

5 people

Today I was reading in ESPN the magazine and an article got me to thinking and sparked a bit of a debate in the James household. Steven A Smith wrote about the people he would love to meet. So I asked everyone who would you like to have lunch with and spend the afternoon with. The person needed to be alive. I got answers form everyone. Jill was Obama, Mrs Obama, Nelson Mandela, and I do not know who else. Kate and Kolbie had Miley Cirus, Tayor Swift (me too) etc. Chris was stuck with Jeter, A Rod and the like so here goes my list of 5.

#1 Tommy Lasorda. Would it not be awesome to sit down with one of the greatest managers of all time. can you imagine where we would have lunch?

#2 Vin Scully, Ok do you see my theme? This guy is an incredible voice in basebal past. It would be fun to hear the stories that he has. I love the his Kirk Gibson world Series story.

#3 George W Bush, I am not a political guy, but I think the president would be neat to hang out with for the day. He likes baseball too so that would be fun.

#4 Tiger Woods, he seems like an incredilbe guy. He like sfishing and golfing. I would just like a portion of his determination.

#5 Thomas S Monson, how could you turn down the prophet?

If I could have more then Michael Jordan would come in, Oprah, Hillary Clinton, Theo Epstien, Mark Cuban, David Locke. I could go on and on. Let me know who would make your list.

(If I put Carrie Underwood on my list I think I would be on the couch..... wink wink.)

This has got to be the best weekend of the year. The shop is closed for 4 straight days, there is an enormous amount of football on TV, and I get to eat good food. Of course with Jill working at Old Navy it stinks that she is gone most of the weekend, but on the bright side no one is here to bug me about watching too much football. (can there be too much football?). I took the girls down the the 30 minute Christmas parade. It was fun, see the guy on the bike. It short and sweet. Not as many of the dance teams as usual. It was looking forward to seeing Tiffany Kuehne. Kolbie got this ridiculous "Liberty Tax" hat that she wore around her head most of the afternoon. I did the unthinkable too, I went to Old Navy to do some shopping on "black friday". Jill works at the Jordan Landing store and the line to check out went all the way to the back of the store. It went pretty fast, we only waited about 20 minutes. While we were in line I talked to Carolee Obrien Mecham, she went to high school with me and now works with Jill. She married Jay, one of my roommates from college.



Most of today has been dedicated to football. I have watched 2 games and currently the Boise St game is on pause downstairs so that I can get back to it. This is the fun time of the year.



Here is Kolbie and her terrible hat at Old Navy. I took this picture so that my wife would believe that I was actually there!!!

Down Goes Frasier!!!!

It was looking promising coming out of the corner. There I was the prepared primary teacher, all 5' 9' and 195 pounds of me. I had gotten up early and read through everything. All the years of training were going to pay off. I know the Book of Mormon and love the story of Moroni and his diligence to preserve the record of his father. I can teach about that with my eyes closed. Sacrament meeting ended and I went out to the car to grab the metal can so the kids can "engrave" on the plates. Sort of a illustration of what it was like in Moroni's time. I stopped at the library and got the chalk and I was headed off to the room for the match.

And in this corner all 10,5 foot nothings chattering and leaning back on the chairs in room # ? (not sure which room we are in). Each with his own personality and background they were ready for the test. The Elders quorum presidents son, a son of a high councilor, primary president, and so on and so on. They would not lay down and die without a fight.

Ding... and round one begins, I start off a little cautious and let them banter a bit. Each has his story he wants to share of the week past, but little do I know they have already gotten chalk and began the battle, writing on the board and erasing all but on part of their little game. Attack from behind is the plan and I stave off that attack with the quiet for the opening prayer.

Ding, Ding... round 2 and I am able to get them to open the scriptures to Mormon 8 and we begin to read, but then it starts. See I am a male teacher in primary and have to keep the door open at all times. That makes everyone that walks by part of our class. Girls are the worst because 12 year old boys don't just look, they have got to get louder hoping the girl target will look this way. Oh no, the deacons advisor checks in on them and I am sunk. Now it is a game to show me that I have no control. Round 2 goes to the boys... all tied up 1 to 1.

Ding, Ding.... round 3 is where I am going to take control. We are doing well, I have decided that we are not reading or proceeding with the lesson until everyone is listening, and after 6 tries we finally get scripture #1 read. I am going to knock them down, I cannot be beat. Round 3 goes to me, the big bad teacher

Ding, Ding... round #4 and now I am in trouble. Ev starts to giggle at everything and the leaning back on the chairs gets dangerous. I ask the boys to all fold up the chairs and stand up. Which I think will work, but they come back hard and by the time I look up they are all laying on the floor laughing and making fun of anyone that walks by in the hall. My lesson is a disaster and I am woozy to the point of a knock out. I go down in defeat with my head held high. My consolation is that next year they move on into Sunday School and next years teacher stop me in the hall to ask how "good" these boys are. I am still laughing uncontrollably, licking my wounds from a day.... in the 12 year old boys Primary class.

---- My ode to Jeremy(Where at thou now?????)

Funny Story

Today at work, while we were accepting our shipment for the day, our truck driver (Steve) asked me if I was still talking to my husband.

I was a little shocked and thought this question was a little weird. I told him of course I'm still talking to my husband, why?

His response: I know that you voted for Obama, and you mentioned that he voted for McCain. Are you guys still speaking? I know guys at work who aren't speaking to their wives because of this election.

I ended up joking about this. I just said that Greg and I always cancel out each others vote. I also told him that Greg voted for looks (Sarah Palin) and not on the issues.

I've written on my blog that Greg and I don't see eye to eye on many social and political issues, but that doesn't mean we won't speak to each other. Greg has always been someone I can talk to and share my ideas, a lot of the time he gives me a different perspective (although, I don't know if he's say the same about me).

Maybe Greg and I have thing really good if we can talk about political and social "issues" and not get really mad at each other because we don't agree very often. The weird thing is, I get a lot more worked up about things when it's someone else and not Greg. Or maybe we just put up with each others crap!

