Be careful what you ask for-you might get it!

Normally my summer work is pretty predictable. I work alot the end of June and first couple weeks of July. Then it starts to wind down as the month of July rolls on. Then comes to a screeching halt by the end of July. Aug. I'm as free as a bird. ( or as free as a bird with children and grandchildren).

This summer work-did not start off with the usual fury of the past. As the first week of July started I was getting a little worried. Thrilled at all the time off I had to help Erica with Parker... but there were bills to pay, mouths to feed! I put a call into my boss to express my want for work. A call I have lived to regret..sort of.

I have worked soooo much since then. All my dreams of playing with the grandkids and holding newborns have only appeared in bits and pieces among my heavy load of work!!!

Though any other summer and I probably won't have minded the constant 7am to 10pm grind. Yes my work days are long!
I have gotten to go to U of W and shoot baseball, spend the hottest days of the summer so far there and at a very nice private golf course in Belleuve. Golf would not rank as the most exciting thing I shoot.

One of the perks of the regional babe ruth baseball at U of W was watching the "Blue Angles" practice for Seafair. The first day I was there they were buzzing over us all day! The next day it was just in the morning.

Then the last couple of weeks have included huge water events. First I got to attend the "US Open Swim". There was a couple Olympic swimmers there. And some who should have been in Beijing. It was a best of the best in swimming. Many swimmers were there from other countries.( the girls were doing some of the boothing and did not enjoy trying to understand some of them). It was five long but, kind of fun days. ( did get to take one day off).

Most exciting was watching new world records being set! I was right there shooting when Jessica Hardy set the new world record in the "100m breaststroke". The place went crazy.

I also got to witness the finalists in the men's 200m IM make a statement about all the fuss over the banning of the suits that help swimmers swim faster, by all making a pact to wear only their speedo's. The place was packed and everyone went wild, shouting, clapping and giving them a standing ovation even before the race started!

Well this week I'm finishing up the Jr. National swim at the Aquatics center in Federal Way.

After that I will finally have a week or so off. Hopefully I can squeeze in all the stuff I had wanted to do earlier, spend time with Alesha before she heads back to the Y, have a getaway with my hubby, and hold those babies and play with the other 3.

Next summer I'll have to be a little more careful what I ask for as I've learned this summer- I just may get it!

Shadle Park reunion

Went to my 30th class reunion on August 1st and took the trip down memory lane but also had a lot of thought provoking conversations.

First off it was great to see so many of my class mates doing well. The friends we make during our school years can be quite important to our personality and make-up. I was fortunate to have to very good people whom I had as friends. Those early friends helped me to develop self confidence and self image. Most of the people I hung out with knew who they were and what they wanted to do with their lives by the time we left high school.

The interaction of the reunion was quite interesting to me. Most of the people that I talked to I haven't seen for at least 10 years (the last reunion) yet we picked up our relationship as if we had visited just yesterday. For the most part people where just there to see old friends with very little concern of trying to impress anyone. We did have one person who drank to much and then of course started talking too much and too loud.

One conversation I had, has kept me thinking on it for quite some time now. I was talking with a girl I got to know my senior year as the friend of a friend of mine. She was a person I thought had everything going for her during school as she was very intelligent, nice personality, friendly and beautiful, you know the ideal high school kid. When I got the chance to hang out with her and get to know her during school I felt quite fortunate. Anyway when talking about the school years she said that she wasn't really fond of them for she didn't have many friends and didn't feel a real part of it, kind of like she was institutionalized. I spent most of the drive home thinking about that conversation and was worried by it. She is doing great now as she is a lawyer and has a good family and is enjoying life, she just saw high school as a stepping stone and not a trampoline. The reason it worried me is that if it was like that for her a person who had/has a lot going for them what is it like for some of my students today who don't know where they want to go or do.

I felt bad that I never told her what a neat person she was back in high school, something that many of my friends had done for me. How many times do we have those people in our lives that are special to us but we never let them know? So once again I come away from my association with my classmates having learned something. I would love to get some of them to come to Onalaska and do a career day type thing with my Seniors and hopefully help them out some. I might have to make a few calls and see if I can get that done.

baby updates

Yesterday Parker was 3-weeks old and Brady was 1-week old. They are so cute together. Reminds me of when I had twins ( OK I still have them but, when they were babies.)

