Feliz Cumpleanos!

I just celebrated another year of life. It is always fun to celebrate. I remember being a little kid and the stuff I got was awesome. One year when I turned 3 or 4 my gift was a set of otter pops! You can't beat that for a little kid. I already told you about my Tonka turck. I have also got the usual stuffed animals, cheesy party toys, and the like. Sometimes a birthday gift can change your life though.

One year, and I should mention here that every year thereafter, I received a Lego set. It was for a plane. Thinking back I always built planes. Starting with my first bucket o' bricks I built a simple design using just  5 2x4 bricks for a regular or 7 for a fighter jet. You're probably thinking, "big deal," but actually it was foreshadowing. Today I still build planes and they're flown all over the world... oh, and they're not made of Lego (which doesn't mean that I don't still use Lego to build all sorts of marvelous things! Cuz I do!).

Big goals for a Little Guy!

This is the time for New Years resolutions. It makes me think of goals I've set in the past and how well I've achieved them. A lot of the stuff I set goals for hasn't happened yet. Be a millionaire by age 30? No. Become a chef? No. Own a personal helicopter? No. Ride around in a limo every day? No. But, the goals that I set when I was little kid, that were really important I have accomplished.

I have a page from a writing assignment that I wrote in 1st or 2nd grade that says, "When I grow up I want to be an engineer." I also had other goals: go on a mission, marry in the temple, and graduate from BYU. I set all of those goals before I was 8 years old. I have accomplished all of these goals! It is weird to think that I set those goals at a very young age and actually accomplished them.

There is power in being a little kid and knowing what you want!

Big Red Bike Christmas

One day when I was little my mom left me with a friend to be baby sat. The Jones', I'll call them, had a few boys including a couple near my age or just a little older. I'll always remember Sis. Jones as the lady who insisted that I chew with my mouth closed. I'd say she has made a priceless contribution to my how I live life. That is not this story though. Anyway, when my mom came to pick me up she found me riding one of the older boys bikes around in the street. I was three years old and the bike didn't have training wheels. So my parents decided to get me a bike for Christmas.

I was so excited to see my big red bike on Christmas day! I was allowed to ride it in the house that day and after that I rode it everywhere I could. It was a blast. I loved that bike. My family still has it out in the shed. It has been ridden by all four of my little sisters as they learned to ride a bike.

It turns out my "Big" red bike is actually tiny. Hooray little bikes!

Soft Ears

This isn't  a story about the season at all, but it is funny and I just found it out from my mom via my sister.... When I was a little baby I kept playing with my ears and so my mom thought that something was wrong. She took me to the doctor and said, "I think there is some thing wrong with his ears because he keeps messing with them.

The doctor observed my behavior for a while and then said to my mom, "have you ever felt his ears?... They're really soft!" There was no problem.

Merry Christmas!

A family that my family was close with growing up has a Christmas party every year. They invite a bunch of their friends and there are little foods for everyone. The highlight of the evening is a visit from Santa! Growing up I was pretty convinced that this Santa was the real deal. He had a real beard, a real suit, real boots, and was real merry. He was also the same Santa that came and visited our elementary school. For all I know, he could have been the real Santa. I am however convinced that he was replaced by the Santa who visited our church Christmas party this year though. The new "real" Santa has all the qualities of the afore mentioned Santa except his beard is whiter and perfectly curly. My wife also pointed out that he is perfectly professionally fat! HO! HO! HO!

Little Christmas Villages

There's something spectacular about Christmas decorations that just make you feel good inside. I remember as a little kid we had traditional decorations that hung around our house. There were the funny wooden reindeer holding up garland and colored lights. The special nativity scenes in every corner of the house to remind us of the true meaning of the season. On the tree we had these strange little apple bears that my mom had made. One of my favorite ornaments was a little Cinderella mouse and when you squeezed him he played a Christmas tune. There was also a little man made of salt dough that I had to be reminded not to eat.

I also enjoy seeing the decorations that other people display. One of my mom's friends had a neat little village that she would set up in her living room and we would go look at it. All the little snow covered streets and buildings were lit up and there was a couple skating on the mirror ice. We would also drive around and see how people dressed up their houses with tons of lights. The best treat was going to the grounds of the Mesa Temple and seeing all of the scenes of the nativity set up in life size. The leaves on the trees perfectly compliment the millions of other lights around the beautiful grounds. At the center was Christ, the way it should be. I love this time of year!

