Thank God for Kids—and grandkids too!

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

In a society that often focuses on the evil, I’d like to start a thread that centers on one of the great gifts we have around us—kids! I have seen so many cool posts on here of stuff that your kids or grandkids have done and it is amazing.  I’m not a fan of praising mediocrity (“everyone gets a blue ribbon!”) but I love to encourage and praise kids who work hard and excell at what they do whether that be drama, sports, crafts, art, mechanics, and the list could go on and on.  

 

 

I know some of you are private and would not care to share names or pics and I respect that but if your kid or grandkid has done something special, please share it here to we can give an ”atta’ boy” or “you go girl” to pass along to them.  I think kids are capable of so much more than this society allows.  When a child puts for the effort to excel at something, they should be praised and cheered on to even greater success.  I want my children to be even better individuals than I am.  I had a dad tell me once, “you don’t want your son to be better at basketball than you are, do you?”  —WHAT???— I want my son to be better at anything that he puts his mind to than I am.  I want to teach him the things that I know in a given area and then see him take the next step and grow beyond my teaching by searching out even more gifted individuals than I am to grow his talents further than I can take him. I honestly can’t wait for the day that my children say to me, “Dad, let me show you how to do this or can I help you with that?”  

 

 

So...the purpose of the thread is to showcase your kids’ or grandkids’ talents and/or interesting and funny stories about them.  Kids say things that are absolutely hilarious at times and have antics that warm our hearts daily if we take the time to soak them in. Some kids don’t have many talents with their hands but they can minister to people’s hearts through their caring and sharing.  Whatever things that you care to post that can be a blessing or encouragement to the rest of us and/or something that we can enjoy with you...

 

Maybe you don’t have any kids.   That hasn’t kept many good people from reaching out and making an impact in nieces and nephews or neighborhood kids.  One of my favorite husband and wife duo 4th grade Sunday school teachers never were able to have kids but they have spent nearly 35 years of their marriage investing into other peoples’ kids. They taught me in the mid 1980’s and now they are teaching my third born in Sunday school!  

 

Speaking of my third born, Judge (his nickname).  He likes to read and invests himself in a variety of things that second graders like to do.  However until he came home with this, I had no idea that he was such an artist...

For an 8 year old, I was very pleased with this free hand work.  I like it so much that it will get framed and hung on our wall annually with our other Christmas decorations!  

 

I can’t wait to hear the stories and see the wonderful gifts that children have been and are to you...

Edited December 21, 2018 by PeacemakerJack

[953 nut 55,065]

This year our previously "material girl" granddaughter (14 years old) has finally proven that she gets it. When she was asked what she wanted for Christmas she wanted to "Adopt" a needy family and make their holiday memorable. She is working through her church and has used every penny she has been given by grandparents and other relatives for gifts and food for this family.

We are so proud of her maturity and selfless attitude.

[Digger 66 3,478]

6 hours ago, PeacemakerJack said:

 

THAT is really cool !

I thought it was stained glass until I looked close .

Congratulations to the artist for a very neat piece of holiday work 

 

[prondzy 3,881]

A while ago, i suggested that my oldest (5 years old) should probably get her haircut i thought it was pretty long,  she told me she was growing it out to so she could donate it to Locks of Love. For those who dont know  this charity makes hair wigs for children with cancer and you need to donate a minimum of 10 inches in a pony tail for them to make a wig. This gesture of kindness in my 5 year old makes me glow on the inside, and she is getting pretty close to her goal.

[Razorback 1,035]

One of the funniest things I remember involved my oldest son when he was maybe 3?

 

We had a 1988 Isuzu Trooper at the time. A new Walmart Super Center was being built... the dirt work was being done at the site. We could park on a bluff overlooking the site and watch the diggers dig, the earth movers move earth, the bulldozers doze......

 

This particular day was hot enough that we had the windows up and the AC on while we watched the work going on. 

 

My my son was just big enough to stand in the floorboard on the front passenger side, hang on to a grab handle on the dash, and see out the front windshield. Remember.... the AC was on....

 

I looked over at him and he had his right ear up against one of the dash vents, with his left hand feeling around his left ear to see if any cool air was coming out. 😄. I asked him, “Do you feel anything?” He said, “Nope!” .... I said, “Good thing!!” 😄👍

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

With the extreme cold here in east central WI, just about everything has been closed the last couple of days including the kids school.  It has given me some time to play games with them.  However, I can only take so much of sitting around and I’m ready to climb the walls!  My office has a half closet over a staircase and I have been looking at the empty doorway for the last year....