Dear Diary

Ok maybe this will seem kind of corny. I have been reading a book by Dan Shaunessy from ESPN. It is called "Senior Year". In the book he follows his son's senior year in high school while being recruited for college baseball. (First off I can read, but they have got to be sports books) In the book he cites several times parts o his journal when he was growing up. This got me to thinking about my own journals. I think I like blogs so much because of my experience with my journals.

When I was just about 16 I had a Priest Quorum advisor that taught me a lesson about journals that has been with me for the rest of my life. Lamar Ewell brought in his volumes of journals and read things to us about his life. He taught us how important his journals were and what they had meant to his family. I decide then and there that I was going to try it.

Lamar told us we did not need a fancy book to keep a journal. In fact most of my books are written in spiral note books. The only one that is not is the volume that I started with on my mission. I thought because I was going on a mission I needed a fancy hard bound book. Let me tell you when that was full I went right back to the spiral notebook. Note books are tons easier. Besides I can always bind them later.

I started at 16 years old, so you can imagine that the early text talks lots about girls and my friends. Some of my entries are weird, but they are in my words. I have tickets from ball games I attended and other "junk". When I go back and read it is funny to relive those experiences and think what I should have done different. In college it was harder, I did not want my roommates to think I was weird, they know the truth now, but it outlines lots of my friends and I can see myself growing into a young man/old man.

I did not miss one day on my mission. I figured I could not take everything home so if I wrote about it, I would be able to look at it later in life. Since then my entries skip large amounts of time, but I always try to keep it up to date. I think the last volume I had number over 1200 pages. Lately, I have been typing it in a document on the computer. Anyways, it is fun to go back and read what happened years ago. I let Jill read some of the mission stuff. Not sure if that was a good idea, but that was fun to go through with her. I often wonder what will happen to all of my mere ramblings or what other people are saying about me in their journals. Someday in the book of time we will all be able to find out. Sorry for this stupid post but I think journals are fun

Chances are if I know your name there is something about you in my journal. I thought about making an index one time, but decide that was WAY TOO MUCH WORK.

Aren't we lucky

I am certainly not much of one for politics. I was reading a good friend of mines blog and it got me to thinking. We are very lucky to live in a country where we have the opportunity to choose the people that lead us and make our laws. Some places in this world they are not so lucky. We have our ancestors to thank for that, there are lots of people that have fought and lost their lives so that we can have that freedom. Each person has their own opinion of how to do things and what is right, and we have can express those choices without getting thrown in jail. That is great. Jill likes to "think" about and "discuss" the important topics. Me not so much. I will be glad when all this "I am going to save the world" garbage is over and I can get back to worrying about if the Cowboys can make the playoffs, or if the Utes will break up the BCS. I know, I should be more concerned about the "important" world around me, but I worry about the my life and my situation. I will only handle the problems that effect me. That said I voted last week, did my civic duty. By the way I voted for looks and Sarah is lots hotter than Obama or Biden. (No that is not the only reason I voted, I am not that stupid)

No on to more pressing issues..... Go Utes and Dodgers, you need to sign Manny! Get 'er done!

Halloween

Well, it's Halloween. Yipee. To say that I've never been a fan of Halloween would be the under-statement of the century. I just don't like it, never have, never will. My favorite holiday is July 4th!

Anyway, my kids are all old enough now to not want to hang-out with Mom and Dad anymore. Kolbie, who is dressed as a Vampire, is running around the neighborhood with her best buddy Annie and her family. Katie, who is dressed as a Skyline Football Player (thanks Mason for letting us borrow a uniform), is up at Alyssa's house trying to act cool, and trying to get up the guts to go through the spooke alley the neighbors put on each year. And Chris, who is dressed up is all black (I don't really know what he's supposed to be) is helping in the spook alley. He says he loves to scare all the girls. I just remind him that he scares girls everyday and doesn't need a spook alley. He didn't laugh at my joke.

So it's just me and Greg at home. We have the XM Radio turned to spooky Halloween music, he's reading, I'm blogging and we're waiting for the trick-or-treaters. The weird thing is: there aren't many trick-or-treaters. Dare I say? It's almost spooky? I know, lame joke.

I remember as a kid going trick-or-treating and having the neighborhood crawling with kids. My Mom would just stay standing at the front door, because there were so many kids. Even though Halloween isn't my personal favorite, I do like seeing all the little kids in their costumes. That's the fun part. The rest, I could live without.

Biggest Loser

I can never figure out titles for these stupid things. Oh well, I wanted to boast a little. I have been doing weight watchers since October 2. As of today I have lost 13 pounds and I only need 8 more to get to my goal. It has been very difficult, but I am having fun with it. I feel my biggest change has been my Coke intake. I have not had a Coke since Oct 4Th. That is incredible for me. It has been cool to think about the eating habits I am changing. I broke the 200 pound mark this morning weighing in at 198.

I have been called in the ward as the ward website coordinator. This will be lots of fun for me. So far I am just trying to get used to the site and cruise around on it. Our ward has only 40 members registered on the site. There are other wards in the stake that have over 100. President Meservey wants the web site to be a place where we can find news, announcements, and anything else we may need about the ward. I would suggest to anyone to get on and check your ward out. www.lds.org then go to about the church and stake and ward web sites. To get to the news and calendar pages you have to register on the site and you need your member number and confirmation date. It is cool to see where technology is taking us.

The Sunday of the living dead!

Today was a funny day in sacrament meeting. It was the annual Primary program. For those that may not know this is the opportunity for the kids to show what they have been learning about for the past year. Just like our stake president said at the end, it is also a good opportunity for us adults to remember what the gospel is about, simplify it a bit. I am a primary teacher so I got to sit up on the stage with all the kids. I enjoyed watching the reactions of each parent as their kid approached the microphone for their part.

I noticed 3 types of reactions that deserve a comment.

#1 was the "sit straight up and smile" parents. These parents sit up and smile as their kid stumbles over the part that you have practiced for all of the last 2 weeks. Of course these parents think that every other parent has now noticed how good or bad your kid did. These parents don't realize that no one else is even listening, they are watching their own cute kids.

