The Bear's Special Day

The long anticipated day finally came. The Bear turned 8 on January 3rd, which made him eligible to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Depending on the day and minute the Bear either was looking forward to it, or apprehensive about it.

DramaMama and I talked to him a lot about why we get baptized, and worked with him not to be worried or scared. He has been concerned about having to go all the way under the water.

One of the most special things about it for me is that I was able to be the one to baptize and confirm him.

When we arrived at the Kimball East Stake Center where the baptism was held, we both went and got changed into the white clothes you see us wearing in the picture. The Bear was feeling anxious, so we said a prayer together in the changing room. His feelings came and went, but when we were talking to our Bishop, The Bishop could tell that the Bear was a little stressed, so he and I went into a room in the Stake offices where we gave him a comfort blessing to help be calm.

DramaMama brought an activity book about baptism that helped keep him distracted. As this was a stake baptismal service, there were several other children being baptized today as well, several of which the Bear knew from church and school. That helped him relax a bit. For those unfamiliar with our church, I offer a few explanations: Our congregations are referred to as "wards", and several of these wards comprise a stake. So there were children from I think 8 different wards there today.

We all met in the chapel and had a short program, then the children from one ward at a time were dismissed to the Baptismal font room. Sometimes this was only one child, others a couple of them. Our ward was last, so we remained in the chapel where a video was presented about the Saviour. As it began, an elderly man in a suit was shown walking into a building, then overlooking the land of Jerusalem. As he turned around and faced the camera, I was immediately overcome with emotion, and basically lost it for several minutes. Who was the elderly gentleman? He was our former Prophet who passed away about a year ago. See my blog entry about it here.

Finally it was our turn to go into the room for the baptism. There was one other child from our ward there with us, and since she was a girl, the Bishop had them go first. The cool thing about this one was that the person baptizing her joined the church only a few years ago, and has since progressed and received the appropriate Priesthood authority to perform this sacred ordinance.

When they were finished, I took the Bear through the side door that gave us access to the font. He immediately became scared again. I stepped down into the font, but he stayed at the top and was crying. I went back up (3 steps) and gave him a long hug. The Bishop was standing right behind him offering soothing and comforting words.

Then we descended the stairs together and he was fine. We had practised several times so he knew what was going to happen. We got our hands and everything situated, and then I baptized him. He did get a little tense under the water, but he was fine after that. He kept saying things like, "I did it!", "and are you so proud of me?" Yes we were so proud of him. We knew that it was scary for him, but he did it anyway. He was a good little trooper.

He also commented that the water was a little cold. It was warm when the font was filled, but by the time it was our turn, it had cooled off a bit.

Then we went and changed back into our nice clothes. We apparently were taking too long, because a couple different people were dispatched to tell us to get a move on.

Once we were ready, we went back out, and I was able to confirm him a member of the church. This consists of a group of priesthood holders surrounding the newly baptized person, laying hands on their head (I placed my right hand on his head, then all of the others placed their right hand atop mine. Our left hands rested on the right shoulder of the person to our left), and the priesthood holder acting as voice does three things: 1) confirms them a member of the church, 2) directs them to receive the Holy Ghost, and 3) Pronounces a blessing as directed by the Spirit of the Lord.

This for me was a very sacred privilege. This was the third baptism I have performed, and the second confirmation. The first baptism was on my mission and was a young man that we taught. The second was my son James 7 years ago. I was also privileged to confirm him.

One of the most amazing things in all this is that the pronounced blessing is not planned out. Of course in the days leading up to the event, it is proper to ponder on what might be said, and sometimes inspiration comes then that will guide your blessing. As I pronounced the Bear's blessing today, I had thought about it some, but did not have any prepared text to say. I let the words come through inspiration, and many of the words I said, I hadn't even thought about. I was able to tell him some very special things, and at times was overcome with emotion. My dad stood to my right, and when I was choked up, he gently squeezed my shoulder.

By the end of the confirmation, I had tears running down my face, and as the group broke apart, I saw that many people in the room did too. I must tell you that the Bear is one special little kid, and I am privileged to be his dad.