Christmas in Idaho

I don't remember my very first Christmas, but I do remember my little sister's. That means that the first Christmas I remember was when I was about 4 years, almost 5, old. We went to Idaho to have a "white" Christmas with my grandparents. I remember thinking it was odd that my grandparents and aunt hung up actual socks for Santa, on a rope in the living room. I woke up really early in the morning and when sneakily up the stairs with my little flashlight. I saw all the good stuff that was laid out. Oh boy, it was impressive. I think I really became and engineer that year because I got my first bucket of Lego and a set of PVC pipes that you could build all sorts of toys with.

As a side note: I do have a picture of another earlier Christmas in Idaho where I was either the baby or the shepherd as we acted out the nativity with the family. I don't actually remember it, but we have pictures.

Also, I am getting on a plane to go home for the holidays right NOW!!!

Christmas Tribute!

With next week being Christmas I thought that I would write some of my memories of Christmas as a little kid. Some of the most exciting events in my life happened around this time of year! I should mention that I'll probably combine some memories of Christmas with memories of my birthday because they are so close together. Sometimes that is how memories work. Hopefully these memories will be distinctly Christmas.

Primary Activity

Today at church we are having a primary activity called "A walk with the prophets" and we are supposed to dress up like ancient people. I don't know how I'm going to accomplish this because I own no ancient garb... not even a bath robe! However this reminded me of when I was little and I was in primary. There was a man who came to our primary dressed as a lamanite. I think he was a native american and he wore some animal skins and had a big staff. He stood on the small table in the primary room and all the lights were off except for one flashlight that someone sprayed on him. He then either recited some dialog or acted to some recording. It was so impressive. I think we were trying to learn the words to "Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus."

The image of a "lamanite prophet" is burned into my memory. I haven't recalled it in a long time, but I'm pretty sure it made an impact on my life. I hope every primary child has some experiences like this one (I don't think it will be me generating it today, though).

Slivers of E.T.

I have a confession to make. I've never seen the movie E.T. all the way through. I think that the longest clip I saw was when I was a little kid and my mom was pulling lots of slivers out of my arm. We had a wooden fence around the outside and I thought I was a clever little daredevil by riding so close to it that the handlebars of my bike would scrape along. The faster I went the more thrilling it got. I kept pushing the limit until the handlebars caught one of the slats and physics sent the side of my arm crashing into some rough wood. I had splinters, like a hundred, all up the side of my forearm. OUCH! I was watching E.T. while my mother did the surgery to remove them with a needle. I wish we had known the elmer's glue trick to getting them out.

First Snow

I saw my first and probably only snow of the season this past week. It was quite heavy as I drove through Virginia and into Tennessee. It reminds me of my first snow as a little kid. I don't think it was my actual first snow, but growing up in the southwest I didn't see too much of the stuff. So this is the story of my most memorable snow occasion, and it is a wonder that I ever played in the snow again (it's not really that bad, keep reading).

So we were in Idaho and there was plenty of snow nicely packed on a perfect hill that was made for winter recreation. The extended family loaded up and we went to the top of the hill. We were fully equipped with sleds and tubes. I was wearing as much winter gear as was available. The specific thing I remember was that I had a pair of waterproof boots. Staying warm is the key to having fun in snow.

We began sledding and on the first trip down I got a little snow in one of my boots. No big deal. I walked to the top of the hill and took of my boot and poured the snow out. Then I stuck my foot back in my boot. However, while I was dumping the boot out I got snow on my sock which then went into my boot. So I took off my boot again and dumped out the snow. This process mingled itself with sledding and very soon my foot was very cold. I still remember the pain of defrosting my frozen toes. So have fun and stay warm!

Back again

Have you ever noticed how everyone's homes smell distinct. I only notice it about my own home when I get home after being gone for a few days. I have a lot of little kid memories that are associated with smells, both good and bad. The smell of home is always a good memory though. Interestingly some smells that repel others bring fond memories to me. For example: sometimes when I'm near a lawn or garden that has been fertilized recently with manure it reminds me of feeding calves my grandpa's farm. I take a minute to soak it in and smile, while others around me are disgusted. I guess I adhere to my great-grandpa's thoughts, "It smells like money!"

Traveling

This week I'm on the road for work. It reminds me of the long road trips that my family would take from the southern desert to the rolling hills of southern Idaho. We usually did it over the course of 2 days. One day took us to my great-grandmother's house and the next day of travel to grandma and grandpa's house. My parents used every trick in the book to keep us entertained on those long trips.

Some of the the things we did: played the alphabet game by trying to find our way through the alphabet on billboards and signs; searching for significant landmarks; learning songs together; coloring books; fruit snacks; and sleeping.

