Tag / Jen

by Greg

Mastering Money or Money Is Master?

Dave Ramsey - Total Money MakeoverA couple conversations of late have reminded me of a book I read a while back (at the recommendation of a friend who had really loved it) regarding the management of money.

It was (and is) particularly relevant as we are facing mountainous debt (accumulated over many years, and some the result of “questionable” business practice by others…) and God convinced us that trusting him even more—by only spending money when we actually have it—that life would go even better for us. Or perhaps better stated, that life would continue to get harder if we didn’t do that.

(If you like reading, see this post, and this one, too. Good historical accounts of God’s direction for us.)

So in recent conversations, I’ve been very encouraged that people are getting smarter about money. Maybe not everyone. And maybe the people I’ve been talking with recently have always been smart. But either way, it’s so nice to see the results of diligence and wisdom in money management.

A friend of mine told me today that their house would be completely paid off this year, and both of their cars by next year. Debt free. All by the age of 35. That’s awesome. Other friends tell similar stories, and almost always it is a result of being smart with the money you have.

Our culture has for too long thought that you could spend money you’d make later. (Just look at how our government, from federal down to local, handles money and budgets!) That just doesn’t really work. In a way, it seems there’s no other way to purchase something as large as a house, but we’ve heard stories of young adults who have saved up to purchase their first home with cash (and did!) so we’re already starting Ian (our oldest) on such a savings path. Rather than instant gratification—enjoy now, pay later—Ian is learning the value of saving, which in the end means you keep much more of your money, and usually get to enjoy the things you wanted to anyway. And more!

We are coming up on three years of not adding any debt to our existing debt. That means that the overall amount is coming down. That’s fantastic. And it’s fun to hear real-life examples along the way.

Do you have one? Feel free to share it here. Hope you, too, are your money’s master, rather than the reverse.

by Greg

The Unexpected

Sometimes in life we go along thinking that we really know what’s going to happen. We know how the day is going to go, how the week is going to go. We have it mapped out, and it works quite nicely, thank you very much.

At times, life plays along, and for the most part, our plans are accomplished.

Most of the time, it doesn’t seem to work out that way for me.

It’s usually nothing catastrophic, or life-changing, though sometimes it can be. More often it’s something unexpectedly breaking, or even just a series of “reschedulings” and cancellations by others around you (or even by you) that throws your whole plan out of whack. Doesn’t everyone have a copy of the script?!?

Today I’ve been fixing stuff again. Stuff that’s supposed to “just work” on its own, but sadly, picked today to stop playing along. It’s costing time, money, and plenty more time.

On the other hand…

I woke up today, and so did all of my family. My house is still here (and at least “sort of” in my name). My in-laws are visiting, which the kids love, and is allowing both Jen & I to get some more work done. God continues to provide money for us to buy what we need.

AND, my air conditioner works. (That’s actually no small thing for my third-story office on an 80-degree day!)

All in all, life is grand, even when it doesn’t follow the plan. (Hmm, if that were a bit more succinct, it could be on a t-shirt or something…)

Here’s hoping today that you remember the “unexpected” will almost certainly happen to you. If not today, then this week. If not this week, well… then you’ve probably already learned to expect the unexpected.

by Greg

Reflecting on My Two Weeks as "The Mom"

The four oldest Campbell kiddos

For the past two weeks I have assumed the role of main caregiver for our five oldest kids, and main caretaker of our household stuff. It’s something I’ve done following the birth of each of the past four kids (pretty sure it started with our daughter, Kirsten) and something I always really look forward to.

This time was no different. Just even more fun!

I am definitely a very “hands-on” Dad, even when I am filling the perhaps more “traditional” role of main bread-winner. I am often the one preparing meals, involved in many aspects of the kids days (usually do bath and bedtime stuff) and I love my days off when I get to be with the kids the whole day. (Oh, I even like house work… which is probably kind of odd…)

What I love so much about the post-baby “vacations” is that I really get to fully enjoy my time with all of the kids. It’s not after I’ve already spent a lot of myself on work or other people or whatever… it’s all of me from the start of my day to the finish. It’s definitely a different dynamic for me when I can do that, and I’d imagine it is for the kiddos.

