He-hey!  I'm back!  And the "whole world except mosquitoes" thing is definitely out of the question.  Do you know what my dad Neil said about social computer programs?  Well, I don't check my e-mail much either, but the reason is that I never actually remember to do so.  And the "clean your room"
thing?  Don't even ask!  I almost never clean it!  Well, that's all for now!  Bye!

Hello.  I am Sam that you have heard about in previous blogs. As you can see, I can type.  This is because I am 9 now.  Remember the one where I got my tubes?  If not, please check it now.  I'm of course highly intellectual among children my age.  Getting tubes is not fun, let me tell you that!  Bye!!!

Recently we purchased a new minivan. It is a 2007 Honda Odyssey Touring and it is pretty awesome. Yes, I am still a man, and yes, I like a minivan. We got a pretty good deal on it and we are even more excited about the possibilities it brings us.

Now, you may ask, outside of road trips and the freedom of two cars, why do I love my minivan? Simple, a DVD player. And not only is there a DVD player, but it comes with wireless headphones so the kiddos can watch a movie, while Jess and I listen to music. I am so excited I don't have to hear Cars, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, or Tarzan, over and over and over. We can now listen to music.

This "entertainment" system, as I will call it, has definitely been a blessing, but it has also been interesting to watch two young kids, especially the younger of the two, Jacob, 3, figure out the wireless headphones. Even though they are self adjusting Jacob held onto them non-stop for the first few weeks we owned the van. Here is a series of very entertaining photos on the way back from an easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's. Jacob was obviously tired:


...and he's out. It was pretty hilarious.

Hello I am Sam Stoddard I like legos because you can build anething with them. I have a brother

Sam, our 6 year old, is a pretty bright child. He picks new concepts, terms, and vocabulary very quickly. It leads to very interesting interactions when he tries terms out for the first time. Here is an interaction he had earlier today with Jessica before picking me up after work. (We went out to eat tonight after work).

Sam: Where are we going out to eat after we pick up Dad?
Jessica: I don't know we haven't decided yet.
Sam: Well, do you have a theory on what restaurant we are going to?
Jessica: No, I don't really have a theory.
Sam: So you are a neutral party?
Jessica: I guess so.

I enjoyed his new found use of neutral party. For those of you interested he learned the term from Click, Clack, Moo:Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin. I believe the line is "The duck was a neutral party so he brought the ultimatum to the cows."

This morning Sam had to have tubes put in his ears and have his adenoids out. He has been having trouble hearing for a few weeks and a visit to the doctor revealed that his ears were full of fluid. This is the second time he has had tubes put in. It is pretty routine procedure, takes about 10 minutes, and usually isn't a big deal. Nevertheless it caused us to have to get up pretty early and drive into downtown Austin.

The surgery center is next to a big parking garage. When we arrived at 6:10am the garage had its gates open and was pretty much deserted. I wasn't sure of the protocol so I drove in and parked. I did notice that there was a sign that the parking garage only takes cash or checks, but I didn't really have time to deal it before his appointment. (I never carry cash and I hate checks)

Sam's surgery went very well. After he recovered from the anesthesia and got his IV removed we were free to go. He was a bit groggy but felt pretty good. I picked Sam up in my arms carrying the can of soda that he was given, his bag of random items (prescriptions and whatnot) and headed for the car. I headed down the elevator, across the courtyard and up the stairs in the parking garage. The parking garage was manned by this time, and I knew I needed to figure out how to get some cash.

In my head I was being frustrated with the garage. Who doesn't take credit cards nowadays anyway? In fact, I think I even mumbled out loud something like "...these ridiculous cash only people..." Which I had to explain away to Sam, since I realized that it was inappropriate as soon as I said it.

After dropping Sam's stuff at the car, I picked Sam back up and headed back down the stairs in the garage to see if I could find an ATM somewhere. I decided to go ask the garage attendant since he probably gets asked this question at least 40 times a day. I was kind of half hoping that the attendant would simply say something like "its okay, I see you are carrying a little boy in his pajamas, I'll just let you out." Obviously this did not happen. He told us where to find an ATM in an adjacent building, and we were off again.

It was at this point that I was humbled by the 6 year old that I was carrying in my arms. In our family we have a tradition to list things for which we are grateful before we say our family prayer at night. Each person in the family gets to list what they were grateful for that day. These can be very small or big things. Jacob is always grateful for "frogs." Sam is often grateful for "the whole world except mosquitoes".

But today, as we walked to the other building to find that ATM, at a moment when I was clearly tired and a bit frustrated Sam looked up at me and said, "Dad, I'm going to be grateful for that man tonight." (Referring to the garage attendant) Sam was obviously genuinely grateful for this man that had helped us find an ATM so we could get some money and go home.

I am grateful for the Thanksgiving season and for beautiful children that often understand what we teach them better than we do. And after some repentance I am also grateful for a garage attendent that told me how to find an ATM so I could go home.

hello i am sam and I have lots of legos because I got them from my family because they know I like legos.