Oh, those were the days. I can't believe I ever made it that far as a kid. I have brave parents. I think I must have spent quite a bit of time sleeping. I bet they were glad when the technology started to help (game boy, tv's in the car, portable music players, etc.)

The Day After Thanksgiving

In my family it has been a tradition to set up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Maybe one of the reasons I love Thanksgiving is that is signifies the official start of the Christmas season for me. Christmas is almost always fun for little kids. When I think back, Christmas has always been special to me, not because of what I get but because of the festivities,  decorations, and music. Everywhere you turn there are reminders of why the season is so special--The true meaning of Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today as people gathered for a meeting at work they were talking about holiday traditions. Some people had a tradition of switching from turkey to steak for Christmas. One man said that they always have seafood on Christmas eve as some sort of Italian tradition. The man I was there with said that he and his wife have two meals at Christmas, a small lunch with his family that's potluck. Then the real feast later with his wife's family which is also potluck, the difference being that his wife has 12 siblings who all chip in.

As a little kid it was all about the pie for me. The family would get together and each had a part of the meal and everyone brought a pie too. All kinds of pie, which was good because my least favorite was pumpkin. We all ate dinner together and then it was an open kitchen until round two of leftovers at about 5 or 6. Napping through football was also part of the tradition. I remember one of my cousins coming in with a turkey just after midnight. It was fresh from the pit and we took the liberty of opening it up and eating some succulent fresh meat. Oh boy, that was delicious.

One of our traditions was to have a pit roasted turkey. Slow cooked to perfection. Oh I miss it!

Thanksgiving = Favorite Holiday of the Year!! When I was little (and now)!

Tonka Trucks and Toy Story Conspiracy Theory!

They don't make 'em like they used to. When I was little I had a Tonka Truck that I got for my 3rd birthday. I played with that thing until the wheels fell off (As a note: the wheels never did fall off, but the bed rusted and cracked after hauling bucket loads of mud, dirt, sticks, and little kids for about 5 years). The old toys seem to be more durable. They were made of tough stuff like cast iron and carbonized phenolic. My uncle has a set of construction equipment that his grand kids are playing with 50 years after he did.

You don't find 3 generation toys very often. The exception would be toys that collectors collected, but those don't count because they are not played with (they are probably bitter like Stinky Pete in Toy Story 2). I guess it has to do with how much the toys are played with and in what environment too. If I had kept my truck inside it would probably still be around.

Of course being a toy has to be one of the best and worst jobs ever. There aren't many products that have to deal with the extreme conditions that toys do. They get slobbered and chewed on, they sit in cars through unbearable heat and cold, they are subject to strange kid science and menacing older siblings.

This concludes my theory on toys and why some Disney Pixar films are so popular!

ps. Look you can still buy the steel truck! What a deal!

Chocolate Pizza

Why is it that little kids have such strong opinions about what tastes good and what doesn't. They sure are picky for only being given mush and milk for the first year of life. I was no different though. I think I had my favorites, the same as any other kid. What I find most fascinating is that some foods I liked then, I don't like now and visa-versa. One  example is "mac n' cheese," which seems to be a universal little kid favorite. I liked it then. Not so much now.

What really perplexes me now is that when I was little I didn't care for pizza or chocolate (especially dark chocolate, which was and is my mother's favorite). Now the opposite is true. I really like pizza and chocolate. I didn't care for chocolate until I spent 2 years living in Scotland. It's true that European chocolate is better than american chocolate. People were always giving it to me there so I guess I grew to like it. I even like dark chocolate. As for pizza, well, I don't remember when I started to like it a lot, but I know that my non-pizza bend must have not lasted very long.

Those are just a couple of examples. Most of the stuff I thought was gross when I was little (mustard, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.). I now find quite tolerable and sometimes very palatable. Other things I've always liked (milk-shakes, hamburgers, chicken noodle soup, sweet and sour pork, etc.). However, I can't think of anything that I liked a lot when I was little that I don't like now.

 Can anyone tell me what "Matilda" has to do with this post?

I had Good Luck Today!

When my wife and I went out for our run I found one of my favoritest books ever. It is called "Love You Forever." I haven't read that book in years and it nearly made me shed a tear when I read it again. My wife had never read it and it made her a bit weepy. I was going to wait and buy this for her when we got a kid, but since we just found it I guess we'll take it now. Oh, we literally found it. It was next to the dumpster, almost like someone was going to throw it away. No way! This book is too good. What luck!

Oh Pants!

