The Gonzalez Family Herald

Checking out what is new on this blogger thingie

2007-05-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

So I have been actively and aggressively making sure my personal blog has not gone unattended. But in that time I have completely neglected this blog. It seems almost unfair, until you look at what is involved in keeping a blog up to speed. But that is for a later gripe session.

For this one, it shall be short, sweet, simple and a plethora of other words starting with the letter 'S'. Very soon I hope to turn my wife into a blog'o'matic blogamuffin. We'll see how that goes.

In any event, I truly hope to get this blog back in action. Soon.

New Ads in the Sidebar

2006-12-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

I am going to go back and update our blog with some family excitement and the what not. But, thanks to Google, I have to actually recode our adSense messages first. So I just did that.

Hopefully it will render now. We'' just have to wait and see.

PS If you get a chance, hop on over to my personal blog and check out the latest in what my kids can learn. It is pretty interesting. Never knew they could pick up on PHP development so fast...

Whew, I'm tired (but in a good way)

2006-10-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

So the Disneyland trip is over. In case you don't know what I am talking about, be patient, I will be going back and writing all the juicy tidbits leading up to our trip. But we are home now (actually, we were home as of Thursday evening, but I am just getting to write now). What an insane (in a good way) trip it was!

We left on Monday, September 25 for Southern California. You know, that state just below Northern California where everyone drives a Mercedes Benz, all the women are Blonde and the sun always seems to be setting over the perfect landscape of the beaches at all times of the day? Yeah, there. We got there at about 4:00 in the afternoon, but found out when we got there that check-in was not until 5:30 so we needed to find something to do until we could check in. So we hit up McDonalds (this would not be the first trip to McD's we'd make, I assure you). After we finally got checked in and settled in, we began our plot to take over the southland's amusement parks and tourist attractions. Here is how it went:

Day 1 (Mon): Get there, plot southland take over
Day 2 (Tue): Disneyland
Day 3 (Wed): Sea World, San Diego
Day 4 (Thu): Disneyland
Day 5 (Fri): California Adventure/Disneyland
Day 6 (Sat): Laundry/Rest
Day 7 (Sun): American Girl Place(LA)/Downtown Disney (Shopping)
Day 8 (Mon): San Diego Zoo/Dinner with Friends
Day 9 (Tue): Universal Studios
Day 10 (Wed): Hollywood/Beverly Hills/Pack
Day 11 (Thu): Come home

Man, was that a busy vacation (in a good way) or what? We never stopped moving. Ever. We crammed as much as we possibly could into each day we were there (in a good way). There were a couple of rough days (but even those were good days), a few hot days, a rainy day, and a lot of tired days, but every day was a good day. Afterall, we were on vacation, which is always a good thing, huh?

Anyway, I think I may write about each day. Not sure how I will do that yet, but I will. I may make a backdated entry for each day we were there. Or I may make an entry for each day moving forward. Or I may go eat my Ben and Jerry's ice cream and not worry about it (in a good way). Who knows. I know I am not grumpy, and I know it was a fun trip altogether (in a good way).

Its been a while

2006-09-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

So the last time I wrote I was talking about how rough our afternoon was trying to get to the movies on a Thursday afternoon. What I didn't mention in that post was that just before the movie started I got a phone call from a headhunter in San Francisco. You see, I had turned my resume to 'Public' on Monster.com a few days before that (I think it was on Tuesday evening of that week) and it just so happened that a few companies has found me. And they kept finding me.

This headhunter in particular was very aggressive in their pursuit of me. They had a client that needed a PHP developer job filled. I am a very able PHP developer with a large family to feed. Needless to say, I went on an interview with the headhunter the following Thursday. I was called almost immediately with a request to meet the client on Friday. After the client meeting Friday morning I was called in the early afternoon and told that the client wanted to do a behavioral analysis study on me. So I attended that on the following Monday. The next day, Tuesday August 22 I was made a very lucrative job offer by the client. An offer that I could not pass up.

So on Wednesday, August 23 I submitted my resignation to my former company, with whom I had spent nine years of my life, and prepared to take on a new role. I began that role last week. As of September 5, 2006, you are reading from the new Web Developer for Bay Alarm Company.

I am absolutely thrilled. I love my new job. It is an enormous amount of money more than my previous position and has one responsibility... take the company's flagship web initiative live by the end of the year. WOW! That is awesome.

I am telling you I think I might just stick around this place for a while. Anyhow, I am busier than heck at the moment so I will post again when I get the chance. Until then, keep in mind that I am now developing full time so the amount of time I spend here may go down. But what's really different about that, right?

Trying to go see a movie

2006-08-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

Has anyone ever had an experience like this...

I had Thursday off. Most of it anyway. My wife and I decided early that day that we would go to lunch, and as a surprise to the kids, we would take them to go the movie Cars. So I went to work for a few hours, came home, packed up and off we went to Fuddruckers, home of the largest slabs of beef patties this side of the Milky Way Galaxy.

After ordering $40 worth of massive meatwiches, we set off toward the movie theater. It was about 2:00 PM and the movie didn't start until 2:55 PM. I thought for a second "Maybe we should go get our tickets now so we don't have to worry about it later'. But that idea passed as we walked toward Borders books and a Seattle's Best coffee shop. After spending more money on books and coffee, we made the journey from Borders to the theater. It was about 2:50 (the line at Borders was a nightmare -- it took three forevers and an eternity).

We got to the box office at about 2:55 and I asked for four kid tickets and two adult tickets to Cars. When presented with the cost (a staggering $42) and after catching my breath, I handed the ticket guy my credit card, to which he replied 'We only take cash'. I asked him if there was any place I could use my card, perhaps to buy gift certificates or something. Again, he replied Cash only.

Knowing I had no cash and that the ATM machine in the theater was broken, I asked a manager if there was an alternative to getting some movie tickets since my kids were doing cheerleader dances in the lobby, excited out of their pants that they get to see Cars. The alternative I got was 'Call Fandango'. So I went to a payphone (seeing as I had turned my phone off and left it in the car because it was a family time). The payphone lady on the other end of the line told me that I could not call that number from a payphone. What the &%^?

So I asked my wife if I could user her phone. When I called 1-800-FANDANGOTHISBABY, I got a little reminder from Sprint that we had exceeded our allowable credit limit and that using my cell phone to take my kids to the movies was going to be a bigger catastrophe than I expected. So I walked to my car, got my phone, called Fandango and discovered that the 2:55 showing of Cars was the only showing of Cars in that theater. Since it was past 2:55, Fandango reported that the movie was no longer playing and that I could not get tickets. At this point I am ready to break every cell phone and ATM from here to Egypt.

So I opened my web browser on my phone and searched for theaters showing Cars. You know how many there are? None. Yup, that's right. None. Unless I wanted to go to a different county. N-O-N-E.

Now, the good part. We live in the southernmost part of our county, so going to another county to see a movie is not as crazy as it sounds. In fact, it was about 15 minutes away. So I stopped off at home, bought my tickets on the internet and took my kids to see Cars. It was great... for the older kids. The baby and my youngest daughter were totally not into it and fussed so bad that Mom ended up outside most the time. But the older kids liked it, and so did I.

And now I keep going saying 'Can you hear the thunder? Kuh chigga, Kuh chigga'. You know it baby, Kuh chigga.

Crazy

2006-08-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

The second of my two weeks is starting to wind down. Thank God....

Right about now I could use a quiet, four day long nap. Alas, I will be back at work for a few hours tomorrow, then I get some time off. I am so happy!

For now though I am thinking of things to put in this here space. I seem to be drawing a blank. Oh well, maybe I'll go back to yesterday and post about the massive underwear my daughters got. Buhoohaahhaa, that sounds nice.

Chones Grandotes

2006-08-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

Man dats sum kayn kyna biug.

My wife went shopping the other day. No condolensces please, she has gotten a lot better. But she came home with some things for our trip to Disneyland we are taking in September. One of those things she got was new underwear for the kids.

NOTE: Before you think weird of me, please understand that this is about the chones, not the kids.

Anyway, my nine year old pulled up her pack, opened them up and shrieked in disbelief 'These things are huge!'. And they were. My wife's response was 'They'll shrink when we wash them.' which they didn't. Nosiree, they are still as large as an English muffin to an ant.

These things remind me of a fumigation tent for a doll house. They are large, full bodied unerbreeches that could potentially double as a hammock for the small size person. Or as a back up canopy top for our gazebo in the back yard. Yes ladies and gentlemen, they are some big chones.

And I wish you could have seen my daughters reaction when she opened them...

We're going on a date!

2006-08-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I have been lax in my providing of humorous content upon this site. And I know that soon you will begin to resent me for it. But before you do, remember that swim season just ended last weekend. And that since last weekend I have been on a weird work shedule. And that I am going to continue this weird crazy schedule until I return to my regular schedule on August 21.

So I figured that since I have a few days off at the moment I would use them wisely. What wiser of a way to use a day off than to go out for dinner and a movie with your spouse and your best friends. So tonight, I get to go out on a date. And since my wife is dressed all pretty-like right now, I am putting this stinking machine away and getting ready to have some fun.

See ya!

Happy Birthday to Me

2006-07-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

So, today is my birthday. And althought I am writing this in the future, I am going to write as though it just took place. That's just me. You're kinda stuck with it if you want to read, so, without further ado...

I had a good Thursday. I woke up and realized that I was another year older. And probably a few pounds heavier. A little balder, a little uglier and quite a bit darker. So after looking at myself in the mirror and feeling like a complete peice of garbage, I decided that I would attempt to have a good day anyway.

I ended up at work and had a regular day. My boss bought me lunch and I finished up the day. I got home and then the fun started. We rushed to get out of the house in time for swim practice. Rushed is the best way to describe it because we had to get dressed for dinner. Not that this sounds like a lot, until you remember that my family has seven members (two are essentially babies, the other three are girls and my wife is a woman). I quickly threw some shorts and sandals on and off we went.

After practice we hit up Black Angus. Have you ever seen 10 people cram around a table for dinner on a Thursday evening at Black Angus. If you haven't, tonight would have been a great night because the table just to the side of us had a family larger than ours eating at it. And, it happened to be our oldest daughter's swim coach!

Anyway, dinner with the family and a heaping load of happy birthday's made this one of my favorite birthdays on record. I am such a blessed man. And I wanted anyone that reads this to know. My family is awesome. Good job kids!

She is the queen of all the land

2006-07-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

So on more than one ocassion the discussion has come up about whose wife is the hottest. And without flinching I always chime in that mine is. There are several men who would agree with me, though their wives may not. But what is important is that I back up my claim with some form of proof. So I took out the camera, prepared a quick photo shoot and BAM! Proof. So here, here is the proof. Just please don't use these for evil. She is way too pretty for that.

Now tell me she ain't the tastiest mother of five, 11 year wife you have laid your eyes on. And just wait until she gets her personal trainers certification... hooo baby, that's gonna be some fun.

Happy Birthday America

2006-07-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

No song. No dance. Just a heck of a lot of appreciate to the United States of American and to the men and women that offer the lives in pursuit of protecting freedom across the globe. May God richly bless you.

A little boy a little older

2006-06-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

You know, it seems like my entire family is having a birthday this month. My sister-in-law had one on June 8. My wife was on June 20. My son is today. My nephew tomorrow. Two of my daughters in a couple of weeks. Man, I am tired.

However, it has been a while since we threw out some pictures, so I figured that a few photos might do my sons first birthday a better justice than any words I could muster up. So, without further ado, here is the boys first birthday photos...

BC - Before Cake

Being cute is hard work, but I can take one for the team

Oooh, this is good...

... you want some?

A happy family of seven

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

2006-06-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday my sweetheart
Happy Birthday to you.

I love you. And you are more beautiful today than ever before.

30, right ahead!

2006-06-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

OK, it came and gone and did its damage. But now that the dust has settled, everything is back to chaos as usual in the Gonzalez house.

Getting there was a little bit of a task, but it was worth it. Lemme 'splain.

Two years ago I turned 30. I was really feeling in the dumper about being so old and washed up. My wife, God bless her soul, was doing everything she could to keep my spirits up. She lied to me, she cooked for me, she did the laundry. I think she even did dishes in there once or twice. But what really made my 30th a doozie was the surprise birthday party she threw me. It was a looloo, and I thought I should repay the deed.

Surprise parties are not really my thing. A year ago or so I threw my then pregnant wife a surprise baby shower and nearly sent her into premature labor when she opened the door. So I figured that a surprise party was out of the question. So early on, I told her I was throwing her a grown ups only, wine and cheese party with some of her closest friends. She seemed open to the idea and shortly thereafter took over the entire thing. Not that I minded, seeing as putting together a 30th birthday party is a lot of work and she really took it on with vigor.

Needless to say, the last few weeks have been a pain in the a... aaa... achooo. But, now that the big day has come and gone (at least the party part of it), we can rest easy knowing that in just a few days, 30 will come knocking on the door and my wife will answer the door with joy.

The big 3-0 is a flying down the pipe

2006-06-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

So my wife is approaching 30 and the I could swear the world is about to end.

I bet you didn't know that when you turn 30 life as you know it ends and the 'afterlife' actually takes over. Sure, it may seem that everything keeps moving along, nice and nifty as you are used to it. But in reality, at 30, you literally die and move into that life you live after death.

After all, 30 is like forever years long, and after you turn 30, there really is no more need for your existence seeing as you have been around for so long that everything you know is completely outdated.

Well, at least that is how my wife puts it.

11 Years. 11 Long, Wonderful Years.

2006-06-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

A lot can happen in a short time. But even more can happen in a long time.

Take , for example, the span of 11 years. On June 3, 1995, my wife and I got married. We decided to R-U-N-N-O-F-T and git maired. Seriously. We decided on Wednesday, May 31, 1995 that we were going to Reno that Saturday to get married.