#2 was the "mouth the words" parents. Their are lots of these in the audience, In fact they are mostly women. They think that if they pretend saying the part the kid will somehow "get it" through mental telepathy. I think that next year the kids should sit in the audience and each parent can do his or her part. Now that would be funny.

#3 Last but not least are the "another primary program" parents. These are the older than dirt people that do not have kids sitting on the stage. In fact they can be grand parents that are just there for the attendance star. Of course they have to pay some sort of attention because after the meeting they have got to make intelligent comments to the other parents. In the past these parents were the googly dumb ones, but not now. They are too cool for all that.

As the only male in our ward's primary I have got to admit it was sort of fun, but I missed having Jeremy up there to help me. Maybe next year....wait I cannot be shunned to primary for an entire year can I?????

Zigauraut

This is Kate's ziguraut. Please do not check my spelling on that. This has been her project for the last little while for the Mesopotamia block they are doing at school. I had to help her put it together, but she glued it and did all of the wood burning decoration. I hoep she gets a good grade. She certainly put in the effort.

Thank you to Grandpa for the blocks of wood to help us out. Kate is so pruod of her project.

Family Photos

This is the first time that my family has gotten together for family photos since Mason was a baby. Interesting that now Mom has 9 grand children. With Jaylynn moving we decided to take some photos. Carl did a good job.
This is the entire family. My son is certainly taller than me now.
This is the photo that will end up on the post office wall. Scary bunch for sure.

I took a flyer and we went over to Hunter park this morning to see if Dalin was playing football. Luckily he was. It was fun, Dalin ended up losing to West, but they played pretty well. West had an 11 year old that was at least 6'2". Let's see that kids birth certificate! That is not what I wanted to post about. Here goes..... The Bankheads are such a good family. Here we are just some family that came to watch the game, but they make me and my kids feel at home and like we belong there. Kate goes to school with some of the kids on that team. Dalin was sure to say hi to each of my kids in between plays. I am glad that I have him in my primary class. He is a very good kid. I commented to Heather earlier this year that he is sort of a follower. I do not mean that in a bad way. He is one that lurks behind and is always willing to point out when something is not right or he does not feel good about the direction we are going. Dalin will never leave Chance behind in our class. He always wants him to be involved in what everyone else is doing. I respect that. I know that he will grow up to be a fine young man. I know that Jeremy feels the same way. Heather was saying that 2 days after football ends he starts swimming. Busy kid for sure. He has got very good examples in Dan, Heather, Bruce and Vicki to keep him in line. We love you guys! Thanks Bankheads.

Life in general

Things at the James home have been generally.... general, I guess. Nothing too much going on lately. I posted earlier that Jaylynn and Jeremy are moving to Spokane. Derek stopped by on Saturday and we talked for a while. Life has sure changed from the days 20 years ago when we were hanging out at Pinetree #1 and playing Nintendo Hockey. Now we have families and bills. Everyone around me keeps getting older, I am still the same 18 year old in here though.
Some of you may know that I am trying to lose some weight. October 2nd I joined weight watchers with a couple of the guys from work. So far I am down to 202. I feel pretty good about that. I want to get under 200 this week and then when I can get to my goal weight of 190 things will be great. I like weight watchers so far. I do not feel tied down to some diet. All I need to do is keep track of what I eat and stay under 31 points. It was 35 until this week and it went down. I have not had a Coke since dinner after the priesthood session October 4th. That is pretty good. I feel the the stock market crashed because I stopped drinking Coke. Coke's profits must have fallen by some 25%. That will certainly send the country into a tail spin. Hod on tight and BUY stock in Crystal light because it is certain to rise in the coming months.
My Dodgers are officially out of the playoffs, I can again put away the flag until next year. I am slightly down and it will take some time for my spirits to rebound. GO DODGERS! Other than that nothing on the horizon for us. Until next time ....... Think Blue!

Ok, This is not very cool!

This is not the most cool thing for me to report. It is official, my sister (Jaylynn) and her husband (Jeremy) are moving from the ward. I am excited for them and this new opportunity. Jeremy was offered a new job in Spokane. It is cool for him and exciting for their little family. Jill and I were discussing that to get this kind of an offer really helps your self esteem. Jeremy has struggled with his jobs, so for him to get this chance is big. He will be a superintendent for a large commercial construction company based in Spokane. His job will move a round the country depending on where they are working. He is supposed to start on October 27th, not to far away. Jaylynn is going to stay here until at least Thanksgiving. I will certainly miss them, especially having them here just down the street. Now where am I going to get my haircut? (no bald jokes!)

Their house is for sale by a good friend of mine, Derrick Sorensen. Derrick helped Jay and Jeremy when they bought this house. I was excited when they said they had called him again. Derrick is a good guy. He stopped by tonight while I was cooking my dutch oven dinner for the ward outing. Th4e home market has been slow lately, but he has high hopes they can sell their home. I think the only thing holding it back is the back yard. I took these photos of the sign. I know they are dark, sorry. The house is not on Derrick web site yet but I am sure it will be soon. Check it out at www.soldsorensen.com .
I keep telling Jaylynn that if she is going to move that far away then she needs to learn to blog. That way I can see those two little girls grow up. Jayda and Jaycee are both so cute. My Mom is having a hard time so far. It is tough, Jaylynn has never lived very far away. In fact I do not think she has ever lived out of this valley. Mom and Dad will just need to take some vacations now. Heck I will lose my Primary teaching companion. Now what will all of those boys do with just me? I will probably get overtaken. Well drop Jay a note if you want to jasgirl4377@gmail.com She is not the most computer literate, but maybe she can figure it out.

Chris Turns 13!