When I was little, like most little kids, I grew at an extraordinary rate. It seems like the search for clothing that fits was a never ending quest. Especially pants. I can't count the hours that were spent at outlets and department stores combing the rack trying to find small and tall pants (Note that I did not say "Big and Tall" because I was/am not big). Most of the pants I did find were used until they became too holey and then they became cutoff shorts.

It is no wonder that I put holes in my jeans. That is a natural consequence of trying to turn regular old dead grass into a makeshift slip-n-slide. I had no problem crawling around on my knees to play with a toy car or truck. My sister and I even went through a phase where we would hold our ankles and walk around the house on our knees. I'm sure we will pay for that some day.

One of the more memorable times I ruined a pair of pants had to be one Sunday evening. Sometimes my dad would bring home an appliance box for us kids to play in. We would use it as a fort, furniture, anything our minds could imagine. We had such a box on this Sunday and I was playing in it. I was also wearing my practically new Sunday pants (A nice pair of dark trousers). It didn't take long to figure out that slacks are slick on cardboard. So I merrily spent the evening sliding around in the box. The act of sliding produced quite a bit of friction and before I knew it I had melted/burned/torn/worn a hole in each knee of my trousers. My mom was NOT happy!

Fievel Goes West

In 1991 a wonderful movie came out. called "Fievel Goes West." It is a bout a mouse who finds the adventure of a lifetime as he heads west. I think this is one of the few movies that I saw in the theater as a little kid. My dad took me to see it and it was great. I don't think I've ever seen that movie outside of the theater so that means it has been almost 20 years since I've watched it. Probably spending time with my dad is what made it so memorable.

Veterans

Today is Veterans Day. When I was growing up my mom would take all of us kids up to Idaho for a month during the summer. We would spend the time at her parents house (grandma and grandpa's). It was great to escape the heat for a month and spend time with extended family. Every summer I looked forward to the good times, good food, and good company.

One of my most memorable activities was traveling to the local cemetery and viewing the family plots on Sunday afternoons. Cemeteries are a little spooky at night, but I think during the day they offer a sort of reverent atmosphere. I was always impressed by the flags that adorned the graves of those who had served our country. That small town in southern Idaho illustrated to my young mind what it meant to be patriotic. In front of the local church there is a monument with the names of those from the community who had served in war. Several names of my great-aunts and uncles are on that monument.

I'm grateful for freedom that allowed me to live in a place where I could travel to see family, eat good food, and enjoy being a kid during those cool summers.

Turkey Run

When I was little my mom was into the tole painting thing. She had a workshop in our garage and she was always working on something. She got really into it for a while and was mass producing items to sell at boutiques and to give to family and friends. She made a lot of holiday decorations and the one I remember the most was the pair she did for thanksgiving.

She made pilgrims and turkeys. A lot of pilgrims and turkeys. That's why I remember them, because there were so many. Now that I think about it it may just have been turkeys dressed like pilgrims. Yeah I think it was. We have a picture with about two dozen turkeys sitting on our piano before they went to the pre-thanksgiving sale. Those are probably still some of he happiest turkeys ever, especially this time of year!

Jumping Jacks

When I was little one of the coolest play things was a trampoline. We had a little 3 foot exercise trampoline that was a little bit of fun for a little kid, but the real fun was the giant 14 foot trampolines that some of my friends had. It seemed like you could jump so high. A giant trampoline offered jumping, of course, but it also offered fun things like slipping, sliding, hiding, and sleeping enjoyment. One of my favorite trampoline activities was sleeping out on it.

My cousins had a trampoline and we had many nights sleeping out on the trampoline. It was really fun to get in a slick nylon sleeping bag and jump around. I also enjoyed looking up at the stars. My cousins lived in the country and you could look up and see all the stars. Constellations became fascinating to me because of how well we could see them there.

The most amazing thing about sleeping on a trampoline is that everyone ends up in the middle. The weight of sleeping bodies turns a trampoline into a giant bowl and everyone just slides in their slick bags right toward the middle. This probably helped to keep us warmer. I learned later that we were always cold because there is no insulation under you when you sleep on a trampoline. Burrr!

Play Back

When I was little one of my favorite movies was Home Alone 2. Macaulay Culkin was so clever. He managed to set up the most awesome booby traps and execute them. My traps never seemed to work out as clever as his. Like the star character, Kevin, I thought that it was great fun to record myself and here the playback fast or slow. I did this on an old Dictaphone cassette player that my mom gave me. I also found enjoyment in recording the radio. I would try to catch my favorite songs so that I could listen to them over and over again.