Grateful

As I reflect on the past couple weeks, one thing that keeps coming to the forefront is the help and kindness of friends and family who have been around the past couple weeks. From friends bringing and making meals for us, to our two Dads fixing, building, and installing lots of great things … we’ve enjoyed all of the ways the people we love have loved us.

The Dads? Built and installed a gate for the kids on our deck, purchased and installed a new faucet for our kitchen sink, purchased and installed a new ceiling fan for our dining room, fixed the dishwasher, washing machine, bedroom air conditioner, removed weeds from around our house, fixed the vacuum cleaner and I bet there are a few things I’m forgetting! They were busy!!

We’ve had lots of visits with friends who came to see Cameron, but also just to enjoy a day of life together. It’s nice to have good friends who don’t really need a reason to hang out, just enjoy being together.

We even got a visit from my sister! (She doesn’t like to leave her house…) 🙂

So, beyond the time with my kiddos, I am also very grateful for all of the relationships God has reminded me that we are blessed to have.

My Reward

You’ll recall that this past week I posted some thoughts on Psalm 127, which was a nice reminder to me of how God has blessed me (us) with this amazing group of small people who call me Dad. One of the best parts of this time with them has been to get to know them better. When we spend all day doing life together, I really get to see more and more the very cool people God has made them to be!

Ian
Ian, our oldest, is a very sensitive fellow. He cares a lot about what people think about him. I believe it is an extension of his compassionate heart. Unfortunately, in a not-compassionate world, he has also learned to guard that tender heart by striking first. He often is the one making fun of, or pointing out flaws: things that when done in reverse are the most painful to him. This has also in recent months spilled over into his relationship with Mom & Dad. He has had a hard time receiving instruction. Over the past two weeks he and I have had many opportunities to work through that together, reading from the Bible and other smart books that remind young peoples that there is no greater source of wisdom than your father’s instruction and your mother’s teaching. Not sure what all has gone into it, but I definitely see a much more receptive heart, and a much softer attitude and greater perception of how his words and actions might make others feel. He is such a smart, perceptive boy… so nice to see his heart learning to beat for other people, too. So cool.

Alex
Alex has the passion in our family. Everything he does, he does! That can work against him in that he often erupts in quick outbursts of anger. Sometimes it turns inward, too, and he just sheds tears of frustration, not knowing what to do with all this emotion. Over the past couple weeks we’ve worked on being able to recognize and have self-discipline to stop the instant reactions, and consider the situations from the other person’s (usually big brother Ian’s) perspective. He’s doing so great with it, and I love seeing his little heart want to live in healthy relationships. God made him so relational. He loves, loves, LOVES people. Totally. He is the most generous, friendly, people-conscious of all of our kiddos. Love to see how he can direct the inborn passion for the good of his siblings, his family, and really anyone God puts in front of him!

Kirsten
Kirstie is a sweetie! She’s so tender-hearted and just a lover. LOVES to hug and be hugged. She’s packed full of compassionate emotion and definitely understands the concept of relational harmony. If it’s not there, she’s troubled – until she can help fix it. Kirstie is five, though, and so there are a great many conflicts with her next oldest and next youngest siblings throughout any given day. I’d say besides just having lots of fun picking out clothes each day and reading library books together and all the other fun stuff a day has to offer, we probably most worked on just thinking about other people … treating them the way you want to be treated. It’s so cool to see her beginning to grasp that. She’s a great helper, and I love, love, LOVE to get hugs from her!

Julia
Since she is only three years old, you may think it’s hard to know who Julia is, but strangely, she is the most amazing kid of all! (Yes, the others know we think that…) 🙂 Somehow God seems to have packed into her the best qualities of both her Mom and her Dad! She is so kind hearted (like you wouldn’t believe) and yet she is so bluntly open and honest about whatever she is thinking. She is not affected (much) by the opinion of others, or what they might think. That gives her great freedom to say what needs to be said. And yes, she can and does! (Even though she’s only three.)

When she was two years old, she was being watched by a church nursery helper who asked how old she was. She replied that she was two. “No, you can’t be two… you talk so well!” Julia answered, again, matter-of-factly, “Yes, I am two, and I can talk well.” 🙂

Julia has been a great help (LOVES to help Dad with laundry, dishes, and anything really) and is the most caring member of our family. She recognizes when hurtful words have been spoken or actions have been taken and helps to remedy the situation. Again, I so love to see how our kids are grasping that. It’s so important. To be honest about how you feel, and forthcoming about it, all toward the goal of resolving conflict … treating others the way you would want to be treated. She’s so great at it! It’s really unbelievable!