Today, Chris turns 13! He's still so much of a kids, and becoming so much of an adult. Here are a few things about Chris:

10. He can see an airplane a mile up in the air, and thinks he can tell you what kind of plane it is.

9. He falls and almost breaks his arm at least twice a year.

8. Once before the Primary Program, he cut his earlobe in half with a pair of sewing scissors.

7. He's handsome.

6. He's opinionated.

5. He's intelligent.

4. He works hard at what he loves.

3. His favorite baseball team changes almost every year.

2. He loves potato casserole.

1. He makes me smile almost everyday.

There are the Top Ten about Chris. He may just be turning 13, but he's been doing the "teenager thing" for a few months now. Chris is the son I always wanted, I love him with all my heart. Sometimes I wish I could be there with him all the time, and tell him what decisions to make, but I know that's not possible. I just have to trust him, the thing Greg and I taught him, and pray. He can be a bit goofy, but who isn't?

I remember the night that Chris was born. He was less than an hour old when our families came in to meet him for the first time. I was holding Chris and crying, because I was so happy (and hormonal) when my dad came over to me and whispered in my ear: "Enjoy him, because tomorrow you'll be sending him on his mission." At the time I was a little annoyed with my dad, thinking that he needed to just let me enjoy the moment. Now however, I know how right he was. Chris isn't leaving on mission (I pray that he makes that choice in just a few years), but time sure does fly. It feel like yesterday when we were worrying about car seats, baby formula and sleeping throught the night. Now we worry about him wearing his seatbelt when we're not in the car, watching our grocery bill climb higher as his appetite increases, and making sure he comes in one time.

Chris is amazing. He makes me smile and laugh almost everyday. I'm blessed to be able to say that. I pray that as continue on through the teenage years (he has two equally amazing sister following behind him) that he will continue to be healthy and happy. He adds so much spirit to our home we are blessed to have him in our family.

Happy Birthday Chris!

October 7 is tomorrow and this day in our family carries a little bit of significance. Our oldest turns 13 years old. We now have a teenager in the James family. I think he has been in the teen age cycle for some time. These two pictures are my favorite that we have of him. They were taken a couple of years ago. He is now taller than I am and weighs about 150 pounds. I can still take him if I want to though, but I am sure that time is going to be past soon. Chris has been the son I always wanted. I had a good friend named Chris, I do not know if we named him after my friend, but in a way we did. From his youngest days he would sit with me and watch sports. Early in the spring of 1996 I was taking him to Buzz games wrapped up in a blanket and he would sit through the entire game on my lap. He played Hockey for a time, his first lesson he dropped his glove on the ice. Hockey gloves do not bend like regular gloves. He put both gloves on, but then could not pick up the stick. Then he took a glove off and picked up the stick, of course then he could not get the glove on. It was hilarious.

Chris did not fall far from the tree. He has played fantasy football with me for 3 years now. He wanted to be a BYU fan, but after one trip to a Ute football game he was converted. I am proud of all of his achievements. He was on the safety patrol, completes his first cross country season tomorrow and wants to start wrestling. I am glad he works hard at what he likes. I know that I have caught pitches from him more than I thought I ever would. Chris is a very good student. The only problem he ever has is becoming lazy and not turning in the assignments. 13 years old, wow, it feels like just yesterday that we were holding you in our arms. Now I will just need to fight off the girls.

We converted another to be a faithful follower!

What a great time to consider myself to be a Ute fan! Tonight's game at Rice Eccles was awesome. I was certainly expecting a strong battle form the visiting Beavers, but this was classic. Stan, Louie, Tanner and a friend of his joined Chris and I . Chris and I had tickets in section n25 on row 6, they were great. That was the loudest I had ever heard that stadium.

Tanner swore that he was coming to the game just to enjoy it, and he was still going to be a Cougar fan. Afterwards he said he was converted for life. He even went down on the field and got a picture with the cheerleaders around each arm.
Utah started slowly but they cam on at the end and Bryon Johnson led them down for a Louie Sakoda field goal to win it with no time on the clock.

It is not very often that you can have a chance to enjoy a game like that.

I am positive that Tanner is now among the believers and will be a Ute fan for life. How could you not after that fun and exciting game. Gordy owes me 2 Cokes now.

DODGERS win again 10-3 and now they have the Cubs at the edge of elimination!!!!

Nearly Dead or Mostly Dead!

I am going to admit a bad thing. Maybe 2 bad things here and now. First off, call the police I almost killed my daughters tonight. They were both instructed to walk quickly home from school and to my sister Jaylynn's house. Jaylynn was going to take them to a friends of her's home and use her salon to cut all of our hair. (NO BALD JOKES ALLOWED HERE) I was going to meet them after I got off. Well, Jay calls me at around 4:30, no girls. I told her that maybe they went home and to go and check. Nope, she went to check at the Harding' nope. I told Jay to leave them and I would deal with it. A few minutes after that Kate calls me and they were at a friends house, "We forgot" is all they could say. Not only did they let Aunt Jay down and make her do some extra running, but they did not obey some simple rules. Geez!
Number 2, I have joined weight watchers online. I have gained approximately 30 pounds in the last 6 months and I need to do something about it. Currently I weigh 211 pounds. I want to be between 180 and 185. Louie and Stan at the shop have joined me and so it will be good to have the help of some friends. I have never felt that weight was an issue that I worried about. I have always been slightly over weight, but until lately it has never bothered me. Now I realize that I could feel better about myself if I did something about it. Wish me luck and maybe once in a while I will post about my progress.

I would not feel good about myself if I did not mention the big 7 to 2 victory of my team over the Cubs. Go Dodgers!!!!

What I love about Fall & moving Jill's parents!