 

I decided around Christmas that I was tired looking at the opening and bought the materials to build doors and a frame. 

 

Today...watching the kids starting to argue and at eat other from being stuck in the house for more than 40 hours...it was time to take action!

I asked Claudia to help me this afternoon. She learned how to use the orbital sander and...

the Kreg Jig.  She takes to anything craft related very quickly.  After she had worked through a couple of pieces, I was still trying to tell her what to do next.  She said, “dad you already showed me how do to that, just let me know if I’m not doing it correctly!”  

 

Well said Claudia.

 

 

Zach was disappointed that he was exempt from the action.  He wanted to help as well and so I grabbed a scrap piece of 1x3 for him to sand.  At 5 years old he looked at me right in the eye and said, “Really dad? You give me a random piece of wood! Why can’t I help with something important?”  

 

 

Smart kid.  Takes after his mother for sure!😁

 

 

So, after some instruction and practice on the scrap piece, I let him sand the panel inserts and he did a really good job.

 

With the kids help, both door panels are assembled.  Next up—stain and polyurethane.  Claudia exclaimed after the completion of the first door, “Dad, this is so much better than sitting around doing nothing!”

 

I couldn’t agree more.

[953 nut 55,065]

                  Nothing better than turning down time into a learning opportunity.             

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

Here’s a shoutout to @formariz and @pullstart and @KyleLengerich And @WHGuy413 just to start a little more interest (if there is any) in this thread given the big topic elsewhere on the forum recently...

 

 

We got the rest of the frame made and hung the doors for fitment purposes...

Im happy with the look and it makes my office look even cleaner which helps offset the obvious clutter problem that I have in my shop!

Today, the kids has another ice/snow day from school and so I asked Claudia if she wanted to help me stain the doors.  She readily agreed and we sanded them smooth, drilled the holes for the handles, and got ready to stain.  We used a prestain sealer and then Varthane “Gunstock” oil based stain.  I worked on one door while Claud did the other.  She is the artist in the family and took very well to this work.  Once again, I explained it once and then she did it, very well!

Next up, she gets to learn how to brush on polyurethane...

[LengerichKA88 1,883]

I have a million stories, (I usually do for any given subject) but I’m a little foggy from fillings today, so I’ll share the most recent “awww” inspiring moment here at the Lengerich house:

 

Our son, Michael, is 3.5. We’d never really gotten him more than a trim, since haircuts for little ones are stress inducing, and Mama and I kinda liked his long hair. Once he got verbal, we asked him if he wanted a haircut and the answer was always an adamant “NO!”. That’s fine, we didn’t wanna cut it anyway lol. He went for a trim last weekend, and in the way there he told my wife he “wants a haircut like daddy!”. I get a medium fade, so for him to go from shoulder length hair to a fade was drastic. 

 

When he got home I about fell over. It looked like my preschool picture had gotten up and started walking around! 

 

The one on the left is me at about his age, the one on the right was when he’d gotten home, and then one of us together. 

 

Another quick one is simply the way my daughter, Olivia, sleeps. She is the most head strong,  condescending , self confident infant I’ve ever met. She sleeps like she’s got the whole world under her thumb..... I’ve never seen someone sleep with so much self assuredness on their face 😂

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

 Thanks for the cool stories.

 

Don’t blink your eyes Kyle...enjoy every minute with them (I can tell you do anyway) because they grow up WAY TOO FAST.

 

Caleb was born at 36 weeks and weighed only a little over 4lbs.  He was sooo tiny and helpless.  He spent several weeks in the hospital before everything was stable enough for us to take our “miracle” home with us.  Little did we know how this little bundle was going to change our lives for the better for years to come. Tuesday night (now nearly 15 years old) Caleb led his team to victory by shutting down their best offensive player (number 54) by playing solid defense and sealing the narrow 30-26 victory by laying  in a last minute shot!

 

Every moment of investment is worth it.

 

Edited February 8, 2019 by PeacemakerJack

[Pullstart 62,783]

Thanks Josh for pulling me in on this one, we must have been floating around the Caribbean about the time you posted this!

 

My two girls are completely right brain vs left brain.  Jada is very methodical, artistic and organized.  Maybe not if you looked at her bedroom... but if friends come over, a schedule must be followed.  Rylee is happy go lucky without a plan or a care.  