Emma
Of all the five kids that I had charge of for the past weeks, Emma had been the least known to me and has been the most fun to get to know. She’s only 17 months old, so she’s still “coming into her own” … but I got to know her so well over these two weeks. I know what she means when she lets out her little “words” (that are not words!) and I know how to read her, and I can see the precious heart that God has placed in her. She is very deliberate, determined, and knows what she likes and doesn’t like. But she is as loving and caring as her brothers and sisters.

Jen was particularly tired this previous pregnancy – which was a lot of Emma’s most formative months – and so baby Emma was not very responsive to any instruction. We had some pretty intense confrontations in the first day or two of my full-time care of her, but my loving firmness (and God’s help, I’m convinced) turned around her sweet heart in literally only a few days. She is now so good at submitting to Dad & Mom’s instruction (simple things like, “come here”, and “bring me a diaper”, and even using sign language (“please”, “all done”, and “more”), which she did not do before.

Despite her “tough” exterior, she is a lover, too. When I get her from naps, or when we’re going upstairs to lay down she will rest her head on my shoulder and just enjoy the closeness with Dad. I love it! It’s been so, so great to see her develop an even deeper understanding of my love for her and a greater trust in me (and my instruction). She’s so great!!

Going Forward

For the time being, God is providing for our family through the talents and abilities that I have. I am so blessed to be able to work from home for a large number of very varied clients in web and graphic design work. He has given me the work and it continues to come in, so I will faithfully (and gratefully) continue to do that as long as he continues to provide it. We are so thankful for the ways he has provided. Gives me great flexibility to still be greatly involved in parenting our kiddos.

I do hope for more. I hope that some day there will be a way that I can do more of what I was able to over the past two weeks (and not just at the expense of my sleep or energy in general). We’re not sure what that would look like, but think that perhaps God will provide such an opportunity in the (near?) future. That would be super amazing and awesome.

For now, I am so, SO grateful for the past two weeks and can’t wait for the next baby to come along! 🙂

Whatever comes next, I could not be more thankful for the life God has given me and the people he has placed under my care, and the beautiful wife he has given me to raise those people with. I’ll be asking God to allow her to see and enjoy the greatness he has packed into all six of our kids as she takes on the greater portion of the load of kid care and house care.

It’s quite a job! A wonderful job.

by Greg

Time Flies When You’re Not Driving a Bus

I realized today just how long it’s been since I drove a school bus.

Jen & I spent a decent chunk of this day driving through the streets of Fairport, NY. It was their annual Canal Days festival, and we were privileged to have a babysitter caring for our kids, so we decided to check it out.

First, we drove through the various side streets of the village looking for a street-side parking spot. This was an adventure! Canal Days are quite well attended on sunny, 75º days! We managed to find a spot, and eventually made our way to the festival.

We enjoyed the fact that we had no kids in tow (AND the fact that I got some Perry’s White Lightning ice cream at a little ice cream shop there!!) – and we enjoyed a nice leisurely browsing of the library book sale. But, overall, not really our thing. (Lots of people, a little too hot…) So, we moved on.

Due to modified traffic patterns caused by all the people, vendors, and other fun stuff from the event, we took a few side streets that I knew of from my bus driving days. As we traveled the “back” roads, I recounted a story or two of my time as a Fairport schools bus driver (bus #190!). I told Jen about the places I stopped, the kids I remembered picking up, and even the long break I had at one of the schools we passed today.

Then all of a sudden it hit me.

None – not one – of the kids I drove on those school bus routes … are still in school!!!

Holy cow. How can that be?? But it’s true. I drove their busses the 1996-1997 school year. That is 13 school years ago. Thirteen! So, even the kindergartners I drove… they have graduated. (Or maybe are this year, I suppose.)

It doesn’t seem that long. It really doesn’t.

The older I get the more I realize that the old people before me were right. Time just keeps going faster, and faster. It really does. Before you know it, it’s been 13 years, and all the kids you drove to and from school are too old to be in school.