I love Fall, I do not believe that it is my favorite, but It is great. Every season has things in it that I like along with things I hate. Fall is great because it means Football and the Major League Baseball playoffs. I think fall goes extremely fast because I spend a good 3 weeks watching baseball games. Is that bad? I do not believe so. It starts to cool off after the HOT summertime. Here in Utah it does not rain like I wished it would, but you can certainly feel the winter approaching. In the fall I do not like that the garden and lawn begins to die. Not die, but begin to go dormant for the winter.
This weekend I over did it. We have been preparing and trying to help Jill's parents move. They moved from up near Cottonwood High School and now live near us by Bennion Junior High. I think I realized that I am almost 39 years old. My best days are certainly past me. I tried to work hard and get the move done as fast as I could. Jill's parents have tons of stuff. It took us 2 full loads in a 17 foot Uhaul to get them moved. One of the guys helping said we are never going to get all this stuff inside the apartment. We made it! but there was a path to direct you around the apartment. After we finished at about 3 in the afternoon it began to set in on me. It felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I do not know what it was, but I do not want it ever again. I finally called Jeremy and told him there was no way I was going to make it to teach our Primary class. After relaxing Sunday and watching my fantasy team get spanked (I am sitting on a pillow). I feel lots better. Not sure what was up, but maybe I am getting OLD!

Dodgers !!!

There will be some of you that question my sanity. I am posting a picture here of my dirty, sweaty Dodgers hat. I currently own 3 Dodgers hats. This happens to be the most worn and loved for the moment. Now why would I post it's picture? 2 reasons, First off my team clinched it's playoff birth today courtesy of the team I hate... The D'backs. This is the first NL west championship since 2004. Next week we will begin the post season. The rest of the season games are meaningless, but they must be played. Tomorrow we head to San Francisco to rub it into the Giants' face that we are playing on. Go Dodgers!!

My second reason for posting the picture of my hat is to tell a story. I have to admit that I stole my first ever Dodgers hat from a friend. Kyle Anderson (Brother Anderson to all of you Hunter High School seminary students), was my roommate at Snow College. He "let" me borrow his hat and I just took it over. He claimed that he did not want it back, but why would he? It had been on my head (I had hair then). You cannot share hats right? Kyle has since been excommunicated from the truth that is the Dodgers, but someday maybe he can return to the fold.

If you cannot tell I am excited for my team to enter the playoffs. I pray we make it out of the first round. With Manny, Loney, Either, Dewitt and everyone else, I like our chances.

Saftey Patrol

Monday I will start Saftey Patrol, I will tell you what we do and what the rules are. The first reason I haven't started it earlier is because, my class is the very last class to serve. And we get the last week of ever month. And this is how it works, we go to school at like 8:15 and get there at 8:35 and I will sign a paper and that paper will tell me which post I will be at and so on. And the post that I REALLY WANT is... FLAG POLE!!!!!! The reason why I want it is because you get to bring the flags and fold them and every thing and my friend will be there most of the time! OR I want wood chips it's by the houses by the kindergarten playgrounds. Because a lot of fights happen there. (Mrs.Parsons wants more write-ups so kids will know the rules.) I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!! My friend Joclyn is captain and she gets to kick people off on our team when they are disrespecting her. And at the end of the year every Saftey Patrol team gets to go to Lagoon!!!

Blog!

Somehow this blog has turned into Greg's. I need to get my family to post on here more often. I apologize for that. I have tried to make this things about my family and what is going on in our lives. My other windows blog is where I will post my feelings about my favorite subject.... Sports. I will do a better job of keeping my mouth shut and hoping my family will insert it's opinions here.

My Truck

Ok, I cannot believe I am going to post about this, but here goes. My wife has been pestering me for years to get my truck up to the shop. I am not sure if her motive is to get it out of our driveway so we are no longer the rednecks of the neighborhood or what.

Kate sat inside to "drive" it, but in all reality she was just sitting there. It used to be my joke that it has power steering and that was my arms. When it will not run then the power steering comes from the guy pushing.

Kate ans Kolbie looked so good in the truck. Neither have actually ever taken a ride in it. We officially parked the truck about 6 months after Chris was born. See Jill did not like the fact that no seat belts meant that Chris and his car seat would ride wedged in between the seat and the floor boards. I think that was one of the safest places for him to be, but I realized that being a responsible parent also meant following the law.

It seems as every time over the last 13 years that I thought about starting the rebuilding project on the truck. We would find something more important for our money to go towards. You know how that is. Not sure when I will begin the restoration, but the first step is to get it running and up to the shop. Besides maybe up there some of the guys will give me some help and we can get it cruising again.

Just so you know I am posting in red for a reason. I love my truck. It is my very first car. I bought it for $25 from an old man up by Brighton High School. He wanted to pay us to haul it off. I was 17 and it did not look like it does today. During high school I drove it in different stages. I worked for my Uncle at his body shop and we fixed it up slowly. During my junior year it did not have a bed on it for most of the year. In the winter we had to find some weight for the back end because I would get stuck stopped at a light. So my dad got a 55 gallon barrel and we made a bracket for it to sit on the back. I quickly got nominated as the kegger truck because that is what it looked like. My senior year is when it really took shape and began to look closer to what it does today. That was 1988. It drove me too and from college most of the next year. It has also been in at least 3 parades that I know of. Story is that when I was on my mission Carl (my brother) was headed to a family reunion in Mount Pleasant, Utah. He got to one of the small towns on the way and they had main street blocked off for a parade. They asked Carl if he would drive the truck through with some of the royalty on it so he did. It won several car shows including best paint several times. The engine gave out while I was on my mission so when I got home it was parked behind the garage waiting for me. Dad found a new power plant and we got he back on the road the next summer.

My truck played a roll in my first meeting with Jill, see I was involved in our stakes single adult Sunday school. Jill was told to come and see what it was like. I could never seem to park it straight in the parking stall. Jill showed up late and her exact words are "what dummy needs to take up 2 stalls". Needless to say I borrowed my Mom's car on our first date. I did not want her parents to have a bad impression of me. But date #2 I pulled up and she just rolled her eyes.

My goal is to get her back on the road and enjoy it for what it was made for. I think all I will need to do is get a battery home tomorrow night and I can get it to run. Of course it will take some TLC, but I will take my time and get her cruising again. FUN!!!!

Kolbie's glasses

Today Kolbie became a part of the national club of "four eyes." She got glasses. I being the great parent forgot to get a photo of her in them before I sent her off to bed. By the time homework was done I had enough and shewed them off to their rooms. Kolbie looks very cute in them. During her homework tonight I caught her with them on the end of her nose. I almost called her grandma. They even have pink ear tips or whatever they are called.

