Robbys First Communion

It seems like only last week when the boy was born... 

As of Maundy Thursday, the boy has taken his First Communion.  It was quite the sight when Pastor Nathan invited the kids and their families up front at the beginning of service to recognize them on this special day and to pray for them.  

Apparently, we have roughly 30+ kids who are/now were, receiving their First Communion this Spring. It was an impressive brood, I must say.

Grandma Elaine, Aunt Molly, & Aunt Doris and Uncle Frank were there along with Mom, Dad and little brother Caleb, who got to hold the basket to collect the wine cups for communion in our section, as an added bonus!  My mom, Grandma Elaine was right behind me and when she put her cup in the basket, there was a cheery little Chinese voice somewhere behind me that said joyfully, "Hi Grandma!".
 

Here he is, the beautiful lad as duded up as he gets and quickly outgrowing all of his pants!

Proud parents of a proud boy!

I have to say, I got a little teary-eyed watching him take Communion the first time.  I'm not sure if it was because of the act of Communion and what it represents, or if it's the fact that the next time we blink he'll be driving, or if it was just being proud of the boy in that moment...  possibly all of the above. 

Plus, the band was playing the song Forgiven, which is one of my favorites currently.  A good, heavy moment!

Happy Easter weekend to all!!  
God Bless.

Pure GOLD Part Duex (follow-up/update)

I had recently posted a couple of shots of Caleb's kindergarten shirt.  I thought the shirt, both the idea and the execution of it were really cool.  

Lesley asked me if I remembered Robby's shirt of the same style.  I did not.  

So when getting dressed for school this morning, Robby's kindergarten shirt comes out of the closet and he wears it to school.  You see, it was fairly big when he first got it, much like Caleb's is pretty big on him right now.  Anyway, it fit him like a dream. 

So we were looking at the shirts...

This is Caleb's that was recently posted...

Caleb's drawing, which by the way, I asked him if he did it himself and he said, "No. Riordan.", meaning that Mrs. Riordan helped him write it.  I have to say, after looking at it closer, the 'e' and the 'b' had me a bit suspicious of that.

And here is Robby's self portrait from his shirt.  I suspect that his teacher Mrs. Dale, did not help him write his name...

And here's the bigger shot of the back of the shirt.   We found it a bit interesting that the boys are in the same spot on their respective shirts. Also of note is the fact that they drew their hands in a similar fashion.  What can I say?  We're simpletons.

On top of that, Robby had another beaut of a quote on Sunday morning after church services.  We were bringing cousins Sam and Jonah to our house so there were four kids in the back seat.  That alone was cause for some good laughing.  

However, Caleb was sitting on Robby's lap and nearly bonked heads together at one point.  Robby gave Caleb a good chewing out since his head is hard.  Very hard. 

Robby said something along the lines of "his hard little Chinese head", to which Sam inquired, "Why is his head hard?".  

Robby replies, "The Chinese need to have hard heads because they have to fight off dragons!".

Cracked Mom and Dad up, but Sam and Jonah were duly impressed although they may have the wrong impression about the general population of China...

Family night/day - March 2013

It's been quite a while since we've had one of our "Family Night" gatherings.  In fact, going strictly from memory, I would say that the last one we've done was the decorating of the gingerbread houses back in early December. 

So, since the last one we had was just prior to celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I suppose it's fitting that the follow-up is the celebration of his crucifixion and ressurection from the dead.

We were gathering for the annual "kids-fest" known in America as decorating Easter eggs.

Of course,  we had to gather for some food first.  You wouldn't want to tear off into the day without proper sustenance. We had some grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and tater tots to "grease the skids" as they say.

And another of course, since it is winter time here, and we've invited people over, and we have a crappy driveway, it just HAD to snow again.  Ridiculous how that happens...

Anyhoo...  enough of my babbling, on to the pictures!