Craziness!

by Greg

This May Be Telling…

One of the projects for today was to burn a couple boxes full of old receipts and other financial documents. Jen started it with the kids, but then Dad was called in to help get the fire going more. (And, once Dad was pulled in, well, he had to make sure the project was completed!)

After a good long while of burning stuff, I decided to sit down for a second in the chair that Jen had previously occupied.

When Jen came back outside, she had a funny smile on her face as she looked at me on her way to the swing set with Julia.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” I queried. (Which means, asked…) 🙂

“I just never see you sit.” She said with a smile.

True enough.

And, within 10 seconds, I was back on my feet, tending to our little fire.

by Greg

Different View of Education

Last night—after much scheming and manipulating of time and space—we were able to attend a curriculum event for a home school group of which we are members. The event offered parents a chance to share curriculum they use, why they use it, and learn from other parents as each shared what worked—and doesn’t work—for them. Jen is more into the curriculum side of things, to be sure, and was looking forward to being there. She enjoyed it thoroughly. (I occupied the kids for the duration of the meeting in various other nearby locations, waiting to get to talk with everyone after the event was over.)

Once I and my five children in tow were allowed to mingle, I had an interesting conversation with a friend who got me thinking again about what education really means to us. About what we feel is important that we instill in, pass along to our children.

We were chatting a bit about how much home schooling seems to be focused around the Mom in the family. Most of the events are planned, executed, and attended by the moms. The dads are a very secondary—albeit supportive, encouraging—part of the whole home schooling process. Much of it is just logistics. Many of the home schooling families we know consist of the Dad working a full-time job outside of the home, while the Mom works very little (or none at all) outside the home, making her the one who “teaches” the kids.

Our philosophy is slightly different. It may just be semantics, or a mindset, but we really try to “home school” as a family. Not just Jen. Not just me. But really, more as a way of life. As the Campbells.

Once on that topic, my friend asked, “So how do you do that? How do you get involved in the school part?” He really wants to, but again, logistically, just can not. Having tried many different approaches, he has resigned himself to the fact that most of the teaching has to be done by his wife, who is home with the kids.

So, since he asked, it caused me to think about what I really mean when I say that we home school as a family. I mean, I work full-time (and more) though, thankfully, it’s mainly from my home office. But I can’t be involved in the “table time” as Jen calls it. I smile at the stuff that is learned and produced there, enjoying the stories told by our kids who love such academic exercises. But what I explained—and understood better in my head as I did—was that the key is what we think of education.

Many parents who choose to home school feel varying levels of frustration because they are trying to do school at home. I’d say a lot of people assume that’s what home school is. The same subjects, courses, lessons taught by the institutional public school would also be taught—even required to be taught—to children who are “home schooled”. This is not entirely true. While it is true that we must report to the local school district what we are teaching our children (by the way, a “requirement” of which I am not all that fond) there is a good degree of latitude allowed to us in the interpretation of what meets those requirements. And, Jen is very good at assigning various things she teaches at table time, or we learn at other times, to those “requirements”.

But the best part is—and what I told my home schooling Dad friend—that stuff… the “required” learning by the state… that’s really the bonus stuff. Sure, our kids need to learn the basics. Reading, writing, arithmetic. That’s a good deal of what Jen does in “table time”. But the real education of our kids is so much more.

We want our kids to know God. We want them to know Him, not just about him. We want them to know how life works, how to treat other people. How to consider others, treating them as you’d like to be treated. How to learn discipline, and self control. Big stuff like that.

We also want them to know little stuff like how to take care of the stuff God gives you. How to cook, clean, build, repair. How to grow, prune, trim, weed. How to run a business. How to pay bills. How to not take more than God has given you (credit cards, anyone??)

Why do we think that learning ever starts and stops? We don’t take summer breaks. Or winter, or spring. We don’t take weekend breaks. Because from the moment we wake up in the morning, to the time we go to sleep…

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NIV)

That’s a good verse that many home schooling families use, but I think it applies to our view of educating our kids, too. (Though I wouldn’t say it’s complete. That covers the big stuff, as I said earlier.) But it really is an all the time, everywhere thing. And in that way, I—as much as Jen—am an active part of the education of our children. (And even of our family. Just as our children are always learning, aren’t we all? I know I am.)