The glasses came with this pink prada styled bag. I being the fashion expert that I am know that it is important to look good while you are carrying the new glasses. I am sure she will double up the purpose of the bag and carry something else in it too........ like ......... lint might fit in there. the bag is ginormous and will encompass her entire room. If not get lost in the room eventually. It even has a label on it. "Natacha" I am sure that cost me a pretty penny.

Oh for the days of flip flops (thongs) , t-shirts, and shorts. Wait! that does look hot digiity dog good!

X-Country meet #2

Today was cross country meet #2. Held up at Jefferson Jr. High on 5600 West. This seemed like a tougher course than last week. If you have never been to Jefferson they have some hills in the back that section off the different fields from each other. The kids ran laps around the soccer fields and then around the east side of the school then back up on the field around and finished at the back stops.

Here is the start. I am not sure where Chris is, somewhere in the middle. These 2 pictures are of the start of the JV group which Chris runs in.

This is near the 3/4 mark, Chris has been around the school and is getting close to the finish.
He finished 79 out of 87, not the fastest, but he finished. I can tell how exhausted he is. Next Tuesday they are over at Southridge park by Kearns Jr High.

Friday night photos

Patientley waiting for halftime to get started.



This is my sister with her oldest daughter Jayda on the right. In the orange is my other neice Reagan. Someday we need to get Jaylynn to start this blogging thing. Especially if they move to Spokane.

Bruce Hwas here on the left. He is Heather Bankheads Dad. He is such a nice guy. I have played softball and watched him coach for lots of years. You know one thing. He NEVER misses osmething that his grand kids are doing. Here he is waiting for Kodi to perform at halftime. Of course I think he is enjoying the game deep down.


This is Dan Bankhead with my niece Jaycee. She was great during the game except for when Jeremy got a little bit excited over a bad call by the officials. That is why Dan has her, we tried passing her around to calm her down.

Kolbie & Kate got their hair done. Don't ask me, hair and makeup are big things when there is a dance deal.
















I love it when Kate and Kolbie have a good time at these things.

Hunter Dance Team and my new toy

No news on the James side of things lately. Kate and Kolbie are performing at the Hunter/Alta game tomorrow night. That will be lots of fun. The game should be decent even though I do not expect Hunter to put up much of a fight against the top team in the state. I am most excited about the girls. They love this week long camp that Hunter does. Every year we hear the begging from the start of the year. This year it is the dance team putting on the camp so I do not "get" to hear those chants over and over and over again. No now I just hear the same songs over and over and over again. Kate is dancing to Supergirl, and Kolbie has Kung Fu fighter. Oh boy, I am old. Now the girls are begging to get back in dance. We need to, they deserve it.

If any of you read my other blog you know that I got a neat new "toy" today. Since we completed the shop's remodel I have had the urge to get all of my sports memorabilia up and try to display it. I have got thousands of baseball cards. Some of them are autographed and others have special stories to me. I have Chris Latham's autographed bat and quite a few other things that each have a story. Anyway, the other day we were talking to our Sikkens outside salesman, Chris Nielson, and he was telling me I needed to get a Cowboys helmet. Chris calls on a guy in town that does helmet certification and also makes display style helmets. I told Chris to check on how much one would cost and to let me know. I guess Louie and Stan called him later and they found a helmet. The helmet was an old Ute helmet that for some reason has been deemed unsafe. The helmet was then resurfaced and painted. The color silver is very close to the real Cowboys silver. The guy who does the work does not like the real Cowboys silver so he takes the Raiders silver and adds 3 drops of blue. I did find it interesting that the decals are NFL decals. These are the same decals that are found on the real NFL helmets. He has to have a special licence to buy the decals. It is so cool. Some day I will find a player and have it autographed. Wouldn't that be awesome! I need to really thank Louie and Stan for their efforts in getting this, it is so awesome.

Can I say it YET??? TGIF, Only a couple of hours away. BTW, some of the girls on that dance team really know how to swing it, it has been fun watching how they teach these younger girls how to do it. I am not sure if the realize how much the younger girls look up to them. Well, I had better get to bed.... Tchau..... Not sure if my title for this post is very appropriate, oh well.

What an expierience!

So this week was really eventful as you may know I made the cross country team and I almost came in last all because of this kid that cut me off at the very begining! I had a good pace going thruogh the first turn and I was an like third and this kid cut me off and tripped me and I fell to about 67 the reason I did not come in last is because this kid was walking the whole time and I just got lucky IF THAT STUPID KID DIDN'T CUT ME OFF I WOULD OF GOT IN LIKE THIRD OR FOURTH!!!!!!! And that is the good expierience of the week!

Cross Country and Dance Team in one night

Ok, I have done my duty as a parent. Today I experienced Jr High athletics. I am glad the Granite school district allows the junior high kids to participate in after school programs. I can see how this adds expense and also liability to the school. Jill and I have told Chris to be involved at school. Find things to do. I feel this helps him to stay out of trouble. Chris thought about joining the volleyball team, but after a couple of go rounds he decided that was not for him. Some of his friends talked him into trying cross country. I have never been a big track and field fan, but I was excited for him to try. If you know Chris, he is not blessed with speed. This is something he will need to work at. His coach, Mr. Reese, has taken the time to help him and even though he is not the fastest kid he encourages him to try. Our first meet was today at Bonneville Junior High. Chris is on the JV team. I got there and the JV racers were just beginning to finish. At first I could not find Chris, but then I saw him. Still lumbering around the track. He was near the end, but still trying. Chris finished the approximately 2 mile course in just about 15 minutes, and was 68 out 0f 71. I was proud of him for trying. I found it cool that the other kids were cheering for even the last runners and his coach came up a congratulated him. He said first time out not bad, now we know what to work on. Way to go Chris!

