Last night we were watching a football game, and commercial came on for a well-known company. The tag-line for their product was to turn Thanksgiving into Thanks-getting. Clever...but in a way disturbing. The company is big enough that I'm sure plenty of market research and results from focus groups were scrupulously analyzed in the coining of this term. Getting. That's what's important. Really?

*******

I was driving with the kids the other day and Evelyn asked me how much money I made every day. I told her and she said "Wow, that's a lot" ("A lot" is a relative term). Then she said "That's pretty neat. You know why?"

"Why?"

The kids all responded at the same time with similar answers. Something like the following:

"Because with that much money you can help a lot of people."

*******

This was one of those parenting wins where it shows that something is getting through. We have tried to involve the kids a lot lately when it comes to our giving- from filling boxes for displaced families in Syria to buying Christmas presents for local families in need, to earning extra money so that we can take impoverished teens on much-needed shopping trips for new clothes, our kids have been a part of all of this and more, and have been able to see first-hand how their good fortunes can lift others as well. More importantly, they are starting to realize the contentment that comes from putting others' needs above their own. "Where much is given, much is required" is a mantra that will resonate in our home. At least that is my hope.

*******
This last weekend has been really good. On Friday and Saturday I had study club, where I got to do my first sinus lift surgery. Things went great, and hopefully within the year I will have done enough of these to introduce them as a regular part of my practice. This is exciting for me. I think I've mentioned it before, but ever since dental school I have wanted to drive my career toward the oral-surgery end of dentistry, and these plans seem to be falling into place nicely. Also, study club weekends are always rejuvenating. The camaraderie of the other doctors, the academic discussions, the reduced-fee services to our patients (we are learning, after all), and the hands-on clinical portions all mix together to remind me how much I really do love what I do.

On Sunday after church, Rachel and I took turns taking the older kids to Pizza-Hut to celebrate their reading achievements from school. I really like these one-on-one times; they are all too infrequent in a big, busy family, and it is nice to be able to have elongated conversations with the kids while doing something fun together.

I also took the older kids this weekend to see the NIC Chamber Orchestra perform their "Music Around the World" concert. It was fun, and the kids were surprisingly attentive. Toward the end they got a little restless, but hey, what can you expect from three kids under the age of 8? Jackson's biggest gripe was that they never had a song that featured "his" instrument- the drums. We'll have to watch some music videos of Rush for him to get his fill, I guess. (Mission accomplished. Neil Peart is officially my sons biggest hero).

Sunday evening we had a family Seahawks party on our new movie screen (yes, we have a movie screen in our house) with home-made pizza and ice cream with Seahawks sprinkles on top. Again, our kids were surprisingly attentive and asked intelligent questions about the game. It is fun having them grow up a little bit.

Today (Monday), Rachel and I finished going to all their parent-teacher conferences and came away feeling very lucky to be the parents of some pretty amazing kids. Like I said last week, Evelyn is way above grade level in pretty much everything, and is starting to really come into her own at school. She virtually danced around the classroom as she showed us all of her projects and her teacher said that she is almost always happy and fun to be around. This is welcome news to us, as you might remember me talking earlier about how Evelyn was going through a hard time (9/14).

Addy is also doing great, academically. She especially likes reading, has already passed off all her reading stuff for the whole year, and enjoys one-on-one reading time with the teacher while the rest of the class works on easier assignments. She is also making lots of friends, which is good to hear. "She is just a very sweet girl," is what her teacher had to say. And it's true. "Sweet" is probably the best word I could think of for her.

Jackson too, is doing well. He is a little quieter in class, but is very focused and extremely creative. He has formed a group of friends that his teacher calls "the art boys" who she has a hard time getting to finish assignments because of their excessive attention to detail and need to get things "just so." He is keeping up in other areas too, and has become the teacher's special helper when it comes to cleaning up. The one thing that he needs to work on is that he is really hard on himself when he doesn't get something perfect- an attribute that I think will push him to succeed, but which needs to be kept in check to avoid discouragement.

Well, the kids are starting to finish up their quiet time, so I'm going to go hang out with them for a while before Rachel gets home from work. They are out of school already for Thanksgiving break, and I have a shortened work-week which will be nice. We are looking forward to back-to-back weekends in Utah (with lots of driving in between), and the friends and family that we will be able to reconnect with during this time. It really is a good time of the year to be giving thanks- we have a lot to be thankful for.