As I already posted I used to listen to books on cassette too. My mom also had this old record of some old folk or Brothers Grimm stories. My favorite was "7 At A Blow" about a boy who killed 7 flies as they were buzzing around his sandwich one day. He made a belt that read, "Seven at a Blow" and as he wore it it lead to all sorts of fanciful adventures. My mom also had a cassette that was called "Church Mice" and it had some of my favorite church songs being sung in really high voices. It was like Alvin and the Chipmunks singing hymns. That was fun.

I wonder if I could find any of my old tape recordings. I'll bet there's some weird stuff on them.

Rainbow Hoodie

When I was little I had a rainbow hooded sweatshirt that I wore to school from about first grade through 5th grade. My mom gave it to me and I think it was one of her old ones. As I recall it was mostly black but had a rainbow pattern on the edges of the sleeves and hood. I could have a completely false memory of this, but I, at least, know that I had a huge zip-up hoodie and wore it until there were holes in it. My mother had a rainbow umbrella too and on a rainy day I was permitted to take it to school once.

I say once because, like most little kids, I liked to jump in puddles. So what's the point of giving a kid an umbrella if he is going to come home soaked anyway? I had a habit of getting my shoes and socks wet at school. We were not supposed to or allowed to play in the irrigation water at school. In primary school I was one of the fastest boys. I thought that if I ran really fast and got my feet out of the way of the splashes that it would be okay to run through the irrigation.

I think I actually was clever enough to avoid the really deep spots and run though "dry" a couple of times. What is the fun of running through water though if you're not going to get a little wet. I found myself justifying a little splash here and another there. Before I knew it my mom was telling me to take off my wet shoes and socks and to not play in the water anymore. Bummer. It was fascinating to me how the next day my shoes would be really stiff. Do you know the best way to get stiff shoes unstiff again? Get them wet!

Burn Down the House!

When I was a little kid there were a couple of times that our house almost burned down. One was my fault and I'm just luck. The other was some neighbor kids and we had to call the fire department. I had a space heater in my room and one night when it was turned on I threw a pillow on top of it. When I woke up the next day my parents showed me the slightly burned pillow and explained the danger associated with the heater. That was kinda' scary and also sad. The pillow was a homemade throw pillow with a teddy bear on it. I had a matching set until one got tainted by the space heater.

The other time was more serious. It was attempted arson! There were these two boys who lived on our street who were trouble makers. I remember one time when they were walking around the block carrying a butcher knife and a big rope. One day I was out riding my little red bike and they got me to put it up in the back of my dad's pickup truck. They then put the tailgate down and said that if I rode fast enough I could jump the bike out of the bed of the truck. I was just about ready to go when my mom came out and quickly assessed the situation, bringing it to a quick stop.

Then one Sunday afternoon, when we got home from church, the pine tree in front of our house was on fire. We called the fire department and I think my dad put out the blaze with a garden hose. When the firemen arrived they traced the source of the fire back through the grass and over near the gas box in front of our house. It was a good thing we came home from church when we did. My parents suspected those two no good boys, but I don't know if they were ever convicted of being involved.

Time To Go!

When I was little my mom would take me over to one of our neighbor's houses and we would go swimming. During the summer it seemed like we went almost every day. I really liked to swim and play games in the water with my neighbor friends. We would play missile, marco-polo, and my favorite sharks and minnows. They had a diving board and it was great to be the shark. Standing on top of the board waiting for the perfect moment to turn and jump to catch your minnow prey. 

It was a blast being there and so I never wanted to leave. When I would hear my mom say, "Time to go", I would duck under the water and turn in circles. When I popped up I would take a big gulp of air and then quickly go back under as I heard, "Com'on it's tim....." I would just keep repeating this process as long as I could. One day this brilliant scheme back fired. I was doing my gulp and spin routine when I hit the gradual slope to the deep-end. Somehow in that moment I forgot how to swim and the top of the water seemed too far away. I found my self jumping toward the surface gulping, flapping my arms, pleading for help and not spinning. My mom patiently directed me to move toward the shallow end with each jump. She saved my life! 

Halloween

I'm writing this because Halloween is a little less than a week away and I thought it might be good to write about it while I was thinking of it. Currently I'm a self declared Halloween Scrooge. I just don't like all of the haunting and tricking that comes with the treating. I do like the treating but, for adults, the treats seem to take a back seat to the other less tasteful aspects of this late October celebration. Kids, on the other hand, seem to accentuate the good part. They dress up because it is fun to pretend, not because they want to live some alter ego for a day or have an excuse to look and act silly. Kids view the doorstep treat as a treasure, not some sort of right. Some little kids even cry when they see a scary face...now there's a novel idea.