Afterwards, I had a private moment with my dad in which both of us were teared up. He told me he was proud of me. That meant a lot. I told him that I learned from the best. And I did. My dad has been a shining example to me his whole life. I want to be like my dad. I only hope that someday the Bear will be able to say the same about me. I feel I have a long way to go to earn that.

We all went over to dad's house and had lunch. It was a very special day for all of us.

Not Always a Curmudgeon

Things you never expected to hear...

"Jingle Bells... Jingle Bells... TAKE THAT!"
-- The Bear

Star Wars - The Bear's Perspective

The other night we were watching Star Wars and then The Empire Strikes Back on cable. At one point, R2D2 was excited because Luke and Han Solo returned. R2D2 was hopping so that he shifted quickly from one side to the other. The Bear's take?

"Look! R2D2 has to go potty!"

Bed Time With The Bear

One of the fun parts of being a parent is hearing the many cute and funny things your kids say. I am the one that takes the Bear to bed. We read a book, then he says his prayers, then I make his friends talk (Pooh Bear and Elmo are my specialties), then he goes to sleep.

The Bear does very well with his prayers. He is actually thinking about what he says, and it isn't the same thing every night. One of my favorite things that he has started doing recently is that he says, "Good night Heavenly Father, I love you."

It is very cute and very sweet, and it brings a big old smile to my Daddy face.

The Bears Surgery Day

Today, the Bear finally had his surgery to lengthen the tendons at the back of his legs so he will be able to walk flat footed more easily.

We woke up about three minutes after we went to sleep. At least it felt like that. We had to get up at 4:00 to meet the 5:30 arrival time at St. Joseph's hospital.

Kayden had his Pooh Bear to keep him company.

DramaMama has more pictures and tells the story well.

I took along my "Man Bag" which contains all my writing gunk. You can see me in the pictures with my clipboard making notes for the end of my latest book writing project.

The Bear - Budding Palaeontologist

Last week the Bear was at Grammy's house for a little vacation before school starts. One day they were out on a walk when the Bear made a great discovery. He discovered "Dinosaur Bones".

"What kind of dinosaur is it?" I asked in that knowing parent voice.

"It's a Tyrannosaurus."

"WOW! That must be huge!"

"No it's a baby one."

"It's a baby T-Rex?"

"Yeah, and it leg is poking out so I call it Karate Dinosaur." A short pause. "When do I get to go to Karate class again?"

My Niece's Wedding, Golf and Goofiness

Yesterday, my niece got married. In the morning all the men went on a golf outing at the Royal Palms golf course here in Mesa. Each hole had its own competition, and we all had to toss $1 into the pot for each of them.

The first hole had a small pond or a really big puddle, whichever... so the first competition was biggest splash in the pond. The golf course donated the golf balls for that one. Now picture this... I stand atop the tee box (on a hill mind you) and take a mighty swing with my pitching wedge. The ball didn't so much fly as roll. It went down the hill and out of sight near the water's edge. It is questionable if it even got wet. I didn't win the competition.

After that we played the hole. If you recall my golf post for last year, I am no Bobcat Woods or whatever they call him. :) I teed off and.... holy crap! it was a good hit! My brother Ken who has always been a good golfer teed off and it was of course a good hit, right in the middle of the fairway. It turned out that even though mine was out in the rough, that it went farther. I then proceeded to make a nice chip shot followed by a good approach putt and a little shorty putt to par the hole. Astounding!

Then the second hole. Closest to the pin. I think mine landed in Australia.

Third hole was the longest tee shot. I figured that I had used up my good tee shot on the first hole, but I got up there, recalled my lessons at the hand of a pro, and swung. It felt good... and it looked good. In the distance, we could see the litlle white bag that held the $1 pot contributions. My ball was close to it. As we approached, it turned out that my ball had beat it by about a yard. Disbelief washed over me, as I claimed the prize for the longest drive.

Other competitions included shortest drive (won by my son James aka the Bug... about 5 feet.), longest putt, fewest strokes (my dad won that one), most strokes (James almost won that, but was beat out at the last minute). The last hole was designated as "Nick Wins". Nick was the groom. The rule was that the winner of the last hole takes all of the pots from the previous holes. The idea being that we gave Nick and Aubrey some money to play with on their honeymoon.

