Remembering a Cousin

The final Sunday that we were on vacation in Arkansas, I got an email from one of my cousins in Seguin, TX. His mom had died from bi-lateral pneumonia. She was a member of the congregation that I served in Seguin, and because I was family, they wanted me to return and participate in her funeral. I gladly agreed.

I had gotten to know Eva Haug decently, but nowhere to the point that I wanted to. Her funeral made me wish I had taken more time to get to know this woman who married into our family. One story will illustrate this.

Deb Haug, who also married into the family told the following story about her son, Oni:

One day, Oni (who was a teenager, if I recall correctly) was down the road playing basketball with his girlfriend. His girlfriend had an annoying little sister who made a pest of herself the entire time Oni and his girlfriend were trying to play. Oni became frustrated at this little "brat" and took actions into his own hands. He mooned her ( ! ).

Later that afternoon, Deb and Mike received a phone call from the little girl's mother. She was not happy with Oni's behavior in the least. She demanded an apology and discipline of Oni.

Deb and Mike obliged. They made Oni go down the street and apologize, and they grounded him.

In the evening, Deb and Mike went over to Eva and Lawrence's house (they lived right behind them). Deb "made the mistake" of telling Eva what Oni had done.

In a few minutes, Eva saw Oni headed over to her house to join the party. To quote Deb, "I looked over and saw that Eva had that twinkle in her eye, and I knew something bad was going to happen. She looked over at Lawrence, and I became even more worried when I saw that Lawrence had that same twinkle."

The result of that twinkle was thus--Oni walked into the house, and just as he entered the room, Lawrence and Eva mooned him! ( ! ) ( ! )

Deb said that Oni couldn't get out of the house fast enough facing his 68 year old grandparents' backsides!

Everyone at the funeral had a good laugh, including yours truly.

Take it or leave it, this is my family.

Arkansas Vacation

Last week, my family and I traveled to Arkansas to visit my grandmother and grandfather who live in Bella Vista. Some might question our sanity in taking three children all under the age of four for a 12 hour car ride, but there are times when you throw caution into the wind.

My 92 year old grandmother is not doing so great. She's very weak, and has been on a downward trajectory for quite some time. After a recent visit from my aunt, we thought it best to get up there while she was still living and at least able to talk with us. Luckily, my parents made the journey up there with us. Thank God I bought that Yukon XL. All of us and our luggage fit without incident.

We actually broke the trip up into two parts. We left last Wednesday and drove to Palestine (that's Texas, y'all). After spending the night in a Super 8 Motel, we drove steadily and arrived in Bella Vista about 4 p.m. We first checked into the townhome we rented.

A little side note here: if you are traveling with children and are staying in a particular place for any length of time, do not, and I repeat, do not rent a hotel room. Get a vacation home or condo. It makes life soooo much easier!!

The next morning, my sister flew in with her two kids. My family and hers stayed in the townhome while mom and dad stayed with my grandparents. It worked out very nicely because the kids could take their naps, etc. in the townhome, and it didn't overtax my grandparents. Furthermore, because of the work of an aunt of mine, my grandparent's basement was transformed into a playroom for the kids. Whenever they had too much excess energy, down to the basement we went. They played down there and made sugar cookies with my mom. All in all the trip was a blast, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to see my grandparents before the inevitable happens.

Grandma Grote.


Grandpa Grote and my sister, Laura.
Kiera, Kaylee, and my niece, Payton on the townhome's balcony.
Townhome balcony view.
Making sugar cookies.

Two worn out Kevins.

Kevin, Jr.'s Baptism

It's been a long while since I've updated this thing. Life flies by way too fast. I've got a lot to cover, so hopefully in the next couple of days, I'll have some regular entries. I'll start off with a very important day in our lives.


On July 20th, we had Kevin, Jr. baptized. Our good friends Dave and Angie Wendell and Darrell and Traci Owens were his God-parents. Unfortunately, Darrell and Traci couldn't make the day because of illness in the family, but a whole host of other folks turned out for the event.


































Special thanks goes out to Rev. Paul Krupicka who baptized Kevin. Paul is my mentor and advisor. As I told my congregation, if they are looking for someone to blame--blame him. (Strange enough, the church clapped for Paul. Go figure.)



We finished the day off with a great pot luck provided by the congregation. Man, they put on a spread. I, of course, had to contribute by smoking a brisket. Hate to brag (well, not really) but my brisket along with another member's pork loin stole the show. It was just awesome to have the church do this for us one more time.
















This place has been absolutely wonderful to my family and I. They have welcomed us tremendously and supported us in a way that I could not have ever expected. I hope the Good Lord sees fit to keep us here for a while.