I once was a little kid. I have pictures of Be Nimble the ghost, Be Nimble the cowboy, Be Nimble the construction worker, and Be Nimble the red indian (See a couple below). When I was little I would skip the "scary" houses. I carried a sandwich size brown paper bag, not a pillow case. I would always bring my candy home and then sort and count it. Usually I would load it back into my bag and save it. It usually lasted the whole year. When my little sisters came along I would trade candy with them so that I could have more of my favorites. I liked to share my stash with special visitors. I had fun being a ghost, a cowboy, a construction worker, and an indian for a day. If you ask me, that is the way Halloween should be. People need to grow up and be something for real instead of reverting to a one-day-per-year display of true character.

Saturday Morning

When I was little I remember a little bit of Saturday morning cartoons..."After these messages we'll be right back." Mostly what I remember is yard work. I think that Saturday was always the lawn mowing day. I don't remember when I went from waking up to the sound of the lawn mower to waking up to mow the lawn. I'm amazed that there was so much work around our little house to do.

One Saturday my dad was trimming the hedge between our driveway and the neighbor's driveway. He was clipping it by hand. He had finished the sides and part of the top, but he couldn't quite reach the middle of the top. I was anxious to help because I thought that the giant pair of scissors he was using looked quite fun. My dad came up with a brilliant Idea for how to cut the last part of the bush. He placed a half sheet of plywood (maybe a quarter, it was more like 2'X4') on top of the cut part of the bush. The plan was to then let me sit on top of this board and my small weight distributed over the large piece of wood could easily be held by the bush, right?

Wrong! All went according to plan until the little kid, me, was thrown onto the board. I either didn't understand the concept of try trying to distribute myself or I was too little to do it properly. Whichever one it was meant that the board and I went into a vertical position and I slid right into the middle of the hedge. I was surrounded and stuck by hedge on every side. It was a pretty thick bush and I was pretty trapped. The bush had scraped me too. The only way to get out was for my dad to pull me out of the same hole I had created.

As a note of reflection: My father is a civil engineer. The bush bridge he made that day failed. I wonder if this event had any bearing on my choosing engineering, but not bridges, weapons. Who knows!

Salt Does Not Equal Pepper

When I was little we had several staple meals for each meal; Breakfast was oatmeal or cream of wheat; Lunch was sandwiches or hot dogs; and Dinner was meat and potatoes, or scrambled eggs with toast or muffins. I've spoke of breakfast before, all I'll say about lunch is that I remember choking on hot dogs and oranges, and dinner...well that is what this post is about.

You see when we had meat and potatoes it was usually with gravy and green beans. I would spread the mashed potatoes out and then put gravy on and then stick the beans vertically through the gravy and into the potatoes. I imagined that the brown gravy was mud and the green beans were trees. This helped me to eat it all because I would try to get some mud and a tree with every bite of potato.

I noticed that the adults added salt and pepper to their food and I wanted to try it. I added a little salt and pepper. When I tasted it it seemed too salty, so I added more pepper. Then it was too peppery, so I added more salt. This vicious cycle continued until I had a concoction that would probably have preserved you mid sneeze. My mother was the type who wouldn't let you leave the table without finishing your food, especially if you had insisted on taking more (or in this case, insisted on adding salt and pepper). If my first salt and pepper experience had been delicious I would not remember it, but I do remember it.

Oo-De-Lally! I Can Read!

When I was little I loved the cartoon Disney movies, just like most kid I suppose. At least I thought I loved them. Recently I purchased Robin Hood on DVD and when I watched it I remembered a lot of it, but there were parts that I would swear I was seeing for the first time. I've had the same experience with several other classics like Pinocchio and Snow White. There is a possibility that I never actually saw these films before I learned them.

You see, when I was a little boy my mother bought a set of children's books that were published by Disney. They each had illustrated scenes from the movies and had a cassette tape that accompanied them. The tape read the words on the pages and then gave a nice little chime to let you know when to turn the page. I thought I was reading these books with the tape, but I don't think I could actually read.

One day my mother noticed that I could read the books. Actually I had memorized all of the words, with voice inflections, and the proper moment to turn the page. I only fooled her until she caught me "reading" without the book. It must have still impressed my parents though because they have me on home video reciting the stories.