It was not a spur of the moment decision. After all, we had been engaged since Christmas of 1994. We knew we were going to get married but we had really never thought of when we would get married. We also wanted to be married before we moved in together. It just made sense to us.

So, sitting at a McDonald's across the street from an apartment complex, we decided that to do things right, we should get married and look for an apartment. Doing things the way I usually do, I went backwards and looked for apartments. And as we sat at the McDonald's, tired from two weeks of apartment searching and sipping milkshakes, I looked over my beautiful fiancee's shoulder and saw a sign for an apartment for rent. How could I pass it up?

We went to what we, er I, thought was that apartment complex. It wasn't. But we did stumble on a nice place, so we applied for an apartment, got accepted, placed a deposit and made plans to get to Reno that Saturday so on Sunday we could move in. And so we did, 11 years ago.

So what can happen in 11 years?
Let's see....

1 Marriage
5 Kids
6 Cars
3 Living Establishments
4 Jobs
2 Businesses
Numerous sleepless nights
A few marital 'debates'
Endless friendships

There is so much more to add to this. But there are so many more things yet to experience that I want to leave room on my list for those. But I will say that after 11 years, I love my wife more today than any other day in the past. And I love my family to the point that I am dumbfounded spontaneously when I see them in the right light.

11 years is a long time, but compared to the length of time I plan on being married, it seems like a mere blink.

WOW! That's All. WOW!

2006-05-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

So my oldest daughter (you know, the one who runs the blog Sarah Said?) had her swimming team time trials tonight. This is the first timed swim of the year and is used to determine what competitive groups a swimmer will be put in throughout the season. Well, I gotta tell you, I was floored by how much she impoved from last year. Take a look...

Freestyle 2005: 34.48 Seconds
Freestyle 2006: 25.51 Seconds

Breast 2005: 48.71 Seconds
Breast 2006: 37.27 Seconds

Butterfly 2005: 1:00.51 Seconds
Butterfly 2006: 37.24 Seconds

Backstroke 2005: 35.84 Seconds
Backstroke 2006: 32.12 Seconds

Look at that. Tell me that is not a major improvement over last year. In fact, to add to the WOW factor, my daughter finished first in two of the four heats she swam in. First! Man, I really can't think of any other words outside of WOW!

Sarah isn't the only wower in the house
My second daughter has taken to drawing recently. It stemmed from her fascination with horses and her desire to run a horse farm. Well, she used her own money to buy a horse drawing book from a bookstore. And she started drawing. And now she can draw almost anything. I will scan some pictures that she has done and post them as soon as I can. They are imressive.

My third daughter has taken to reading a writing like a fish to water. I think that I have posted about her ability to read before. But she is getting crazy with it. And now she has taken to writing. A couple of weeks ago she wrote a short story (complete with illustrations) titles 'Detective Anna'. And I gotta tell you, it was very good. As soon as I find all the pages to the story I will try to get it up here. It is amazing.

Anyway, it has been a long day and I've not much more to say so I am going to get on my way.

What is Dr. Scholl's doing?

2006-05-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

Wife: "What woman is going to wear that short white skirt and high heels to play tennis?"
Me: (Pointing to the scantilly clad blonde on TV) "That woman of course."
Wife: "You are such a guy. I need something to throw at you."
Me: "Where is that stuffed animal?"
Wife: "Where did I put that shoe?"

Peanut Butter and Pickle Pizza

2006-05-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

... And a side order of Pepto Bismol.
My oldest daughter has taken to eating peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. No, she is not pregnant or suffering from some mental defficiency. She just likes them. Wierd...

I, too, enjoy a few wierd foods every now and again, but nothing as silly as my daughters creation. For example, I really like to eat rice and eggs. MMmm, hot white rice, or spanish rice, with eggs sunnyside up draped over it. Smash it all together into a nice shade of hello and white and scarf it down like a ravenous animal.

Or how about Spaghetti (or in some circles, sickabetty) and eggs? Spaghetti that is leftover the next day, microwaved to perfection and covers with eggs sunnyside up. Oh baby I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

From whence came the rain...
How'd you like to look out and see this?

OK, now for a bit of history. Last week and this past week we had insanely warm weather. Until Friday. It got overcast and sprinkled a bit. Today, as we were getting ready to go to church, I looked up at the sky and saw those clouds. Eww!

Yes, it rained savagely today. Last Sunday was a record breaking 90-something degrees. I love California...

Not just the weather
And I don't love this state just for the beautiful sunny days we have either. I also like the people and their need for bigger and better satelite dishes...

... and the kind words they have for you if you take their parking spaces...

Yeah, looks like California is a keeper. Now where did I put those pickles...

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

To all Mothers, throughout the land,
My family and I, we give you a hand.

To stick with the job day by day
Without dying, frying or running away
Allows us to make a day to pause
Consider you, love you and give you applause.
Without you around our lives would stink
With no one to change us or give us a drink
No one to cloth us and show us they care
We are so glad you're here with eyes everywhere.
So today, Mom, we thank you for all that you do
For loving us, teaching us, and yes, spanking us, too.

Hope you enjoyed it. Happy Mother's day.

PS I actually just wrote this. In about five minutes. Kinda neat, huh?

I'm poopy!

2006-05-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

I knew I'd catch you with that title! Actually, I figured since I used an exclamation point it would really draw your eye to the title. But seriously...

My youngest daughter (three years old this July) is an insanely smart and able child. I say this because of a regular routine that happens every night at about 9:00 PM. See, at about 8:30 or so my wife and I begin the rounding up of scattered child, rushing them into the bathrooms for teeth brushing and other hygenic procedures, then pushing them into their rooms for pajamification and beddedness preparation. All of our kids are pretty used to this process and willfully limit their defiance to our instruction in an effort to get more time before lights-out. However, our youngest daughter has developed a system of her own by which she single-handedly pushes the parental patience limit beyond the point of reasonable. Some might say that she takes us to a state borderline neuroinstability. Whatever the case, it has been working on my nerve and, without going Terminator on her, I had to devise a means by which to deal with this frustration.

A two year old with an agenda
Every night at about 9:00, just as the noise of bedtime reduces to a quiet hush, a loud two year olf voice rings out through the hallway. "I'm poopy!" Now, I know what you are thinking. You're thinking "Every night? She does this every night?".

Yes. Every night. This kid is the only person that I have ever known that has complete and total control over bowel movements. It's almost like she summons some internal power and decides "I want to get out of bed right now. I should poop myself.". What's even better about all this is that about fifteen minutes later, there is the same voice ringing down the hallway...

She: "I'm wet!"
We: "Of course you are."

After taking care of that amazing feat and getting her back in bed, about ten minutes later...

She: "I'm thirsty!"
We: "Of course you are."

My theory
Although she is only two (going on three) she has the tactic formulating capability of a seasoned army general on the eve of a large scale invasion. She has the logic of an astrophysicist planning complex orbital rotations of planetary bodies. She is a genius at not staying in bed.

First, she poops herself. How? Got me. Then she wets herself. Stumped again. Then comes the thirst. This kinda makes sense to me, seeing as she purged herself of all her solid and liquid waste. And each time, she looks at us as though she is saying "I own you". I can just imagine her thought process...

"If I dirty my diaper, they have to change me... in the living room. And, if I wet my now clean diaper, they have to change me again... in the living room. And, after all that hard work, I tell them I'm thirsty, they will get me something to drink... from the kitchen. It's perfect. I can dodge sleep for another half hour at this rate. And if I am really cute, mom won't even notice that I am cuddling right next to her on the couch. And dad won't even think about me if I am really quiet while I sit between him and mom. Yeah, that's the way to go. Dirty the diaper, wet the diaper, ask for a drink, cuddle with mom, interfere with parental bonding time, stay awake longer than I should and wear out my parents at the same time. It's brilliant!"

So, according to the will of the household two year old, my wife and I tend to her every whim, under her control every step of the way. And all of this takes precious minutes of adult mommy and daddy time, managing her poops, peeps, dry throat and the whatnot.

In fact, by the time all of this calamity is settled, my wife and I are pooped. Figuratively, of course.

God is in my Tummy

2006-05-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

He's got the whole world
in His hands

He's got the whole wide world
in His hands

He's got the whole world
in his Hands

He's got the whole world in his hands

Another tender moment in the Gonzalez house. My youngest daughter was sitting on my wife's lap singing that song. It was so cute, then...

Mom: "Does God have you in His hands?"
Daughter: "No. God is in my tummy."

So that's what that feeling was after dinner...

Talents, Gifts and a Noisy Child

2006-05-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

EDITORS NOTE: In case you were wondering, my family is doing much better after our gut-wrenching episode with whatever bug was in us the night before last. If you don't know what I am talking about, read yesterday's post. If you don't read Spanish, either hire a Mexican to translate or buy a book. Or you could rent one of my children. Of course you would get the deluxe package when doing this, but they're worth it.

So last night was the Homeschool Gifts, Talents and Arts show I wrote about yesterday. I had mentioned before that my two older girls were going to be playing a piano duet and that my oldest was also going to be submitting a posterboard of some of her artwork. My third daughter also posted one of her drawings.

Sidebar: She really wanted to read her book she wrote. 'Detective Anna' is a story straight out of the brain of a five year old. When she finds all the pages I will post it here. You will be amazed that a five year old can write that well (or imagine that well, for that matter). It is a very cute story, well written and easily read by most anyone that piece together phonemes for words that are not proper English. Just wait, you'll see.

Now this is the part where I would normally go into how talented the kids were, how imaginative the artwork was, how cool everything went. But alas, I can't. I was too busy chasing a 10 month old son around the sanctuary hallways trying to allow the other parents to enjoy the show. Call it 'taking one for the team'. Call it doing 'doing my fatherly duty'. Call it what you will, but that kid is very fast and very loud. But the few seconds of the talent show I did see demonstrated how well taught these kids are.

Anyhow, being the proud father that I am I thought I would post a few pictures from the event last night. Enjoy.

Look at my little Picasso's... Oh wait, little Mozart's. Yeah, I are a homeschooling parent.

Well at least I can work my camera enough to get a close-up.

I bet you never thought there were this many homeschoolers in the world did you? Would it shock you even more if I told you that many of these kids are homeschooled within the boundaries of one of the most prestigious school districts in the county? What are we doing?!?!? Oh yeah, parenting and educating our children. The way we are supposed to.

Cinco de Mayo con La Familia Gonzalez

2006-05-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

Porque hoy es el Cinco de Mayo, y porque mi familia esta de una linea Mexicana, yo pienso que yo voy a escribir en Espanol. Pues, lo mas en Espanol, pero, en Espanol.

En el dia antes e ayer, fuimos a la casa de mi hermano por los cumpleanos de mi hermana y de mi cunada. Mi cunada es Filipino y toda la comida en su casa es Filipina. Por la fiesta tenian mucha comida (como lo quiero) y comimos, comimos, comimos. Pollo, arroz, lumpia, poncet, no me recuerdo todo que comimos. Despues do la comida, comimos pastel. Y helado. Y pastel, otra vez. Y helado, otra vez.

Que piensan ustedes como que sientamos ayer? Correcto. Nada mas que duelen todos los estomagos en mi casa. Mi hija que tiene cinco anos vomito primer. Hasta que ella, mi hija que tiene ocho anos. Despues, mi hija que tiene dies anos. Y yo? Pues, no vamos a hablar de esta noche...

Llamo a mi hermano y el me dijo que toda de su familia tenian dolores de sus estomagos. Y mi hermana tambien. Pues, pienso que la comida a la fiesta tenia problemas. Pues, a mi me gusta comida Y si puedo comer, me voy a comer.

On another, more english, note
Now that my Spanish has been dusted off and and my brain is complete worn out from all that translation, I thought I'd switch gears. Tonight my kids have a talent show for their homeschool group they are in. They are going to be playing a piano duet (Chopsticks) and presenting some artwork. It's funny, because I am a little nervous. Them? No, they are fine. The flutterby nature of a child still has the better of them and I am in no way go to tweak that. So pray for me, that I can keep my nerves about me. I am such a softy.

Oh yeah, if you happen to go to a birhday party and each like a hungry starving hermit, prepare for the worst. Keep plenty of Tums on hand. And toilet paper.

Until next time, Feliz Cinco de Mayo, y que tienen un bien fin de semana.

So I lied... Sort of

2006-04-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

I know I just said that I was not going to talk about the reception we had after my son's dedication. And for the most part I am sticking to that. But I just got my pictures out of my camera so I wanted to share them with you. Here are a few of my favorites...

It is probably not a widely-known thing, but snails love to live in my agapanthus plants. Of course, kids know this. These kids are well on their way to collecting over 100 snails that will later be used for flinging across the street, stepping on and other grody things

Every once in a while a kid is blessed with an insane ability to perform a task. This is my Godson and he can catch anything. Yes, anything. Geese? Done. Lizards? Done. Crickets? Done. I truly believe there is not a thing on this planet that this boy cannot catch. This is him with an unusually large cricket. Which he caught. In my yard.

Whose got attitude? I've got attitude. So what if I'm two? I am the coolest two year old around.

This is a friend of my wife (the older one) whom my wife has known since she was six. The baby she is holding is her and husband's newest addition. This is their second child and second daughter. Hey, a few more kids and maybe they can be like my wife and I. Hmmm? Three more? C'mon, you guys can do it.

This is my brother and my sister. Not much to say, except it is a rare event to get them in the same frame together and get them on film (or in this case, on disk).

This is my 11 year old niece. She is my very first niece (my sister's daughter). She has brand new braces. Can you tell?

My second niece and my fourth neice. The older one is my sister's second daughter, the younger one is my brother's second daughter. Aren't they cute? I thought so.

