Hey, it's me Derek here. I haven't written on the blog in quite a while. I'm glad Jenny shared so many things from The Great Pause. It really has been an amazing time for our family and has really furthered a lot of our thinking. We are so grateful for our children and love this time of life.
Going back to work hasn't been as bad as I pictured. Actually, it has been very busy and productive and there's nothing more that I love than being productive with my time. My staff has been very positive and proactive, I really appreciate them.
My first day back to work was "May the Fourth Be With You" Day (May 4). The kids celebrated without me, but we watched a Star Wars movie that night, Rogue One. That was one thing that was fun during the shutdown. I was the only Star Wars fan and Jenny actually brought up maybe watching some of them. We ended up watching Episode I-IX (in the order they were produced). We had a great time and we have some new fans in the family.
Brinley's Darth Vader mask.
Ice Cream from McDonalds!
Dr. Bates (the previous owner of my dental practice) was sick and in the hospital with pneumonia for 10 days. His wife couldn't even visit him so I know it was a long time for him. So when he was able to come home, many of us got together and did a "Welcome Home Parade". The girls made signs.
It was a neat experience.
All the girls love pretending that they are the mom or dad and one of them is the child. Here Brinley is being mommy and Emmett is being the baby.
Ashlyn and I working on learning some coding on the computer.
Brinley did a book report and shared it with the family! We are proud of her!
Morning walk/hike in Nac.
This little guy turned 2! We can't believe how big he's getting! He is a great joy and a sweet brother. He's starting to show a little attitude and personality each day.
A few weeks ago, he was not being kind to his sisters so I said, "Emmett, go to the stairs please. You can come back when you're going to be nice."
He turned and looked straight at me, got a snarl on his upper lip, rolled his eyes and said, "Ockkk..."
I turned to Jenny and we both held in our laughs the best we could.
We went to Livingston Lake State Park. It was our first time and we loved it! It was a mostly cloudy warm day but we really enjoyed ourselves.
We packed a picnic.
And rented some kayaks. Desi followed Claire's lead on deciding whether to be nervous and scared or to enjoy herself.
We had several races against each other and enjoyed the workout. I got some nice blisters. And the next day my butt was feeling so sore. I was thinking, "What did I do? I feel like I sat on my bike for an hour ride but I didn't even ride my bike yesterday." Then I remembered the kayaks. I had to sit further back on the boat because Emmett said in the seat part. Yes, I know, I sacrifice so much for my kids.
Drive through church activity getting popsicles!
I was going through some stuff from my mission and came upon this. It was the cover to my Missionary Handbook. Inside if it, I kept some of my favorite quotes. The bottom one is from my Dad when I was starting the last 6 months of my mission. I teared up reading it, remembering the strong emotions of that time in my life. It was such a hard time, but such a strengthening time. If I was going to be on my mission, I was going to give my all. And I truly did. It has really shaped much of my life since that point.
You're welcome.
Movie time, and guess who has the best seat in the house?
Grandpa has been reading Harry Potter to Ashlyn via Skype for quite a while now. They are almost finished! There are 7 HUGE books! Ashlyn has enjoyed it so much. She absolutely loves the experience and always wants to tell Jenny and I what they've been reading in the book. After they finish a book, we always watch the movie, and that's been a lot of fun for us as well.
Emmett has sat in on several of the movies. And now he finds a wand wherever we go, yelling, "Harry Potter!"
We have played tennis a few times as a family and that's been fun. Ashlyn really enjoys learning the technique and trying to improve.
Homeschooling during a family hike!
He doesn't go under the water at all but likes to wear goggles so that he can be like his sisters.
Practicing for when he starts actually using this thing... Desi helping set him straight.
We did one of our favorite bike rides from Kiwanis park to the middle of Lufkin. We had our bikes parked and the kids were playing on the playground while Jenny and I sat on the bench and watched them. A man in a Lufkin City truck pulled up and said, "Are these all your kids?" We said yes and smiled. He said, "Do you have something to drink?" I said yes but thank you. He said, "Come here." I was expecting him to give us a couple water bottles but he pulled out his wallet and gave me a $20 bill and told me to take our kids and get them a drink after our ride. It was so kind and I told him how much we appreciated that. What a great reminder to pay it forward.