It was pretty hot even though we started a bit after 8:00 am. We had a good time though. My brother Mike and his family were here from Florida. I didn't know they were coming, so I was pleasantly surprised when he walked up and said hello at the golf course.

After golf, we went home and picked up the Bear, and the golf group went to IHOP and were treated to breakfast by my brother Ken, who is the bride's father. The Bear ordered the big huge pancake that has two strawberries for eyes, and banana slices that form a smile. James "cut it up" for him, but sort of massacred it. It looked like Freddy Krueger did it. :)

The wedding began at 6:30pm at a place called the Wright House. The wedding was outside, but in the shade and covered by big fans. The wedding commenced with the traditional walks up the aisle. Over the speakers came the song "Butterfly Kisses". As it got to the part about losing his baby tonight or whatever it says, that was when Ken was walking Aubrey. It got him, and his face crinkled up and went red. That of course got everyone else too.

The ceremony was very nice, and once photos were taken, the reception got underway. They had fabulous shake that was french vanilla flavored... auughhghhghgh french vanilla (Homer Simpson style). The wedding cake was not so traditional. It had a couple tiers as usual, then a few tiers of cupcakes.

As part of the reception, there was music playing, so we took advantage of it. Here are a couple shot of me and DramaMama cutting a rug:

"Will You Still Call Me Superman?"

And here are several other candid shots from the evening:

Me playing the part of Samson and bringing down the wedding place

Our part of the wedding cake.

Jamesie G

YEAH BAYBEE!

After the wedding, we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We had an "un-birthday" for James. Here he is on the saddle while the whole place gave a big YEEHAW for him.

Beware the Soul-Sucking Fiends

Over the past few weeks, there has been very little of a smile upon my face. I haven't felt happy inside. I'm not sure what the deal is, but I don't really feel like smiling much. DramaMama says she feels a lot the same way.

I have a 9-day vacation coming up toward the end of July, and am very much looking forward to it. My son from Utah will be arriving here on Tuesday, and will be here for the entire month. The last week of his stay I am scheduling off from work to spend mostly with him.

I think a nice long break from work will do a lot for me. I don't think what I am feeling is so much burnout as lack of time for me. DramaMama is going through a bout with everyone sucking the life out of her, and not getting anything back from them. She has neighbors, family, children, and a husband that always turn to her, because she is the go to girl. It isn't fair in any way, shape or form, because she turns into a puddle of goo and feels horrible, yet people still are trying to boost their own energy with whatever she has left.

I think both of us are at a point where we need a break from everyone and everything just to have alone time, together and by ourselves to recharge our batteries. I have a similar problem as she does, but it comes from work mostly. Most days are comprised of people coming to me to do things. Usually they are things that nobody else knows how to do, so I get them. A lot of days are filled with interruptions which gets frustrating. Sometimes I just want to stand on my desk and yell "SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The Bear comes with soul-sucking vacuum attachments and knows how to use them. He is very high maintenance, and is a constant drain. He is a great kid, and we love him very much, but there are times when he is almost too much for us to deal with.

After a day of being soul-sucked at work, the last thing I want to hear is "Daddy, I want to go to the big park" or "Daddy come play Wii with me." I want to come home, crawl in a hole, and hide.
On the days where I feel like that, if I get about 45 minutes to an hour of me-time, I seem to do better. I know that sounds a bit heartless, but a lot of times it is true.

Oh... and I hurt my back again yesterday. GRRRRR.

Old Softy... I Mean Yeller

The other day I saw that Old Yeller was coming on, so I recorded it so I could watch it with the Bear.

After work today, I had to drop by my dad's house to help move a TV into the house. It was in the back seat of his car, and was big, bulky, and heavy. I managed to wrestle it out, and get it on a little wheeled gizmo. We rolled it inside, and got it in place and hooked up. I knew I had done the deed though. My back was already hurting.

Once I got home and had dinner, I fired up Old Yeller. DramaMama had never seen it, but knew what happens. She noticed that as the movie started, I was a little misty eyed. Dern my hide! :) I think it is a great movie, but I knew what was going to happen, so it got me before my butt groove in the couch was even warm!.