2 Month Appointment

Yesterday, Junior had his 2 month doctor's appointment. We rejoiced when we found out he had gained 2 pounds in a month. He now weighs 8lbs and 7 oz. He was 21" long.

Unfortunately, he had to get shots--three of them. He wasn't a happy camper about it, and he let us know about it for the remainder of the day. Setting him down wasn't an option, and Dawna was suffering muscle spasms in her arm from carrying him most of the time I was at work in the p.m.

And before anyone starts talking about how I am such an unsupportive husband, yes, I carried and held him most of the evening after I got home and made supper for the clan.

Kiera and Kaylee are currently taking swimming lessons. One of the members of the congregation is offering swim lessons and gives a discount for church members. We jumped at the opportunity. Kaylee seems to do more playing than really learning how to swim. Kiera is coming along pretty well after only two lessons, although she's still a little skittish about sticking her head under water, and when she "swims" with the kick board, she only uses her left arm to stroke. She's definitely a lefty!!! With time, she'll get it.

Unfortunately, we got glimpses of our life in the future yesterday. Kevin had his doctor's appointment at 8:30 a.m. Kiera had dance at 10 a.m. and swimming started at 11 a.m. I knew it would eventually hit, but I didn't expect it this early in life!!!

I hope to get some pics up in the near future. Got some great ones of the girls and the boy. Stay tuned.

It's Been a While

Life definitely changes when you add another child. Those of you who actually might follow this blog can probably tell this simply by the frequency of the posts. There is a smaller amount of free time, especially when you and your spouse are outnumbered by the children.

So far, we are actually managing pretty well. Dawna has her six week follow up doctor's appointment today, and hopefully everything goes well.

Kevin, Jr. is growing. He's not becoming a "chunky monkey"; however, he is growing quite long. He does have tummy issues, so we will be talking to the doctor about that next week. Generally, when his stomach isn't causing him to scream, he's a really good baby.

Kiera will be starting dance class this Tuesday. One of the members of the church came over to sit with Dawna and the girls while I had a church function to attend. Kiera started walking around on her toes--not tip-toe, by the way, but walking like a ballerina. The member went nuts telling us that we had to get her in a class. Dawna and I know this, but we're trying to save for things later down the road, like pre-school and college!!! Well, this member worked, pulled some strings, and got Kiera into a dance class. We'll see how she takes to it.

Kaylee is two years old in all its glory. She's really developing her speech skills. She sings along with "Dora", "Wonder Pets", and "Wiggles". One of these days I'm going to have to catch her dancing with "Wiggles", it brings a smile to even the grumpiest face.

We have officiall set a baptism date for Kevin, Jr. July 20th. We hope to see many family and friends at the church on that day.

A Lazy (Almost) Summer Day

This past week we had a couple of obnoxiously warm and humid days. The afternoons were made perfectly for napping and swimming, and that's exactly what we did. Obviously, Kevin made himself quite comfortable in the shade on mom's lap. Kiera and Kaylee chose a different path.

Splashing and jumping in their swimming pools kept them quite occupied and quite cool.

Did I mention that they slept really well that night? God bless hot, lazy, (almost) summer days!

On Facial Hair and Bless Yous

We all know that kids say the darndest things. My household is no different. Case in point, my two eldest kids.

When Kevin, Jr. was born, I neglected to shave for about a week and a half. Readers of this blog know that my parents took the girls down to Corpus for about a week during that time period. Towards the end of the girls' stay down there, I shaved off all the facial hair except a goatee. I generally get irritated with facial hair after about this time period because it gets itchy. What made me keep the goatee, I'll never know. It was a mistake.

After picking up the girls and taking them back to San Antonio, I decided to shave the goatee off. Little did I know, Kiera had grown quite fond of it. Apparently she liked it when I kissed her and played with her: it tickled. How do I know this?

The morning after I shaved it off, Kiera looked at me and asked, "Daddy, where'd the whiskers go?"

I replied, "I shaved them off."

Her response, "Put them back on, NOW!"

I kid you not. This is what she said, so I have re-grown the goatee (much to my mother's chagrin). But, as I explained to my congregation and to others, I think most parents will do anything for their kids. The facial hair is no big deal in the big scheme of things, and it helps Kiera know that her opinion is important. Got to love her for that!

The other quite interesting quote comes from my middle child. Kaylee is rapidly developing her verbal skills. She is quite adept in picking up conversation and the appropriate usage of phrases. Because of high pollen counts, we have been using the phrase, "Bless you." quite a bit. Kaylee has sweetly caught on. Whenever Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, or Baby Brother sneeze, Kaylee is quick to respond, "Bless you."

However, there is still a little bit of discernment that needs to take place. The other morning, I was changing Kaylee's diaper and dressing her for the morning. I farted, and immediately, Kaylee said, "Bless you!"

Kids say the darndest things.