OK, no more pictures. My wife and I need rest. So does this blog. If the keys on my keyboard hurt nearly as much as my fingers and wrists, then we all need a nice long rest.

Goodnight.

Dedicated (like a boy, not a server)

2006-04-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

Today was "Dedicating the boy at church" day. Those of you that know me (or that read this) know that I can be clearly described as at least two things: a devout Christian and a committed geek. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Those that know me really well may use a few, more colorful monikers to describe me, but let's try to stay clear of that discussion until the kids go to sleep. ;)] That being said, I couldn't pass up the chance at a title like today's.

Dedicating a boy
So this morning, at the 11:00 AM service at Jubilee Christian Center (no I didn't design the site, though I would love the chance) we dedicated our son to the Lord. This is a tradition in the Judeo Christian faith dating back to the Jews and their dedication of the children to God in the Temple with the child was eight days old. Jesus Himself was dedicated (not to be confused with baptized) at the age of eight days old. So, following in His footsteps, we do the same.

In fact, as I told the church this morning, that all of our four daughters had been dedicated on a Jubille stage. It was kinda neat, so I thought I would share a few photos of the event.

A Family Affair: All of us in one picture

Yet again, all together. All very tired. All wanting to not take any more pictures.

So enjoy the pictures. I would tell you all about our reception, but I would spend hours with all of the things that my wife and I had to go through to get our house ready for a party. That's tiring me out just thinking about it.

The Reester Bunny strikes hard

2006-04-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

None of us are safe from the wiles of the Reester Bunny. You know him. That brownish looking creature that wreaks havoc every year near the Jewish feast of Passover. Oh sure, he looks cute and cuddly, complete with the pink sugary bows and pastel colored eggs in his basket. But boy howdy, this little critter packs a punch.

The case of the missing Rapunzel
Not to be outdone by the sugar-hyped Easter bunny, the mysterious stealer of little things girlie managed his way back into our kids' collection of very small, but very cute, toys today. Authorities at first suspected it was possibly the handy work of the sticky fingered toy taker. However, after an exhaustive investigation and doll-hunt for the missing Rapunzel, she was discovered behind the microwave cart in the dark corner of the kitchen.

Needless to say, there was much rejoicing and clapping of hands.

The case of the missing train of thought
Now this one caught us all off guard. You would think that with a family of seven (predominantly children) living in a house there would be all sorts of juicy news to write about. And there is. Except that the stealer of things thought related has apparently caught a ride on my train of thought and took it to the nearest hidden place. Oh well, as soon as that train returns to the station I will try to think of something to write about. Until then, from the mouth of my five year old...

"Moe".

What is that sound?

2006-04-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

We (when I say we I mean my wife) were making dinner last night as I began to hear this weird sizzling/spraying/flowing sound. I asked my wife if she heard it as she said it was the sound of the french fries in the oven sizzling on our Pampered Chef baking stone. Paying no mind to this I carried on about my business of eating the wonderful dinner that we... er, my wife... prepared.

As I was cleaning up after dinner I began to notice that the sound was not changing even though the french fries had been taken out of the oven. Looking a little deeper (as most professional problem solvers do) I opened the cabinet to the side of the oven and saw water all over the place as the sound got louder. Then I noticed it.

Apparently the people that lived in this house before had a refrigerator that had the little water filler doohickey on the door. And when they moved, instead of taking the hose connection from the water supply line under the sink with them, the capped it... at the end of the 10 foot hose.

After some amount of time anyone with half an ounce of common sense would know that plastic would harden and become unstable. And so it did. Yesterday. In my cabinet.

The good news is that Home Depot is open at 8:00 PM. The bad news is, of the 300 some odd parts they have for plumbing component, the one piece of equipment I needed was the one that was not scheduled to come into the store for a week and a half. Well, then... what is there to say of such a thing? THANK GOD FOR MCGIVER!

After quickly scanning the little baggies of brass fitting and fixtures I found what I needed to engineer me a fix. And thank God for that. Without those pieces we... er, I... would not have been able to dishes this morning.

PS You want this story from the perspective of a 10 year old (a new 10 year old, at that!)? Read about it at Sarah's Blog.

Man, it's been a long time

2006-03-31T07:20:00.000-08:00

OK, so this is going to sound kind of Adrian Monk-ish, but I didn't want to see a month long gap in this blog. The last post was on February 28. This one is being added on April 5. I know, I know... five weeks is entirely too long to go without posting. How are you going to know what is happening in the Gonzalez family? How are you going to keep up to date with the cuteness and intelligence eminating from this household?

Well, seeing as it has been that long, and that my wife and I have started sampling various wines and cheeses in the hope that one day I can be a classy fellow that she can take out in public, I just can't remember everything that I have wanted to blog about. But I will start today, if I have time. And if I remember to.

PS I am dating this one March 31 just to keep the archive log looking good.

Where's the camera? And other funnilicious statementizers

2006-02-28T20:44:00.000-08:00

Today our two year old discovered make-up. While in her oldest sister's personal belongings (a story for another post) she found a tube of lipstick. Being two years old AND in possession of a tube of lipstick... well, you get the point. Anyway, she comes out to mom, who, taken aback by the beautiful artwork displayed by a two year old's use of a tube of lipstick and a clean facial canvas, had to ask "What's on your face?".

Looking up at mom with her beautiful Precious Moments (r) eyes highlighted by the pretty rings of lipstick, she answered "I needed lipstick on my eyes.".

Where is the camera when you need it?

Honey Buncha Boy
When my five year old was not so five she coined the phrase "honey buncha boats". This was the name of our favorite cereal "Honey Bunches of Oats", only spoken by a young child who loves to be the cutest thing in the room at any given moment. Since then, our family has modified this monicer to become just about "honey buncha" anything. Tonight, for mom, it was "honey buncha boy". I guess you had to be there.

I wear my sunglasses to iron
Spotted in a local living room: A five year old daughter with her heavy coat on, hood donned, wearing sunglasses as she moves the iron over the curtains.

Where is the camera when you need it?

I Love Eggs
I am toying with the idea of giving my eight year old a blog. I have already done this for my nine year old. The first time around was a snap. My daughter gave me a domain name she wanted and voila, it was available. We bought it and within a few hours had her blog up and runnning.

Not so with the second. We looked for everything under the sun. My wife, my oldest daughter and I came up with over 20 different possible domain names and none of them were to the satisfaction of my eight year old.

Finally, in a desperate attempt to quell the tension created by not finding your desired domain name, my nine year old exclaimed "How about 'I LOVE EGGS' dot com?". Makes perfect sense to me.

A five year old eight month old and a two year old nine year old
A few minutes ago our five year old tells on her two older sisters. Apparently, in a fit of frustration and anger, our nine year old decided to smack our eight year old in the ear. As a retalliation measure our eight year old smacked our nine year old right back in the ear. How about that for developing maturity?

On another note, my eight month old son, the crawlker, managed his way down the hallway and into his oldest sister's room. He hunted down and captured a pink my little pony that he is now gnawing on as he cuts teeth.

Where is the camera when you need it?

G'night, and sleep well, from the never-dull, child-filled homestead of the Gonzalez tribe.

Mobility and the dreaded kitchen

2006-02-25T10:03:00.000-08:00

First Boost went mobile. Then Google went mobile. Then came a new baby. And he grew. And then he went mobile.

Crawlking
Up until about a week ago the boy knew nothing except reverse. Wherever he wanted to go, he would turn his butt to it and botta-boom, botta-bing, he was there. Backwards, but he was there.

Well, a few days ago, after many long days of lurching forward and falling on his face, he learned to crawl forward. SWEET LORD, HE KNOWS HOW TO GO FORWARD! QUICK, NAIL DOWN EVERYTHING!

OK, so maybe it isn't that bad. All it means now is that Mom and I need to make sure we sweep and vaccuum every day. And it means that the kids need to make sure all of their 14 million pieces of little toys need to be put away all the time.

The reason for this isn't so much that the boy can crawl. It is more because in just the last day or so, he learned how to crawl on hands and feet (as opposed to the more common and usual hands and knees). That means that he is in effect crawl walking. Or in plain daddy terms, crawlking.

Oooh, daddy just got smart(er)
So what is a dad to do when his son can now get just about anywhere in the house in a matter of a few steps? Introduce, the jumper. That's right ladies and gentlemen. It slices, it dices, it contains the boy child. And it offers him minutes upon minutes of good self-contained fun and enjoyment.

Now if I could just figure out how to keep him from crawlking out of it...

Is daddy cute? No. Not yet.

2006-02-24T16:52:00.000-08:00

So my wife was talking to our two year old last night and asks her "Is daddy cute?".

My two year old replies "No. Not yet".

Isn't that cute?

Well, it might be in a little while...

A cold few days

2006-02-17T20:31:00.000-08:00

I thought when we left Tahoe that we left the cold of the high mountains. Apparently I was mistaken.

Yesterday morning I awoke to a nice layer of ice all over my house. And my lawn. And my car. In fact, the ice was everywhere. It was 34 degrees and C-O-L-D. Throughout the day it got sunnier, but not realy warmer. I think it got up to 54 degrees at the warmest point, but it really never felt like it was that warm.

So night time rolled around and it got cold again. Not nearly as cold as the bay before, or as icy, but it was cold. And this morning it was cold, but dry. Then an odd thing happened. It snowed.

Now it didn't snow like you would expect if you were in Tahoe. Or Aspen. But on the time of the higher mountains in the Bay Area there was a snow cover to the mountain tops. Mt. Tamalpais, Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Diablo, Mission Peak and the Santa Cruz mountains all had a nice covering of the white stuff on them. And the cold mountain air managed to drift down to us lowlanders. Good thing I got that warm winter coat... wait, I never got that warm winter coat.

On another note, we are getting a piano tomorrow. My wife has been wanting one for some time now so I felt it only appropriate to get one. Not because of any reason in particular, except that she wants one and I want her to have what she wants. She is my wife, after all, and she deserves whatever I can give her.

WE INTERRUPT THIS POSTING FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM OMHOW.
The Organization of Men with Happy Open Wives would like to take a moment to tactfully implore all men around the world to learn a lesson from this. Men, it does not matter what the item is or what the item costs. It matters that it is important to your wife. If it is important to her it should be just as important to you. Show her you love her by listening to her and providing for her and letting her know how much she means to you.
THIS CONCLUDES THIS OMHOW ANNOUNCEMENT.

So I am going to be going out tomorrow to get us a piano that I found on Craigslist. I can't wait.

Anyhow, I am getting tired. I will write more when I can. Until then, pray that I learn how to carefully lift a piano by tomorrow.

We had a snow blast

2006-02-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was awesome! My kids first trip to the snow was absolutely fabulous. Now let me warn you ahead of time that this was my first time at the snow, too. So if my excitement shows through, well, you've been warned.

We started the day out by going to the Forest Buffet restaurant. The restaurant (and the food, for that matter) were nothing to boast about. But the view was absolutely out of this world.

After breakfast, and a long explore to find me some snow pants (long story, maybe I'll tell you later) we headed over to Hansen's resort for some tubing. That was a kick in the pants, literally. But fun it was. All of the kids, except the baby of course - hey, we're not Britney Spears here, had crazy fun crusing down the slopes on intertubes.

The one drawback tot he tubing experience is that the place had no easy way to get back up the hill after you went down the hill. So once you hit the bottom, you were talking back up with your tube.

Now this may not seem like something that should warrant a complaint, but when the snow has been melting for the last few weeks and all that is left in some areas is frozen water on the ground, well, let's just say that seeing a man of my size run in place before his feet decide go flying as he tumbles to the icy ground, is not a pleasant experience. Unless you watching it. Then you can laugh all you want.

After some rest at the cabin we took off in search of a snowy area for the kids to play in. We originally were going to go to Heavenly Ski Resort, but after talking to a few locals they said that Echo Sno-Park would be a better choice. Glad we listened.

This little area, neatly hidden off of Highway 50, was so cool. It is just a little hill side that seems to keep a large blanket of snow on it. There are little pot holes and ramps on the slope so kids can sled or tube or saucer and still catch air if done in the right spot.

Some of the snow is packed so sledding is fast. But some of the snow is loose so you can have snowball fights or make snowmen. So far, of all the places we have been around here, I think I like Echo Sno-Park the best. I think the kids would agree. For now, I will finish off with a few more images then its back to vacation for me.

Looks like someone has a target on you!

But how could she, she's such a (snow)angel...

Mom, Dad... What is the ground so cold?

Looks like some kids are having fun...

... and some others are not.

17 degrees is a little cold

2006-02-10T06:19:00.000-08:00

When you go to the snow you expect the beautiful white fluffy stuff covering the forest while kids play with their sleds on little slopes and everyone has a grand old time. The sun is shining, people are jolly, its like the best summer resort around, except with snow. Yeah right.

IT IS STINKING COLD OUT HERE! Day time is not so bad (52 degrees and not a cloud in the sky). But night time drops down to somewhere between "I can't feel my nose" and "Is that squirrel frozen to the tree?". 17 degrees. What is 17 degrees? Darn cold is what it is.

With the exception of a few years ago when the city I live in recorded a low of 14 degrees, this is the coldest I have ever been. My kids have never seen or experienced cold like this. This is such a new experience.

Anyway, I took a few photos, some with my new PalmOne Treo 650 (what a cool freakin' phone) and some with our digital camera. See if you can spot the difference...

Our snow extravaganza

Let's start first with a picture of our resort. My wife picked a great place for us. Lots of space for the kids, close to everything, nice tree views. And it comes with it's own "slush mountain" as the kids have affectionly named it...

So we took a walk and I got photo happy. Here a couple of mountain shots I thought you'd like. I am ending it here because, after all, I am on vacation. I will try to put more up tomorrow because we will get lots of pictures from our snow day today. Until then, enjoy these views with me...