So we went to Smoothie King after and let everyone get a smoothie. The kids loved them.
Del Rio is our place to eat. We have to eat at separate tables because 6 is the limit but we've managed. Well, we went there about 4 weeks in a row.
And it's because of their Chile Relleno! It is amazing! I get it with fajita beef inside and it is just perfect!
I love moments like these. Beautiful wife and children. What more could a man ask for?
Ashlyn, Brinley, and Claire have had dance rehearsal and recital every night this week (Mon-Sat). So a few nights Desi has gone to bed by herself and she's been brave. Sure love this sweet girl.
We picked blueberries at Ramsey's farm in Lufkin. It's always a great time and this time we had the whole place all to ourselves.
Does it surprise you that Emmett found a stick/wand?
"Help Me!" I turned around and found Emmett caught in a situation on the swing. He was very calm, but knew he needed some assistance.
A few weeks ago Ashlyn started asking me questions about how much we pay the guy to mow our lawn, and if she mowed the lawn, if I would pay her. So we ran through some numbers. We talked about borrowing a lawn mower from our neighbors to try it out but it didn't quite work out so we decided to buy one. We looked on craigslist but many of the mowers were still quite expensive, so we settled on new.
I told her she would need $100 for a down payment and that I'd finance the remaining portion. I wrote up a contract with 5% interest and 24 month amortization schedule. She read it, agreed to the terms and signed her life away. Hehe.
It was fun to watch her ask questions and compare all the different models to decide on one.
She got a self propelled Craftsman mower with a Honda engine. She can start it and run it herself. The first day she mowed the front and it probably took her 2-3 hours. I had to help troubleshoot through a few different things. The second day she mowed the back and only needed my help once to fill up with gas.
Another example: a week or so ago I got after her for being critical of Brinley and not being as kind as she should be. She felt very bad and was crying, feeling like she was a bad sister. It led to some good conversation. I shared with her that I believe she is already a better sister than I was a brother, at her age. It took me a long time ( 15-16) before I really started to be patient and loving with Preston.
I reminisced with Ashlyn that a year or so ago we had almost constant talks about how to become a better and kinder sister. And now we rarely have those talks because she has grown so much. It was a great conversation and helped turn the focus on using those situations as fuel for determination to be better, and to make the most of the day, rather than feeling bad about our mistakes. She took it well and really adjusted the rest of the day. It was very impressive to witness.
The picture below is to show her dirty, sweaty face after mowing the lawn for several hours.
Can you say Gorgeous!?
Brinley is learning to push herself in uncomfortable situations. She started piano a few weeks ago and is doing well.
This week on Monday she was really nervous about the dance rehearsal because she didn't know her dance real well (it has been all online the last couple months). She was also nervous about all the people that would be watching her on stage. She cried and told Jenny that she really didn't want to go. After some positive reinforcement and moderate force, she relented and said she'd go. Jenny helped her focus on getting all ready for it by dressing up and practicing by watching the videos. Brinley told Jenny that night that she was so glad that she had gone through with it. I asked her about it today on our walk and she told me that it was because they got ice cream. Haha, I'm hoping there was a better lesson to it, but that's okay too.
We celebrated after by having blueberry pie and ice cream! IT WAS SO GOOD!
If you look closely at this picture, you'll see me up in the tree. We will likely be picking up our truck and trailer and will be camping much more over the next few months/year. And I needed to remove several branches on this tree in order to be able to back it in the driveway. We are getting excited!
Claire worked very hard to prepare for her dance recital. There were several times that she was very proactive and asked for us to set up the video for her so that she could practice.
Claire seems like the glue in the family right now, in certain situations. She's right in the middle so she's really the one person that will often be found playing with each child in the family at different times.
She's also the one that can crack all of us up when we're sitting at the table for meals.
Practicing to learn the two-wheeler!
Today on our family hike on La Nana Trail at Pecan Park in Nacogdoches.
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