Oddly enough, a football game broke out early.  That Robby in his green slime socks, Knoshawn Moreno Bronco's jersey and St. Louis Rams helmet, and that's Caleb in his church clothes complete with his "plumbers crack" hanging out the back side.  We decided that on this day, we would retire that shirt from his closet.

The football game has moved deeper into the living room and picked up another defender, Jonah!

Two lovely ladies. My momma, Grandma Elaine and the ever cute, little Zoe.

Here's Aunt Molly teaching a spacing off Robby, and a highly attentive Jonah, just how to do an Easter egg properly!

That's Grandma Darcey with Jonah, Sam and Zoe tearing up the eggs.

Momma and Calebber McCheese doing what they do and looking good doing it!

A wild brood, to be sure!

Robby, the hippie, waiting ever so patiently for his egg to turn the correct shade of red.

Sam and Jonah working on their eggs.

The whole crowd.

Sam & Zoe with Grandma Darcey

Now that's a motley looking crew!  China boy, Calebber with his brother Robby and a proud daddy!

I had to include this!  He's getting to that age when smooches from parents aren't always welcomed, so when a fella gets the chance, he's got to take it.  The one-eyed look on Robby's face is excellent!

And speaking of excellent expressions...

A wild game of Mario Bros. broke out in the basement later on.  I'm not sure what was happening on the screen, but Sam's face indicates that it is quite the significant event!

Zoe, as only Zoe can be.  The girl just breathes cute.

Caleb was feeling a little spry & sassy on this day, as it evidenced by his many goofy faces.

That wrapped up another family night.  Hopefully, with the weather getting nicer, we'll have them monthly again, but schedules can tend to do funny things to the best laid plans...

Why we laugh, part deux...

I had written a blog post back in November titled, Why We Laugh, which was a couple of Robby stories that cracked us up.

Lately, the boy has been getting a little "big for his britches", as they say.  We've attempted to clamp down on him a bit in an effort to curb his sassiness and for our efforts we get a good quote now and then.

The first two of these were posted on the fancy facebook thingymabob by Lesley, but I figured it would be fun to document them here as well.

This morning, Momma asked Robby to do a reading comprehension lesson.  He responded, "Mom, you're ruining my life! I mean literally, not figuratively.".    

How's that for getting your point across?

A few weeks back, Momma announced to us boys that she was going in to listen to a lecture.  Robby asked, "if it was going to be Martin Luther King, Jimmy Johnson or your nursing instructor?".

That's three fairly different folks!

Then, the other night before bed, I was telling the boys a story.   To make a really long story short, the little boy in the story is homeless and his camp has been eating fish they catch and asparagus that is growing wild in a ditch next to the forest where their camp is. The little boy, Jeremy, had raised some money and got some groceries for his camp which included fresh veggies other than asparagus so that his camp fellows would not grow weary of that veggie.

Robby said, "Oh man, tell me they bought some ranch dressing for dipping!".   

I replied,  "No, they didn't, there's not enough nutritional value in ranch dressing and they don't want to waste their money.".

He cleverly says, in that previously mentioned sassy voice, "Yeah but ranch makes things with nutritional values to actually taste good!".


Can't argue with sound logic like that which the boy possesses.

Jeez... 

I'm a softee...

What can I say? 

I've been alone since Thursday night when Momma left to take the boys up to G & G's house. 

Momma was trading the boys for Grandpa and then driving back to Des Moines to pick up Aunt Molly and the three of them were going to Nashville. 

Robby and Caleb were staying with Grandma until Tuesday when G'ma would drive down to Des Moines with them, as the Nashville bums returned also. Then, we would trade G'pa back to G'ma for the boys again. 

Through it all, Daddy gets some very important quiet time alone. 

Sounds good right? 

It was good until about 6pm on Friday night and I missed my usual chaos. Bored to tears and I hate being bored and how often people say they are bored. But, I simply missed the normal, delightful chaos that is our house. 