A day before a snow day

2006-02-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the day we leave for the snow. South Lake Tahoe HERE WE COME!

I have not really paid too much attention to the fact that I am making my first trip to the snow in my whole entire lifetime. But now that the time has come I am starting to become very excited. Not only do I get to go to the snow, but I get to share this experience with my family. I am so glad the kids get to do this. I never had this opportunity when I was younger.

Looking back on my childhood... nah, let's not venture to that place yet. I'd rather focus on my kids and how much they are going to enjoy this trip. At least I hope so. They seem to be excited. And if nothing else, they are happy with the clothes their mother got them.

And mom is happy with the clothes she got, also. Me? Not so much. But it's just because I haven't gotten any yet. When I get some I will be happy than hungry man at an all you can eat barbeque.

Well, it is time to get done here. The next time you read from me will either be from Lake Tahoe or from the comfort of my living room after the trip.

PS I promise to post whatever good photos I can take. See ya!

Regularizing FArt

2006-02-03T19:52:00.000-08:00

Overheard after dinner...

"F-A-R-T. Fart"

I am not sure why, but hearing your nine year old teaching your seven month old how to spell fart was amusing to me.

So I began to think about the wonderful world of FArt. No, I didn't mispuncuate or incorrectly capitalize the word. I mean FArt. The art of flatulence. All things patoot or related to the sounds of excessive gaseous pressure built up within you and escaping with force and pressure enough to conjure up its own sound (and subculture, for that matter).

Since flatulence, stench and funk are not much appreciated in my household, I quickly changed thoughts. However, I am so busy and tired nowadays that the thought I changed to suddenly flitted away from me without giving me a second thought. So I think I was left without a thought to think. How Pooh is that?

Since I can't think of any thoughts to think, and since the thoughts I thought I'd think are not to be found, I think I'll stop thinking and put down my thoughts for a bit.

What do you think?

The tastebuds on my teeth

2006-01-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

I know it has been quite a while since I wrote. Let's just say things are getting better now that the holidays are over. Our family has settled the uprising launched by the closets and the closets have agreed, for the time being, to maintain their peace enclosed on nicely labeled and neatly placed cubic cells. I would like to thank ambassador wife for providing the necessary efforts to straighten the closets' ill-conceived takeover of the Gonzalez house. Good job sweetie.

On another note, as part of our treaty with the closets we agreed to rearrange our bedroom. As part of our rearrangement arrangement we moved our home network communications and print center to another wall in our bedroom. So I began the process of relocating our network center, and after an exhausting wrestling match involving me, an extension cord, several network cables and a phone line or two, I succesfully moved our stuff.

Now let me tell you a thing or two about reconnecting your network equipment. First, place all your equipment where you want it to go, then plug the items back in to their power source. I speak from experience as I found this out in shocking fashion.

I had already placed and connected our modem and as I was measuring the power cable length I would need for our router, I noticed that my hands were too full of things to hold the power cord for the router. As a man, I pride myself on my ability to use my mouth as a third hand. Forgetting that the extension cord that powers the router was already plugged in I discovered first hand that electricity tastes like rust.

After laughing at me and questioning the mental state in which I make network reconnection decisions, my wife asked how I was. To her credit, she did ensure that I was not dead prior to asking me how I was. I thought for a second, before answering her question, then replied that my teeth still tasted a little like rust and I thought my lip was emitting its own electrical signal. My wife kindly reminded me that my teeth don't have tastebuds and that it might be wise to see a doctor.

Doctor? Yeah right. I don't need no stinking doctor! In fact, as soon as my fingertips stop popping and my hair uncurls, I am blogging about this one!

HELP!!! The closets are revolting!

2006-01-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

Sweet Lord, Christmas brings a heap of stuff! And heaps of stuff bring amazing amounts of clutter, other stuff and stuffy stuff.

The closet, she 'splode
So my wife decided that now would be an excellent time to start organizing. Organizing what. you ask. Everything.

The living room, the bedrooms, the kids' room, the hallway closets, the bedroom closets, the living room closet. Sakes alive, every closet in the house has regurgitated and left it's guts on the floor.

On the bright side everything is getting labeled. Every storage box has a label on it that tells you clearly what is inside. And all the boxes fit nice and neatly in their places in the closets. So now it is just a matter of finding enough space for all the other stuff that isn't meant to be in the closets to go into. That should be fun.

A game closet and a ton of future eBay sales
So in the process of clearing out the closets we came across a bunch of stuff that is probably going to make it to our eBay auction listings. You should have a look because most of them are jackets and other stuff that tends to get lost in a closet (that is until Mom decides to organize).

Cest la vie
Secretly I am applauding my wife for this undertaking. I certainly would not have taken on this mess of a task without being bribed with heavy doses of Taco Bell or Burger King. Nonetheless, it needs to be done and my wife is just the girl to do it. So if it means that I have to organize in order to be able to call this beautiful woman my wife, so be it.

Until the next time, good night. If you don't hear from me within the next 72 hours, send out a search party.

Hasta la 2006

2005-12-31T21:28:00.000-08:00

So here we sit, the younger 40% of our kids (and a full 57.14% of out entire household) are recovering from a nasty flu. I was thinking that my wife and I could be out hooping it up, dancing and singing and drinking and revelling the night away. But nooooooo. Instead we get to remain imprisoned in our sick house sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, with stuffy heads and needing to rest. And two of our youngest are sharing in this joy with us.

So, rather than torture myself with what could be (not that my wife and I would have gone anywhere anyway), I was thinking that I would take a look back at 2005 and regail you with stories of our cutenesses and cuddliness. By I can't remember past two hours ago, so I will just have to use that time frame.

We just finished dinner a little bit ago. As we were finishing dinner our five year old was having a hard time putting down her last few bites. My wife told her to eat her broccoli. My five year old, without hesitation, turned to my wife, opened her hand to expose a semi-eaten peice of pork and asked, "What about this?". Hmmm, what about that?

At the same time our two year old was sitting in her chair with her shirt around her waist. I guess what I mean is my daughter put both of her arms through her neck hole in the shirt and slid the shirt down to her waist as she turned back and forth like the spin cycle of our washer machine. Very cute, until she took her plate and turned it upside down making a colorful mess of dinner spilt nicely across our table. Not so cute.

So after dinner we served up desert. As my wife served our two year old her piece of strawberry cheesecake my daughter looked to my wife and asked "Is it blueblerries?". Yes sweetheart, it is blueblerries.

Ending it off with some photos

Twas the boys first Christmas...

And under the tree...

Was a boy that was eating the lights' energy,

The two year old stuffed with frosting so green,

And the five year old's so fivey that she now eats clean.

The eight year old's happy that Felicity's here,

And Sarah can blog about Marisol with cheer.

Look, just what she wanted, a frame oh so old...
No wait, it IS sparkly and set in gold.
So away put this Christmas, wrap it up with out fear,
It will be back again in the Happy New Year!

So my rhyming needs work, big deal... Happy new year to you all. May God richly bless you in 2006 and may you be completely victimized by the abundance, grace and mercy of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sharks, hats and a chubby boy

2005-12-21T17:26:00.000-08:00

The other day my friend called me up and asked if I wanted to go a San Jose Sharks game. It didn't take long for me to say "Yeah!". So last night we went to San Jose to watch the Sharks take on the Anaheim Ducks.

I like sports. And though I have never really been into hockey that much I have to say that attending my first hockey game was freakin's cool! When it comes to spectating a sporting event that involves an oval, there really is no bad seat in the house. No matter where you sit the view is great. And SJ Sharks games are different than any other professional sporting event I have ever been to.

The announcer was walking around the arena all game long, makeing announcments from wherever he happened to be at the time. There was a lot of music (as long as the game was not in action) and the intermission activities were really cool. There were lots of cool prizes given out all night long and just a lot of fun to be had. This is sooo not like a pro Basketball game. Or a Raiders game, which in and of itself, is an entirely different experience not suitable for all ages.

One of the cool things that happened last night was we saw Jonathan Cheechoo score his first hat trick of his carreer. Three goals in one game. Pretty cool huh? We also saw a hockey fight, fast skating referees, faster skating hockey players and a whole lot of excitement. In fact, the only thing that was not cool about the evening was the temperature inside the arena. You would think that for an ice based sport it would be cool in the arena. Uh, think again.

Oh yeah, another uncool thing... $4.25 for a mocha and $4.75 for a soda. Oh well, the event was still awesome.

Who is that chubby boy?
My son had a check up today. At just under six months of age he weighs a whopping 17 pounds, 11 ounces. Isn't that the size of a stuffed Christmas day turkey? Ooh, Christmas... Oooh, Oooh, turkey.

Wake up, Robert. D'Oh! Oh well, just a few more days til Christmas and food.

Bush-a-beece after sikabetty

2005-12-15T20:13:00.000-08:00

I knew a title like that would make you want to read more! So exactly what am I saying? I think a better question is what is my two year old trying to say with that.

If you have read anything here you would know that everyday I am astounded at how advanced my two year old is. She has been showing signs of extreme intelligence and common sense since she was able to move. One thing that she has shown extremely strong growth in is vocabulary and speaking.

Of course, she has an advantage over other two year old kids. First, my daughter has three older sisters that constantly show her the ropes. She is in their back pockets all the time so she has no other option than to learn.

Second, she has a mother that could easily be voted the best teacher in the country if homeschooling mothers were given a second thought when it comes to education.

Thirdly, she comes from a smart heritage. Her mother and I are very smart people (not to be conceited; we are just smart folk).

So when my daughter speaks I expect that the words coming out of her mouth will be intelligible words that your common adult speaker would not only understand but be able to respond to. But then there are times when she is just totally two years old.

Take tonight for example. In her words we were having "meatballs, garlic bread and sikabetty". Isn't that sooo cute? She can say almost every word in her vocabulary with ease, but spaghetti seems to not want to come out straight. Sikabetty. Ha, that is plain two years old.

Not to be silenced by that piece of cuteness, one other word (or words) that she gets a little twisted is "brush my teeth". To her it is "bush a beece". Every night as a matter of fact, when the bigger sisters go to the bathroom to brush their teeth, right behind them is a little daughter running and screaming "I need to bush a beece!". Oh the joy...

From the desk of a nine year old Sarah
Did you hear about the young couple that wanted to get married at Yosemite National Park? They had their wetting ceremony at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls.
Disclaimer: This was not the original use of the joke. All representations of the joke made by dad are not covered by any warranty, expressed or implied. Your reading of this joke is your agreement to be bound by the funniness contained therein without malice or contempt.

Hope you enjoyed. Good night.

Being sick womps

2005-12-10T19:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon (about 2:00 PM or so) I felt fine. Yesterday evening (at about 6:00 PM) I felt like crud. What gives?

How can a person get sick and start to feel like garbage in the span of a few hours? I mean, it was the total package. Headache, fever, throat, ears, weekness, tiredness. All within a few hours.

Man, if I find the guy who wrote this virus...

Rodeo, rodeo, where for you at?
I was watching rodeo earlier today and I got thinking. Who would have ever thought of getting on the back of a wild horse, or a bull with a nasty dispostion, and riding the varmint until it bucked you off? Am I missing something here? OK, OK, I know that football is another one of those sports that makes you ask yourself "What the...?". But I am a severe football fan, so I will leave the sport alone for now.

But really, what's with steer raslin', cattle ropin' and bull ridin'? At what point does a person, sitting on top of an agitated bovine, think to themselves "Man I love this sport. Yeehawww!"? Oh well, if it pays the bills, so be it.

Christmas and the lightning fast lips of a child
When developing his theory of relativity, I don't think that Einstein ever took into consideration the speed at which a child's mouth moves when walking down the toy aisle at Walmart. Or how fast a parent will swipe their card to make Christmas memorable... again.

Nighty night. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

iBuying, ePodding, Dimensionalizing

2005-12-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

The other day iGot an iPod. At first iWas a little intimidated by the small but powerful device. But then iBecame a little more comfortable with it so iStarted to play around with it.

Well, iTell you, this little thing is some kind of cool. iHave the 20GB device that allows for photo storage as well as music and files. The file storage, well that is something that iFind to be the most useful thing. iWas using several different portable media storage devices and iFound that having this many storage devices was insanely frustrating. Which one do iUse today? Do iWant the xD card or the SD card? Or should iTry the MemoryStick. Oh oh, iKnow, iHave my SanDisk flash drive. Maybe iCan use that. It was a total mess every time iThought of storing something. But not anymore!

Staying up late and talking out loud are not meant to peacfully coexist
The other night my wife and I were up late. We were both pretty loopy (partly from the late night Taco Bell and partly from the whole parenting five young kids thing) and as I was talking I said something to the effect of "That's it, I'm ibuying me epod stuff from now on." For all those of you who are married to me this makes perfect sense. To everyone else, well, propose to me and I'll translate.

Smart kids can be eerily intelligent sometimes
It was cute when my then 24 month old started using the term "also" when talking. It was spooky when she started using it correctly.

It was cute when she started using the term actually. It was spooky when she would use the term after a pause in her sentence in which she changed her mind from one thing to another, actually.

It was awesome when my five year old (5 in September) began reading complete sentences just a few weeks after reading her first words. It was astonishing when she read her first young readers book cover to cover. It was downright freaky when she got on the computer the other day and managed to write out, using the key board, "youlovemeiloveyou". She doesn't know where the space bar is. Or where the delete key is.

Enough is enough
OK, bragging time is over. Now it is time to graduate the daytime into night and for me to put the dimensionalizer away before someone gets hurt. What's a dimensionalizer you ask? A tape measure. Hey Buzz Lightyear isn't the only one who likes to use unilateral bonding strip.

TO INFINITY... AND BEYOND!

How smart can she be?