Parker 3-weeks old



Brady 1 week old

Actually Madison and Isabell really remind me of the twins when they were little.

Madison(16 month) and Isabell (13.5 months) dancing
Now that Madison stands and walks, her and Isabell interact alot more. Madison is our sweet mild mannered granddaughter and Isabell will be telling Peyton what to do in another year or two.

Madison gives the very best hugs!!!!!
The other day Isabell was standing in front of Mads sing what sounded like patty cake patty cake. Like she was try to teach it to Madison(as if she didn't know it already!!). It was so cute she'd do the hand motions some then laugh and laugh. Then another time she just grab Madison hand and pulled on her like she was going to drag her along where ever she wanted her to go. At the time Madison was not that sturdy on her legs- she just kept falling down.

Madison and Peyton having a snack

Madison is getting around pretty good with walking ,and her and Peyton do really well together. Isabell has been cutting two top teeth and has not been to much fun. She is talking some. she goes up to Brady or Parker and says "Baby" and even says "Bailey" the dogs' name. If you really listen you can tell the difference between Grandma and mama. and even Grandpa.

Madison likes to talk with her mouth closed some of the time which is kind of creepy. She is jabbering alot. But, every now and then she talks clear as a bell. One of these days I think she'll just start talking in complete sentences.

Peyton has really grown taller. He can open my car door. I've had to make sure it is locked or he would be out playing (destroying) in it all the time. We'll think we have something on the counter or table out of his reach and the next thing we know, he has it. Won't be long till he can open the front door and run outside on his own. Scary!!

Madison seems to like her new brother. she'll give him hugs and loves some. Peyton... Seems to be interacting with Brady more each day. At first he didn't seem to really notice him or care. Yesterday I was holding Brady and watching a movie. Brady started to fuss, next thing I know Peyton has grabbed his bottle and put it in his mouth.

As far as the newborns go...Parker has been a really easy baby. At three weeks he is sleeping 5 or 6 hrs at a time. Nate and Erica are actually get enough sleep at night for the first time since Madison was born. He is a really good eater and is at almost 10 lbs. He doesn't have that fragile newborn feel.

Brady took to Tressa right off the bat. He loves to nurse and nurse and nurse and nurse. Tressa is really getting exhausted. She has started pumping so others can feed some and she can sleep. He has been a pretty good baby. He is just either eating or sleeping right now, not much in between. It has really been fun to have the two newborns around they are so sweet!

And really fun (most of the time) to have the three older ones around more. I love to sit and watch them all interact. And Isabell loves to sit on the porch swing we have out front and swing with me. Then the other two see and want to join in. It a great time in our family. Alesha is home so I have all my girls and grandkids around. Just wish I didn't have to work so much and could enjoy this all a little bit more.

Isabell and Madison cooling off on a hot day!!
Still one of their favorite things to do: share a big bowl of popcorn with grandpa

Brady William Morgan

Brady William Morgan arrived at 3:30am on July 27 2009. All went well. Below is a couple of photos. See Tressa's blog in the next couple of days for the full story and many more photos.

My wife is a miracle worker!

It's official, Dee Dee is a miracle worker. With the coming of Parker she was in full mother mode taking care of Erica, Nate and Madison. On Tuesday Dee and Tressa went to get Erica and Parker from the hospital plus Tressa had a Dr. appt. Being the Grandad that I am of course I offered to watch Peyton and Madison. Melia was working that day so I said adding Isabell would be no problem after all they were just grabbing her from the hospital and would be home. Yeeeaaah.

Camp Grandpa was ready to roll. We listened to some good ole 60's music so they can dance and show off their moves. Isabell combined the Isabell wiggle with the moonwalk (in honor of Young Michael Jackson) of course she forgot to clear the floor behind her. After the dancing it was outside to pick the blueberries which are just starting to come on. I figured there was about a cereal bowl full of berries ready to go and we would have some around to snack on during the day. I sorely under estimated my picking crews munching abilities. I was never able to accumulate any berries before my helpers emptied my bowl.