Little Boy Blue...Ran Away

When I was little sometimes I would get really mad at things. I would threaten to run away and then pack up and leave. I never made it far. I usually ended up sitting in the car port in front of the car. I thought I waited out there for a couple of hours and then I would sneak back in to the back yard. I bet that it was really like 15 minutes at the longest, but it felt like forever to a little kid. I would usually try to come through the back door and make it to my room. In such a small house this never happened. My mom always gave me a big hug and told me she loved me. The truth is that I love my mom too. No more "Little Boy Blue."

Digging to China

When I was little I had a large portion of the back yard dedicated to my enjoyment. The  back half of the yard was dirt with some citrus trees and a homemade tree fort. Half of that half was just plain dirt and for half of the year that half was turned into a garden. At the very back of the yard, mostly in the garden half, I had a spot of dirt that was all mine. How did I utilize that plot? I did the typical little boy thing and dug a hole.

The hole was about three feet in diameter and a couple feet deep. It served for years as one of my favorite play places. That hole was a construction site, the grand canyon, a fox hole, bunker, hiding place, sandbox, swimming pool (when it rained), and food source (I used to eat dirt). One day there was a man over at our house and he asked me about my dirt hole. I told him about how special my hole was. I think I also revealed my ultimate goal of turning it into an underground secret hideout room.

He said, "it looks like you're digging a hole to china."
As a little kid I was like, "What?"
He then gave me a lesson in geography, "If you dig all the way through the earth you'll end up in china!"
I said, "oh" and from then on when people asked about my hole I told them about china. As a note, I've since discovered that if I had made it all the way through the earth then I would have ended up in the ocean or Australia. I also found out later that the earth is not solid the whole way through. Boy am I glad I didn't make a volcano in our back yard.

How Much is That Doggy...

When I was little it took me forever to eat breakfast. It still does sometimes because I developed the habit of chewing my oatmeal. I would usually take a large spoonful with a little milk and then chew and chew...and chew, until I was satisfied that I wouldn't choke, and then swallow. This process was usually followed by a swig of juice or water and then the task of the next bite was commenced and repeated.

My mother was very patient with me. She occasionally would take care of the spoon loading and lifting when I got tired of it. While she waited for me to finish processing she would teach me nursery rhymes or simple songs. On of my favorites was "How Much is That Doggy in the Window?"

I'm pretty sure my mother's rendition wasn't as glamorous as this one.

Oooo! A Big Doggy!

When I was little we lived next to an interesting guy. He was a manly man, as I remember it. He worked construction, drove a big truck, drank in the evenings and more on the weekends. And he had a couple of the biggest meanest dogs ever. They were wolves, literally. Maybe not purebred wolves but at least they looked like wolves. He always kept them on a chain. Not a rope because they would have chewed a rope off. I know they could have chewed a rope easy because they chewed through our fence. We had a wooden fence; the kind that gives you slivers if you're not nice to it.

One day the dogs broke loose from their chain! It was night time and they jumped our fence. Then they jumped our other fence into our other neighbors yard. Our neighbors had two nice little bunny rabbits. I say had because the dogs ate them. What amazed me was that the dogs then jumped back over both fences and went back to their own yard. Before those dogs ate those rabbits I thought that all dogs where nice. It boils down to a lack of education. After that I knew that dogs could be mean.

Another time I was playing in the back yard and one of those mean dogs jumped over our fence. Lucky for me it was still on it's chain so it hung from the fence. It didn't die. We ran next door and told the man that his dog was hanging and he came to our side and threw his dog back over the fence. It was a lucky day for the dog and me!

Commodore 64

When I was a little kid, until I was a teenager, my family had a Commodore 64. It was complete with 5.5" floppy drive and a one button joy stick. I had some great games. Like Frogger, Roger Rabbit, and Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego. We also had some other non-traditional games or programs. There was one that let you write music. It gave you a blank score and then you would add notes and click play to here it played electronically. I guess that was the precursor to Garage Band. Anyway it was pretty cool. My dad told me that he thought when he bought it, "how will we ever use 1 Mb of memory?" Wow, things sure have changed. I bet if my mom had saved all of the letters she typed on that thing it would have taken up a whole gigabyte today.

Sunday Memories

When I was little I went to primary Sunday school every week. We would sing, play games, listen to stories from the scriptures, and occasionally have treats. When I was 2 and 3 years-old I went to the nursery where we had treats every week. I must have liked food back then because the nursery leader told me, years later, that he will always remember me as the kid who asked for seconds, every week. Raisins and crackers, YUM!

As part of the primary they assigned a couple of two-minute talks to the kids each week. One day when I was four I was asked if I would like to give one of these talks. I said, "sure."