2005-11-29T08:52:00.000-08:00

OK, I am going to spill the beans. I have a daughter that is addicted to blogging. So much so that she asked me for her own blog for Christmas. Not that this is an outrageous request, but she is only none years old.

Nonetheless, I, being that geek that I am, decided to appease my daughter and set her up a blog. Her first blog post reminded me that she is full of stuff to say and that she is, after all, nine years old.

Well, to add to this story a bit, my wife was going to get on the Internet this morning and she went to open Mozilla Firefox when my two year old saw what she was doing and exclaimed...

"Mommy, that is sarah.com!" Man, that girl is so advanced for her age. Anyhow, she amazes me with her cognitive abilities. Just thought I'd share that with you.

And if you are interested in what a nine-year old and her younger sisters and friends have to say, swing on by to SarahSaid.com. Merry Christmas sweetheart.

Chaotic Insanity Run Amok

2005-11-25T16:24:00.000-08:00

Merry blinkin' Christmas!

I know, that was not nice. But I wanted to prepare you for this post. You see, I did something so stupid, so insane, so ludicrous, you would think that I digressed in age and mental stability to that of a block of cheese. Are you ready for this? Here it comes... I went to a store at 5:00 AM this morning.

Now that the laughter has subsided and the tears are wiped from your eyes, I can tell the whole story.

I was reading the paper yesterday and ran across an ad for an HP Photosmart 2610 printer/copier/scanner/fax with built in networking, front card readers and PictBridge. It was listed at $260 with an in-store instant rebate of $130 and a mail in rebate of $30. I thought this was too good to pass up so I figured I be at the store when it opened to go get mine. Mind you, this was not so much a Christmas present as a business necessity seeing I am currently using an HP Laserjet 4 something or other that prints one page per year if it decides to print at all.

OK, where was I? Oh yeah, I set my alarm clock last night so I would wake up at 4:30 AM and be at the store when it opened at 5:00. I figured that there would be a ton of people at other stores so there had to be a chance that I would be able to find what I wanted with some degree of reasonable expectation. That being said, I went to bed last night with the alarm clock on and set for 4:30 AM.

Sometime yesterday my two year old daughter decided she wanted to go play in my room. Her favorite things to do in my room is jump on the bed and draw the blinds. Oh yeah, and mess with my alarm clock. She had somehow managed to set my regular clock two hours later without me knowing about it. So when the alarm went off at 4:30 I was up and out of bed, dressed and in the car within minutes. As I am pulling out of my driveway I notice that the clock on my radio is showing 2:51. So I look at my phone and it shows 2:51. So I park the car, go into the house and look at the VCR, the microwave, the kitchen clock. Yep, you guessed it. 2:51 AM.

So now I am noticeably irritated, but still willing to hunt down my bargain, trap it, kill it and bring it home to feed the family. So I reset the alarm clock time, go to sleep and prepare to awake in two hours to pursue my dream of owning a really nice printer. Except, I can't sleep. Not only can I not sleep, I can't even rest. So I lay in bed until about 4:00 AM and then gracefully doze off to sleep until the stinking alarm clock decides it wants to wake me up at 4:30! My irritation level has just gone a step higher.

But not to be thwarted, I rush out of the house to get to Circuit City to get my printer. As I drive over an overpass near a Walmart and Fry's Electronic I begin to think that the world is coming to end and everyone in my city is rushing to get out of the area. There was a line of headlights that spanned about a mile to get to Walmart and Fry's. At 5:00 AM. What are these people thinking? I am supposed to be the only nut that goes out this early on the day after Thanksgiving.

Anyway, after trudging through endless traffic and numerous people that should seriously not be on the road that early in the morning without their happy place, I made it to Circuit City and stood in the half mile long line to get in.

The line moved pretty quick getting in the store, but once inside it was sheer and utter mayhem. What I thought was going to be a nice buying experienced turned out to be a trip to the ninth circle of hell. Funky smells, bad words and grouchy faces were present in abundance. However, my printers were not. Apparently the first 50 people through the door were able to get one, but everyone else just had to grin and bear the fact that they were stupid for not waiting in line since 3:00 AM. Irritation level rising... must... get... out.

I left Circuit City badly in need of some coffee and a nap. I went home, got on the computer to see if there was an inventory left of the printer I wanted and found that the Internet told me they still had some. Hooray! So I pulled out my handy dandy credit card and, voila, I was the proud owner of a new printer. All I had to do was go to the store and pick it up. Which I tired to do later that day.

Now I am going to bypass the story of the twice broken Christmas tree I bought at Lowes so I can keep you tuned in to this story. I am also going to leave out the second trip I made to Circuit City in pursuit of a laptop that, unless you had a voucher or you wanted to wait until 11:00 AM for a chance to see if there were any left, were completely unavailable. Back now to the third trip to Circuit City and the mishap that was shopping the day after Thanksgiving.

I arrived at the customer service desk to pick up my printer. After waiting for several smelly minutes for one of the two customer services reps to be freed up, I handed my receipt to the CSR and asked for my printer. He went into his little back room and came out with a guy named Frank that told me that the printer I purchased on line was not in stock and they were not expecting anymore to come in. Shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of this man telling me that my $140 expense was for naught, I asked the man what my options were. I pleaded with him to get me a printer as I desperately needed one and was losing my grip on sanity without one. He tried his best to help me, ultimately agreeing to sell me the floor model. After about a half hour of looking for the right accessories for the printer he finally got me back to the customer service window where his manager approved the sale of the floor unit at a reduced price of $79.

Ah, now I feel better. I also hope and pray that everyone who reads this will snap out of it next year and, at 5:00 AM, be sleeping with their spouses in a nice warm bed instead of trying to kill someone who blocked an intersection trying to get the last DVD player on sale at Walmart.

Merry early Christmas. May your shopping experience be happy and enjoyable one.

Hoppy Tonksgeebin

2005-11-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

From the Gonzalez Family to you, all of us want to wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving holiday. May your house be blessed and may you find, every day, something to be thankful for.

God bless you.

The great coffee debacle

2005-11-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

It was the autumn of ought-five and I was alone in my carriage. I set out before the dawn on a cold November morn, tired yet prepared for the excitement of a full ten hours of a workday.

For my travels I had taken with me some vitals, not the least important of which was my 34 ounce "Bubba Keg" mobile barrel of coffee. I had just put my trusty steed (my Pontiac Vibe) into reverse, then shifted the workhorse into first gear. No sooner had I done that then my beautiful, extra large coffee mug decided it wanted to shift also... all over my passenger seat.

Now I am not one for the dramatic, but this one was a doozie of a spill. The mug was apparently not shut properly (I wonder who did that?) so when it went, it went. And as I went, I went on and on about this stinking cup. When I finally arrived at work I was covered in coffee, my car was doused in coffee, two new shirts, which had been used as emergency towels, were stained with coffee and my breakfast granola bars were soaked in coffee.

Now I like coffee as much as the next guy. Rather, I should say that I like to DRINK coffee as much as the next guy. Wearing it really isn't much my thing. Showering in it is a little out of my range as well. But I guess that didn't matter to my "Bubba Keg" seeing as that little varmint managed to spill all over me and the interior of my car the entire trip to work. Then it continued to drip while I walked into my office. Finally after cleaning myself up (and the table and the doorknob and the window and the tree outside) I managed to get the lid closed and finally was able enjoy a sip of joe.

A little while later my boss called and told me he was going to Starbucks. He asked if I wanted anything. Although I was thinking that I wanted a "Bubba Keg" that didn't spew it's contents all over my car and clothes, I refrained. And I asked him for a Mocha. Hmmm, coffee. And chocolate coffee at that.

Miscellaneous ponderings on a Friday morning

2005-11-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

One of the cutest, yet most annoying, things is watching as your two year old daughter rolls around the livingroom screaming "NO!" in a shrill voice because she is mad for not getting something she wants.

The gravitational pull from a large man's belly is strong enough to cause hair to fall from his head and land on his unibrow.

300 square feet of laundry covering your 300 square foot bedroom floor looks like your closet regurgitated.

The smile on the Amazon.com shipping boxes has to have something to do with the billions of dollars in revenue the company generates every Christmas season.

Sometimes two years old is old enough to voice an opinion, 5 years old is old enough to read an opinion, 8 years old is old enough to refute and opinion and 9 years old is old enough to make a joke out of an opinion.

According to 1 out of 1 9 year olds in my household, you can always tell if their is chicken in your garbage can by checking for the "fowl" smell.

My wife has decided that she does not know how to be a woman... the right way.

I have decided that my wife is all woman, all the time. Oh yeah babe, just keep being you. Uh huh, keep being you.

Happy Windsday

2005-11-15T08:25:00.000-08:00

"Happy Windsday Piglet."

"Don't you mean Wednesday?"

"No. Happy Windsday. It is a rather blustery day today."

So I woke up this morning at about 7:00 AM to a loud sound. Not that this would be anything unusual in a household of seven that homeschools. Except for the fact that everyone was asleep and I had the day off. Oh yeah, there was an awfully strong breeze this morning also.

See, the noise I heard was not fighting or jumping or frolicking or tom-foolery. No, it was the sound of our beautiful gazebo, the one we got on sale last year for like $60 at Target, slamming into the house.

Imagine my surprise when I stumble into the kitchen with one eye still shut from being half asleep, desperately in need of a hot cup of coffee, to find that my stinking gazebo WAS STOLEN! Then imagine my embarrassment when I realized that no idiot in their right mind would steal a 12 foot high gazebo and expect to get away with it. So I peaked outside and what do my eye (remember, I am still half asleep) discover? Hoorayyy! It is still here!

OK, I have never been parachuting or parasailing or "para" anything (except pair of panting), but I can tell you that when the wind is blowing the last place you want to be is holding onto an enormous windcatcher. So after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I decided to remove the canvas canopy cover and sun shade then right the gazebo and stake it down solidly in an effort to keep it from flying into my neighbor's bathroom window. Well, I'll tell you what. What? Well, I just told you.

No, seriously. The gazebo turned out to be a pretty mellow fellow after the canvas came off. Of course when it is just an aluminum skeleton without it's parachute, it really doesn't need to be paid any attention. But hey, at least it is still now, right?

By the way, if any of you know where I can get a good but cheap gazebo for next year, please let me know.

A cute and cuddly moment

2005-11-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

Mom was out of town this weekend and I had to get the kids upfor church this morning. That is usually not aproblem except that it seems I don't sleep very well when my wife is not home. Needless to say I got up a little late this morning and had to rush to get the kids up. I got them all up and all of them were cold so they all gathered on the sofa under a blanket. Man, is this cute...

And now a few more...

Anyhow, mom is on her way home now and there is still cleaning to do. Gotta go for now. I'm sure you'll more from us soon though.

Flippity, floppity, floop

2005-11-10T22:40:00.000-08:00

The boy flipped over today. No, I don't mean he was so excited about today that he flipped. I mean he was laying down on his back one second then the next second he was on his belly. He's a little over four months old now so this is interesting. I say two more months before he starts walking.

Speaking of come accelerated development, our five year old is reading. Not "Hop on Pop" type stuff either. I mean she is reading "Pride and Desire", "No Left Turns", "Warning", "Shell Fuel" and the like. This is insane. Just a few months ago she was still spelling our words like "Red", "Dad" and "Bag". I have got to say, without a doubt, the reason that our children have always been ahead of the curve is because we homeschool. Our kids learn at their pace on their terms. This makes teaching more effective and learning easier. Not to mention the fact that my wife is the best teacher on the face of this planet. How could our kids not learn?

Anyhow, I am getting tired. I will write again in a couple of days. I am working a half day tomorrow then the kids and I are going to camp out at the house for Friday and Saturday as mom will be at a women's retreat for the first half of the weekend. Think of me. Then remember that I enjoy my kids' company and having them for almost two whole days to myself is a joy and blessing to cherish.

Goodnight, sleep tight, don't write on a kite with no light without a fight.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program

2005-11-09T06:21:00.000-08:00

OK, OK, I know that I have been away from the blog for quite a while. It has been busy around here lately and always, without a doubt, family comes first. Given this concept, and the fact that I need to shave before work, I will keep this short and sweet and pictorial...

I absolutely had to take this picture. How could I pass this up?

I do believe that I have the cutest family on the planet (Mom included!).

See what I mean?

Do you see?

OK, you gotta see it now?

How about now?

Man, this bath thing really womps!

Lord help us, one of the kids got creative with a marker and plastic cup again.

Hola Noviembre

2005-11-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems like we just got done putting the Christmas tree stand away and already it is time for Christmas again. No joke, seriously, I just put the Christmas tree stand away last weekend. OK, I know what you're thinking. What kinda redneck leaves his Christmas tree stand out for eleven stinkin' months, then puts it away a month before getting another tree?

Me, that's who. Of course, in my defense, I didn't even realize Spring was over until I heard the weatherman say the other day "Today is going to be a usual Autumn day". Autumn, what the...? All of a sudden I spring into action, clean out the garage, set my clocks back an hour and BAM... it's November.

Finally, a chance to catch my breath. No biggie. I will probably be up the day after Thanksgiving setting out the Christmas lights all over the house. But they are so pretty so it makes it fun. Not to mention the kids really get happy when they see the lights on the house. That by itself makes it worth it.

Enough rambling. I just wanted to say HI! because it has been a while. I will be posting pictures of the kids and their Halloween costumes in a few days. Oh yeah, if you haven't seen the movie Dreamer yet, go see it. And take the kids with you. It is an excellent movie.

Until next time. Now where did I put that Christmas tree stand...

Ooooh... Breakfast.

2005-10-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

In all thirty some years of my existence I have come to realize a few things that have rewritten the course for my family life. One of these revelations has been...

Not much can make a Saturday better than pancakes and sausage, coffee and football with all five kids.

What an excellent idea. I think I'll do that.