With all the outside activities done it was time for lunch. This went surprisingly well, Isabell was in the booster chair, Madison in the highchair and Peyton stood on a chair all within arms reach of me. They chowed down their Mac and Cheese so well I even got two bites in. Isabell barely made it through lunch when I started losing her to sleep so down she went for her nap. The other two needed a little play time before they would go down. Off to the kitchen we ran to make dinner for Erica and Nate. By the time I got their dinner prepared and cooling down the other two were ready to go down. Ahhhhh nap time, time to recoup, time to catch my breath, time to start our dinner for the night but no, it was time for Isabell to wake up.Now it's one o'clock and no relief party coming yet, I still have work to do outside. Isabell likes to be read to, repeatedly. of course the 10th reading of the little kids books gets a bit old, but not to her. Just when I think she is ready to get down and play so I can get to the 2nd dinner the other two wake up. Now it's diaper changing time. I imagine the parents were expecting me to put the right size diaper on the right child but a one size fits all would be much more convenient to me. I did the right thing and put the right size on each child. Still no relief party, how long could it take to get from the hospital.


By the third call home to tell me they wouldn't be coming home I was putting Dee Dee on speaker phone so she could hear the kids in the background begging to be pick up or read to or whatever else they needed. The ladies eventually came home the kids were all okay, I was okay. So what makes my wife a miracle worker? She did this same thing with about the same age kids everyday with our kids. Tressa was 17 months when the twins were born, so she had 3 years of three little kids to take care of and she did it remarkable well. She did it like all mothers do who love their kids and want the best for them. Its the fact that she didn't shoot me when I got home from work to tell her what a tough day I had with 16, 17 & 18 years old is what makes her the miracle worker.

Change

Summer time gives me an opportunity to do some different things like taking pictures for NSP and working on projects around the house, or more accurately outside the house. In both cases I get a lot of time to think about things especially life.

Around my place most things were at one time something else. Some might call it indecisive about what I want to do, others might say I'm cheap, me I like to think of it as allowing everything to have an extended lifespan. I once told Dee Dee no piece of wood has fulfilled its destiny until it has been at least two different things. These changes are a reflection of the changes in our lives.

Now somethings I haven't changed in 30 plus years. I still listen to the same type of music and in many cases the actual same music. I still love movies and don't mind going by myself. My hair is the same and my clothes would be but my girls won't let me get away with that. I don't feel like I've changed much at all yet there are some differences. It used to be in the summer I would get up in the morning and look out at the water to see if it would be a good skiing day. Now I get up early to water my plants then start to work on a project. If I time things right I will be done with the watering in time to get Peyton out of bed and spend part of the morning with him. On a really great day Madison and Isabell (now Parker as well but you have to stand in line to get him) will be here. Before I wanted some one to drive the boat and someone to be a spotter, so that is one change.

Around the place my projects have changed. I took the deck off the roof and reusing the boards to build a deck on the side of the house for the kids to play on. What had originally started off as grass became my serenity garden when the girls all hit their teenage years, I figured I could use some peace and tranquility with 4 daughters, now I'm sifting out all the colored rock to make a grand kid garden instead. These our the changes of my life, I guess I'm like that wood I need to be more than one thing to fulfill my destiny. It's either that or I'm just working real hard to keep myself off the burn pile.

senior things

I have been a wanting to get some thoughts out but haven't had the time to sit down until now. So Chapter 1- Senior things

My duties expanded a bit this year to include Senior advisor or graduation advisor, I prefer to look at it as Senior advisor. It was one of the most interesting years I have had for a while.

I now take care of most things involving the Seniors and as such get a chance to get the know the kids real well. It was fun getting to know what this group of kids wanted to do in life and in some cases encouraging them to have some kind of a dream to shoot for. From meeting with the interested parents last August to practicing for graduation and all parts in between the year was a blast. The whole year had me thinking how long can I put off retirement and not how soon can I retire. The job is just to much fun to quit it.