Have a good week, and we'll be seeing some of you very soon!

Here's me and Ev when we went out to pizza. It's also our only picture for the week.

Normal big family doing normal big family things

It's about five thirty on a Tuesday morning and I am looking outside at our first snow of the year. It's already melting (I've come to appreciate the sound of water dripping off our roof through the drain pipe), but it's a better start than we've had in years past.

As for us, things continue to go really well. Our upstairs is almost completely furnished, but we're still waiting on some benches so I'm not allowed to post pictures yet. Also, I finally finished a big project I've been working on to publish in print the last three years of The Hazard Chronicles. I love having the hard copies, and they usually turn out looking great (patting myself on the back here). They are also a lot of fun to make despite the tedium of it all, since I am forced to go through every post that we have made and remember the events described in them. Man, it's been a crazy few years for us. Fortunately, 2015 is shaping up to be very different in a good way. I don't think I have felt this much stability in all aspects of life at any time...ever.

As for the week, it seems like we have been doing a lot

Last weekend we got a babysitter for Lindsey and everyone else went and saw Disney on Ice in Frozen. We all had a good time, but I think Jackson and Addy were the most impressed. It was really fun to watch their faces any time someone did a neat ice-skating move, or a new character came out, or a song came on that they knew.

Later in the week Rachel and I got out on a fun date where we bought barstools, ate at one of our favorite restaurants, and watched a movie in a real theater. And even though I just re-read that last sentence and it makes us sound really old and boring, we still had a lot of fun.

One of my favorite parts of the week was hanging out with Jackson on Saturday. He is in a city-league basketball game and I got to watch him play. He's pretty awesome. During the game he told me conspiratorially that he had a super power but that I couldn't tell anyone (so of course I publish it on the internet). His super power was that even though the other kids had their hands up, he could still see where he was going. Aha- so that's how he does it! Later that day I took him out to Pizza Hut to celebrate his reading achievements in school. On the way home he said "Dad- this is my favorite day ever because I get to hang out so much with just you."

It's stuff like that that makes it rewarding to be a dad.

Also, Evelyn had a movie night at her school this week that the whole family got to go to. We watched "Hotel Transylvania" and had a good time.

Speaking of Evelyn, we got her report card this week and she is way above grade level in pretty much everything. What I am even more proud of though, is our conversation last night. I asked her how school was going and she said "Good, but there is something I am struggling with in Ms. Jillette's class (GATE). It's really hard and I don't understand it right now, but I'll figure it out though. Ms. Jillette said she would help me, and I can work a little extra 'till I get it." That confidence is something new in her, and I hope it stays because I think it will push her farther in life than good grades ever will.

From her teacher: "Evelyn is a smart, quiet, and helpful young lady. I can always count on her to offer help to those who are struggling around her. Her compassionate heart makes her very well liked within our classroom. Evelyn takes her time on her assignments to make sure they are done just right. She is very artistic and focused to do her best at all times. I love having her in class."

Addy and Jack got their grades also. They are both doing well, though Jack seems to have a hard time with numbers. That's okay though- It just means that we  get to play a lot of BINGO at home with 1-20 on the cards. The kids love it! Their teachers didn't write anything about them on their report cards, but we have conferences coming up this next week so maybe I'll have more to say about them later.

Well, that's about it for this week: More of a log entry than any sort of deep insight into our lives. Put it all together though and I think it paints a picture of a busy family doing things that busy families do, which would be an apt description.

Lindsey is growing up! She walks around so much it is hard to keep track of her any more...especially when she finally figured out the stairs. Recently she has started to experiment more with her voice and it is fun to hear her say "uh-oh" every time she falls or drops something.

This was a Family Night activity where we took stuff apart to see how it worked (don't worry, the cord in the picture goes to something else).

Sculptures with Mama.

Pizza Hut with Papa

We came home from our date and saw "Evelyn's Flower Book" on the counter. "By: Evelyn of course!" I took a picture of my favorite page- "This is the walking flower. Yeah! I know it's pretty wired (weird), but it really does walk!"

Maren is rich!

Here's Jackson bringing the ball down the court for his team.

Have a good week!

The year before I graduated from high school, George Lucas began releasing the movies which told the story leading up to his Star Wars "trilogy" from the 70s. From what I could tell at the time, this was a big deal. Star Wars had been a pretty successful film, and these were supposed to be even better! Even in the small town of Rexburg, I remember seeing people lined up in front of the theater to see the first showing, some waiting in line for several hours, and many of them dressed up as their favorite characters. I wasn't too into Star Wars at the time (I'm still not), and I thought it was all a little bit silly.