What an insane week

2005-10-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

Man, this week has been crazy. It seemed to be the usual business... PE for the kids on Monday, other studies throughout the week. Mom has a meeting that she attends on Tuesdays. I was pitching web development proposal on Tuesday. Other than that though I couldn't tell where the rest of the week went.

It seems that in the midst of being busy that I somehow misplaced my stability. I did however find a suitable substitute in disorganization, lack of leadership and complete overwheliming tiredness. Whew, glad that was all there for me. Not quite sure what I would have done otherwise.

Now it is time for the weekend. And I am really glad that I have the next couple of days off. I miss my family. I want to spend time with them. Granted I will probably be painting or cleaning this weekend. But at least it will be at home with the wife and kids instead of away from. I hope I get to soak them up because I really do miss them.

OK, now I am getting teary eyed. I should stop. Plus, I don't want you to start feeling sorry me or something. But you can if you want to. Maybe then you might buy the stuff I listed on eBay. And if not, then I will still be enjoying my family. Maybe you could do the same. I bet they miss you.

eBaying my way to millions

2005-10-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

So I just finished listing the first 12 of about fifty things that I plan on selling on eBay. I believe that I am a full fledged eBay junkie. Or maybe I am just a guy trying to take care of my family while at the same time avoiding the trauma of having a garage sale. Anyway, take a look at my auctions and tell me what you think. Or better yet, why not buy something? That way I can get lots of money and you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you helped me do it?

Yeah, I agree that was probably not the best marketing a guy could offer. But hey, at least it is truth in advertising. Have a good one and I will post later. My son is screaming his head off right now. I think he needs some dad time. I know I can use some son time. See you later.

Career Planning

2005-10-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

I ran across this little snippet of humor the other day and thought I'd share it. I especially like the second one...

If you do a good job and work hard, you may get a job with a better company someday.
The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off due to budget cuts.
Sure, you may not like working here, but we pay your rent.
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings -- they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
A person who smiles in the face of adversity probably has a scapegoat.
If at first you don't succeed--try management.
Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether.
Never quit until you have another job.
Hang in there: Retirement is only 30 years away!
Go the extra mile--It makes your boss look like an incompetent slacker.
Pride, commitment, teamwork--words we use to get you to work for free.
Work: It isn't just for sleeping anymore.
There are two kinds of people in life: people who like their jobs, and people who don't work here anymore.

Well there you have it, a little bit of funny to start your day.

Hibicus Flobicus, a Porcufunny and a Carrot

2005-10-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

What?!?!?!?!?

Simmuh' dawn nah. A couple of weeks ago my kids were given an assignment by the best teacher in the world (their mom) that involved creating something out of clay and giving it a name. This exercised the same instructions God gave to Adam when animals were created and "Adam named the animals".

I am certain Adam was of superior intelligence seeing as I have had a tough time naming five children, let alone hundreds of thousands of animals. However, when a 9 year old, 8 year old and 5 year old are tasked with this challenge, this is what we get...

Welcome to the world Hibicus Flobicus, hope you like your new digs. Creativity in a child is so cool. 9 years old and already creating postmodern, Andy Warhol looking clay creations. Oh the joy... Salvador Dali would be so proud. I know dad is.

Not to be outdone, we also have a Porcufunny, created and named by our ever-creative 5 year old...

This one is cute. I know the clarity in the pictures is a bit shaky (which is why I am posting only two of the creation exercise photos - the other photos of this exercise are a little blurry) but I think you can see the wonderful symmetry shown in this creation - not unlike the symmetry shown by our Creator every time we look in the mirror.

Since I couldn't get the other pictures up here, I thought I would show off still more creativity demonstrated by our 8 year old. Take a look at this little wonder...

I know it is clay, but the details that my daughter thought to include in this was amazing. The leaves have their veins, the carrot has its grooves. The symmetry is nice (there's that word again) and even the colors are right on. Does mom know how to teach some kid folk or what? Whoooo daddy, da' woman good at what she do.

Anyhow, enough for now. I will share more later. I was thinking about sharing some of the root word studies we are doing in school right now. Or some of the math technique we are learning in case you want some cool technique that is not taught in public schools. We'll see, I am not sure that I am going to do with any of that yet.

Until next time, challenge your kids to think and be creative and encourage their learning. Most kids can learn just about anything they are taught when they a) trust the teacher, b) trust the material and c) find the fun in learning the material.

What would you do?

2005-10-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

I went through the pictures last night, and after a brief discussion with Mom about why our 9, 8, 5 and 2 year olds should or should not be allowed to watch CSI (not Miami or New York, but the original) I decided to retire the TV shows in favor of a family activity that involved the TV. Well, what would you do? So I pulled out the camera, hooked it up to the TV and we had a "stereophonic, multimedia" event in our living room.

Quick question. What does a two year old do when presented with a camera pointed at her that is just about on her level? Well, what would you do...

Yeah, me too. Although I would probably smile for the camera or something. Oh wait, she did...

That's better. And her nose is clear too. Who could ask for anything more?

Another question. What if you just turned five and mom and dad gave you a chocolate cupcake for your birthday? What about chocolate pudding. Well, what would you do...

Now suppose you were about three months old. And let's say that it was a little chilly outside. And let's say that your Mom just wrapped you up in some warm clothes and held you closely to her ever-loving, food-bearing breasts. Wouldn't you be happy? Well, what would you do...

Of course, if you were three months old, and your diaper was not dirty and your belly was full and you were a boy and you had four loving sisters that wanted you as their number one dolly and you had a Dad with an overactive photographic trigger finger, you might be in a good mood. You might even smile. If not, what would you do...

And lastly, if you were a great big enormous ghastly looking spider, and you had two huge nasty funky humps on your back and you had these like funky white and red legs and nasty hairy knuckles and you wanted to make a web, wouldn't you make it in my back yard where four of my five kids could easily walk into your web and cause you to go straight Oscar De La Hoya on them with those funky mean looking fangs? And if you were a dad, with a camera and some pretty excited kids, wouldn't you want to cherish the moment your kids called you over to see this behemoth freak of nature hanging in the middle of the air from your crepe myrtle tree? Well, what would you do...

Yeah, yeah, normally I would kill it too. But this thing was so gnarly looking I had to marvel at it's sheer nastiness and permanently record it's wicked existence. Here's another...

And that's all for now. I have a few cool ones for a later post. If I forget, ask me for pictures of the Hibicus Flobbicus and the Porcufunny.

Or you can just keep staring at that spider. Man that dude is amazing...

I know I am bragging, but ...

2005-10-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

I know I talk a lot about my kids and how amazed I am at their levels of intelligence. The other day I was awestruck at a conversation my two year old and I had. Yes, you read that right, my two year old and I actually had a conversation.

After an evening spent on a quest for all available Costco samples the girls and I left the store. My older three walking beside me and my two year old in the cart. She likes to ride in the back of the cart so she can walk around while we are moving (please do not send me your child endangerment comments as I will use them to line the bird cage or something). As we left Costco we ran the cart over the little pimply strip of beads just outside the loading area. We usually stay on them for a while so the kids can all get on the cart and feel the "bumpilies".

That night, during bed time, my two-year old asked me to lay with her and read her a book. OK, this may sound strange enough as it is, a two year old actually asking for this, but she did. She does everynight... "Dad, can you lay with me? Can you read a book for me?" No googoo gaga, no partial words, no implied meaning using grunts or finger pointing. Actual human intelligible words correctly connected using proper grammar and sentence structure. WOW.

Anyway, as I was laying with her after finishing out book, I asked her was she had done that day. She told me she "rode in the cart". I asked her if it was fun and she said "yes, we were on the bumpilies". I then asked her what the bumpilies felt like. She turned her head to the side as though she was thinking, paused for a moment and then said, "they feel like Veggie Tales." Stunned and confused, I asked her "Veggie Tales?" She said "Yeah, combination Veggie Tales." OK then, maybe she is two.

I have another funny about my older kids that I will save for another time. But I can say this, the hits just keep coming. Something new everyday for this blog. The kids love it. And so do mom and I.

Google AdSense blows

2005-10-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Google and their technologies, but there is one thing about them that I think it really rank. There AdSense program does not deliver as they say it does. The following comes from Google's description of their AdSense program...

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When your content changes, so do your ads.

Google AdSense technology goes beyond simple keyword or category matching. We work hard to understand your content and deliver ads that are relevant to specific pages, automatically, no matter how many thousands of pages your site may have, or how specialized or broad your content. As your content changes, Google's ads change to match. And since our ads are also targeted by country, global businesses can display local advertising with no additional effort.

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OK, the way I read this makes me believe that as different things appear in my blog different ads appear in my AdSense output. But all that I am getting are public service announements. This is very frustrating. Given all the kid references, homeschooling references and other references to all the other stuff we post about in this blog, you would think that AdSense would be able to find something to throw ads about. Oh well, maybe I am asking Google for too much.

There has been quite a bit to write about lately. I will be putting together a nice little post about the happenings of late within the next few days. Until then, Hasta La Vista baby.

Quick notes before bedtime

2005-10-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

As you can judge by the time this is being written I am about to go to bed. I just thought I'd throw out the fact that I am placing Google AdWords across the top of the blog to see if it will generate any revenue for my large family (did I mention that I am a father of five?). I will be testing this for a little bit and if it proves to be totally useless then I will stop.

Good night all. I will post more soon, I promise.

News from the cute

2005-10-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since something tickled me. But today there were a couple of things.

My two year old daughter was sitting with me on the couch when she looks down the hallway, points at the bathroom and says "My bath is coming." That was so cute to me. Then she says "It's my bath time and it's {NAME_REMOVED} bath time. Can I go?" So naturally I told her "You are too cute." to which she replied "No I'm not". So I said again "You are too cute" and she again replied "No I'm not". After a bit of volleying over this matter, she finally appended her response with "No I'm not, I'm {NAME_REMOVED}."

Taken back by this cuteness I called me wife over and had her listen to another exchange of this father-daughter conversation. After it ended the way it had the first time, my wife told my daughter, "You are so cute" to which my daughter replied "No I'm not". Can you see where that one went?

In other astonishing news
At the dinner table my wife was having the kids go over how a person can be respectful in various situations (at the store, at someone's home, when others are at our home, etc). After a lot of very good answers from my five year old, eight year and nine year old, my oldest, the nine year old, said "We should not take advantage of other people's hospitality". Huh? Where the heck does a nine year old learn to talk like that?

Oh wait, that's right. Mom and dad teach the kids in our house. Hey, this stuff really works!

And if you think it doesn't, the other night a friend of ours gave us some old curriculum of theirs that they used for homeschooling. Some of the tools were little question and answer cards that had "Ages 7 to 9" enscribed on them. As I was reading the questions I was awestruck to find that many of the questions were of a caliber that my five year old could answer. In fact, my eight and nine year old's asked me to give them harder questions because the ones I had given them "were too easy". Again, this stuff really works!

Any how, enough of this "My kids are so freakin' smart" stuff. It's not that I don't like bragging about them and how well their mother has taught them. It's just that it is getting late and I would like to get some rest. You should, too. Tomorrow is a big day.

Keep praying for the victims of Katrina and Rita. With enough prayer and support we can all help restore their land and bring restoration to their communities.

A day of recollection

2005-09-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a rough day for my family. I haven't written much about it on this blog because I am trying to keep this blog about my family only. But we have some good friends that are as close to us as family, so today they are making their way into our blog by way of my personal blog.

I am not going to go into a great amount of detail here. I did on my other blog and you are free to visit that one if you want to really know what is going on. All I really want to say here is that there is a family in need of prayer and support. Please lift them up as they continue to heal from their loss.

I will post more later. Right now I just want to reflect and recollect. See you later.

Family photos

2005-09-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we decided to get brave and take the kids to the photographer. Dude, what were we thinking?

Anyhow, here are some low quality versions (why would they give us the high quality stuff?) of the kids' pictures...

Our nine year old (nine? Already?)

And then came the eight year old (she wasn't actually eight when she came).

Five years old in a few more days.

The two year old, who thinks she's seven.

And the boy (this dude is cool).

So that's the family. No pics of mom and dad. Before you ask why, have you ever taken five kids to a photographer at night during the week? You wouldn't want that captured on film, either.

Ta ta for now. I will post some pictures of our kids creativity in a few days. I think you will like them.

We need more pictures

2005-09-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

I was thinking the other day that there should be more pictures on this blog. So I am going to try to post some new photos whenever I can, so as to try to make this blog better convey what I sometimes screw up in writing.

Sooooo, without further ado, let's get to the images...

My four year old (who will be five this month - no gifts please, just send money) loves to be a big sister to her little brother...

... and then sometimes she just likes to be four.

A nice little half-family photo. Man, this boy is going to be so spoiled.

That is of course, if he can stay awake (during the day, because at night being awake is all bad).

Look at the boy with his auntie.

Another sleeping moment. My wife loves these times (and this pose).

You ever wonder why when a kid sees a camera they have to put their face as close to it as possible? Well, I guess I would do the same thing.

I hope that feeds your desire for pictures. When I can get around to it I will put some more up.

Where da heck you bin at?

2005-09-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

Dude, did we fall off the face of the earth or what? No, but we have been very busy for the past couple of weeks. First off, my schedule was thrown off temporarily as I covered for another fellow at work. Second, all of our kids (except the baby) have come down with this crazy version of chicken pox / shingles that seems to last a bit longer that your traditional pox. And lastly, we just started our school year, which for a homeschooling family means a lot of preparation, planning and following-up.

What the heck is Varicella Zoster?
In a nutshell, it is chickenpox. More information is available at the Centers for Disease Control web site and I am sure a host of other sources. But for the purposes of this little entry, this Varicella bug is one heck of a critter. Our two oldest kids had chickenpox wshen they were very young (around 2 to 3 years old). Then they got a vaccine (along with our third and fourth daughters) and suddenly all of our daughters got this wierd virus.