My mother was surprised and asked if I was really up to it. I said, "oh mom, it's easy. All I have to do is stand there and repeat what you tell me to say." You see, most of the young kids had a parent come in and read their talk with them and they would just parrot it into the mike. Well, my mom explained that that is not really how it works and that I would have to give the talk myself, but she would help me write it. True to her word she helped me write it (I couldn't read so it was a pictogram of sorts) and I spent the whole week memorizing it.

I'm proud to report that the following Sunday I gave my whole two-minute talk all by myself. It was probably one of the best talks I have ever given. I don't remember what it was about I just remember a picture of foot kicking a soccer ball. It must have been good.

The Cheerio Motivation

When I was little I was not allowed to have "sugar cereal." You know like Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp, and Rice Krispies type cereals. That's right, even the snap, crackle, and pop of puffed rice earned the tittle of "sugar cereal" (Which didn't last long once I found out how to read-because I could say, "hey mom, there's only 1 gram of sugar in these"). Anyway, about the only variety of cold cereal that we had was Cheerios and Corn Flakes. I must have really liked Cheerios because they helped me learn to walk.

I also have never liked grass. At least I've never liked the half-dry-its-obvious-grass-was-never-meant-to-grow-in-the-desert type. When I was little I didn't like it because it was prickly, now I don't like it because I'm allergic to it. My parents discovered this weakness before I was even a year old. They thought it was hilarious to put me in the middle of the "lawn" and watch me crab walk out or just stand up and start crying (Ha, Ha :( no). Okay, so my parents aren't really sadists they just used this as a tool to help me learn how to walk.

The plan was simple. Put Cheerios on the sidewalk next to the "lawn"; put the little kid, who can't walk yet, in the middle of the "lawn"; and then point out the Cheerios to the little kid. Let the walking begin! It worked. I can walk. Maybe someday I'll post the super 8 video of this amazing event.

Pepsi and Cheese

Our small house was a twin-home and the folks who lived in the twin part, next door, where an elderly couple who I called grandma and grandpa hatch. They were not my parents parents but they were very nice people. I still have a nativity that grandma Hatch gave me one year for Christmas and it is tradition to set it up the ceramic-hand-painted figurines in a prominent place every year during the holiday season. I loved to go over and visit with them and I think they liked having me come over.

My parents had a non-caffeine policy that was strictly enforced at home. As a little kid I didn't have any concept of what this meant. When I would go visit the neighbors grandma Hatch would always give me my very own can of soda to drink and a square of american cheese. I would then sit next to grandpa hatch, watch baseball, and enjoy this treat until my mom would come and get me.

Every time my mom came she didn't seem too happy at the delicious meal of Pepsi and cheese that I was enjoying and would always kindly take it away from me and explain the no caffeine rule to me and grandma Hatch again. I guess grandma Hatch didn't understand the rule any better than I did because every time I went over there I was offered the same deliciouses.

Grandma and Grandpa Hatch were great people in my book. I remember them with fondness especially at Christmas time...

or  when someone offers me a Pepsi!

Small House

We lived in a small house until I was 8. It was less than 800 square feet, but it had 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms. When you’re little everything seems big and this house was no different. I remember that by the time I had 3 sisters I had been upgraded to the "spare" room which I shared with my baby sister, her pack-and-play, a computer desk/office area, and a lot of food storage. I always had a pet fish and this blog is about a gold one that lived on the top of a dresser in my room. He seemed happy in his octagon bowl and it sure was fun to have a pet to take care of.

One day when some cousins where over at our house playing and I learned a lesson about gold fish and peer pressure. I would guess that I was about 4 or younger. My cousins all thought my pet fish was pretty cool and it was fun, for a while, to tap on the glass and wake him up and make him move. Then someone came up with a brilliant idea that would be "fun" and clean the fish bowl at the same time. I don't know if the baby wipes were meant for my baby sister or me, but I found out that they were not for fish.

Next thing I know the 0ctagon bowl has become an ultimate fighting arena where my fish and the baby wipes are fighting to the death. I guess fins and scales are no match because my fish died. Now that I analyse the situation he may have drowned because there were so many baby wipes in his bowl that I don't think any water was left. Oops! As I recall my mother had a hard time understanding why we would fill the fish bowl completely to the top with wipes and I had a hard time understanding why my fish died.

When I was a little kid!

Hello,
This is my first blog entry ever, I think. I decided while I was at work today that I should try to capture some of my childhood memories. My goal is to try to remember things from when I was a little kid and then share them with you all. I hope you enjoy!