At the moment it happens I choked it back. The Bear wasn't sad at all. His take on it? "I bet that makes him dead!"

As you can see on the bottom part of the picture, Arliss is riding on Old Yeller's back. The Bear said, "That was cool! he was riding the dog!"

Next week: Where the Red Fern Grows... *whimper*

Gas - a rant

This is frickin' NUTS!

How can the price go up over a dollar in 2 months time? We all panicked with hurricane Katrina when gas went over $3.00. Now we sit and dream of those days.

I have been thinking about getting out my trusty bike and pedalling to work. That is until I went bike riding this evening with the Bear. We went about 3 blocks out and 3 blocks back. My legs were burning, the fellers were squarshed, I was huffing... I wont be riding my bike to work.

If this gets much worse, I don't know what we will do. We are being ripped off, and there isn't a whole fat lot we can do about it.

I would applaud goverment regulation of gas prices, that way the local stations couldn't gouge us just because they are greedy. If the feds started handing out fines for price gouging, I would think that prices would even out nicely. Granted the price of oil is rising, but the gas industry is using that as an excuse to force us over one of the barrels and ram the gas dispenser up our hoinky.

The Double Deception of the Tooth Fairy

The Bear has had a wiggly fang for awhile, and it finally came out yesterday. I immediately recalled a bag in my desk drawer from dejunking the other day. The bag contained two dollarrs in quarters and a roll of Smarties. This was the gift from the Tooth Fairy for a previous AWOL tooth.

So being a frugal and practical fairy, I snealed the bag into my pocket, and waited for the Bear to go to sleep. When it was time for bed, I cleaned out my pockets to the dresser, and there was the bag.

So I trotted upstairs to fulfill my parental duties of deceiving my child. I knelt beside his bed, and started tugging on the bag with the tooth in it, and the Bear woke up... sort of. A lot of spastic jerking, and wondering where he was type of thing. So I told him I didn't mean to wake him up.

I was sort of busted at this point, so I started thinking fast. I said, "Hey, do you think the Tooth Fairy came yet?"

*Some indistinct mumbling*

"Let's check."

So I pulled out the bag with the tooth in it, then lifted up the bag with the money and candy. "Look, she did come!"

The Bear smiled, took the bag, rolled over and went to sleep.

The next morning, the Bear reported that the Tooth Fairy came while Daddy was watching the baseball game. LOL Makes sense though, I went to do the deed after I watched the game, and from his perspective, the Tooth Fairy had already come.

So the cheapo Tooth Fairy regifted the Bear his own money and candy, and did the switcheroo right there with him watching. And we wonder why our kids grow up thinking we're mental!

A Bit of a Sobering Day

Last Wednesday, we saw on the news that 4 teens were involved in a very serious accident in which one was killed. He was 15, and his 16-year-old brother was driving. The one boy that wasn't ejected was the only one wearing a seat belt.

The next day, I found out that they are the sons of one of my co-workers.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/video/?bcpid=1155316042&bclid=1155212903&bctid=1509297819

The video is labelled Fatal Crash in Gilbert.

Today I attended the memorial with several people from work. Very sad.

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There is another video on that page labeled Mesa Standoff. THis happened just down the street from us. It mentions Leisure World. This is a retirement community where my dad lives.

That day, they locked down the Bear's school. Somehow the kids learned that a bad guy with a gun was loose in the area. So naturally the Bear had a thrilling tale. According to him, the man with the gun shot him right in the back. He took the bullet out of his back and threw it at the bad guy. :) Later he came back to DramaMama and said he wasn't telling the truth... Oh REALLY?

Of what can I speak?

I am a crappy poster!

We have had several noteworthy events go unblogged by the Weezil. DramaMama has covered them all beautifully though.

Bon Jovi was great. Mostly seeing the big grin on DramaMama's face. Knowing that we had "bad" seats behind the stage, I bought her some fancy opera glasses with which she could nonchalantly peruse Jon Bon Jovi's butt. After we were on the freeway on the way to the concert she realized that she left them home. Turns out we were so close to the real butt that we didn't need them anyway.