So, here I am, 4 full days later and I'm missing my people bad even though I've talked to all 3 of them every day since they've been gone!  I log onto email when I got home from work and I find the following three, pictures, one of which, brought me to tears...

Nope, not this one.  Although it is a very cool picture of what I assume to be the geese/swans on Crystal Lake.

Getting warmer!  My two monkeys out playing on a snow pile, presumably up by the school?

There it is. The monkeys and their smiles!  No gold more pure has ever been found!  Love you guys.  Can't wait to see you tomorrow (weather permitting!!).

Pure GOLD!

I had to post this as I think the "self portraits" are just GOLDEN!

It's the kindergarteners shirt that they do every year.  They have the kids draw pictures of themselves and those photos are screen printed on the back of the shirt.

I think it's also interesting to note that our little China boy has hand writing that is clearly more legible than several of the other kids. 

Front of shirt...

Back of shirt.

Sunday School Singers

 I mentioned in the previous post that Robby and Momma stayed home from worship and Sunday school last weekend as both were afflicted with illness of varying degrees.

Caleb, who was more than a little gun-shy the first time he ever went up in front of church to sing, showed no signs of butterflies this time.

I explained to him what was going to happen and when the kiddos started lining up, he hopped into line with a bucket full of smiles and marched up front to do his duties.

This was during rehearsals prior to the 8:30 service.  He really doesn't get all of the hand motions and such, but he has fun and is always trying!  The little curly haired dude looking at the camera is the son of a friend of mine. He is adopted (and stinkin' cute!!!) as well.

This was the group of kids at the 11am service.  It was a pretty good sized group who made a joyful noise!  Caleb was lit up when it was all over with.  It's especially hard to see him here as the camera had mistakenly focused on the collection lady in the read sweater.  Robby is about 4 kids to that ladies right.

And yes, he did miss his big brother. He asked me about 50 times if Robby was coming to sing.  I hope he maintains a joy of going on stage in whatever capacity!!

The inevitable is no longer evitable, if it ever was...

Greetings,

Caleb got sick...

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may recall several posts here and there that mention that Caleb has been avoiding sickness in the U.S.A. like high-paid Americans avoid physical labor.  Which is to say, he was doing great in the health department.

Enter Friday night, March 8th, 2013.  Robby is whiny.  Crazy whiny, which is out of character for him.  Nothing much was thought about it, except that he needed to go to bed early that night. On that same evening, Dear ol' Dad noticed that his jaw on the left side of his face was very tender.  Peculiar, indeed.

Saturday morning comes as it usually does, which is early for Dad.  I run up to church to start a new Bible study, and when I return home, I meet Momma just inside the door who informs me that Robby has been bad sick so far this morning.  Inhaler sick.

So we decide that he is not going to First Communion class that morning and we'll shoot for the Monday night class if he is feeling "more gooder".  As a result, he was mad.

The day progresses as Robby regresses.  He's feeling pretty bad. 

We decide that I, Daddy, will take Caleb to Sunday school and church since I was teaching this weekend and Momma and Robby will stay home. 

The plan was executed nearly perfectly.   Caleb has a slight cough, but nothing much.  Plus, he's acting fine, Robby is not.

Momma, who is also not feeling well by this point, decides that she'll take Robby and herself up to the good Doctor and see what it is that is ailing them.

A few prescriptions later, they're back and moping around accordingly.

Sunday evening, Caleb is dragging a little more, but not bad and he has a very slight fever.

Hmmm... this is new.

Monday morning comes and while we had decided to not send Robby to school already the night before, Calebs advancement of his ailment was enough to convince us that he was not going to school either.

What was that advancement, you ask with a cautious, wincing face?  Puking. He has not puked or leaked fluids from any other part of his earthly body since we have recruited him to be a Schmitz.

Hmmm... this is definitely new.