Jen even actually puts stuff on doorframes. For real. 🙂

So, it’s not perfect. We don’t have all the answers, but perhaps you’re reading this because you home school, or want to, and you don’t feel qualified. Or you don’t feel like you know where to start. I think if you are a parent—and especially a parent who loves their kids, and are trying to help them “grow up right”—then you have most everything you need. All the other stuff is pretty easy to find these days. Not only do you likely have a library nearby, if you’re reading this, you also have access to the World Wide Web. (Not a bad source of information…)

Academic learning is great, and has a place. But it is not education. I still feel that is the bonus. Get the other stuff right, and then the academic stuff is icing on the cake. Build character and integrity into your kids, and even just the confidence of knowing they are loved and accepted, and the rest of the stuff will come as it needs to. And, ultimately, we don’t want our kids to just learn facts and details they can parrot back to us, we want them to learn how to learn. That will serve them much better.

I could go on about personalities and preferences (every kid is different, and we really try to follow what each of our kids is interested in, help them explore those things more) but … this post is already longer than I intended.

These words are meant as encouragement, not to condemn a different viewpoint or methodology. If you have a format (or a curriculum!) that works for you, keep at it. One of the greatest things about home schooling is that it really gives you the freedom to educate your kids as you see fit. So go for it!

For us, the Campbells, we are enjoying the journey of life, and loving training our kids in the way they should go.

by Greg

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up, Folks

It all started last Monday. Meaning, ten days ago or so. The previous day we had a mini-birthday party for our oldest daughter, Kirstie. Some friends came over, we played games, we sang birthday songs, we ate birthday cake, we opened birthday presents. It was wonderful. But that night, pretty sure it was the middle of the night (isn’t it always?) Kirstie threw up.

Now, let me tell you something about my wife’s genes. See, the Walker clan have this thing where, when they throw up… they don’t stop. So, the same seems to be true for most of my children. And Kirstie is no exception.

The rest of the night wasn’t too bad, but there were a few episodes, and it continued through a lazy Monday, till Kirstie perked up by evening. That seemed to be that. At the dinner table that night I even admonished the children to make sure to get their sleep this week, and be sure to keep drinking lots of juice and water. “That should keep us healthy,” I spoke wisely.

Should have listened to my own advice…

Wednesday night, having had no further evidence of this strange, short-lived stomach bug, we entertained some friends. They hadn’t visited our home before, but we had a grand time. They are game players, so we played Dutch Blitz literally into the wee hours of the morning! They and their three young boys stayed till around one in the morning! It was a blast, but the girls were up till after 11pm, and the boys didn’t go to bed till 1:15am or so!! We were all exhausted, and I had work to do after they left, so it was around four in the morning before I was in bed!

Needless to say, that pretty much exhausted us. But we were not done.

Thursday held more of the same. It was a long day of being tired – and a full office day for me. Work is very busy at the moment, and especially so last week as I had a short week due to one last day working at the Apple store (meaning I had one less day to get web work done in my office). So, a long day of work, and a tiring day of tired kids for Jen… we probably should have been done. Instead? We went to visit our good friends who live WAY too far away for the evening. We knew our limitations, and made sure to leave not too late… got the kids (and us!) in bed by 11:15pm or so. (Well, I was in bed a tad later…) 🙂

Needless to say, that pretty much exhausted us. But we were not done…

Apple days – especially the closing shift ones for me – are very long days. I had a lot to finish still, so despite the tiredness, I got up around eight to start my day. I call those my twelve-hour days. Usually 8:30am-8:30pm. That’s long and hard for me, but equally hard for Jen. So, it was a very long, hard, tiring day… piling onto our already exhausted family.

Ohhhh wait. How could I forget?

Friday morning at 5am, the craziness started.

Alex woke up enough to get to the bathroom sink, and threw up in the sink. What was that I had said about getting lots or rest and making sure to drink fluids… wait… what was that first one again….

Right! REST!

So, having less rest than ever… sickness took hold of us, slammed us to the matt, held us in a sleeper hold, added a pile drive or two, and then pinned us to the matt again, down for the count. Really. It was that bad.