 

When they started gymnastics, we watched them both trying their best to have rhythm, coordination, strength, all for a common goal.  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud watching Rylee.  She had barely any of the requirements to be a gymnast.  Within months, Jada figured out the sport isn’t for her.  Rylee took right off.  She’s one level away from being on the traveling team and is tough as nails.  9 hours of practice per week will do that to ya.  I think she’d be good at martial arts, because when I pin her down in a tickling match, she focuses more on how to get me and less on what’s happening to her.

 

Jada has continued to excel in math and art, her creativity is second to none.  She’ll be an engineer, or artist of some type.  She’s always building towers, boxes, origami and the like.  She is in American Sign Language at the homeschool academy and was tasked with an art project.  She quickly whipped out a sign on her bedroom wall.  Before I explain what it is, I’ll let you guys guess or say what it says...  

 

Here are a couple pictures showing some of their pass time activities.  People often asked us if we were going to “try for a boy.”  My girls can play in the mud and wear a pretty dress all in the same day.  They smell better than boys and generally have better manners.  I am happy to have my girls, and pretty proud of them too!

 

Yes, the picture of us on the chair lift has a clip of Rylee with no skiis... she decided to stick them in the bank just after we got picked up.    Unloading at the top sure was a treat!  Oh, and Baby isn’t ours, she just gets to hang out with us a couple days a week.  I guess I’m a fun uncle, or just cheaper than a hired hand!

[WHGuy413 2,683]

Oh where to begin.... my 3 kids have given me some of the best memories and laughs in my life. They are so much alike in many ways but are 3 completely different people.

 

I will start with my daughter Alanna. Not many current photos of her. She hates her picture taken and is at that age where she is gone with friends more than home. She is outgoing and smart. She certainly didn't get that from me. She has been excelling in middle school making high honors in both semesters this year. She won a deer hunting trip last year and shot her first deer. She's the one who started it all, she turned me into the man I am today. I never thought I would have settled down when I did.

 

Then there is Aiden. This kid is a ball of fire. Tons of energy and loves to be the goof. His world revolves around baseball. It's all he wants to do (when he isn't plowing snow). He plays minor league ball during the spring then plays in a fall ball league. He's going to be starting indoor practice league some time in the next few weeks. He wants to be a big league pitcher but he is really good at second base too.  He hunts, shoots bow and arrow and fishes and is a better fisherman than I am. My wife calls him my mini me.

 

Then the not so little guy Alex. Who is shy at first but man when he opens up you can't get him to stop being a goof. He is loving and caring (just like his mom). Almost a polar opposite of his brother. He's also wicked smart and loves building things. He wants to be like my dad who can build anything. He also wants to be a fireman like his dad. He plays baseball but is very shy. Trying to get him out of his shell cause when he plays with us he is really good. He likes to join me hunting and usually sees the deer before I do. He is turning into a good fisherman to! He also is pretty good with his bow. In fact he has been out shooting his brother now that his brother spends so much time playing ball.

 

3 great kids who know how to instigate each other, hate each other 1 minute but inseparable the next. 

[953 nut 55,065]

16 hours ago, pullstart said:

She quickly whipped out a sign on her bedroom wall.  Before I explain what it is, I’ll let you guys guess or say what it says.

                I agree with Jada,                GOD IS LOVE!                    

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

I second that!

 

Thanks guys for the awesome posts about your families.  Each member is so unique and special.  When you look at the variety of things represented in just these few photos you have shared, it is so easy to understand that each individual is an amazing creation.  It never ceases to encourage me when I see parents so involved in the raising of their kids. All I can say guys is, “Keep at it, you’re doing great and you have some awesome kids!” I can’t wait to hear/see about their latest antics as they happen...

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

Caleb played the first day of his last basketball tournament for this season.He played with his team the first game against a vastly superior team and got soundly beat.  However, the team didn’t lose heart, pulled it together and came back much stronger in the second game.  Caleb led his team in words and actions—I was proud of him for sure.  

 

it is weird to think that he is only about an inch shorter than I am now and already a better ball player than I ever was.  He is a real encourager to his other team mates and played very well on both offense and defense.

He was one of the high scorers but it was once again his defense play that really shined.  He has been studying a lot of old Larry Bird and Pete Maravich videos on YouTube and it shows.  

They won the game tonight and play tomorrow mid day!  It’s fun to watch this kid play...