Then I grabbedKate and Kolbie and headed over to the high school for the dance team fund raiser. Every year the dance team and cheerleaders raise money by taking a week and teaching the younger kids a dance to do at halftime of the football game. My girls love it. Jill was not sure that Kate would want to do it this year because she is starting to grow out of these things, but when I mentioned it she got so excited. I really wish we could get them in dance. Every time we talk about it it is either too late or we just do not have the funds. My video is very amateurish and it has no sound, but Friday I will get something more professional. BTW, I was just trying to see how this blogger upload works for this.

Family Update

I am writing in Red now to help inspire the Utes. Currently it is halftime and we are tied at 14. The game has been a mess literlay. Offensively the team has not been able to move the ball and we have not gotten much going. We need to crush this team, the rebles always have our number.

A post from some friends of ours got me to thinking about our family. September 2, 2008 makes 16 years since I popped the question. I can remember being so nervous that night. I am not very good at expressing my feelings so I will spare you with the whys, but you should know that I love my wife.

I was thinking about the feelings I had that day as we drove down to the Salt Lake Temple. I asked Jill on the South side. The sign there explains why Mormons believe that temple marriage is important and how families can be forever. We read the sign and then I asked her if she would like to be an eternal couple.

Since then we have gone through tons. Some of my favorite days include the days my three kids were born. That experience increases my testimony of how close we are to our Heavenly Father. I felt as though I was part of the plan he has prepared for us. Baptizing each of the kids was also very touching to me.

Chris is the son I always wanted. From day one he would sit with me and watch sports. I love watching and helping him play baseball. He has a love of the game that most kids do not.

Kate is 11 and teaches daily what girls are made of. I love seeing how beautiful she is becoming. I think I had better buy that shotgun that Louie wants to sell me so that I can ward off the boys soon.

Kolbie will be the death of me some day. She is eight now and she knows what buttons to push to get what she wants.

We have lived in 6 apartments and 1 home. 10 1/2 years here on Woodgrove Dr. We have owned 8 cars, 4 of them we still have. (Warning, my truck is going to be rolling again soon, that is my goal!). I have had 2 jobs, Inkleys and Rick Warner Body Shop. Jill has jumped around, but her most important "job" has been being the Mom. The callings we have had include young mens, elders quorum, primary, and young women. The kids keep us busy. Chris has played hockey for 5 years, baseball since he was 6 and basketball for a couple. Of course we were sucked into the leadership of the baseball league for 2 years. That almost killed me with stress, but I gained valuable experience.

I love my life, I am glad that 16 years ago I had the cahones to get the ball rolling. I would not change a thing (other than earning more money, and gaining less weight). I just hope I have another 16 years to enjoy. By then all the kids should be out of the house and I can chase Jill around whenever I want.

By the way --- the color inspired the Utes they are up 28 to 14 with 5:54 left in the 3rd Qtr!!! Go Utes!!!

A Little Explaination

It has come to my attention recently that my husband has posted a couple of posts that I need to comment on very, very breifly. First, I've talked to everyone I need to talk to about the School Thoughts Post. So, if I didn't talk to you about, I must not care too much. But the Strategy post needs a quick note:

I love my husband with all of my heart, but quite honestly he can be a bit weird. My husband is a very simple man, he works very, very hard for our family and loves us all very, very much. (He puts up with a lot from me. I do have a tendancy to be overly dramatic.) All this being said, I have to overlook certain "defiencies" he may have. And writing an entire blog and Rock Paper Sissors is just something I have to overlook.

Greg loves to play games. Any games, sports, cards, board games you name it! I'm not a game player and here's the reason why: GREG IS RUTHLESS WHEN IT COMES TO PLAYING GAMES!!! The few times he has gotten me to play games with him, he ALWWAYS WINS AND WON'T EVERY SHUT UP ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! He still brags about beating me at Risk 5 YEARS AGO!!!!!!

I do still play Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Football, weekly Football Picks, and of course my Mets vs. his Dodgers. These are fun things to compete with him about, and can make for some intresting bets. He had to clean the bathroom for an entire month once because he lost a bet to me.

Anyway, I digress. After reading Greg's post about Rock Paper Sissors I felt I need to explain to the world one of the weirdest things about my husband. Basically, he loves strategy. The Rock Paper Scissors was a bit over the top, but WELCOME TO MY WORLD!!!!

I love you sweetheart!! --Jill

Strategy!!!

First off, The Dodgers are currently leading the Padres 5 to 3 in the top of the 5th. The Diamondbacks won earlier today after the rotten Cardinals could not hold the lead. We need to win tonight to keep pace. Kuroda is keeping them in check even though he is not throwing his best game. GO DODGERS!!!!

Some of you may know by reading my regular blog (http://www.sportstats.spaces.live.com/) that we have been completing a remodel at the shop. It has been long and tiring, but we are almost done. Louie, my assistant manager, and I have been given our own little cubby hole so we have a place to complete our work in peace and quiet. Our secretary is the first to greet the customer when they come in the door. If a customer needs an estimate then she will let us know so that we can come up and help. I write about 80% of the estimates, but every once in a while Louie will be there and so it is whoever is available to write. We play Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who has to go.

This has got me to thinking, what is the strategy of Rock, Paper, Scissors? I am a gamer and love to think intensely about what I need to do to win. That is why I like baseball so much. There is lots of time to think. So I am challenged to a game what do I pick first...... Louie always picks PAPER, until just the other day. I think the best choice right off is ROCK, and let me tell you why:

Rock is powerful and beats the scissors, which the other person will pick if they think you will try to pick paper to defeat their rock. Are you following me? Pick Rock, and if the person picks PAPER they win, but most likely they will pick scissors to try to beat your paper to beat their Rock. Now I do not see the benefit of picking scissors first because most people pick Rock. Now scissors is the best pick in round 2 because if you just picked rock then the other guy is going to pick paper to beat you then you have scissors and you win. So now you are up 2 to 0. best of 3 is the usual, but if you did best of five you need one more win to take the title. Get ready because game 3 is the confusing one. Your opponent has picked Rock and scissors so which way will they go, I guess back to Rock therefore you go to paper to win 3 to 0. If your opponent is smart they will take scissors and take you down. Of course you could double cross them and take rock just to see, then you are back to the start and take scissors because they will go with paper... Have you got all of this? It is important to make sure you do not allow your opponent to cheat. so make your choice right at the last moment, but THINK about it. Pick ROCK!