After Alex, Julia started getting sick. Both of them were sick on Friday, as was I. I felt a bit queasy on Thursday night when I went to sleep, but made it to sleep and didn’t think too much of it. Felt well enough to go to Apple on Friday – and wasn’t going to call in sick my last day there anyway! BUT, probably about three hours into my day there, I began feeling definite signs that I was definitely sick. So, I pressed through, but that was probably not very smart. Came home that night – exhausted – to a family exhausted from a day of sickness.

We went to bed that night, hoping we had endured the worst of it.

As I recall, that night passed relatively peacefully. In fact, on Saturday, it was only I who felt bad. I woke up feeling exhausted, achy, head-achy, and a tad queasy. But, there was a houseful of germ-infested, sickness-filled bedding to clean! So, I set out that morning to eliminate the germs right then and there. I opened every window, and removed, washed and dried every piece of bedding on every bed. It was quite an undertaking. I sprayed every surface I could think of with Lysol. The house was completely free of germs when I was done.

Or so I thought.

After completely exhausting any energy I may have had left in my body, I collapsed on the couch around dinner time and began feeling really, really cold. I hadn’t felt like eating much all day. I think I had a bowl of soup for lunch. Whatever was going on, it was not good! We had canceled out on a trip to Buffalo that day for a big extended family birthday party, and as I laid on the couch barely conscious and shivering, I was really thankful we had not made the trip!

I also began wondering about the next morning. I really wasn’t sure I was going to be able to sing as planned. The brevity of the bug passing through my children did give me hope, but mine seemed different. I went to bed around 11 that night (super early for me!) and just felt awful. If I hadn’t been exhausted, it would have been hard to actually go to sleep, I think. I was thankful that no other children were throwing up, though. That was a positive.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Emma woke Jen up, or was it Julia? I don’t know, but she didn’t sleep very much. (And I certainly was no help! I woke up at 2 or 3am, so achy that it hurt to even breathe! Somehow I found a position that allowed me to go to sleep, only to wake up drenched in sweat a little while later!)

What a miserable few days!!!

Oh right, and it was Daylight Savings Time. I lost an hour of sleep that night. Nice. 🙂

Magically, I woke up at 6:40am, right before my alarm was to go off, and was neither sweaty, nor achy… and felt pretty OK! I rolled out of bed and got ready for the gig. All was pretty good, even mostly didn’t have a head ache. I was grateful for my healthy body and perhaps even more for the quiet house around me. That was a great sound. I began thinking we had finally made it through.

I’ve got to stop thinking that…

I instant messaged Jen in between first and second service and found out that the baby was now sick 🙁 Poor little Emma, whose first birthday is only days away, was not only throwing up, but it was about every 15-30 minutes! And, it was kinda strange looking, so it was definitely a concern to Jen – and now me! I had to go back to work, so with a knot in my gut – for Emma and Jen, not from a stomach bug – I sang my songs, then went back and talked to Jen on the phone. We were both praying that God would just remove this sickness at least from Jen, but I think from all of our household, too!

I got home and helped with Emma. Jen had her wrapped in a towel to catch anything she might not want to keep down. But actually, she had started getting better already. She was pretty happy, cheery and playing. We were so glad! Everyone else seemed pretty good, too, and Jen and Ian were crossing their fingers that they had somehow escaped this pesky bug!

Meanwhile, reality set in for me again and I had a pretty hard rest of the day – still quite achy, not very hungry, exhausted, and even cold/shaky. Not good. But when my body saw it’s chance to rest, it took it. I was in bed pretty early that night.

Oh wait… 🙂

Before I went to bed, Ian, who had just been saying that evening, “I feel just fine, Mom,” … yes, you know. He made it to a much cleaner place than most of the small children, but … it was only the beginning. In true Walker fashion, there were many more episodes for Ian that night and through the next day.

“WHEN IS THIS GOING TO END???” we wondered, simply exhausted. (But, admittedly, getting rather good at the whole vomit triage routine…)

I had another hard night – just strange overpowering flu symptoms. Jen did, too… no one has been sleeping well for quite some time in our house. Thankfully, most everyone was so exhausted that we did sleep in Monday. All of us. I still worked several hours in my office that day, but committed to not working more than a half a normal day. And indeed, that’s what I did. I think that was helpful, as there was no more aching, nor was I exhausted. There was also no more throw up happening in the house from the early afternoon on. It appeared that we were finally done.