That same year, Weird Al Yankovic released his most successful album ever, "Running With Scissors." The first track on that album was a parody called "The Force Awakens," a song who's success as a hit single was directly related to the new movie, and sung to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie." I remember getting a chuckle out of the song, and I even still remember some of the lyrics. I also wasn't too into Weird Al though (I'm still not), and I thought it was a little silly.

That song though, had a melody that somehow stuck with me and led me to the actual version of "American Pie." Now, I am sure I had heard the song before this point, but I had never before actually listened to it. When I did, back in 1999, I was completely blown away. Here, you had a country singer giving a beautiful history lesson on the history of Rock and Roll. Music was one thing that I was into at that time (I still am), and I thought that this song was a work of pure genius.

Since then, I have listened to a lot of music. I have learned the stories of a lot of bands, and I have even learned to play many of my favorite songs on the guitar. I don't know what it is, but Rock music, as a genre, as a cultural phenomenon, and as an "experience" is simply fascinating to me. It is fascinating to see the influence it has had over time, and how it, in turn, has been influenced and changed.

Why did I choose this time to tell about this? Well, I just finished my weekly lecture/assignment of "The Histroy of Rock and Roll" course as taught online at the University of Rochester, and I thought it would be a good way to open the blog. Also, I have been playing the guitar a lot lately, and so I guess music has sort of been on my mind.

Actually...about that. 

A few weeks ago I mentioned on our blog that I help with the music at the church our family attends (1st Pres. CDA). I have been hesitant to mention this too much on our blog, because I'm not sure how it will be taken by some people, but it has become an important part of my life so I figure I'll share. A few months ago I made a casual comment at a church social about how I liked to play the guitar. Well, one thing led to another, and soon enough I found myself on a stage in front of about 300 people. 

Over time, I have become a pretty regular part of the "worship team" (band), and I switch back and forth each week between playing lead electric and rhythm acoustic guitar. Our church has two different congregations (wards) that meet on Sundays, each with about 250 people. Our family attends the first one and then I stay through the break and play at the second as well. It works well for us. I have also gotten to know a lot of people through it, and have had a great chance to hone my musicianship. It has been a wonderful experience so far, and I look forward each week to finding out what we'll be performing the next Sunday.

Just as a disclaimer for those who hear "electric guitar" and immediately think of Angus Young, Slash, or Jimmy Page (at least that's who I think of), the music we play is pretty mellow. It definitely has a rhythmic or "rock" feel to it, as well as the occasional guitar solo (which I love), but there's no screaming or wild bends with the notes. For those who may be more familiar with LDS music- think about your EFY CDs as pretty typical for the type of music you would hear on any given Sunday. Anyway, I just thought I'd share. Like I said, it has become a fairly significant part of my life, if anything, because of the amount of practice that I have to put in each week to be able to not make a complete fool of myself :).

Other exciting news we have is that we got new furniture! This is a big deal to us. It is a signal that we finally think our kids are at a stage where we can start having nice things. That's all I'll say about that for now, since I want to include pictures of it on a different post (it's not totally set up yet).

I also guess I should write something here about Halloween Night. In our last post I showed off our pumpkins, but didn't mention costumes or trick-or-treating. It was a lot of fun though. The weather cooperated and the kids got tons of candy. Early in the evening we went downtown (Coeur d'Alene), where businesses all hand out candy. There were tons of people there...and tons of candy! When we got home we went around the neighborhood and had as much fun looking as the decorations as we did getting candy. I have said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it every year it comes around- I LOVE HALLOWEEN.

Trick or Treating 

Rachel was a ninja turtle.

Lindsey was a cute (and warm) little unicorn

Evelyn at her school carnival

This was a fun activity- we are currently doing an "engineering" unit in family night (for Addy). This is us trying to build bridges,

Addy was heartbroken when we sold our old furniture. They were good couches. They were also good boats, good lava rocks, good forts, good shields, and good rocketships. Our kids have certainly loved that couch...almost to death. It was a hard day to see it go. I guess it's true that "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" (Seneca, as quoted by Semisonic). This one was particularly hard for our Addy. I can only imagine what she would be like if we had pets.