The wierdest thing about all this what that the younger the kid is, the more extreme the case seems to be. Our oldest had a few spots on her face only. Our second had some spots in the bend of one of her arms and one of her legs. Our third has it now, all over her chin and eyelids. Our fourth, who was the first to get this bug, had it from head to toe about two months ago. The signs from that episode are still evident on her even now.

School started a few days ago
Not that this little snippet of information brings any serious pondering. Except if you homeschool three (of five) school age kids in your house. Let me go on the record as saying to all homeschool families...

YOU GUYS ARE CRAZY!

I can get away with saying that because I am one of the crazy folk who have decided to homeschool our kids. This has to be one of the most deeply challenging yet richly rewarding experiences of my parenting life. To see your kids pick up on things as fast as they can and apply them almost immediately is a true blessing.

Oh yeah, I absolutely have to give props to my wife. Who ever the primary educator is in the homeschooling house, mom or dad, that parent deserves a medal. And a national holiday. And a pat on the back. And a long vacation about every fourth week.

How my wife handles the education of our children while I am at work is a mystery to me. Yet somehow, the kids learn. And when I have the chance to teach them, I am amazed at the speed at which they pick things up. And I amazed at their logic. I don't see too many kids in a 30 student-per-classroom public school environment showing the signs of educational excellence that homeshcooled children show. And in our house, that all starts with mom. I love you honey. Thanks for putting in the effort day in and day out.

In other news
I think that my kids are aware of the fact that they provide over 90% of the content of this blog. They seem to search out things to do that they know will get them in here. Crafty little varmints they are.

A few nights ago we went to dinner as a family and our two older kids ordered snow crabs legs as their entre. After the initial shock of seeing half a crab on their plate, they warmed to idea of eating this tasty crustacean. And the fact that they were able to use shell crackers to get to the meat made it that much more appealing to them.

So after a few minutes of cracking at these crab legs I had a chance to see the imagination of my children shine. My eight year old manage to pry off an entire claw (along with the tendon that controls it) and she began to pull the tendon to show how a crab opens and closes it claw. That was hilarious. So my nine year old responds by making here crab legs appear to be running off the plate while commenting, in a crab-like voice, "I don't want to be here". My eight year old very quickly replied...

"It's because he's being crabby." That was a good one.

Well there is a ton more to put out here, but time and space do not allow me to do so right now. I will post more later. I still need to post on configuring your BrainMail. And my wife and I are still putting together our list of things to keep a relationship working.

Until then, we'll keeping plugging along and we suspect you will also. Keep praying for the people affected by hurricane Katrina. There is such an intense and sizable need out there. The least we can do is pray.

Palm Pilate and a mysterious music making machine

2005-09-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

I wonder, sometimes, how it is that God can fit so much humor, cuteness and entertainment into such little packages as kids. There have been probably 20 different instances in the last few days where someone in the family said "We need to blog about that.". We only have five kids, and only four of them are of speaking age, but man when they speak, the essence of youth comes flying out of their mouths.

A few nights ago, for example, my eight year old was talking about some of the things she done thoughout the day and she began to tell us how the cd player she and her sisters share was playing music. And then her eyes got big and her voice got excited and she said "And there wasn't even a CD or cassette in it either!". The thought! My wife and I found this to particularly cute seeing as my eight year old had no clue that the CD player was a stereo as well.

That same night as we were all finishing up dinner, our two year old said to my wife, "I'm done mom." My wife asked her "Are you sure you don't want anymore?" to which my two year old replied "No mom, I'm finished". My two year old has been speaking in complete sentences since she was about 21 months old. She is now 26 months old. Is anyone else out there weirded out at the thought of a freshly two year old child being able to express her thoughts and feelings to you... in words? We'll just leave this one at that.

And last night at the dinner table I was doing Bible trivie with the kids. I usually pick names of people or places to quiz the kids and last night was no exception. As we going through some questions I asked the kids the name of the High Priest at the time of Christ. After a little bit of silence my eight year old comes back with "PALM PILOT! No wait, Pontius Pilate." Not that either of these two answers were correct, but I will say this... wasn't that one of the cutest things to come out of a childs vocalized thought?

Anyway, enough for now. In a few days I am going to post about Brainmail and how to configure your Brainmail servers. My wife and I are also going to be putting up our "Seven steps to maintaining a last relationship". I think both will give you a few smiles.

Until then, God bless you. And please keep the families in New Orleans and other parts of the south affected by Hurricane Katrina in your prayers.

The helpfulness of children

2005-08-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

My second daughter suggested I blog about her so I am going to accommodate her.

I suppose it would seem silly to say that with five children in the house all under ten years old, things get hectic. In the midst of the chaos mom and dad need a little bit of help when they can get it. Well, this particular post is about the help we get.

It seems that out older children are really starting to pick up the load quite a bit more. The other day I was told that my second daugther changed the baby all by herself. She also made mom coffee and helped with the dishes. These are the kinds of things that help a parent out. If there are any parents out there reading this, tell your kids its OK for them to help you with things that can be done by the kids. They will feel better about themselves for doing it and you will have the benefit of knowing that you children are being taught various responsibilities and a work ethic.

So thanks kids. For all your help. For all that you do. And for being kids. Because sometimes mom and I have to remember that you are, afterall, just kids. And we need to remember how much fun it is supposed to be just being a kid. I love you all. God bless you.

And now a word from our sponsors

2005-08-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

Child Number 1 speaking! Wow! The boy giggled! I LOVE the spotlight. My Dad was changing the baby, and he said, "Woo, boy, that's smelly!" The baby seemed to think that was funny.

As you may have read before, we went to Tilden Regional Park about a week ago. Well, it's just about breakfast time. We had In-N-Out for dinner last night.

Mom & I need to go shoe-shopping pretty soon. Child # 4 is a-playin' with Mom right now, an' dat's all, folks!

(Down the hallway)

"Dad,I got your coffee!"

A cute picture

2005-08-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

I am in a hurry right now, but I had to get this one up. I love this picture...

Isn't he just the cutest little boy in the world? Michael Jackson, if you are out there reading this, don't asnwer that question.

Enjoy!

We went on an explore

2005-08-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

So I have been thouroughly irritated about being stuck in the house. There is something about nice weather and me being a man that makes me want to, well, get out. So I decided that the family would hit the road and see what was in front of us. Actually, I talked it over with my wife and we decided that Tilden Regional Park near Berkeley would be an excellent place to go with the family.

We packed a picnic lunch, got in the van and hit the road. And I must say that my wife knows how to pick a field trip. Tilden Park is a very nice area. It is a large regional park with lots of activities for the kids, trails for everyone, a lake, a carousel, a really cool visitor center and a neat little farm for the kids.

So we got there at about lunch time, so the first thing we did was park in the nature center parking lot and ate lunch. That was an adventure because unlike what I believed was going to be great weather we actually managed to go to this place on a very cold and windy day. So our picnic took place in the van. Now I like our Mazda MPV as much as the next guy, but with seating for seven, a family of seven is a little cramped in a van like ours. But hey, we were exploring. We toughed it out and managed a complete indoor picnic in the comfort of our van.

Our next stop was to the visitor center. Man, I was impressed. This place had a lot of hands on learning for the kids (and for us too). We spent about a half hour in the visitor center enjoying the scenes and sites, then went to the little farm. That was another cool experience. Check out a few pictures...

So after the farm we went to the carousel. That was another very cool experience. The kids had a blast. The baby was comfortably sleeping on my chest throughout the entire thing and our youngest daughter loved every second of the ride.

After the carousel came the botanical garden, a beautiful collection of hundreds of native California plant species in a nice little safe area. The one bad thing about the gardens was that it was all over a hill with few ramps. This meant that our family was able to view the perimeter of the gardens and that was about it. Oh well, maybe next time.

Then came the mini steam train ride. Another very cool adventure. Pictures of the train ride did not come out so good so you're going to have to take my word for it.

Anyway, the entire event went well. We had fun, learned a lot and had a great little rest sitting in the van stuck in two and a half hours of traffic on the way home. When this application gets better I will post the pics. Until then, hasta la vista baby.

Who, what, when???

2005-08-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

Anyone get the number of that train that just hit us? Sometimes life happens so fast that after a spell here and there, you have to look back and check out what you just experienced. So is the case for me this week.

A couple of weeks ago I had to alter my shift at work. Not a major undertaking, but given the timing of the change it had a significant impact on. Now this change is only a two week stint to help out my supervisor who is on vacation. But it came at a time when another coworker was having a family emergency AND I was doing overtime AND my daughter was swimming in the league championships.

So I have been up at about 4:00 AM to get to work by 5:30. I work until 4:00 PM and call it a day. No big thing. Except that 4:00 AM issue. Man that is early. It makes me exhausted just writing about it. Needless to say, I have been T-I-R-E-D. But yesterday was the last day of that schedule and next week it is back to normal.

In the midst of this exhausting last few weeks I have also noticed that my four year old is becoming an insanely good reader. My wife has taught all of our kids how to read. As homeschoolers there is a certain amount of instructional basics that we need to cover before we can get deeper into the teaching we want to give our kids. But I have got to say that few people in this world have the ability to teach reading and writing like my wife. All of our kids have been exceptional readers before their fifth birthdays. We have a nine year old that eats through books. I mean she will get a 200 page young reader novel and have it finished the next day. My eight year old is the same way. We have a large collection of Previously Read Books that my children have owned for a few days.

Which brings me to next realization... my wife is an exceptional woman. Not only is she a "household engineer" (I can't stand stay-at-home mom or homemaker, so bear with this), but she is a great mother, an awesome teacher, a wonderful wife and a generous person. On top of all this, she homeschools three school-age while tending to two other less than school-age children. Is that outrageous or what? She doesn't give herself the credit she deserves - partly because she is also very humble, partly because she doesn't have time to - but she is such an inspiring woman.

Another thing about my wife... even with as much stuff as she has going on in her life she still finds time to take care of a baby. Our son has graduated to size 3 diapers. This comes a day after his six week birthday. This also comes from 100% breast milk, as have all of our kids. Yes, you heard it here first ladies and gentlemen, on top of everything else, my wife nurses our babies. Man, I need to stop before this becomes an infomercial and I start getting phone order for a new wife.

My kids have also shown me how awesome they are during the last few weeks. Mind you they are nine, eight, four, two and brand new, and they will frequently remind you of this by their behavior, but the three older kids have definitely taken on a much more mature position around the house lately. They are becoming more responsible, more considerate and more mature. Now if we could just get through that peaceful sibling coexistence issue...

I have a ton of pictures that I want to share. I will be posting them in a little bit as time allows. Right now the house is in a bit of a hush because mom and the baby are sleeping. But when next I write I will give the old college try to get some photos up here for you to see. Until then, never let a baby boy lay on the changing table with his diaper off or you may be forced to perform an emergency shampoo on your hairdo.

It's here, it's finally here

2005-08-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know what time it is? If you didn't know...

That's right, it's FOOTBALL SEASON!

Woooohoooo! After six long arduous months of no football, the Chicago Bears pulled out a late victory over the Miami Dolphins in the Hall of Fame game tonight. Yes, I know it is preseason. And Yes, I now that these games mean absolutely nothing. But hey, it was a football game. After that long without a game, this was like heaven. I believe I will start warming up for the screaming and cheering that invariably comes from 17 weeks of regular season football savagery followed by four weeks of playoff excitement. Man, I can't wait.

I know this one was short, but I am tired and I have to be at work early tomorrow. Speaking of work... nevermind, I'll tell you later.

Measuring the cost

2005-08-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

Man, things are expensive! I had to send a document to Missouri by Friday. Today is Wednesday. I figured I would go to FedEx and send the thing overnight for a couple of dollars. FedEx figured differently.

I found out that to send a single page document by FedEx from Northern California to Missouri costs $21. Of course, had I been sending this to a business it would have only cost $19. And if I would be satisfied with it getting there by Monday, it would have only cost $12.50.

OK, back to reality. If I hadn't mentioned this before, I have a wife and five children. I live in Northern California, possibly the most expensive area on the West side of the country. I am not paying $21 to send a stinking envelope overnight. Call me cheap (I prefer frugal, but to each his own), but $21 just seems unreasonable. So I went to the US POst Office.

I was surprised. I was able to get a guaranteed Friday delivery for only $13.65. And all these years I thought the postal service was more expensive than the others. Well, for you folks out there that ship things, the USPS might not be a bad way to go. Plus my sister works for the USPS so I am sure she will get some pleasure in knowing that I am supporting her carreer in some way.

Anyway, it's hot and I need to cool down. I'll write again later.

Swim season is over. The boy smiled.

2005-07-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

My goodness, the league championships were absolutely intense! Here's the scene: 1,200 hundred kids (100 kids from each of 12 teams) converge on a local community college. They scream, cheer, draw all over each other, swim, play, swim, play, pack and go home after being at the college for 9+ hours. And did I mention 1,200 hundred kids?

One of the bright spots is that my oldest daughter competed well. She didn't win any medals or ribbons, but she swam some good races, had fun and made a lot of friends. My wife and I were able to do the same thing throughout the year. And next year ought to be a lot more fun. We expect that our 9 year old will return next year and that our 8 year old and 4 year old will want to swim next year as well. I am sure that come April 2006, you will see a good number of blog posts about the kids once again.

Seeing as the swim season is now over I have a little bit of time to dedicate to other things. One of the other things that I am planning on working on is The Official Newark Bluefins swim team web site. I am also planning on developing the Official East Bay Swim League web site while developing the sites of all the other teams in the league. That is going to be a massive undertaking, but I think it will turn out good.