Tuesday came and went without any trouble, so we even went out for a little pre-birthday treat for Julia (whose birthday was the next day) at Burger King. All did well, and we were home and in bed by a pretty normal Campbell bed time. Nice!

The Part You Just Can’t Make Up

Yes folks, as if that all wasn’t bad enough…

All day today (Wednesday) was very good. No throw ups. Much less exhaustion. All was getting back to normal. Had a fun birthday day -doing lots of fun things Julia wanted to do. Some of it was making fun things in the kitchen with Dad. We made a green birthday cake, which we later iced with green icing, and topped with green sprinkles. Then for dinner, she helped me make green pancakes and some sausage, to boot. (She loves the color green, can you tell?)

We stuffed ourselves with all of the green cuisine, and celebrated our beautiful little girl. Even made it to bed, and were settling down for the night when…

“Mom!” came the troubled voice from the top of the steps, “Julia threw up!!” Big sister Kirstie was appalled and so were her parents! WHAT??!?!? NO WAY. NO WAY! Again???

Sure enough… Julia had thrown up, so we began the clean up process. Jen started in on the mess in the room and I began prepping a bath for little Julia.

This is shocking… prepare yourself…

Not two minutes later, from downstairs we hear, “Ian is throwing up!!!”

YOU. HAVE. GOT. TO. BE. KIDDING. ME.

No one was laughing.

It was true, but thankfully, I could tell something was different about these two, nearly simultaneous incidents. Both Julia and Ian showed no after effects. They were completely happy, alert, and totally fine after spewing their dinners on the floor. (Wish they could have found a better place for them…) My best guess is something that we ate was not “kosher”. Jen has already gone through the leftovers and some of the ingredients (the eggs in particular) and appropriately disposed of them.

But seriously, folks. How much can we really take? Do you know how much laundry we have done in the last 11 days? How many times we’ve changed sheets, pillow cases and blankets? How many times we’ve said, “Get the bucket!”? 🙂

Really, really crazy. From the stomach bug, to, what? Food poisoning? Not sure, but … can it please stop?

I’m hoping that by chronicling it, I’m putting an end to the story. Perhaps the pen is mightier than the germ? Let’s see…

THE END

(I think that probably did it.) 😉

by Greg

Who You Know

I was thinking tonight about how things have happened in my life. I got to chat briefly with a long-time, good friend – Adam – whom I do not get to really share life with any more. He and his family live in another area of the country, and aside from the occasional conversation over electronic mediums, and the even more occasional (meaning, almost never) in-person conversations, our friendship is mostly something from our past.

We can always pick it up again, whenever we strike up those conversations. But with such distance geographically, and chronologically, our friendship is definitely different than it was “back in the day”. (When I would say he was probably my closest friend.)

What is so interesting though – perhaps only because I’m thinking these things after two in the morning? – is how when you look back on life, it’s so cool to see how all things do work together for good. God crosses paths at just the right times. Somehow, reminiscing about the good ol’ days with my friend Adam reminded me that his friendship with Jen (and the words he spoke when he introduced the two of us) eventually brought five super-awesome people into the world.

Not directly, of course. Not even intentionally. But it happened. Adam knew Jen, and thought she was awesome. He said, “Jen’s the kind of girl you could marry,” meaning the general you, but … truer words he never spake. 🙂 Now eighteen and a half years later… I can’t imagine my life without Jen, and God has given us five tiny people to love and to be Dad & Mom to. Crazy.

That’s the other thing. Thanks to my friendship with Adam, I met Jen. Many years later, we married, and God added to our family… and not just “some people” but specifically, Ian, Alex, Kirsten, Julia, and Emma. Those are the specific people that God created – from me and Jen – and he wanted us to be the ones who were Mom & Dad to them. Sometimes that blows me away. Other times it just makes me smile. How cool that God set it up that way. He is the giver of life, and he has given these specific lives to our care, and us to them. So cool.

So just remember tonight (or, likely, this morning or later) that you are who you are supposed to be. All your strengths, and all your weaknesses. You are also in the right place, and in the right relationships, and perhaps you are even the Mom or Dad you are supposed to be. That doesn’t mean complacency about destructive behavior or relationships. It does mean that when you start to doubt your worth, or your impact… it’s time to remember that YOU are the perfect you.