We saw Disney on Ice - Finding Nemo. I fell asleep while he was getting lost. The Bear loved it. The treats and doo-dads are so frickin' expensive that we decided to forego them this round, expecially seeing as the Bear already has the Finding Nemo crap from an earlier show.

I did feel bad for him though, because it seemed that all of the other kids were getting treats and got to wear the fish hats. He seemed to come away with no ill-will towards us.

The Suns won tonight. WOO HOO!

In Memory of Bubba 3

Well folks, it is official. The last of our goldfish "Bubba 3" has been killed and eaten by our algae eater "Frick". We have decided to save the lives of many future goldfish, by ridding ourselves first of Frick, then the fish tank.

I got a phone call at work from DramaMama telling me of Bubba's demise, and I could hear the heartbroken wails of the Bear in the background.

The fish tank was a nice ting, but DramaMama hates it, and too many fish have been murdered by Frick in it, so the time has come for it to go.

>>>Logging onto craigs list<<<

Oh, and if you are wondering why there is a label for "The Potty" under this post, well... you know.

What has become of Cheez?

Good question.

I know that I have lost all 3 of my readers due to lack of diligence here in blogland, but I thought it time to write something anyway.

I started a new book recently, and am into the 8th chapter already. I am receiving good reviews so far from my writing group. They have said that of all my stuff they have read, they like this best.

So this makes 1 book with 2 revisions completed, another book about 2/3 way through first draft, the NanoWriMo book that never got far that is morphing into still another book I started, then this one.

Work has been nightmarish the last few days. Bad stuff followed by more bad stuff. We are still cleaning up the mess, and hopefully will get it wrapped up tomorrow.

We are enjoying American Idol. So far most of the ones I wanted to go away have done so.

I am also enjoying the Celebrity Apprentice.

GO SUNS!

Next week is our 8th anniversary. We already got our "present". Our 4 year old TV did a croaker, so DramaMama went on Craigs list and found a nice tv for us. We got a smoking deal on it. The Bear came down the stairs and notified DramaMama that "this TV is HUMOUNGOUS".

I am taking a couple days off at the end of our anniversary week, not the day of unfortunately. But that will give us 4 days.

If anyone reads this, please leave a comment. I don't get many anymore.

In True 'Bear' Form

Okay, we haven't seen a good story from the Bear in awhile... Or a poop one for that matter, so here we go:

I help the Bear do his homework most evenings, and we were reviewing some of his spelling words. He is still learning to read, so I was having him read the words and spell them.

We came to the word 'puppy'. He has a special spot in his heart for puppies, and has wanted one for a long time.

When he figured out the word, his face lit up and he said "puppeeeeee" with a big smile on his face. Then he said, "I'll get a puppy if I pee and poop a lot."
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Okay, a little explanation may be required. When he was younger, one of our potty training bribes was that he had to poop in the potty 10 times without soiling a diaper and we would discuss getting a puppy. Well, the weeks and months dragged on with little progress and the puppy topic fell by the wayside. The Bear has long since transitioned into "Big Boy Pants" and is potty trained. I just hope he doesn't decide to press us on the puppy issue, because the result will pretty much be that we traded in a pooping boy for a pooping dog. The benefit of the pooping boy is the the diaper caught it. With a dog, the carpet, the yard, etc gets it. Then the yard stinks to high heaven, and mom and dad have to take care of the dog because junior lost interest. Hmmmm seems like I remember what I did when I was a kid.

Odd Directions and A New Brand of Superhero

This post has to do with funny things I heard this week:

1) "Sit down on your bum and be a lady!"


2) While playing a game with the Bear, he collected a protective shield for his player. "I'm SHIELDO THE KID!"

The Seer of Sesame Street

A few days ago, the Bear gave a talk in Primary on Faith. He is still learning to read, so I was whispering in his ear and he would then repeat it out loud.

We were going along fine, with the Bear mimicking my every voice inflection, when we came to the line: "The prophet Alma taught..." I whispered that in his ear.

The Bear proceeded. "The prophet ELMO taught".

It took me a bit before I could continue.

The Bear on a Hog

I think the "cheezer" on the Bear says it all.

He called me at work to tell me he rode a Harley, and he was brave.

DramaMama went for a ride on it too.