Here's a strange side story to all of this. When we were adopting, and by adopting, I mean the actual act of (finally) physically bringing Caleb into our home, I had moments where I wondered if he would accept us/me. Later on in the process, after he had accepted us, I wondered to what degree he accepted us/me.  Fast forward to the middle of the night Sunday night/Monday morning.  The poor guy was woke up around 2:30 am and found himself puking.  I woke up at the same time, in a different room and wondered why, guessing that he had issued a distress signal of some kind. Seconds later, I hear a shrieking Caleb say, "DDDDDAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

Man, I was out of bed and in the living room where the sick boys were sleeping, in a flash!  Haven't moved that fast since I was threatened to be murdered on my paper route one fine Sunday morning, but that's another story for another time.

While I helped the boy finish his deed and get cleaned up, I got a huge, tight hug from him while he clinged to me with all of his being.  I was strangely proud of the ferocity in which my little China boy screamed for help.  It was truly comforting as a Daddy in some really weird way.

I'm sure he'll see that differently as he grows up and recalls his first American vomit, but I know how I feel about it!

So anyway, Monday progresses and suddenly, out of thin air, Robby is back to himself!  Talking non-stop, sassing, wanting to play various things and so on.

He went to school Tuesday morning.  Caleb went to the doc.  Same verdict as the rest of us.

He is currently okay but he's got a solid does of childrens ibuprofen in his belly to help him on his way.  He's still fever'ish.  He's still very lethargic. He still doesn't want to eat much, but that is truly an improvement over yesterday!

So, the possibility for him to avoid sickness, is no longer an option... hence my goofy title.

Hopefully tomorrow brings happier times for the lad.


p.s. -  I did manage to get Robby up to the first communion class at our church building for the Monday night class. He was excited, answered lots of questions and got to taste the communion wine for the first time.  

 

Creativity knows no bounds...

I don't have much to say other than, historically, kids have had problems blowing up balloons...

Historically, kids will find solutions to get around their problems.

That is a yellow balloon hanging off of the end of a yellow kazoo.  Technically speaking, it did not solve his problem, but he sure had fun trying!

Sometimes, that's good enough.

Willis and the 1%

(Note: I started this post in mid/late January and I'm finally getting around to posting it now.  It's a little dated for obvious reasons, but the point, assuming I have one, is the same.  end-note)

I usually do not go political on this blog, in conversation or pay much attention to politics in the news.

I do not get into politics on the blog because it's more or less just a good way to communicate with family and friends that we don't see to often, and it's a bit of a journal that hopefully both of our boys will be able to look back on at some point while jarring loose rusted memories.

I typically avoid politics in conversation because there are not too many people left, it seems, that can carry on a conversation with dissenting views (about any subject, much less the big two; politics and religion!) without it quickly dissolving into a series of ad hominem attacks.  That isn't much fun and is certainly not an environment where either side is going to learn anything.  Sadly, I have been guilty of that offense myself...

And I don't pay much attention to politics in the news because of several reasons.  Not the least of which, most of it makes me sick to my stomach. If I can manage to not get nauseous, I don't believe a very large percentage of what I'm being told as my b.s. meter pegs in the red most of the time.  

And the last, and by far most important reason is that I believe God puts the world leaders in place as He wants them to advance his Kingdom. 

Where do I get the information from where I form my opinion?  Well, the Bible...

We know from the book of Daniel, that Daniel had found favor in Gods eyes and God is with him through his many trials.  In Daniel 2:21 after Nebuchadnezzars dream and decree that all the wise men be put to death because they cannot interpret the dream, God reveals the dream to Daniel and he praises God by praying the following:  
Daniel 2:20 and said:

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
    wisdom and power are his.
²¹ He changes times and seasons;
    he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning.
²² He reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what lies in darkness,
    and light dwells with him.
²³ I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:
    You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
    you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

...or how about...

 

Romans 13:1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

⁶ This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷ Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

...or, this one...