On one of my fast pitch softball road trips we played this game for 3 straight hours. I was ahead by quite a margin, but my head was starting to hurt. It was all that thinking that got me. If you have some time Google Rock Paper Scissors, it will amaze you. Check out this link http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/12/10-steps-to-play-rock-paper-scissors.html and yes there is a world championship go to http://www.worldrps.com/

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS ---- Greg

Sadie

One of my many friends name is Sadie. She is so nice and smart and strong. Sadie is a kind of strong that is different from anyone, she is quiet so when you first meet her you won't see that. Sadie has a strength that means she belive's in herself that she can do it. She goes to Shelly's School Of Dance, and Jazz adituide is the thing that you want to be in when you go there. And you have to run A LOT!!!!!!!! And she has trouble making friends at school. I feel so bad for her!!!!!!! But Sadie is coming thru it. She made at least 2 friends at school. Sadie is in the 5th grade. She has Mr.Williams ( he will love her because she is smart and quiet.) Sadie is like I was when I met new people shy, quiet, and you don't know what to say. She has been at Shelly's scince forever. And she diserves to be in Jazz adituide because she is WAY TO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

---Katie

Church Time

Just a couple of observations at church today I wanted to pass along. We have a great family in our ward. In fact I think I am supposed to be their home teacher, but that is another of my short comings. She is a blogger so I am sure that she will read this eventually, but I could not help but mention the fun things I see. (I am a people watcher, and I enjoy seeing what others are doing.) Anyways the Wibergs are sitting in front of us in church. Carin has mentioned many times how Kate likes to be the "sister" at times to her brothers. I say that in the fun way. At times she will be the best friend and then whamo..... her mood will change and the boys no longer are fun. I witnessed one of those moments. Kate and Brandon were sitting very quietly in sacrament meeting and Kate got Brandon to think he needed to lay down on Mom. Kate was going to... but Carin did not want that. Anyways Carin got frustrated with Brandon and decided to take him out. As they began leaving the row I noticed Kate, she got a big grin on her face directed to Brandon and just as he glanced back one last time..... She stuck her tongue out at him. I almost died trying not to laugh. Carin do not get mad at her because while you were out she made those same faces with the Delamar twins for 10 minutes. It was fun during sacrament meeting.
Another thing I noticed in church today. There are not very many married couples that sit next to each other in our ward. In fact there was one married couple that sat rows apart. If this is because of the divide and concur strategy or the I am not in the mood to sit by your ugly butt! Who knows, but it is funny none the less.
In primary we had the last of the funny things in church that I will relate. Kemra Lamborn taught sharing time. She did awesome and the kids were completely involved. At the end she set up a game much like hang man she called "Let's save Fred". She had made a stick figure out of Popsicle sticks and that was Fred. Under him on the chalk board was some water that she had drawn and she placed 2 plastic sharks in the chalk tray. When the kids got a letter wrong they took a piece of Fred and put it down by the sharks. Chance missed a letter and went up and got one of his legs. Chance made the shark's mouth move like he was eating it and our boys caught on. It was more fun to miss letters than get them right. They picked Q & Z & X, laughing the whole time. Pretty soon Jackie Simper had to point out that if they got the words right there was a treat. I think our boys would have booed if they got a letter right in the game. Oh the fun we have in church.

THE CROS COUNTRY TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok this coming week I have had a good week at school and I have made new freinds and I have reconnected with my old ones and I have had new experiences with school and friends and classes. This week has really been eventful my friends have talked me into foining the cross country team at kennedy and I am having a great time this is really just trainning for wrestling I think I have lost 5 pounds already. Two of my friends has made the school volleyball team Quin Parker and Braden Delamare. Congradulations guys!!!! Ok back to the story about me making the cross country team. It was the fourth day of school and it was b-day and I had P.E. and we did this fittness test and we did this thing called the pacer and I would of passed it but i tripped up and bearly didn't make it i went for about running for 30 min. and my friend said that i should try-out and I did and I made it!!!!!!!

School thoughts

Chris has started Junior High this week. What a transition for our family. Jill and I have encouraged him to be involved in school. After watching the Olympics these last 2 weeks he really wanted to play volleyball, but after practicing a couple of days and watching the other kids at school he decided that was not for him. Cross Country is what he settled on and Friday after school I get an IM message on my computer. It said "Dad.... I made the team" That was it short and sweet. Of course some of you maybe snickering a bit because you have seen Chris run. I think this will be good for him and get him in batter shape for baseball.
I have had the opportunity to drop him off at school a couple of days this week. I was a little nervous to see him run off to that big school, but I think things are going well. I am glad we have had such good luck with our kids in school. I hear all of the time about families struggling with teachers and other students. Chris has been in a few fights and Kolbie struggled with a couple of her teachers, but for the most part the kids have been able to get involved and pursue their education to the fullest.
I think that schooling is very much and individual sport. Meaning the student needs to learn for himself. It is alot like life. Sometimes life does not always roll us winners. I really wish that I could stand over my kids everyday and help them through their problems, but I know that I cannot always be there. The kids amaze me at what they can figure out. There is a rash of parents we know that a home schooling. That is great for them, but I am glad my kids go to public school. For some families it works good to have Mom teach the kids, but it would not work for my kids. They need other influences on them to help them learn. I can see where home school would make my kids "book" smart, but I feel they would miss out on the other learning opportunities at school.
We made it through this week without any major problems. The girls do not want to go to bed at a decent hour so we have the ongoing fight every night until they finally crash. Funny story... Chris came home on Thursday and said he had failed the dress code inspection. Mind you he was wearing the polo we bought for him at the school. He turned to Jill and said "Don't worry Mom, I told them that this was either the right shirt or we wanted our money back. What will it be" I guess the teacher got this funny look on her face and said Oh maybe that is the right shirt.
--- Greg