Who knows what will be credited to you eighteen and a half years from now?

by Greg

Electrical Problems

You may have heard that the Buffalo Bills game last Sunday was blacked out a few times thanks to some balloons getting caught in the electrical wires outside the stadium. The entire stadium lost power half an hour before the game, and then once more in the second quarter of the game. Everything was shut down. No one was allowed into the stadium (because they couldn’t electronically scan tickets at the gates) and there were no clocks, referee announcements, score boards, advertisements… there wasn’t even a TV broadcast!!!

Yes, folks, the NFL was brought to its knees by a rubbery, plasticky, child’s toy.

It was quite entertaining. 🙂

But prior to that more well-known electrical issue… there was one right here in the Campbell home.

Just before our friends were leaving for most of a week for a mini-vacation in Mexico, and leaving their two-year-old son (for the first time ever, no less) with us for that time, the electrical wiring in my attic office went haywire. There was no puff of smoke, no sizzling, no bad smells, no strange sounds. The lights just… went off.

I checked breakers, I looked in outlets, I looked in switches… all to no avail. The power would not come back on. Even had my much more savvy neighbor come take a look and what we found confused us even more! There was clearly an issue that required some more knowledgeable electrician help.

Thankfully, despite the fact that I didn’t even have time to call an electrician to come look at it… our house (with the extra two-year-old friend in it, whose parents were probably at least a little concerned with the electrical predicament we were in) did NOT burn down to the ground. That was cool.

When my neighbor came over, we took apart everything in the office. Light covers and light bulbs, light switches, moved furniture, and removed outlet covers. Since I was going to have someone come look at it, we left it that way. Well… after several days of operating in the (mostly) dark, I got fed up with the office being a shambles, so I started putting everything back together. I figured, once we get someone to come look at it… we’ll just take it apart again.

As I was replacing part of the light fixture… the lights came on. 🙂 I tested it a couple times and realized that I had discovered the source of the problem!! I got some tools from my neighbor and indeed, the loose wire had been found!!! Yippee!!!

Jen (I found out later) had asked God that day to help us find a solution to that problem that didn’t cost us any money, and hopefully, before our house burned down. He did! 🙂

So, for a fleeting moment, I felt quite accomplished in the field of electrical wiring. I actually found and fixed an electrical problem… all on my own! That is a rare moment indeed!

Not sure what’s with all the electrical difficulties, but they did make for two pretty interesting days/stories…

Hope the power is on where you are. (Of course, it would need to be if you’re reading this… so I guess it is!) 🙂

by Greg

Half Mom, Half Dad

We were looking at old slides last night at my wife’s family reunion. We get together every Labor Day weekend, and this time, at Jen’s request, Dad broke out the old slide projector and we spent an hour or so looking at old photos.

Almost every photo brought laughs along with a funny story or two. Sometimes it took a bit longer to remember a particular story, at least every detail of it. And often, someone would comment how one of the now parents look just like their offspring. Our little Kirstie looks a lot like her mommy used to!

But as I looked at the photos, I kept thinking, “It’s not totally like Kirstie…” (And not just because I think she looks like me…) 🙂 There was just something very different, even though there was a lot the same.

That got me to thinking about how we are all a mix of half mom and half dad. (And all of the people that went into that before them!) There’s one part of dad and one part of mom, so I suppose that’s true. Even still, when you look at some people, you can’t help but say, “Wow! You look like your mom!” (Or, Dad, as the case may be.)

So where does the other half go? 🙂

I have also noticed lately a pretty cool (and sometimes hard) thing about kids. Not only do they get physical traits passed down through the generations, they also get personality traits. Inside stuff that is harder to see. I think that’s so fascinating. I like to think that I just am who I am. And, certainly that’s true. The combination of “traits” I have from my parents and all my ancestors makes me unique, just like everyone is unique. But partly, I am also just like my mom, dad, grandmas, grandpas, etc.

How crazy is that? 🙂

So somewhere in that little Kirstie who looks so much like her mommy is half of her daddy. I’m sure some of it can be seen in physical traits, but it will be interesting to watch her and see myself in her mirror. Hopefully she got mostly my good traits. 🙂