The boy can smile
Today, while my wife was touching the boy's cheek, he smiled. He was awake, which surprised my wife. She wanted me to blog about it, so I am. He is so adorable, and his skin is getting better after a bad bout with eczema. Now if only our two year old would stop being afflicted by skin issues, everyone, but mostly she, would be a lot happier. Maybe after the summer heat starts to drop everything will clear up. We'll see.

Until later, happy reading. Stay cool. Go Bluefims (yes, Bluefims - I'll blog about this later).

Just like dad

2005-07-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

WOW
That is just about all I can say. My wife took the boy in for a skin check-up yesterday (that's for a different post) and we found out that in 15 days he added 1 pound, 11 ounces in weight! That means that in his first month of life he gained 2 pounds, 13 ounces or an astonishing 40% of his birth weight.

Like father, like son, eh?

WOW the second (What a woman)
Speaking of taking the boy to the doctor, would you believe that my wife did this with all of the other kids in tow? What's more, she has ventured out with 5 kids since the baby was only 2 weeks old! How many other women would do something that crazy? That's right, none. Well maybe a few, but not very many.

My wife is a dream come true on so many levels. Somehow she manages to make it through each day, tired and worn out, without much ado. She teaches the kids, takes care of the kids, takes care of the household, takes care of me. I think if there were an award for the most Super Spectacular Woman/Wife/Mother, my wife would certainly win it.

Kids are excellent helpers
I am finding out that kids can be excellent assistants. Because of our current situation our older three kids (including our four year old) have been delegated quite a bit more responsibility than they previously had. And you know what? That have risen to the challenge. They are becoming more aware of things that need be done. They are doing things without being asked to do them. They are helping with the baby. They are doing their share and doing it with a good attitude. Praise God for these wonderful kids.

Well, it is that time again. I have got a lot to do and not nearly as much time as I'd like to do them. But how many husbands and fathers of five do you know that do?

Where you been at?

2005-07-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

Whew! I am not sure if this is real or not, but I am going to keep typing until I wake up or hit the submit button.

Things have been hectic lately. The baby, who was very small when he was born, suddenly realized that he likes to eat. A lot. So he does. Then he sleeps. For a few minutes. Then wakes up because he wants to eat again. Yeah, that's not going to make anyone else in the house more tired that normal.

The good news is that my oldest's swimming season will be coming to a close this weekend. I say good news only because it will free up almost two hours each afternoon that I can use to clean, cook, teach, play, program, play, eat or play. It is a bittersweet ending of the season, though. I do get a lot of parental satisfaction from seeing my oldest daughter, who just a year ago was frightened to be held in the water, swimming with the big fish, touching the bottom of a nine foot deep pool, diving and all the rest of the stuff that a swimmer does. And if that's not enough, my eight year old seems to have taken a liking to the sport now.

At the team awards night the other day my eight year old was swimming, diving and having a good old time in the pool. I was most impressed with her diving. She has that down pat. She has always been an athletic kid. I will be very interested to see what next year will hold for our three oldest daughters, who as of this year, have committed to swimming next year.

Ooh, ooh. Speaking of next year, I am going to be the teams webmaster. I volunteered for that position for next and I am already looking at taking the team to the net bigtime. I am going to host the team site at http://www.newarkbluefins.com. It is still under develolpment right now, but it should be throwing content very soon. I am hoping that after this is done that I can work on the East Bay Swim League official website. We'll see.

Anyhow, I need to get. Time, she is a pressing on. If I am not watchful, she might leave without me.

All my children

2005-07-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

This one was too good to pass up. I set the baby down on the couch. Then I had a thought. Why not try to get a picture of all my kids at once? So here it is...

PS, in case you were wondering, it was really hot before I took this photo. The kids were out playing in the backyard sprinklers.

1 lb, 2 oz, 1.5 inches -- 91 degrees of separation

2005-07-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

Watch out, he's growing!
Yes, you read that right. He grew more than a full pound and an inch & a half in just two weeks. I know what your thinking. And no, my wife does not use performance enhancing supplements mixed in her breast milk. The good Lord has blessed my wife with the absolute most intense breast milk I have ever known about. All of the kids have been breast fed and all of them experienced ridiculous growth from the day they were born.

Hoo daddy, it's hot out dar.
I'll tell you what, it's been hotter than a square dance on the sun around here lately. The last few days we have had 90+ degree weather. Nice and hot, and clear and hot, and hot and hot. But the good news is the house cools down at about 3:00 AM, just in time for all of us to get ready to wake up.

But it's all good. We only have a few more months of this pleasent weather anyway.

PS...
On a side note, don't ask your kids to do something if you aren't prepared to receive any range of possible results. After asking my children to get their pajamas on (in 3 minutes) I called them into the living room to make sure that they had done what I asked. In comes my eight year old, dressed in her pink jammies. In comes my nine year old in her orange jammies. In comes my four year old...

... in her birthday suit...

... dancing.

Another cute saying

2005-07-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

Just a brief post tonight. I have to go back to work tomorrow and I need to get myself prepared.

Our four year old daughter was out in the back yard the other day. I was out there also, cleaning up the patio and spraying down some chalk drawings with the water hose. As I am doing this my daughter comes and asks me to wet a piece of chalk she has in her hand. I asked her why she would want me to wet her chalk. Her reply?

"I want to make water colors." Duh, you would think I would have seen that one coming, huh?

Anyhow, time for sleep. I am going to try to get a few more pictures up tomorrow.

Happy Birthday

2005-07-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

I want to take a minute to wish a big, fat, daddy-sized Happy Birthday to my second and fourth daughters. Daughter #2 was born July 9, 1997. Daughter #4 was born July 9, 2003. Both put mom through almost identical amount of time in labor, both were born just after noon (12:29 and 12:17), both were fast deliveries (which ones weren't?) and both bring me incredible joy (as do my other children).

I was reminiscing with my wife recently and realized how fast times has moved past me. Not able to recall much about our pregnancies with either of our first three daughters, I find myself remembering only a few things about the earliest stages of their lives. One of those things is my second daughters electric smile. I say that because she can light up a room with her smile. It is so precious. The other is her uncanny ability to use a level of common sense not found even in many adults. She began to demonstrate this as early as four years old.

Fortunately for me the last two children are much easier to remember. Heck, they both occurred within the last two years. But I would recommend to any parent with young kids: make the most of the time you have with them and take hold of the memories before you reaize that the memories are now misplaced.

Happy birthday my two precious daughters. My life is so much more blessed because you are a part of it. Thank God for you. I love you both.

Man, there's a lot going on

2005-07-06T10:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sure if I wrote about everything we have going on right now I would be here for hours and the page would reach clear to the floor. So I won't do that. Instead I will just give a brief update.

Little swimmer girl
Our oldest daughter found out yesterday that she was invited to swim in the league championships this year. That is a large accomplishment seeing as this is her first year in organized swimming. We are so very proud of her. She is pretty stoked as well.

Little chef
Our second oldest daughter seems to be developing a penchant for cooking. Over the past few days she has helped with several meals that I have prepared and she is doing rather well. I guess we can add this to the list of other things she would like to learn, like horseback riding, rock climbing, baseball, soccer, swimming and oh my goodness, is this a long list.

Little readery kid
Our third daughter (4 years old) is reading just about everything that gets in her line of sight. Amazing thing, too. Just a few months ago she was learning what the letters were. Now she can read regular phonics as well as combination sounds. Like I've said before, it is shocking what a mom can teach a young child when given the chance. Mom has taught all of the kids how to read. Now our oldest is reading 100 page long books while we are still in the store. She is nine years old. Looks like our third daughter will be reading like her older sisters in no time at all.

Little growing up bucket
Our youngest daughter just grew up yesterday. Well not actually yesterday, but just over the last few weeks she has gone from being a little toddler to a full fledged young girl. She is having conversations with us. She is voicing her opinions. She is understanding almost everything we tell her. Oh yeah, and she is still as intense as always.

Little clean boy
Our son had his first bath today. He really enjoyed it. He just laid there and got clean and let us take all kinds of pictures of him. Man, this kid is so much different than our other ones at this age. But laid back is good. It makes it a lot easier to take care of the other kids in the house.

One loopy Mommy
Here's one for the late night dinner discussions. Mom walks into the kitchen this morning and throws the switch on the wall to "On". She seems suddenly shocked to hear the garbage disposal running until she realizes she threw the wrong switch. She wanted to turn on the lights. This doesn't seem like such a big mistake... until you realize that the light switch is on the wall opposite the disposal switch. Did I mention that we are tired?

That is all for now. Just the meat and potatoes of it. Mmm, potatoes... Isn't it about lunch time?

Have you seen my sleep?

2005-07-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

Ah, the wonderful first days of a new baby in the house. How quickly I forget just how many diapers can be changed in a single day or how little sleep one can get. Although I will say this about the boy, he is still very laid back.

He only cries when he is dirty, wet or hungry. After that little issue is handled he just lays there. So I really have nothing to complain about. Except the being up every hour and a half throughout the night.

But I guess my wife would probably have more to gripe about with that one. After all, she is the only one that can feed him at this point so she has to be up a lot more than I do. But I do try to be supportive and stay up with her so she doesn't feel alone. Hey, we are in this together. And besides, he is so cute and wonderful to look at, I'd stay up anyway just to watch him.

(yelled from another room)
"Kids, stop him. He's posting again."

Out of the mouths of babes

2005-07-04T01:52:00.000-07:00

No, babe's. You know, young humans? Our four year old daughter today did something terribly funny. My wife and I were out of the room for a minute to get something from the kitchen. When my wife returned she began laughing. Then she called out to me. When I went into the living room I started laughing. While we were out (famous last words of a parent, eh?) our daughter placed a Winnie the Pooh wash cloth hand puppet thing on our newborn baby boy's face. When asked why she had done this, she replied...

"Because I wanted him to look pretty."

Duh, I mean why else would a four year old put a towel on a baby's face? Needless to say she got a kick out of this as did the whole house. And fortunately for all, the baby can't walk yet or I am sure he would have chased her down the hallway to do God-knows-what to her when he caught her.

That is my magic parenting moment for the evening. TTFN.

A picture of the boy

2005-07-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

I hadn't noticed until now that I seem to only post to this blog on Thursdays. I think I should change that. Not only that, but I also want to put a picture of the newest addition to the Gonzalez family up on the blog as well. I am not going to be using any of our first names (and I would appreciate the same courtesy if posting comments to the blog). Anyhow, without further ado, here is our son...

Well, actually that is dad with the son, but I think you get the idea. I was looking for a picture of him all by himself but I couldn't find any like that other than this one...

I know, I know, half his face is cut out of the photo. Oh well, when you are as tired as I was you aren't really at your best "photographically". Anyhow, there he is all cute and quiet. He is a very laid back kid. I suppose that is useful when you have four other kids in the same house. Either way, my family is awesome. I love my kids, they love eachother and we all love mom. Did I mention how aweseome she is? Five and a half hours of labor and not a drop of sweat when this kid came out (in three pushes I might add). Man, is that lady a trooper or what?

Well, duty calls. I gotta go. Enjoy this unorthodox, non-Thursday post.

He's finally here

2005-06-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

My wife gave birth yesterday to our fifth child and first son. He was a week past due, but worth every minute of it. It's sort of a weird thing, but you would think that having been around to see the births of my four other children that I would be used to this type of thing already. Well, I'm not. With every child that my wife has delivered I have been a bundle of nerves. I have been silly with excitement. This one was no exception.

This little guy is way different
Of all of our kids this little fellow is by far the most laid back, quiet, relaxed kid we have had. He was very awake for the first few hours of his life and he hardly made a sound. He cried a few times here and there, but not like some of the other babies that were on the maternity ward floor where we were. He just kind of lays there, being cute and soaking everything in. He gets handled regularly by mom, myself and the nursing staff. But still, he just relaxes through it all. He is so cool.

Time to go
Mom is going to be released from the hospital in a little while. I am getting the house prepared this morning for their arrival and figured I'd take a little break to add a little to the blog. I will definitely put more up later. I mean, his four sisters are certainly going to give me a wealth of things to write about when it comes to having a new brother and all that other good stuff. Anyhow, til next time...

My prediction was wrong

2005-06-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

I predicted that my wife would have our fifth baby on the due date given by the doctors... June 22, 2005. Well, given today's date I can say with certainty that I was way off. I am so off, in fact, that I am now revising my prediction (I can do that seeing as it is my child and this is my blog). I now predict that my wife will go into labor on June 27, 2005. Why? No reason really. I think more than anything I would like a complete work week off so a Monday morning run top the hospital would fit my plans nicely.

Otherwise, it is a "pins and needles" kind of time at the house right now. A little bit of excitement building into a great bit of anxiety. That is one of the joys of pregnancy... the adrenaline rush you get when the "moment" finally arrives. Rushing to find mom's bag, making sure you have shoes on, remembering how to get to the hospital, finding parking, and the list goes on and on. I am so ready for this child to be born yet I am felling so unprepared for him. I still need to buy a bed for my youngest daughter so I can move the new baby into the crib. I need a dresser for the new kid as well. Plus there are groceries that need to be bought and all sorts of other things that need to be done. Oh well, I guess the new kid will just have to wait.

I guess that's enough for now. See you in a few days.

Our very first Blog

2005-06-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

OK, well not my very first blog, but my family's very first blog. I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while now. Why? Just because. I am a husband to one and a father to four (soon to be five) beautiful children. Just that by itself is enough to make a person want to start blabbing.

Seriously though, there have been things that I wanted to share and the best medium for me has been writing. I am an aspiring web application developer that loves getting my hands on a keyboard. I am also a parent, father and friend of many and I love to share with folks those things that go on in my life. You never know, you might just relate to some of the things that go on.

Anyway, that's enough for now. I will write again when I feel led to.