Ephesians 1, the apostle Paul declares: 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

Civilizations throughout time have come and gone. Great & powerful leaders of nations have reigned & have been dethroned. And all the while, God has been in control. In 1 Chronicles 29:12, we see Davids prayer to the Lord:

¹⁰ David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, O Lord,
    God of our father Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
¹¹ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.
¹² Wealth and honor come from you;
    you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
    to exalt and give strength to all.
¹³ Now, our God, we give you thanks,
    and praise your glorious name.

I won't post it all here, but take a read thru the book of Amos where it teaches that the sovereign control of God is over all the affairs in heaven and on earth. Israel, as was it's wont (and sadly, ours as Americans as well), had willfully disobeyed God. Divine judgment came to the people in several ways: war, drought, famine, and plagues of grasshoppers. Read chapter 4 carefully and note the times God said to Israel that He was responsible for every disaster that befell the nation. Observe the use of the first person singular: "I also have given you . . . want of bread" (v. 6); "I have withholden the rain from you" (v. 7); "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew" (v. 9); "I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt" (v. 10); "I have overthrown some of you" (v. 11). God here informed the nation that He was the motivating force behind disease, death, drought, and destruction.

Now look at Amos 3:6, where the prophet asked, "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" The word evil here does not refer to moral evil, but rather a calamity. 

Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I, the Lord, do all these things" (45:7). Again the word evil denotes any kind of a natural disaster such as a plague, drought, flood, or earthquake.

Proverbs 8:15, 16 - says that governments should use wisdom to rule and to make laws that are just. 
Proverbs 17:7 - says rulers also should not lie.
Proverbs 20:26 - says wise rulers always try to punish the wicked.
Proverbs 28:2-4 and 29:4 - urges rulers to maintain order justly, to follow God’s moral code and to avoid oppressing the poor.


That is what brings me to the true point of wanting to write this post.  During this past presidential election, I couldn't count the times when rich, whiny Americans would bark and pee and moan about their various mistreatment(s) by the rich, or should I say, richer then themselves. How the 1% was oppressing their whiny butts and so on and so forth. 

I do not pretend to know what it's like to be poor.  

I can't.

I was raised in a fairly well-to-do middle class home where we had what we needed to get by, and then a little more on top of that.  Yes, there were times when Dad was on lock out thru the union and a couple of times where those went on for longer than what was likely comfortable for my parents, but I as a kid really couldn't tell much difference, thanks to the shielding of those times from my parents.

Oh, I have two brothers and two sisters who may well remember things differently than I do, but for the most part, the only things we could have wanted for was a good diet plan!  We did NOT go hungry.


Fast forward many years...

So one day, as is my current habit of the past 8 years now, I view the blog wattsupwiththat.com. It's run by a fella whom I admire greatly, Anthony Watts.  I was attracted to his wattsupwiththat.com blog thru his surfacestations.org project.  That's another story for another time.

Regardless off all of that, there are several individuals who contribute postings there, not the least of which is Willis Eschenbach.  

Do I know him? 

Nope. 

Would I like to?  

Yep. At least long enough to trade a few pints with him over stories.  Mostly his stories which you can read plenty of, on the Watts web page.

So he wrote a blogpost called, "We have met the 1%, and he is us".  It took me back to the election cycle and the disgust I felt during it.   

It also made me look at EVERYTHING that I have with a little more respect from the One to which all things belong and were created.

Click on the link below or cut n' paste this into your browser for a good read:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/01/13/we-have-met-the-1-and-he-is-us/

Do it! 

Then finish up here...   

I'll wait.

It does get a bit political towards the end, but I don't really care about that. If you're truly offended, it's likely because of guilt. 

Seriously.  

Think about what Willis wrote and the two quotes near the end.  

God does not have a problem with riches.  He blessed many with livestock and wealth in the Bible.  His problem is with the people that receive those blessings and whether they are good stewards of them.

Indeed, we are the 1%!  How are we doing as good stewards from where you're sitting?