Edited February 16, 2019 by PeacemakerJack

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

Another proud Papa moment concerning @Coulter Caleb:

 

He had a long fall with Cross Country and then a very full winter season with Basketball and so even though he was interested in track, he decided to not go out. Well, his second cousin Tim is the coach and he laid out a persuasive argument that Caleb should participate.  I told Caleb only to do it if he was prepared and willing to give his full effort.  I pointed him to the verse that states, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might”.  Once again, I’m not a big fan of praising mediocrity.  Caleb decided to go for it. His first ever track meet was last week.  He went out for the long jump, 200M dash, 4x100M, and the 4x400M.  The relay teams struggled because Caleb is the only tall larger 8th grader.  However, Caleb jumped a 14’9” long jump which set his schools record for 8th graders on only his third jump in competition ever!

 

 

Even with that, he still took third out of 30 guys and I think he has the capability with training to hit the 16’ mark or better before the season ends.

 

In the 200M he managed a 27.9 which was good enough for 4th out of 25.  I feel like he could improve by as much as a second or so there.  

I am am proud of this young man and how hard he works...

[rmaynard 15,427]

Great job Caleb!

[19richie66 17,500]

Excellent job @Coulter Caleb

[Pullstart 62,783]

It’s good to see Caleb excel at whatever he puts his mind to, Josh!  I like your way of putting a verse into perspective for him.  It’s like the lukewarm water passage.  Be hot or cold, but not lukewarm.  I will spit you out of my mouth...

 

I stopped by the thread to say that little Rylee is moving up to level 4 in her gymnastics club!  She’s 9, and will be practicing 16 hours per week.  This will also mean that team competition in the fall will be traveling as far as Chicago and Indianapolis I believe, a couple levels up and there will be meets all the way in Florida and around the states.  

 

I’m beginning to realize why athletes in the Olympics thank their parents for all they have sacrificed for them to get where they are! 

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

Thanks for the update Kevin.  This thread doesn’t get all that much traffic but I love to see young people working hard and excelling in athletics, academics, mechanics, well most anything productive.  Please keep us posted on Rylee as she advances in gymnastics.  With parents like she has, I know that she will do great!  She has an awesome support network and great genes!  

 

Caleb has two more weeks left in his track season and then we find out if he has qualified for state.  He has continued to run the 200 very well with a 27.7 PR.  His coach pulled him out of the relays and had him running the 400M.  He has a PR in that of 1:02.  I’ll keep you posted if he makes state.  We have been super busy over the last month hence the reason I’ve been kinda absent from the forum lately.  Once school is complete for this year, things should settle down a little more and I’ll be a little more involved here...

[adsm08 2,022]

My daughter (3) has a major speech delay caused by some sensory issues. Today was her last appointment with her occupational therapist before she ages out of the early intervention system on Saturday. We usually do these appointments while her brother (almost 6) is at school so he doesn't disrupt them, but we had to alter our schedule a bit this week.

 

Today when the therapist got there he sat down on the floor with them and said "I want to learn what you do so I can teach my sister to talk".

[Pullstart 62,783]

7 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

My daughter (3) has a major speech delay caused by some sensory issues. Today was her last appointment with her occupational therapist before she ages out of the early intervention system on Saturday. We usually do these appointments while her brother (almost 6) is at school so he doesn't disrupt them, but we had to alter our schedule a bit this week.

 

Today when the therapist got there he sat down on the floor with them and said "I want to learn what you do so I can teach my sister to talk".

 

The love of siblings is not easily duplicated.  That’s awesome support from big bro!

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

2 hours ago, adsm08 said:

My daughter (3) has a major speech delay caused by some sensory issues. Today was her last appointment with her occupational therapist before she ages out of the early intervention system on Saturday...her brother (almost 6)...said "I want to learn what you do so I can teach my sister to talk".

That is a fine young man you have there Sir! A real genuine caring individual.  It nearly brings me to tears reading that quote of his.  If he continues to nurture that part of his personality, he will bless many people throughout his lifetime.  This old world could use far more people with a selfless attitude like that...bravo!

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

Just found out that Caleb has set the school records in the long jump, 200M, and 400M as well as qualified for State competition in all three categories!  It’s hard to express how pleased I am with his performance and “never say quit” attitude this year.  

 

Sports aren’t the most important thing to me, as I feel a person’s character, social interaction, family ties, and their spiritual condition are much weightier matters.  However, there are many great life lessons that can be learned from sports competition and I’m glad to see that Caleb is learning them! I’ll keep you guys posted on the competition which takes place Saturday morning...

[Pullstart 62,783]

Congrats @Coulter Caleb!  What a proud dad you’ve got!  And that he should be!